Faculty Senate

March 31, 2005                                                                                                                       325 Graff Main Hall

Vol. 39, No. 14                                                                                                                        3:30 p.m.

I.   Roll Call.

Present:  Beck, Clow, Cravins, Galbraith, Gendreau, Gongaware, Grunwald, Heim, Hench, Johnston-Rodriguez, Kernozek, Kraemer, S. Krajewski, Maher, Majak, Poulton, Ragan, B. Riley, Senger, Shanks, Shillinger, D. Sullivan.

Excused:  Dixon, C. Miller.

II.  Minutes.

There were no minutes to approve.

III.  Reports.

Chair Riley distributed copies of the cover letter and supporting documentation for the resolution on the administrative budget reduction plan passed last week.  Senator Heim has developed a list of individuals (including the Governor, state legislators, UW Board of Regents, and UW System officials) to which the resolution should be sent.  Copies of the resolution will be going out in the mail tomorrow.

Copies of the update from the ad hoc Program Array Review Committee were distributed.  The committee recently made three requests which the SEC has approved.

UW-L Faculty Representative Joe Heim, will take copies of the resolution on the administrative budget reduction to the Fac Rep’s meeting tomorrow.  He will try to get it on the agenda and will most certainly generate discussion.  Regarding the budget, one view is we will be treading water for next couple of years… alternative view is that legislators don’t like the Governors budget so may be some possibility of policy change.  Heim expects to find out more about pay plan at tomorrow’s meeting; the Joint Finance Committee is holding hearings around the State and has been fairly well received; domestic partner benefit issue may be pulled out of budget; in all, there is a certain amount of skepticism.  Ron Kind was on campus this morning to talk about federal budget issues – in the process of reauthorizing higher education act.  Lastly, Heim distributed addresses of State Legislators.  If interested, contact him about getting a copy of budget talking points.

Provost/Vice-Chancellor Hitch reported that the North Central Accreditation forum held earlier today had good discussion despite the low participation.  She is hopeful the topic of the third forum, scheduled for Tuesday, April 12^th at 12 Noon in 259 CC, might peak more interest, reiterating that the more view points we hear the better and more consistent the report will be when the NCA team comes to campus.

Chief Financial Officer, Ron Lostetter, indicated that the campus is in the final stage in getting the campus administrative reduction report ready for distribution.  He expects it to be distributed within a week or so.

A debate between UW-La Crosse Student Association candidates for President and Vice-President is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6^th at 7:15 p.m. in The Cellar.

IV.  First Reading of Proposed By-law Revisions.

Keith Sherony joined the senate and presented the proposed by-law changes.

A.  Library Committee – 1^st Reading

This recommendation came from the Library itself, in response to a recent survey indicating a dissatisfaction in services for graduate students.

The Library Committee
 

Duties and responsibilities of the committee shall include:

1. Studying and recommending means of improving library services.

2. Providing liaison between faculty and library staff regarding policy-related issues.

Membership of the committee shall consist of nine faculty members, one of whom shall be the chairperson of the library department, and three students, one of whom shall be a graduate student. The faculty membership shall include at least one representative from each of the following academic units: the College of Liberal Studies, the College of Science and Allied Health, the College of Business Administration, and the College of Education, Exercise Science, Health and Recreation.  Consecutive appointments may be allowed for up to five years: however, at least three faculty members shall be newly appointed each year.  The director of the library shall serve as an administrative consultant to the committee.  The committee shall elect its chairperson.

B.  Budget Review Committee – 1^st reading

The Budget Review Committee

Duties and responsibilities of the committee shall include:

1.  Study and report to the Senate on university budget decisions that affect instruction and research.

2.  Review annual budgets and report to the Senate on trends in support for instruction.

Membership of the committee will consist of five faculty members, one of whom will be the Vice-Chair of the Faculty Senate, to be appointed by the Senate.  Consecutive appointments may be allowed for up to five years the seven faculty representatives constituting the faculty membership of the Joint Planning and Budget Committee. The committee will respond to direct charges from the Faculty Senate but will also be free to determine its own scope of study and review.  The committee will aim for maximum coordination with the University Joint Planning & Budget Committee.  The committee shall elect its chairperson.

C.  Teacher Education Governing Council – 1^st Reading

The Teacher Education Governing Council

Duties and Responsibilities of the committee shall include:

1. Developing and reviewing policies on issues affecting teacher education programs including overall program philosophy and framework, and unit assessment.

2. Establishing, in consultation with departments or colleges, standards pertaining to certification requirements, candidate review policy, admission requirements, exit requirements and enrollment management.

3. Reviewing, in consultation with departments or colleges, proposals for new teacher education programs or changes in current teacher education programs, and forwarding recommendations to the appropriate curriculum committee.

4. Monitoring and maintaining the Strategic Plan for the School of Teacher Education.

5. Providing advice to the Director of the School of Education.

6. Serving as an advocate for teacher education on campus and in the community.

7. Reviewing accreditation and program approval reports for teacher education programs.

Voting membership of the committee shall consist of the Director of the School of Education, nine faculty members, one teacher education student chosen by the Student Senate, and three professional educators from outside the university chosen by the Director of the School of Education. The faculty membership shall include:

a.         one representative from each of the four professional education programs in the College of Education, Exercise Science, Health and Recreation (CEESHR). The professional programs are Early Childhood/Elementary/Middle Level Education, Middle Level/Secondary Education, Physical Education Teacher Education, and School Health Education.

b.         one representative from a CEESHR graduate program leading to certification.

c.         four representatives with teaching or advising responsibility for teacher education in their discipline from the College of Liberal Studies, the College of Science and Allied Health, or the College of Business Administration.

The Director of General Education, the Assistant to the Director of the School of Education, the Director of Student Teaching/Internships, and the Assistant to the Dean of CEESHR shall serve as administrative consultants to the committee. The committee shall elect its chair. The Director of the School of Education shall serve as convener. Terms of membership shall be three years, staggered so that three members retire and are replaced every year. A committee member shall abstain from voting on the approval of any policy or programmatic proposal if the committee member or the committee determines that the proposal presents a conflict of interest for the committee member.

M/S/P to amend by inserting “and approved by the teacher education governing council.” in the paragraph beginning with Voting membership…  (show of hands: 18-yes, 2-no, 0-abstentions)

V.   Plan 2008: Phase II.

Enilda Delgado, Roger Haro, and Al Thompson joined the senate inviting comments and concerns or ideas.  UW System has responded to draft and sent a letter to the Chancellor with questions.  From that letter, the Chancellor and Provost Hitch spoke with Cora Marrett, her assistant, and member of the Multicultural Affairs Office.  Plan has several action steps that can be merged.  At same time we need to add an executive summary or preamble to talk about some of the key issues of retention rates.  Campus climate will also be discussed in the executive summary as well.  Dr. Thompson expects the plan to be forwarded to System by mid-April and appear before the Board of Regents in early June.

• What is in the document which actually targets specific population?  Score card will give information on specific target populations.
• Anything that will measure attitudinal concerns?  Faculty mentoring but nothing in document.
• Do not assume students of color come in with major gaps… statistically the same as other populations.
• Several members of Joint Minority Affairs Committee went to a conference called Bridging the Gap… expertise at the table to help
• With respect to retention, our students are departing after 3 years… why? What is going on?  Don’t have a system to capture all the information… retention programs in place but it is an entire campus effort.
• UW System and Board of Regents is holding campus accountable – an evaluation.  They are serious about reporting to public how campuses are doing with respect to Plan 2008.
• We want to reach children at an earlier age.  Enacting a service learning plan might help.
• In order to find out what the problem is we must be comfortable in finding out information. 
• Have you looked at learning communities? Mixed groups of students but a lot of connectedness with faculty and other student.
• Goal 1,  action step 4
• General Education – Concern was expressed regarding efforts to increase the General Education diversity requirements from 3 to 6 credits.  Also uncertain about the statement “saturate availability of curricular offerings on diversity” – there are currently 19 courses in the multicultural category of General Education.
• Looking at efforts in creating diversity scholarships
• We are doing some wonderful things but not always as efficient or effective.

VI.  Adjournment.

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.