Faculty Senate Minutes
September 20, 2007
Call to Order:
Call to order: 4:12 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC. Vice Chair Thomas presided over the meeting in the absence of Chair Jerde.
Senators Absent: Ann Andaloro, Eric Jerde, Shari Kidwell, Jennifer Little, Layne Neeper, John Warber
Visitor: Phillip Gniot – Director of Human Resources
Minutes: Senator Harford moved to approve the minutes of August 30, 2007, as submitted. Motion passed. Senator Wallace moved to approve the minutes of September 6, 2007, as submitted. Motion passed.
Phillip Gniot, Director of Human Resources, presented the members with a brief overview of the Employee Health Plan for 2008. The outline for the presentation was:
Healthcare renewal objectives for 2008
Renewal process
Results and plan structure summary
A question and answer session followed the presentation. Detailed information of the plan structure and employee education meetings will be provided for all faculty.
Reports:
Regents Report:
- Beth Patrick briefed the Board of Regents about the development of the University’s Business Plan. The interim President for CPE mandated that each regional and state institution develop and submit a draft of a Business Plan by September 12, 2007. Regent Irons provided the members with a brief overview of the University Business Plan. Regent Irons will determine if there is a web link available to review the Business Plan and provide it to the Senate.
- Approved tenure for the incoming chair of the Department of Biological and Environmental Science, and Librarian Emeritus Status for Carol Nutter.
- Approved the razing and removal of real property to include: Senff Natatorium, Perkins Hall, Carter Hall, Holbrook Hall, three Lakewood Duplexes and the Lakewood Laundry Building.
- Regent Irons stated that, during the Board of Regents meeting he moved that the Board should work with General Counsel to develop a Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy specific to the Board of Regents. Regent Iron’s motion was passed by the Board. Regent Irons anticipates that the Policy will be in effect by the time a Code of Ethics involving Faculty or Staff is presented to the Board.
- Regent Irons stated that revisions were approved to PG-50, Staff Performance Management System, and that Regent Pace noted that Staff Congress had not reviewed the revisions to PG-50.
- Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Space Science Center was held today.
Senate Actions:
Governance:
- Senator Rogers reported that there have been resignations from Standing Committees for which replacements will be presented at the next meeting.
- Senator Rogers stated that many Standing Committee descriptions include the requirement that a Faculty Senator must be included in the membership. Senator Rogers asked if the Senate still feels this requirement is necessary. A member stated that they had confidence that Governance could review the committee descriptions to determine whether or not a Faculty Senator is required on the Standing Committees. A member suggested that since there are so many Ad-Hoc committees and Task Forces formed that some of the Standing Committees are not utilized effectively. A member suggested that the Senate discuss with the Provost the current Ad-Hoc committees and Task Forces and their relationship to the Standing Committees.
- The Academic Program Review Committee will not be functioning this year due to the Program Audits being conducted by the Provost’s office.
Professional Policies:
- A revised PG-61 should be ready to present to the Senate at the next meeting.
Academic Policies:
- The committee is following up on the Laptop Initiative Survey.
- The committee is gathering information on syllabi guidelines.
A member asked about the status of the “Academic dead week” and the “Proposed MSU Study Week Policy” that was referred to the Academic Policies Committee for review.
A member asked that Academic Policies review the Enrollment Management Strategies presented by the President. A member suggested that the Senate members remind their colleagues to review and provide feedback regarding the Enrollment Management Strategies. A member requested that the Senate ask the authors of the Enrollment Management Strategies to present an explanation of the reports to the Senate at a convened meeting and that each report be examined by the Senate prior to being accepted as policy. A member stated that Academic Polices would only need to review two or three of the reports that are academic in nature and relevant to the Senate.
Fiscal Affairs:
- A Morehead State University employee merchant discount program is being negotiated.
- Vice President Patrick will provide a briefing to Fiscal Affairs regarding the Business Plan and budgets. Fiscal Affairs will report the information to the Faculty Senate.
A member asked if Fiscal Affairs has been given a report on Faculty salaries compared to benchmarks and Kentucky institutions. A member stated that this information is available to an Ad-Hoc committee on faculty salaries. A member stated that Fiscal Affairs should review salary information compared to other Kentucky institutions and the Ad-Hoc committee that compiles this data and report to the Senate.
Evaluations:
- The committee will be collecting and organizing FEP’s from various departments.
Communications: No report.
Announcements:
- On Tuesday, September 25, 2007, a reception will be held for Sharon Hall who is retiring.
Adjournment: 5:30 pm.
