Minutes of the Executive Board of the Faculty Senate
September 18, 1996

Members present: L. Arnault, I. Barnello (recording), S. Behuniak, J. Bogdan, J. Consler, C. Donn, A. Eppolito, J. Glancy, M. MacDonald, J. McMahon, B. Mitchell, K. Nash, O. Ocampo, H. O'Leary, N. Ring, B. Shefrin, A. Vetrano

Members present for part of the meeting: E. Ryan, S.J.

Members absent: M.K. Collins,

Others present for all or part of the meeting: M. Ruwe, V. Hevern, S.J.; M. Miller, F. Glennon

President Susan Behuniak called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM.

I. Minutes of March 27/April 3, 1996
There are no minutes of this meeting. What we do have are the agenda, the audio tapes, and the proposal of the ARPP Committee regarding equity issues as amended by a vote of the Executive Board on April 3. [note: This document posted on VAX Bulletin.] A consensus was reached to cull through the resolutions and report on the actions taken at this extended meeting.

II. Officers' Reports

A. President's report

S. Behuniak reported on the formation and status of the following committees. 1) A Facilities Subcommittee of the College Planning Committee is to be formed to consolidate all issues involving facilities under one committee. 2) There will be a new subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee, the Advisory Committee on New Programs, to work with Norb Henry on coordinating process and communication about such programmatic ideas. 3) Fr. Ryan consulted with the Senate officers about the AVP Search Committee and it was agreed that it will be a committee of nine people: five faculty, a student, two administrators and Fr. Ryan as ex officio chair. S. Behuniak will take the divisional approach in presenting five names to Fr. Ryan to serve on the committee. The search committee will begin its work in November with the drafting of the advertisement. Interviews are slated for late February. 4) College Committee appointments await the confirmation of President Mitchell. Susan has urged administrators to use these committees and asked faculty to report to her if these committees do not meet and go unused. Chairs of College Committees will be asked to report on their activities at the full senate meeting on December 13.

B. Secretary/Treasurer's Report

In asking for feedback on the construction of the agenda packets, it was agreed to continue the practice of posting committee reports to the "fac_senate" folder of the Bulletin utility on the VAX and to also include full text of any resolutions in printed form with the agendas. Minutes will include all resolutions and committee reports. A budget for the faculty senate will be presented at the October meeting.

III. AVP & Dean Reports (See Attachment A)

Fr. Ryan's references are to the 26-page Middle States document written by the evaluation team after their visit. Copies are available from this office. He reminded the group that the College must respond on the * issues of outcomes assessment and planning by November 1, 1997 and by June 1, 2001 on the other issues.

IV. Committee Reports (see attachments A-E)

Mary MacDonald, Chair of Research and Development Committee, added that they have just begun to discuss the issue of guidelines. The Faculty Handbook's language on sabbaticals regarding release from teaching "and other duties" needs to be discussed and clarified in light of information that there are instances of faculty on sabbatical who chair a department while on sabbatical.

John McMahon, Chair of Elections, announced the election of Darius Conger as Division V representative to the Rights and Welfare Committee.

There were questions for Finance Chair Jennifer Glancy on budget surplus and possibilities for restoration of cost of living adjustments and step raises. She responded that we should not use the word surplus in a year when we did not get fully paid, but yes, it seems at this moment we are inching toward a positive bottom line for this fiscal year. She remains uncertain at this point about what portion of raises will be restored. Since April, we have accumulated at least $100,000 in additional expenditures for a variety of reasons, such as the unforeseen minimum wage increase. S. Behuniak reported that we will be informed in October about any salary adjustments for 1996/97.

Kathleen Nash's report on Professional Rights and Welfare and the benefits plan raised questions of process and "done deals" in light of the cabinet's green light to alter a policy contained in the faculty handbook. It was suggested that the desire to alter the College's formula of contributed premiums is meant to avoid "adverse selection." This is where healthy people opt for the HMOs until they get really sick, at which time they switch to the better offerings of Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS). Consequently, BCBS becomes more and more expensive and the College's dollar contributions to the plans go up since it is based on the dollar amount of the percentage of the BCBS cost. The Chair was advised to seek overall dollar figures and to inquire what is truly meant by "savings." S. Behuniak will write AVP Ryan to remind him that any changes to the Faculty Handbook require notification to the Executive Board and a vote by the faculty.

V. Old Business

A. AACSB: Establishment of a subcommittee of Curriculum Committee

In March 1989 the Executive Board passed a resolution that the President of the Faculty Senate and the Curriculum Committee would form a task force to inform the Senate of the AACSB accreditation process and progress. In Spring 1996, the Executive Board gave the go ahead to appoint members to such a task force. The composition of the task force does not follow the mandate of the resolution as to composition. S. Behuniak has consulted with the task force members and chairs of departments concerned and advised all that she would like to start over and re-appoint the task force. J. Consler moved and C. Donn seconded a motion for the Faculty Senate President to re-appoint the task force on AACSB in consultation with the Curriculum Committee. The motion passed with 17 in favor, none opposed, and no abstentions.

VI. New Business
A. UPS delivery

S. Behuniak will write a letter to VP G. Saya to inquire about the feasibility of mailroom offering the service of UPS package pickup for employees.

B. Faculty dining facility (see Attachment F)

S. Behuniak distributed a cost summary for Spring 1996 of the Wharf sent to her from Fr. Ryan (Attachment G) detailing the use and financial loss incurred by Marriot in offering this dining service. Some history of this topic was offered by V. Hevern, J. Consler, and C. Donn.. Past Presidents Shaw and M.K Collins spent a lot of effort negotiating this service. It was clear at the outset that this was not going to be a profit making enterprise. In fact, Marriot won the bid for the food service contract by its willingness to offer this particular service at a loss.

In light of the past negotiations, the present lack of consultation by the administration over this action, and a possible future of no food offered in the academic complex except for the food cart if the College builds a coffee-shop-like addition to the north side of the dining center, C. Donn moved and N. Ring seconded the following resolution.

Resolved: The Faculty Senate Officers will negotiate the restoration of afaculty dining facility within the academic complex. If these negotiationsfail, they will demand that the Wharf be re-opened by the onset of theSpring 1997 semester.

J. Consler moved and C. Donn seconded a motion to table the resolution. The motion passed unanimously.

C. CAPHE Grant

Fred Glennon, member of the Committee of Academic Relations, Policies and Procedures (ARPP) explained the grant's purpose and background, his interest in it, and asked the group if they wished to support it and participate in it. Essentially the grant provides some money and two years and a lot of flexibility with which to look at and discuss what is good teaching, how should it be evaluated, and the implications for rank and tenure. Fred accepted the position of project director because it seemed to him that this grant picks up where rank and tenure revisions left off with establishing criteria for scholarship. The discussion revolved around the potential liability of the poor instrument we use to evaluate teachers, the push for outcomes assessment, and J. Langdon's endowed chair to improve teaching in the Humanities. The following resolution was moved by J. Glancy and seconded by J. Consler.

Resolved: The Faculty Senate will form a subcommittee of the Committeeon Academic Relations, Policies and Procedures (ARPP) to lead the CAPHEGrant.

N. Ring moved that the resolution be tabled. It was seconded by B. Shefrin and it passed unanimously.

D. R & D resolution on course load reductions

Mary MacDonald, Chair of R & D, explained that the money formerly provided to grant funded reductions in teaching loads was taken away. She moved the following resolution . K. Nash seconded the motion.

Resolved: The Faculty Senate strongly urges the AVP to immediately restore course load reductions for research and development which were previously administered by the Research & Development Committee.

In a discussion, it was suggested that the Chair obtain data on past awards. It was also advised that a process is needed with which to resolve this issue. J. Consler moved to table the resolution. B. Shefrin seconded the motion. The motion to table failed to pass by a vote of 2 in favor, 15 against, and no abstentions.

Discussion continued along the lines of balancing equity issues and about the phrasing of the resolution. Mary accepted the friendly amendment of the insertion of the word "funded" and the capitalization of the concept "Funded Course Load Reductions." The Resolution passed by a vote of 15 in favor, none opposed, and 1 abstention.

E. Recertification of voting (see Attachment H)

This issue was presented for discussion. I. Barnello was appointed chair for this portion of the board meeting so that S. Behuniak could participate in the discussion.

The discussion clarified the purpose of the proposal to enable this ruling body to pass its referenda. Difficulty lay in the Senate's inability to reach the proscribed percentage of voters to pass the referendum last March to make referenda voting easier. The proposal affects adjuncts, those on sabbatical and emeriti. It is not know how the numbers "shake out." Alternatives of focusing on last March's referendum issue and disbanding the senate by vote of the Board and re-establishing immediately with a new set of rules were dismissed and the resolution on recertifying voters was moved by S. Behuniak and seconded by J. Glancy. B. Shefrin moved and N. Ring seconded a motion to table the resolution on voter recertification. The motion passed by a vote of 16 in favor, 1 opposed, and no abstentions.

S. Behuniak took back the chair at this juncture, took note of the time and entertained a motion by J. Consler to extend the meeting by 25 minutes until 10:00 PM. J. Glancy seconded the motion. It passed by a vote of 17 to 0 with no abstentions.

V. Announcements
A. Fr. Ryan made the following announcements

1. The Jesuits have pledged a $1 million gift to Le Moyne. They will donate $200,000 a year for the next 5 years to the capital campaign.

2. The new Director of Admissions, David Piranni, will start on September 30.

3. Budget 1997/98 (and beyond) will be bolstered by an aggressive admissions plan of 3% increase in freshman, a Physicians Assistance Program in a healthy surplus situation sans startup costs, and the final

B. Dean Marcia Ruwe announced that

1. She is now in charge of advising since Eulas Boyd's departure and the subsequent disbursement of his responsibilities. She seeks a Director of Advisement among the faculty to take over these responsibilities as well as overseeing the Academic Support Center. She thanked Bruce Shefrin for his assistance with the Freshman Common Hour Program this Fall.

2. The Registrar now reports to Dennis DePerro, Dean of Enrollment Management.

3. The Academic Support Center will not move its operation to the Library until the new semester.

C. Bruce Shefrin announced that he has been engaged in formal discussions with fellow faculty and administrators about the need among faculty for assistance in handling the needs of international students and disabled students, and the funds available to do so.

K. Nash moved that the meeting be adjourned and B. Mitchell seconded the motion. The motion passed and adjournment came at 10:00 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Inga H. Barnello
Secretary/Treasurer
September 20, 1996

Attachments:
AVP and Committee Reports: A-E
Hevern Faculty Dining Resolution: F
Wharf Cost Figures: G
Elections Committee Recertification Resolution: H

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Created: 10/2/97 Updated: 10/2/97