Faculty Senate Minutes
July 19, 2012
Call to Order: Chair Sharp called the meeting to order at 4:15 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC, with a full quorum
Senators Absent: Lori Baruth, JT Blackledge, Katy Carlson, Scott Davison, Donna Everett, Cynthia Faulkner, John Hennen, Nilesh Joshi, Gary LaFleur, Lesia Lennex, Barbara Lyons, Ann Macintosh, Beverly McCormick, Lisa McDavid, Christine McMichael, Lee Nabb, Shondrah Nash, Jeanne Petsch, Manuel Probst, Ann Rathbun, Sandra Riegle, Mee-Ryoung Shon, Joyce Stubbs, Denise Watkins, Scott Wymer, Yuqiu You, Matt Chapman will be filling the vacancy left by Vincent Cesaro from Department of Military Science
Visitor: Karla Hughes, Provost; Jane Fitzpatrick, General Counsel
Minutes: Senator Chatham moved to approve the minutes of June 20, 2012 as submitted. Senator Berglee seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Reports:
Chair’s Report:
• Chair Sharp and Chair-Elect Chatham met with Phil Gniot, Human Resources Director, regarding the Faculty Salary Compensation Workgroup. The Workgroup will meet again in the next few weeks. The final report will be available at a later date.
• Reported on Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care law
• Informed the Senators about enhancements made on the web for student advising; Academic Recovery Workshops will be held; Check out the information on the University College web page
Regent’s Report:
• BOR will meet in a special session on August 23 to install new Regents and participate in a ribbon cutting at the new location of the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music.
• Regent Morrison challenged the Senators to think about issues they can tackle in the coming year to promote “student academic quality”.
Senate Actions:
The Provost and University Legal Counsel were in attendance to explain minor wording changes they had recommended to PAc 35, Faculty Evaluation Plans.
5) This policy establishes the framework that a department and college will use to evaluate its faculty for
6) the purposes of reappointment, tenure, promotion, and annual performance-based salary increases
7) evaluations, including merit salary compensation when available. Evaluation results shall be considered in distribution of any merit salary compensation pool
There was much discussion and questions asked about the changes. University Counsel, Jane Fitzpatrick, clarified the changes, indicating that the changes make the PAc more consistent with current policies, and address the exact nature of annual performance evaluation as outlined in the policy. This PAc only addresses performance-based evaluations and what has been known as merit compensation.
The other main change was the inclusion of a statement regarding the appeal process of performance evaluations.
41) A university-wide appeal process that articulates the faculty member’s right to appeal annual faculty
42) evaluations at the department/school level shall be provided.
The consensus of the Senate was that this appeal process was necessary and appropriate. The Provost stated that the process would be developed by a shared administrative-faculty team similar to the way the Reconciliation Committee was structured. The Provost indicated that FEPs are scheduled to be completed by December 2012. Provost Hughes stated that as soon as PAc 35 is approved, a committee should be formed to review and revise PAc 30, PBSI as soon as possible.
It was agreed upon by all to change the word “salary” in the document to “compensation”. Provost Hughes suggested that “compensation” be defined in another PAc, not 35 (FEP). Chair Sharp clarified for everyone the changes that were to be voted on.
After discussion was complete, Senator Hypes moved to accept the changes and approve PAc 35. Senator Chatham seconded the motion. Discussion followed regarding when the PAc would take effect and clarifications of changes. Senator Hypes called the question. Motion passed.
Chair Sharp asked for a vote on the revised PAc 35, Faculty Evaluation Plans. PAc 35 passed with a majority vote of the Senators.
New Business/Announcements:
Senate Retreat on Thursday, August 16th. Chair-Elect Chatham asked the Senators to be thinking about agenda items for next year’s Senate.
Adjournment: 5:40 p.m.
