The following minutes in brief were submitted by the Faculty Senate:
9/22/09
At the Sept. 22, 2009, meeting of the Faculty Senate, President Robson welcomed a number of new senators to the Senate. Reports from the SAS, OSA, Provost Administrative Staff, U-Plan and issues raised during summer committee meetings were presented.
Furlough issues and their implementation were discussed by Tim Danielson, and H1N1 planning updates were presented by Associate Vice Chancellor Rettig. After discussion, the Senate approved Center for New Learning curricular issues that were previously approved by the APC but tabled by the Faculty Senate during its May 26, 2009, meeting.
The Senate approved the following committee appointments: Chris Edwards (COLS) — Allocations, Hong Zhang (COLS) — Budget, David Lishner (COLS) — Compensation, Eli Kalman (COLS) — Distinguished Teaching Award; Sarah Stanley (COB) — Gender Equity Council, Kay Neal (COLS) — HR Director Search and Screen Committee, Nenad Stojilovic (COLS) — Personnel Policies; Isabel Alvarez (COLS) Restructuring; Jerry Carpenter (COLS)-Rosebush Committee and Ramanathan Jambunathan (COLS) — Student Conduct.
The Human Services Undergraduate Program review was approved. Volunteers from the new senators to serve on Faculty Senate committees were solicited.
10/6/09
At the Oct. 6, 2009, meeting of the Faculty Senate, State Representative Gordon Hintz made a short presentation, followed by several questions and discussion. Michael Eierman presented the most recent progress from the Liberal Education Reform Team (LERT), followed by extensive discussion and feedback.
Reports from the Provost Administrative Staff and Faculty Reps meetings were presented by President Robson. The Senate approved the following Faculty Senate Executive Committee appointments: David Jones (COLS) — Academic Policies Committe, Mark Lattery (COLS) — Administrators Evaluation Committee, Carmen Heider and Lee McCann (COLS) — Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and Leigh Ann Mrotek (COLS) — Faculty Advocacy Committee.
The Faculty Senate approved the following committee recommendations from the CoC: Billie Jo Rylance (COEHS) — Academic Policies Committee, Jeff Kaplan (COLS) — University Honors Program Council, Chris Rose (COLS) — Administrators Evaluation Committee, Chris Rose (COLS) — Equity and Affirmative Action, Jill Collier (CON) — Assessment, and Richard Kalinoski (COLS) — Faculty Advocacy Committee.
10/20/09
At the Oct. 20, 2009, meeting of the Faculty Senate, Chancellor Wells gave a state of the University update on enrollments, followed by a question and answer period. Reports from OSA and the Provost Administrative Staff were presented. The issue of a Program Suspension Process, which was discussed at the last Faculty Reps meeting, was presented.
The formation of a collective bargaining task force was discussed, and Senator Meyerson accepted the responsibility of collecting information and reporting back to the Senate. The Faculty Senate approved the following committee recommendation from the CoC: Victoria Beck (COLS) — Assessment Committee.
11/3/09
At the Nov. 3, 2009, meeting of the Faculty Senate, reports from OSA, the Provost Administrative Staff (PAS), U-Plan and Faculty Reps were presented. During the reports, Rep. Ann Duginske (OSA) raised the issue of policy and procedures surrounding the cancellation of classes, and Senator Swanson (OSA) further clarified the issues surrounding the topic of gender neutral bathrooms.
President Robson had Lynn Freeman discuss the Early Alert Pilot program and disseminate preliminary data during the PAS report. President Robson also introduced proposed policy resolutions on Non-Medical Leaves of Absence for Unclassified Staff and Sick Leave Reinstatement. A response rising out of the discussion to these draft resolutions will be forthcoming.
All forwarded APC form C items were approved with two exceptions. Discontinuing the Music Therapy program was tabled by APC prior to Faculty Senate consideration, and the Environmental Health Major in the Department of Biology was sent back to the Biology Department for further consultation with other programs mentioned in the curriculum most specifically the College of Nursing.
Lynn Freeman presented the Student Suspension policy and its current practice as well as potential alterations in that practice. Discussion of those proposed changes ensued. Ryan Haley presented and discussed the concept and objectives associated with the recently awarded Core Textbook grant.
11/17/09
At the Nov. 17, 2009, meeting of the Faculty Senate, reports from SAS and the Provost Administrative Staff (PAS) were presented. The Faculty Senate took up the issue regarding the OSA resolution supporting Gender-Neutral/Family restrooms on our campus. After extensive discussion the Senate voted to endorse the OSA resolution in support of Gender Neutral/Family restrooms with an amendment that the doors be equipped with working security devices. Additionally, the Faculty Senate voted to endorse the OSA resolution supporting installation of Sharps disposal containers in restrooms with the amendment that those containers be appropriately locked or otherwise secured.
The draft policy put forward by UW System regarding the System-wide textbook proposal was presented. Extensive discussion and concerns ensued. The Executive Committee was charged with preparing a feedback document that will be presented to the full Senate at a future date for approval prior to the February 2010 deadline. President Robson noted that during the mandatory furlough dates, there is a U-Plan supported initiative for use of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center as well as potential educational tours and community service opportunities.
Lastly, President Robson reminded the senators of their obligations and responsibilities to attend meetings and disseminate any information obtained to their constituencies.