The University of Oklahoma (Norman campus)
Regular session – November 14, 2011 – 3:30 p.m. – Jacobson Faculty Hall 102
office: Jacobson Faculty Hall 206
phone: 325-6789
e-mail: facsen@ou.edu website:
http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/
The Faculty Senate was called
to order by Professor Georgia Kosmopoulou, Chair.
PRESENT: Adams,
Apanasov, Baer, Bemben, Bergey, Buckley, Burns, Chang, Chiodo, Cox-Fuenzalida,
Ellis, Fagg, Hahn, Jean-Marie, Kimball, Klein, Kosmopoulou, Loon,
Marsh-Matthews, McPherson, Morvant, Moses, Moxley, Natale, Nelson, A. Palmer,
G. Palmer, Ransom, Soreghan, Stock, Stoltenberg, Tabb, Taylor, Vehik, Verma,
Williams, Wydra, Zhu
Provost's office representative: Mergler
Graduate College liaison: Griffith
ISA representatives: Crawford, Hough
ABSENT: Ayres,
Chapple, Devegowda, Grady, Gramoll, Keresztesi, Leseney, Minter, Morrissey,
Park, Xiao, Zhang
________________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
Provost’s Advisory Committee for Women’s
Issues--events
Retirement reception, Annette Schwiebert
Faculty death
Benefits: Roth 403(b)
Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, remarks by executive director
Search committee basics, remarks by Prof. Sheena Murphy
Senate Chair's Report:
Research Council conflict of interest policy
State regents: Chancellor Johnson presentation,
Faculty Advisory Council
Committee on Committee conflict of interest policy
Information Technology Council activities; lecture
capture, oZONE
Bicycle master plan
Benefits: retiree medical plan
Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of October 10, 2011 was approved.
The Provost’s Advisory
Committee for Women’s Issues is hosting the following events directed toward
female faculty and administrators:
Peer mentoring public lecture and discussion: November 16, 10:00 a.m., Heritage Room of the
Union, Ellen Daniell, author of Every Other Thursday;
Work-life balance drop-in lunch: November 16, 11:30 a.m., Couch Dining Hall,
$9 for lunch, hosted by Fay Yarbrough;
Peer writing group:
November 10 and December 1, 8:00-9:30 a.m., Writing Center, breakfast
provided, contact Michele Eodice for other times that writing groups are
meeting;
Navigating professional
relationships: November 29, 11:30 a.m.,
Couch Dining Hall, $9 for lunch, hosted by Connie Chapple.
You
are invited to the retirement reception for Annette Schwiebert,
Information Technology Specialist III, IT Store, on November 16, 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the OU IT Store
Community Space, 329 W. Boyd St.
The
Faculty Senate is sad to report the death of retired faculty member Norman Fogel (Chemistry & Biochemistry) on October 19.
If you are contributing to a 403(b) voluntary retirement savings
plan at OU, you now have the option to make Roth-type contributions. This change was made after a resolution from
the Faculty Welfare Committee was unanimously approved by the Faculty Senate in
February. To change part or all of your contribution amount from pre-tax to Roth
(after-tax), login to your account at Fidelity and click on ‘Contribution Amount.’
Consult
your financial planner to determine if this change is appropriate for your
personal situation.
REMARKS BY DR. JAMES WILBANKS, EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF THE OKLAHOMA TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Dr. Wilbanks
gave a status report on the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System (OTRS). In the last few months, the system had
significant improvement in its funding status as a result of some legislation approved
earlier this year. The June 30, 2010
actuarial report showed that the unfunded liability for OTRS was $10.4
billion. Its funding ratio was 47.8
percent, so OTRS had just under half of the assets on hand that it needed. The funding period was considered infinite,
that is, OTRS would never reach a fully funded status. A defined benefit pension system can either
reach 100 percent funded or enter “the death spiral.” Dr. Wilbanks said
he was happy to report that the June 30, 2011 valuation reported a $7.6 billion
unfunded liability, a funding ratio of 56.7 percent, and a funding period of 22
years. In other words, if OTRS meets all
of its assumptions, the system will be 100 percent funded in 22 years, which is
a pretty significant change for a one-year time period. Investment performance last year was 23.5
percent, which added $1.7 billion in assets.
The target rate of return is eight percent net of fees. The 20-year rate of return is just over nine
percent, so OTRS is exceeding the target and eliminated some of its unfunded
liability. The largest factor in
reducing the unfunded liability was House Bill 2132, which requires the
legislature to provide the funding for any cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for
retirees. COLAs have to be granted by the
legislature. In the past, the fund had
to pay the cost. The downside is the
likelihood of COLAs in the future is very small. To give a one-time two percent COLA to
retirees, the present value cost is $180 million. Pay raises for retired teachers will be a low
priority for the legislature.
Prof. Kosmopoulou asked what
percentage of COLAs had been given in the past few years. Dr. Wilbanks said
no COLA was given in 2010 for any public retirement system in the state. In 2008, retired teachers received two
percent, and all other state retirement systems received four percent. In 2006, it was the same. He said his advice to clients is to start
putting more into their 403b accounts.
He pointed out that OTRS does not have anything to do with OU’s alternate
(optional) retirement plan, which is more like a defined contribution
plan. The nice thing about a defined
benefit plan like OTRS is the plan takes all the risk.
Prof. Ellis asked for a
clarification on the funding period. Dr.
Wilbanks explained that assuming assets continue to
grow at eight percent, the system-wide payroll grows at 4.5 percent a year, and
other assumptions, such as mortality rates, are met, in 22 years, OTRS will
have 100 percent of the assets on hand that it needs to pay all the
benefits. Another assumption is the
legislature will not change the rules.
OTRS covers all three levels of education – K-12, career tech, and
higher education – and some state agencies.
Prof. Ellis asked if the funding ratio meant OTRS currently pays retirees
56.7 percent of what they are due or OTRS borrows the money. Dr. Wilbanks
explained that an individual’s gross retirement benefit is based on a formula,
essentially years of service times a salary figure times two percent. The system takes all the investment risk and
will pay that amount every month. OTRS
is not shorting any retirees and also is not borrowing money. The system just does not have as much money
on hand as the actuary recommends.
Prof. Stock asked for an
explanation of the strong returns OTRS had last year. Dr. Wilbanks said
OTRS takes the view that it has an infinite life span. As such, it does not
care about short-term volatility. OTRS
only invests in assets that appreciate in value or where it gets paid to hold
the asset. For equities, it invests in
domestic mid cap and small cap, international, real estate, and private equity
(five percent). On the bond side, OTRS
invested in the high yield bond space in January 2009 when credit markets were
frozen and made a lot of money on that in the past two years. Prof. Stock said one way to deal with the
lack of COLAs would be to offer graded benefits, as TIAA-CREF does. Individuals can start out with a lower
benefit and get an automatic adjustment upward.
Dr. Wilbanks said that is not an option
currently available. It is something
OTRS has been talking about, but the legislature would have to create that
option. The typical break-even for those
is 10-15 years. If OTRS did offer a
“self-funded COLA,” however, it could reduce the likelihood that the
legislature would provide COLAs and would leave out current retirees. OTRS is talking to the legislature about
responsibly providing COLAs, meaning OTRS would have to have some revenue
source to offset the cost.
Prof. Murphy asked how the
health of OTRS compared to analogous organizations in other states. Dr. Wilbanks
answered that until recently, OTRS had one of the five worst funded pension
systems in the country. He said those
rankings are a little misleading because they are based on funding ratios
only. Funding ratio only says where the
plan is at the moment. The funding
period tells the direction the plan is headed.
With HB 2132, the contributions and benefits are in line. OTRS is in much better shape than it was a
year ago.
Prof. Klein pointed out that
6-7 years ago, incoming employees were allowed to opt out of OTRS. Previous employees were told the University
was working with the IRS to allow them to quit participating in the system. She asked about the status of that situation. Dr. Wilbanks said
OTRS was waiting for a determination letter from the IRS on that question, but
it is unlikely to happen. The IRS frowns
on employees leaving a plan with a current employer and moving to a different
plan. Prof. Klein asked whether someone
who is obliged to participate in the plan could stop contributing and move
their accumulated funds someplace else.
Dr. Wilbanks said that would all depend on
whether the IRS approves a change. Prior
to the creation of the alternate retirement plan, all classified employees had
to join OTRS as a condition of their employment. Since 2006, OU and OSU employees who are new
to the university can choose the alternate retirement plan. Anyone who was previously in OTRS remains and
has to continue contributing while employed.
Prof. Burns asked whether
eight percent was a reasonable growth projection. He also asked about the robustness of the
fund and the drawdowns. Dr. Wilbanks replied that money coming into the system comes
from three sources: employees,
employers, and dedicated revenue. In
FY2010, OTRS had a $40 million shortfall in outflows versus inflows. In FY2011, the shortfall was up to $100
million. During that period, we were in
a recession, so state revenues were depressed, which in turn affected the
dedicated revenue and employee and employer contributions. The projection is there will be some revenue
growth in 2013, and contributions will be close to outflows. Prof. Burns asked what the actuaries had
given as confidence intervals for the projections. Dr. Wilbanks said
he did not know off the top of his head.
Following Dr. Wilbanks’s presentation, there was some discussion about
the projections, the availability of the fund for future retirees, and a
defined benefit versus a defined contribution.
REMARKS BY PROF. SHEENA MURPHY
CONCERNING SEARCH COMMITTEE BASICS
Prof. Sheena Murphy (Physics
& Astronomy) started with some background information (slides available
from the Faculty Senate office). The
National Science Foundation has an Advance program to enhance the recruitment
and retention of women and underrepresented minorities, particularly in STEM
disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). OU was awarded a $500,000 Advance grant over
a three-year period, and the grant just came to an end. The project grew out of the Arts &
Sciences dean’s advisory committee on women’s issues and had support from
Provost Mergler, the Oklahoma state regents, Vice President for Research
Droegemeier, and OK-EPSCoR. The principal investigators held two
conferences, one at OU in 2008, and another in 2010 in Lawrence, Kansas. The idea was to generate interest in
diversity issues across the Big 12. All
the Big 12 schools were represented at the 2010 conference. Other activities included search committee
workshops, a longitudinal climate survey, a distinguished speakers
series, and an outreach effort, which was expanded to all disciplines on
campus.
Prof. Murphy presented some
demographics for OU faculty. She said an
excellent resource is the Fact Book on the Provost web page. There is more diversity in the assistant
professor population. The percentage of
foreign nationals dwindles as they move to full professor. In terms of student demographics, since the
late 1980s, the percentage of the student body that identifies as Hispanic is
increasing and will continue to increase.
The Hispanic population in the United States is a rapidly growing
minority, and the largest number of OU’s out-of-state students comes from Texas
and California, which have significant Hispanic populations. The African American population has
decreased, and the Native American population has increased and then
plateaued. The slide on student
demographics also includes arrows on the right that indicate the percentage of
assistant professors who identify in that particular ethnic group. The literature suggests that minority
students do better with role models (i.e., faculty) of their own ethnicity.
In 2007 a climate survey was
conducted in five colleges. Over 200
faculty members responded. They were
reasonably happy with working at the university, and few had experienced overt
discrimination. Certain populations,
particularly African Americans, experienced more discrimination than other
groups. More information is available at
www.ou.edu/advance.
The search committee training
was set up as workshops where faculty could make contributions to the
dialog. The workshops were held in the
colleges of Arts & Sciences, Architecture, and Engineering and with the new
chairs and directors in Arts & Sciences.
Topics included committee construction, establishing criteria for the
search, reaching the pool, documentation, and avoiding legal pitfalls. A manual called Recruiting for Excellence
& Diversity is available on the Advance website. The point is to hire the best person for the
position and to think of all the things you want in that faculty member,
whether it be good scholarship, good citizenship, good teaching, etc. Departments should discuss those criteria and
decide what is important for them before they put out the ad. For example, collegiality can be a factor. Discussing legal pitfalls, Prof. Murphy noted
that there are lots of opportunities for illegal questions to be asked during a
faculty search. Questions should not be
asked about religion, ethnic origin, marital status,
employment status of a spouse, parenthood, future parenthood, and
disability. One tip for recruiting is make the hard decisions early. Candidates will tell others about their
interview experience. It is better to
establish what you are looking for ahead of time. Start interviewing early. Think of people who are members of
underrepresented groups and have them come and give a seminar through a
colloquium and seminar series. Consider
the intangibles, such as citizenship and mentoring students. The bottom line is to hire the best person
you can.
Prof. Bemben asked what happens
if during the interview, the candidate brings up something on the list of legal
pitfalls. Prof. Murphy said then it is
fine to talk about that. Prof. Nelson
asked whether the workshops were still being offered and whether there were
resources online. Prof. Murphy said the
workshops were still being offered, and there are links to those in the online
material. Prof. Morvant noted that in a
previous presentation, Prof. Murphy had suggested that having graduate students
on search committees could have a positive effect on recruiting. Prof. Murphy explained that the University of
California-Berkley had evaluated those campuses in the system that hired
minority candidates at a higher rate than the available pool would indicate and
found they had graduate students on the committees. Those at the lower rate had a diversity
officer on the committees. The
hypothesis was the search committee members had abdicated responsibility for
diversity to the diversity officer. For
search committees with graduate students, people were more careful about what
they said and did in the presence of graduate students, and that encouraged
more fairness. Prof. Nelson asked
whether they correlated for minority faculty in the departments that hired more
minorities. Prof. Murphy said she did
not know how strongly correlated that was with the results. Prof. Nelson said she had found it was very
discipline specific.
Prof. Kosmopoulou pointed out
that the longer presentation included a number of sources and information about
how to reach a larger pool of candidates.
Prof. Murphy said the longer presentation is about 2.5 hours and is held
in a group setting. Her presentation at
this meeting was to let the faculty know that the resources exist.
“The conflict of
interest policy for the Research Council was approved and finalized on October
17. The COI policy will be part of the
operating procedures of the council. The website of the VPR is currently
updated with all the relevant information.
“The annual State
Regents Faculty Assembly took place on Saturday, November 12. Chancellor Glen D. Johnson gave a
presentation on the state of Oklahoma higher education. The PowerPoint presentation can be accessed
on the web at the following site: http://okhighered.org/state-system/powerpoints/powerpoints.shtml.
The Faculty Advisory
Council (FAC) to the state regents discussed its work plan and priorities. At the October meeting, Dr. Debbie Blanke, Associate
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, gave a presentation on services for adult
students.
“The executive
committee of the Faculty Senate met on November 7, and among other issues we
discussed our interest in establishing conflict of interest policies for the
committee on committees. The proposal
will be brought to the Senate in our next regular meeting.
“I received an
update from the chair of the Information
Technology Council (ITC) Al Schwarzkopf, who said that there is continuous interaction and feedback between the ITC and
IT. ITC met on November 10 and heard a
presentation from Tegrity, one of the vendors for
lecture capture. There are four vendors
that were selected, each with a slightly different capability. The chosen vendors are Echo 360, Panopto, Tegrity, and Visionality. The ITC
also had a presentation about future directions from representatives of
SunGard, the vendors of the class records component in oZONE. The ITC goal for the year is to better
organize the faculty, advisor, and student experiences through refining the
technologies they have available.
Improving the oZONE interface is high on that
agenda. We discussed that issue
and got some comments from you, and I passed those to Al Schwarzkopf. Al Schwarzkopf volunteered to serve on the oZONE change request committee. I did not hear from anyone else on the call
for nominations, so I will forward Prof. Schwarzkopf’s name.
“Update from the
Bicycle Master Plan Steering Committee: The consultants hired by the University
from ALTA Planning+Design presented a draft of the
Campus Bicycle Master Plan to the Faculty Welfare Committee, Sustainability
Committee, and others on October 20, 2011.
The master plan maps out a bicycle network and addresses related issues
such as signage and storage. The final
version of the Campus Bicycle Master Plan is expected to be completed in
November 2011 at the earliest, pending completion of the design study for the
Scholars Walk. Proposed bicycle
facilities are categorized as near-term (0-5 years), medium-term (5-10 years)
and long-term (>10 years). Implementation of near-term facilities can begin
in early 2012.”
Prof. Scott Moses, chair of
the Faculty Welfare Committee, was present at the meeting. He added that in the near term, five
facilities (paths) are in the plan.
First is to replace the current path on the south oval with a dedicated
class 1 path. Second is a multiuse path
from Brooks to Stinson on Jenkins. Third
is a Maple Avenue “share the road” route from Lindsey to Timberdell. Fourth is a bike lane on Asp Avenue from
Lindsey to Timberdell, which would continue from Timberdell to Imhoff as a
multi-use path (fifth path). A
consultant was hired to help create a master plan. The idea is as we build these near-term
facilities, we will start to create support and awareness about how we can make
the campus more bicycle friendly. The
plan says little about areas north of Lindsey, and it
does not do a lot to help commuters. It
is a mixture of paths that can lead to confusion, but it is progress. The Faculty Senate passed a resolution about
two and a half years ago, and we almost have a master plan now.
“Human Resources is planning town hall
meetings for the proposed changes to the retiree medical plan for the last week
of January/first week of February in 2012.
They are receiving feedback from faculty, staff and retirees regarding
the proposal. As of today the proposal
remains the same as the one presented in our first Faculty Senate meeting in
September. If you have comments, please
do not hesitate to contact Nick Kelly or Julius Hilburn in Human Resources.”
COALITION ON INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
Prof. Ransom asked if the
Faculty Senate had ever involved itself in the Coalition on Intercollegiate
Athletics. He pointed out that the
faculty senates at OSU and Texas are members.
Ms. Fallgatter replied that the OU Faculty Senate was aware of the COIA
and opted not to join. The rationale was
the Athletics Council was providing proper faculty oversight of athletics.
The meeting adjourned at 4:40
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, December 12, 2011, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Fran Ayres, Faculty Secretary