Faculty Senate elects officers for 2002-03

The Faculty Senate elected the following officers at its regular meeting May 9: chair, Jeffrey Oxford, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures; vice chair, Lou Pelton, associate professor of marketing; and secretary, Frances Van Tassell, associate professor of teacher education and administration, who was re-elected to another term. The new terms begin July 1.

In other business, Faculty Senate members:

• Accepted a report from the Faculty Salary Study Committee including committee recommendations regarding: efforts to increase faculty salaries in the next two to four years; a focus on salaries at all ranks, taking into account existing cost-of-living deficits; an increase in starting salaries for new faculty in order to remain competitive with comparable state institutions; and steps to address salary equity issues, especially as they relate to gender and ethnic origin.
  
  
• Accepted a report from the Academic Affairs Committee about bestowing honorary degrees. The senate approved the committee's recommendation to establish a standing committee to examine nominations of honorary degree candidates.
  
  
• Accepted the Committee on Committees' report regarding vacancies for Faculty Senate committees.
  
  
• Accepted a report from the Faculty Load Committee and approved use of a faculty survey to assess existing and potential workload options.
  
  
• Accepted the annual report from the Faculty Senate Budget Committee, including its recommendations to improve the development of emerging issues and budgeting objectives, to develop orientation sessions and materials for new Faculty Senate Budget Committee members and to continue meeting with the University Budget Committee early in the budget process.
  
  
• Accepted a report from the Oversight Committee regarding the core curriculum and the process to assess core curriculum courses.
  
  
• Heard a report from David Kesterson, provost and vice president for academic affairs, regarding the work of the Faculty Senate Budget Committee; the work of the Oversight Committee; proposed faculty and staff merit-based salary increases; the proposal to name the former Texas Instruments property the UNT Research Park; and the search for a dean of UNT's new College of Engineering.
  
  
• Heard the vice chair's report regarding the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and questions on various topics taken before UNT administration.
  
  
• Heard the chair's report regarding the need for the new Faculty Senate officers to meet in July to devise charges to give to the Faculty Senate committees and an update on the online faculty survey, which had had a 10 percent response rate thus far.

The next meeting, which is the last Faculty Senate meeting of the academic year, is at 2 p.m. June 12 in Wooten Hall, Room 322. Meetings are open to all members of the university community.

Agenda items, minutes and other information can be found on the Faculty Senate web site, www.unt.edu/facsenate/facultysenate.htm.

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other web resources

• UNT Faculty Senate web site

Other featured articles in this issue

• Pohl named to lead the Sun Belt Conference for two-year term
• Regents don't change admissions policy
• UNT, NCTC enter concurrent admission agreement
• UNT alum David Layton named executive director of North Texas Exes
• UNT alumnus honored with 2002-03 Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship
• Staff Council reps elected
• UNT community members earn grants for international education programs
• Staff awards presented at President's Staff Sack Lunch
• Neeley nets UNT Honorary Alumnus Award

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