University of North Texas

Meeting: Faculty Senate Meeting, May 9, 2001, Wooten Hall, Room 322

Guests: Michelle Hale, InHouse editor; Kay Selby, Director, Academic Publications; Carolyn Cunningham, Director, Student Financial Aid & Scholarships; Michael Haynes, Asst. Director, Student Financial Aid & Scholarships; Christy Crutsinger, Chair, Faculty Load Committee; Meldoy Kelly, Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Progressive Discipline Policy; Neal Tate, Dean, Graduate School.

Opening: The meeting was called to order at 2:05 p.m. by the Chair of the Faculty Senate, Dennis Fisher. Minutes for the April 11, 2001 meeting were presented for approval. Motion by Senator Newell, Seconded by Senator Miles. Motion carried unanimously.

Old Business: None

New Business:

1. Progressive Discipline Policy - Melody Kelly - Dr. Kelly presented report (with

attached handout) on Progressive Discipline Policy developed by Ad Hoc Committee. Questions were solicited from Senate members. Motion to approve policy with clarification in language in procedures section made by Senator Oxford. Seconded by Senator Newell. Motion passed.

B. Election of Officers:

1. Chair - Nomiation of Senator Getty. Senator Newell moved to close

nominations and elect Senator Getty by acclamation. Seconded by Senator Glover. Motion passed.

1. Vice-Chair - Nomination of Senator Oxford. Motion by Senator Weiller to close nominations and elect Senator Oxford by acclamation. Seconded by Senator Luce. Motion passed.
2. Secretary - Nomination of Senator Van Tassell. Motion by Senator Luce to close nominations and elect Senator Van Tassell by acclamation. Seconced by Senator Oxford. Motion passed.

A. Charter and Bylaws - Senator Luce -

1. Review the Bylaws of each College to determine current policies regarding eligibility of Chairs for Development Leave. The committee sent an email to the dean of each college or school asking if the college/school had policies regarding the eligibility of Chairs for Development Leave. Replies were received from the Deans of Art and Sciences, Business, Community Service, Education, Library and Information Science, and Music. The results showed that it is the assumption of all colleges and schools that the University level policies would supercede any college or school policy; therefore the issue has not been addressed within separate colleges and schools.

1. Examine how committee chairs are determined for Faculty Senate

committees and make recommendations for any necessary changes. Charge

was completed and reported on during 1999/2000.

3. Review information provided by the Provost’s Office to determine reapportionment of Senate Districts. According to the formula, there is no need for reapportionment this year.

1. Respond throughout the year to any additional issues that might emerge.

None have been brought forward at this time.

1. Committee on Committees - Senator Luce - The following nominations were presented by Senator Luce and approved by the Faculty Senate. Academic Affairs, Barbara Cox, I; Committee on Benefits Albert Choi, I; Comm. on Eva. of Adm., Marie Christine Koop, I; Curr. Comm., Melina Levin, I; Faculty Awards Comm., Timothy Montler, II; Derrick D’Souza, A-L; Faculty Handbook Comm., Tommie Lawhon, A-L; Faculty Research Comm., Samantha Hastings, II; Margie Tieslaw, A-L; Faculty Sen. Budget Comm., Barbara Cox, I; Fine Arts Comm., Mary Lynn Smith, I; Teaching Fellows/TA, Diane Negra, I; Univ. Lib. Comm., Bradley Chilton, VII; Comm. on Eva. Of Admin., Hale Newcomer, V; Comm. on Status of Women, Pamiela Hight, II; Curr. Comm.,Grant Miles, V; Madhav Pappu, V; Richard White, V; Faculty Handbook Comm., Ellen Truax, A-L; Faculty Load Comm., Stephen Poe, V; Faculty Salary Study Com., Kathryn Loafman, A-L; Teaching Fellows/TA, Robert Insley, V; Univ. Lib. Com., Paul Hudak, IV; Mary Curtis, V. Administrative Committees: Budget Adv. Com for Student Fees, Robert Maughan,

A-L; Campus Clubs Comm., Carol Wickstrom, A-L; Honors Day Comm., Lou Pelton, V; Intern. Ed. Comm., Patrick O’Connell, I; Student Code of Conduct Appeals, Anat BarNir, V; Traffic Appeals, Pierina Beckman, I; Union Board, Lynn Johnson, A-L; TIPS, Monika Antonelli, A-L; Traditions Comm., Donna Arnold, A-L; Traffic Appeals, Jeff Levy, II; and Lou Pelton, V.

2. Graduate Enrollment Advisory Committee - Dr. Tate provided PowerPoint

presentation which addressed graduate enrollment and recruitment.

1. Why graduate enrollments are important to UNT: a. key ingredients in top tier university; b. shapes intellectual life of the university; c. attracts better faculty; d. increases UNT’s importance to the region; e. key aspects of funding. 1) formulas 2) graduate revenues generated, 3) benefits at the margin. b. UNT graduate enrollment decline, 1. declining graduate enrollments since early 1990s, 2. decline occurs for both masters and doctoral enrollments, 3. continued effects of a decade of downturns, 4. reflection of current national trends, 5. crowded academic job markets in some disciplines, 6. bad fit of graduate training to job market, 7. all large doctoral institutions have suffered, declines over last years, 8. Master’s 5 year decline at UNT exceeded by only 3 schools, c. Reasons provided to reverse downturn, 1. focus on recruitment, 2. what we can/should do given funding, d. Information provided on what graduate school and university are doing to increase graduate, enrollment, e. Information provided on what graduate school might do, given resources

D. Faculty Load Committee - Dr. Christy Crutsinger:

1. Dr. Crutsinger provided a follow-up report. a. Review bylaws of each college to determine if faculty on option 2 can be promoted from associate to full professor Existing documents created by 1998 Faculty Workload Committee were circulated and reviewed. Many of the departments and/or schools were changing tenure and promotion requirements and were unavailable for review. The majority indicated no substantive changes in their tenure and promotion guidelines.
2. Investigate affect, if any of distance learning courses on faculty workload. Make recommendations regarding appropriate load credit, possible reduction in load for course development, possible reduction in number of course materials. Those units engaging in distributed learning had developed creative formulas for determining workload equivalencies that appeared fair.
3. Investigate how the assignment of faculty to teach at the Systems Center in Dallas affects work loads of individual faculty and academic units. No action recommended at this time. Most schools/colleges/departments considered teaching at Systems Center to be normal course load.
4. Review section of workload in revised Faculty Handbook and make recommendations for any revisions. Committee did not take action regarding faculty member’s ability to choose workload options.

E. Scholarship Committee - Chair Carolyn Cunningham: 1. Provided handouts reviewing current scholarship procedures and proposals for 2001-2002. a. funding for four-year scholarships for Top 10% with SAT scores of 1200 or higher b. National Merit Scholarship Program approved for 25 new NMMSC finalists

F. Research Committee - attachment (handout) provided by Dr. Rollie Schafer. 1. Faculty Research Grants - In FY 2000, grants in amounts of $1,500, $2,500, $3,500, and $5,000 were granted. 2. Small Grants of up to $750 were also awarded. 3. Junior Faculty Summer Research Fellowships information presented. 4. Faculty Research Expenditure information presented. 5. Compliance issue information presented.

G. Curriculum Committee - Dr. Suzanne LaBrecque

1. Biology 1024 and Women’s Studies 2620 - courses will be added to University Wellness Core. Motion by Senator Mayper; Seconded by Senator Getty. Motion passed.
2. Sociology 4540 - course will be added to Cross Cultural, Global and Diversity Core. Motion by Senator Glover; Seconded by Senator Benjamin. Request to see assessment form. Motion passed.

Information Items - Dr. Suzanne LaBrecque: 1. Thank you from Dr. Kesterson for work of Senate. He appreciates involvement on critical issues. 2. Thank you to Senators involved in inauguration of Dr. Pohl. 3. Requests have been made for copies of his address. This will be available on Senate website. 4. Dr. James Scott will be Dean of College of Music - begin August 1. 5. Dean for SMHM - interviewing one candidate and receiving input from various groups on campus. 6. UNT Systems Center Director - made offer to one candidate who declined. Job description will change. Current pool of applicants will still be considered. 7. Questions solicited for Dr. Kesterson. a. Dr. Art Goven will serve as Interim Vice Provost for Research. The search will continue in the fall.

Vice Chair’s Update - Senator Getty: 1. Discussion with new Denton Postmaster regarding mail without P.O. Box # will be held so mail does without P.O. # will not be returned to sender. 2. Definition of Tier Institution not currently clearly defined. Reaffirmation of need to secure research funds. 3. Presentation of certificate to Dennis Fisher from Senate and University for service to University and Chair of Faculty Senate.

Chair’s Update - Dennis Fisher: 1. Dr. Fisher thanked Senate and indicated even though we have come a long way, there is still much to be accomplished.

Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.