October 4, 2002 UNT Inhouse publication: Faculty Senate kicks off 2002-03 year

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Faculty Senate kicks off 2002-03 year

The UNT Faculty Senate held its first meeting of the 2002-03 academic year Sept. 11. Senators listened to a presentation made by Lee Jackson, the new UNT System chancellor, who was in his 10th day on the job.

Jackson said he looks forward to learning more about UNT and its culture, even though the learning curve will be longer in some areas of faculty affairs because he will not have direct contact with those areas on a daily basis. He said he does not have any kind of "stealth plan" to make serious changes to the system because of the widespread feeling, shared by the board of regents, that "we are moving in the right direction and have already set out many of the right goals."

"I try to lead, not by rhetoric but by problem solving," Jackson said. "We have a lot of opportunities and we have a few problems, but mostly our challenges are positive ones."

Jackson laid out the five themes he is using as his guides. Two of these themes are to support excellence in all aspects of UNT System programs and services and to improve diversity in the system community.

"Excellence doesn't mean trying to be the biggest or first in the nation at everything, which would be unrealistic," Jackson said. "It does mean finding practical ways to raise quality a notch at a time across a broad range of activities. And diversity is important because of our location. We've become a part of a seamless metropolitan area and we need to work more effectively to reflect the population of North Texas."

A third theme is to broaden the UNT System's base of resources. Jackson said a way must be found to increase unrestricted endowment funds to the system. He said he was pleased with the $154 million raised by Campaign North Texas and that next the board of regents will be asked whether the campaign should be extended for its remaining two years or new goals should be set and a new campaign started.

The fourth theme is to fulfill the system's potential in the North Texas region. "We must complete our vision of what our system should be," Jackson said. "I'm deeply committed to UNT in Dallas — both the temporary building where teaching occurs now and the permanent campus that will become UNT at Dallas – but we still have our work cut out for us and I need your help."

Jackson's final theme is to create a clearer image of UNT as a system and a stronger identity for each campus, in a region with many universities and competing programs. "The public needs to know more about all the excellent programs on our system campuses, not just a few of the better-known ones," he said.

In other business, senators approved a report submitted by the Committee on Committees regarding unfilled committee seats and a report submitted by the Curriculum Committee regarding requests for new courses, changes in existing core curriculum courses, the addition of a new certification program and changes in programs and academic units.

David Kesterson, provost and vice president for academic affairs, made a report before the senate regarding the searches for a dean for the College of Engineering, a vice president for research and technology transfer, and a provost and vice president for academic affairs to replace Kesterson when he steps down at the beginning of the 2003-04 academic year. Kesterson also talked about the record number of students enrolled for the fall semester and the challenges faced by the university because of so many students.

Louis Pelton, senate vice chair, reported on the senate's Executive Committee meeting with Norval Pohl, UNT president. Topics discussed with Pohl included the UNT Research Park, what departments would move to that location and when; funding increases for the UNT System Center at Dallas; degree equivalency for international students; and contract reviews and approvals.

Jeffrey Oxford, senate chair, also reported to the senate about the provost search committee, encouraging faculty members to participate in the search process, and reminded senators about the senate's change in its attendance policy allowing senators to miss no more than two meetings during an academic year.