Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate

April 30, 2008, 2:00 PM, Board Room, Hurley Administration Bldg

Executive Committee Members:

Name	Group	Dept.	Term	Present
Dornith Doherty	I	COVAD	2008*	X
Elizabeth Figa	II	SLIS	2008*	X
Dennis Mueller	III	PHYS	2008*
Emile Sahliyeh	IV	PSCI	2010*	X
Steve Cole	V	FIRL	2008	X
Cynthia Chandler	VI	CHE	2010*	X
Jim Swan	VII	AGER	2008	X
John Holt	VIII	MUSIC	2008*	X
Michael McPherson	Chair	ECON	2008*	X
Richard Wells	Vice-Chair	JOUR	2008	X
Beth Thomsett-Scott	Secretary	LIBR	2008	X
Marcia Staff	Immediate Past Chair	FIREL	2008*

Meeting called to order at 2:05 pm

I.	Senator Wells welcomed attendees
II.	Minutes from April 2nd. Approved unanimously as written.
III.	Chair’s Report. Senator McPherson presented his report while waiting
	for committee chairs to arrive. He noted that he needs names for the
	iTunesU committee by Thursday. Additionally, a Faculty Professional
	Development Officer is being hired and local candidates are encouraged
	to apply
IV.	Committee Reports
	a.	Faculty Senate Budget Committee. Lou Pelton, chair, presented the
	report. Dr. Pelton noted that the committee recently met with Jean
	Bush and Andrew Harris. The chair of the Faculty Senate Salary
	Committee was invited but unable to attend. Dr. Pelton noted that
	the meeting was fruitful and there are plans to begin working
	together in August to ensure close communication throughout the
	year. Issues raised were summer school funds, the changing mix of
	non-tenure track faculty and the effect on budgeting, and UNT’s
	debt load. The Provost was unable to make the meeting and her

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presence was necessary to answer other questions. A question will be put forward to the administrators concerning UNT’s debt load and how it has been changing. Additionally, it was agreed that a member of the EC, probably the vice-chair, should attend the meetings with Mr. Harris and Provost Wilkins to ensure fluid communication.

b.

Evaluation of Undergraduate Admissions presented by Sarah Collins. Ms. Collins presented a powerpoint slide show. She emphasized that they present this information to provide faculty an opportunity to participate in the undergraduate admissions process. Generally, all stats are good, although there are small drops in the average SAT score, 6 year graduation rate, and 2 and 4 year graduation rate for transfer students. The First Time in College rates are good with an increase in semester credit hours, and Emerald Eagles averaging 15 hours.

c.

Library Committee. Senator Jack Peters, chair, presented the report. There are still some concerns about the department allocations, especially within larger colleges, and some members would like it changed to departmental allocations as is done for the College of Arts and Sciences. There is a continuing concern over the Libraries’ budget. The committee is determining how the $1 million Library and Research Equipment Support pool can be used to help the Libraries.

d.

University Elections Committee. Grant Miles, chair, presented the report. It was emphasized that there have been more candidates than usual. After discussion, it was agreed that candidates not elected should be contacted by the Committee on Committees chair about committee vacancies and also to keep a list of names for possible inclusion on administrative committees.

e.

Mentor Committee. Senator Beth Thomsett-Scott, co-chair, presented the report. Not all parts of the report were available so she summarized the work of the committee and will send out the correct documents. The committee compared the results of the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 surveys and analyzed the results of the open-ended questions from the 2006-2007 survey. Recommendations are to begin work earlier in the fall, conduct another survey, and investigate how our peer universities are mentoring faculty.

V. Topics for Administrators.

a.

Senator Cole will draft a question concerning UNT’s debt load.

b.

There were some questions about the Evaluation of Teaching Committee. After discussion, it was agreed to ask a basic question concerning the use of the instrument rather than more specific questions which committee members will ask and report back to the EC.

c.

An update of the Graduate Education Review will be asked for.

d.

There is concern about which faculty teach senior level classes. In the past, this tended to be handled primarily by senior faculty who were not pursuing an active research career (terminal faculty). There is concern that UNT is moving away from this system.

VI. Charter and Bylaws. The EC discussed the need to simplify the charter piece to break out the lecturers from other faculty so it will be clear that they have two at-large seats but do not run in regular Senate elections. The bylaws on the Committee on the Status of Persons of Color will receive second reading and vote. A straw poll will be conducted concerning the role of administrators on Senate.

VII. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 3:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Beth Thomsett-Scott, Faculty Senate Secretary