The University of Oklahoma (Norman campus)
Regular session – January 23, 2012 – 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: Apanasov,
Ayres, Baer, Bemben, Bergey, Buckley, Chang, Ellis, Fagg, Grady, Gramoll, Hahn,
Jean-Marie, Keresztesi, Kimball, Klein, Kosmopoulou, Laubach, Leseney, Loon, McPherson,
Minter, Morvant, Moses, Natale, Nelson, A. Palmer, G. Palmer, Park, Ransom, Soreghan,
Stock, Stoltenberg, Tabb, Vehik, Verma, Williams, Wydra
ISA representatives:
Cook, Crawford, Hough
ABSENT: Adams,
Burns, Chapple, Cox-Fuenzalida, Devegowda, Marsh-Matthews, Morrissey, Moxley, Taylor,
Xiao, Zhang, Zhu
________________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
Museum of Art website for faculty
Faculty development awards
Remarks by faculty athletics representative Connie Prof. Dillon
Remarks by Prof. Donna Nelson concerning opportunities for scientists
Committee on Committees conflict of interest policy
Election, Commencement Committee
Senate Chair's Report:
New senator
Higher Education Day
Fees for computers sold through the IT Store
Center for Applied Research and Development – Applied
Program Support
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of December 12, 2011 was approved.
The Fred Jones
Jr. Museum of Art is growing physically with the recent opening of the Stuart
Wing and has added a new position to its education department. Jessica Farling (jrfarling@ou.edu), the coordinator of academic programs,
is serving as a liaison with faculty and students to facilitate the use of the
growing collection in faculty research and the university curriculum. The faculty resource page that has been added
to the museum’s website is at http://www.ou.edu/content/fjjma/getInvolved/ou-faculty.html.
There, you will find information about how to use the collection. You may also join the museum’s mailing list
while visiting the page.
The Faculty Senate sent out
the call for proposals for the Ed Cline faculty development awards on November
10. Proposals are due to the Faculty
Senate office on February 3. Up to $2500
is awarded. Further information is
available at http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/facdev.htm.
Prof. Kosmopoulou noted that
Prof. Emily Johnson, chair of the athletics council, gave a report to the Faculty
Senate Executive Committee in November (see 12/11 Senate Journal). Prof. Connie Dillon (Educational Leadership
& Policy Studies), faculty athletics representative, was asked to tell the
Senate about the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, oversight of
athletics, and other athletics issues. Prof.
Dillon said she brought two graduate assistants from the Athletics Department who
are in the Adult and Higher Education master’s program to the meeting. She said she would be happy to answer any
questions about the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics or intercollegiate
athletics in general.
Prof. Grady asked for the
Athletics Department’s opinion on the proposed $2000 increase in aid for student-athletes. Prof. Dillon answered that as the Faculty
Athletics Representative (FAR), she has been supporting this change, and she believes
the Athletics Department is supportive. Much
of the press has advocated for paying the full cost of attendance beyond the
current NCAA limit of grant-in-aid, which covers room, board, tuition, fees,
and books.
Prof. Kosmopoulou asked Prof.
Dillon to describe OU’s oversight policy.
Prof. Dillon said she downloaded the principles of the Coalition on
Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) from its website. Coalition leaders have attended many of the
faculty athletics representative meetings over the years. Almost every year Prof. Dillon goes to the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee and reminds the group that the Faculty
Senate could consider joining COIA. Prof.
Dillon said she did not know if the coalition made any difference in terms of athletic
policies, but it has received the attention of the press about faculty senate concerns
related to intercollegiate athletics. The
faculty voice and academic integrity often get lost in the mix of
commercialism, conference realignment, tournaments, and CBS and ESPN deals. It is of value to remind the public that intercollegiate
athletics is about college, not just sports.
Prof. Dillon said she is happy about the involvement and the oversight
that the athletics council provides at OU.
The athletics council does most of what is prescribed in the COIA principles,
even exceeding in some areas. In the Big
12, OSU, Texas, and Missouri are members of the COIA. At OU, faculty members on the athletics council
review certain specially admitted students, and teams with academic performance
problems are required to meet with the academic integrity committee of the
athletics council in the development of improvement plans. The council has much more oversight on fiscal
matters than it had several years ago when the athletics department had accrued
an operating debt. President Boren and our
current athletics director Joe Castiglione value faculty input, and Mr.
Castiglione is open and transparent with faculty. She sees the athletics council as a critical
component of institutional control, which is an NCAA requirement. The Faculty Senate has done a good job in
appointing faculty members who are willing to ask tough questions.
Prof. Ayres asked whether all
schools had a policy of sending checkers to class to track attendance as
rigorously as we do. Prof. Dillon replied
that a number of schools do monitor class attendance. Several years ago, the
athletics council helped develop our class attendance policy, which was
supported by Mr. Castiglione. Not going
to class affects student-athletes’ college performance and their eligibility to
play. There have been considerable
benefits in terms of class attendance and also class completion. Prof. Ayres asked Prof Dillon to comment on
OU’s policy about airplanes and coaches’ travel. Prof. Dillon said that since the 2001 OSU
plane crash, the athletics department has been giving the athletics council a
report on student-athlete health and safety as well as travel safety. The OU policy
on travel by coaches requires twin engine aircraft and two pilots and
stipulates other requirements. Student-athlete
travel has more stringent requirements. The
athletics department is looking into how the policy is monitored and will
report to the council in February.
Prof. Jean-Marie inquired
about the graduation rate trend over the past 5-10 years and how we compare
with other institutions. Prof. Dillon said
our rates are improving. In the Big 12,
we are in the middle of the pack, but that is not good enough. Overall graduation rates are improving, in
part because of the NCAA academic performance program. There has been a big improvement in the
graduation rate of the men’s basketball team, which had a zero graduation rate
several years ago. Last year, the
four-year graduation rate was nearly equal to the graduation rate of the
student body, which is approximately 60 percent. In doing comparisons to the student body, the
rate that is used is the federal rate, which counts transfer students differently
than the NCAA rate. The NCAA uses the
graduation success rate (GSR), which does not penalize an institution if a student-athlete
leaves eligible, and a student-athlete who transfers to the University is
placed in the graduation cohort. Prof. Soreghan
inquired about our target and the plan to get there. Prof. Dillon said we want every
student-athlete to graduate, but that would be difficult to attain. Penn State’s GSR was one of the highest, at 80
percent. Student-athletes are recruited
earlier than ever and are pressed to make decisions that may not be best for
them. One of the things that the academic
integrity subcommittee of the athletics council examines each year is whether
student-athletes look like the student body academically. So long as commercialism is rampant, BCS
institutions, in particular, are pressured to bring in students who may not be
academically qualified. Prof. Kimball pointed
out that the baseball numbers skew things because baseball players often are
drafted to play professionally after one year.
A great deal of effort is being put into helping students complete their
degrees even if they have become professional athletes. Those students may not even show up
statistically. Prof. Dillon said OU has
been number one for several years in terms of graduating student-athletes after
they have left. Prof. Palmer asked if
they take online courses primarily. Prof.
Dillon said some take online courses and some come back to class. We have other policies that move our
student-athletes toward graduation. To
remain eligible, the NCAA requires a student-athlete to complete 24 hours a
year. Our athletics council also worked
to develop policy that requires OU’s student-athletes to complete 30 hours a
year. By their senior year, student-athletes
may have only a few hours left, which makes it easier
to finish, especially for those who may be drafted. What the council did on class attendance and
the 30-hour rule has really made a difference.
Prof. Bergey asked whether
the pom squad was involved. Prof. Dillon responded that the pom squad and cheer squad are spirit squads and are not
NCAA sports. There is some discussion
about including spirit squads as NCAA sports.
Prof. Nelson said when there
were discussions about modifying the conference membership,
there was concern that OU was not a member of the AAU. Prof. Dillon said she had heard that AAU
membership was important to the Big 10 when it added Nebraska, but Nebraska
lost its AAU status soon afterward.
Prof. Minter inquired about
advising for student-athletes and the motivation for students to get their
degrees. Prof. Dillon explained that the
University has an academic advising service.
The athletics department has academic advisers who advise student-athletes
about their major, progress toward degree, and those sorts of things. She pointed out that the NBA requires athletes
to be in college one year to be eligible for the draft; the NFL requires three
years. Baseball student-athletes can be
drafted without attending college, but many come to OU because they hope to be
seen and drafted. Because of this, some student-athletes
attend college so that they can pursue a professional athletic career, but most
student-athletes understand they need a degree.
Student-athletes tell her how supportive our faculty has been and how
positive they feel about their classes. Two
issues where she could use faculty assistance is with monitoring class
attendance and helping student-athletes find the major they want and still be
student-athletes. Many student-athletes
tell her they cannot major in a certain degree because the courses conflict
with their practice and competition.
Prof. Klein pointed out that
attendance has a lot to do with success in a course, yet many student-athletes
miss an enormous amount of class because of competitions. She asked whether anything was being done to address
when the competitions are being scheduled.
Prof. Dillon explained that basketball and baseball, in particular, play
a lot of games. If a team makes the
playoffs, its members will miss class. Prof.
Dillon has been arguing at the national level for reducing the number of games
per season. She is working with the athletics
council to monitor and watch practice and competition times. The athletics department does make sure the
student-athletes have study time when they are away from campus.
Prof. Palmer asked how
student-athletes are advised and whether they start in University College. Prof. Dillon said they work with the athletic
academic advisers first, but those advisers interact with the University academic
advisers. Prof. Kimball said there is a
great deal of concern among the athletics staff about missing class for
competition. The athletics council
weighed in strongly on this issue when OU discussed joining the PAC 10. Competing with the west coast teams would
lead to even more class time missed. Prof.
Dillon noted that the Athletics Director and athletics council spoke out about
missed class time during those discussions.
Prof. Palmer said it seemed
that many student-athletes cluster into particular majors. She asked if advisers told them about options
or if they simply major in what their friends major in. Prof. Dillon replied that the athletics
council looks at majors. Men’s football
has a variety of majors. A growing
number of student-athletes are majoring in multidisciplinary studies, but that
also is happening with the general student body. She asked for the faculty to help in
providing classes at times that do not conflict with practices. Prof. Minter said he had a track athlete take
some dance courses as an elective. The
student-athlete wanted to major in Dance but could not because of her
schedule. Prof. Dillon talked about a
student-athlete who wanted a degree in Art.
The coach and the faculty member worked together on scheduling, and the
student was able to get an Art degree. Prof.
Fagg said the concern is they are not being advised of the options. Prof. Dillon said the Fine Arts faculty could
talk about opportunities in the arts at the student-athlete orientation.
Prof. Donna Nelson (Chemistry
& Biochemistry) discussed a new project intended to benefit faculty, OU,
and the state of Oklahoma by increasing the number of Fellows of scientific
societies who reside in Oklahoma and, in particular, who are at OU. Achieving multiple Fellow designations usually
constitutes milestones on the path to membership in the National Academies. The number of Fellows among faculty can also
be considered when ranking universities for and/or considering them for
membership in organizations such as the AAU. Increasing the number of nationally-recognized
faculty in Oklahoma will increase visibility and help to identify OU's leaders
serving in professional organizations.
A good place to start is
increasing the number of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science Fellows, for several reasons. The AAAS is multidisciplinary, and its Fellows
designation has reasonable criteria to meet. OU currently has several AAAS Fellows, so it
would be somewhat easy to find a Fellow to nominate another OU faculty member
interested in being nominated. Increasing the number of AAAS Fellows would be
a worthy endeavor because the number is considered in rankings, such as that
for AAU membership, whereas Fellows of other professional organizations are not
always considered.
Professional development
opportunities are also being planned for the group of Oklahoma Fellows. Any OU faculty member
who is interested in being nominated for AAAS Fellow and thereby joining the
group, can contact Dr. Donna Nelson at djnelson@ou.edu for information.
Prof. Kosmopoulou explained
that the proposed change in the bylaws of the Faculty Senate’s Committee on
Committees would add a conflict of interest policy (attached). The revisions were discussed in December (see
12/11 Senate Journal). The main changes
are in the last paragraph. The Senate
approved the changes on a voice vote.
The Senate approved on a
voice vote the Faculty Senate Committee on Committees’ nomination of Dan Butko
(Architecture) to replace Maura Valentino (University Libraries) on the
Commencement Committee for the term 2010-12.
“Tim Laubach (Instructional Leadership & Academic
Curriculum) was elected by the College of Education to the Faculty Senate to
complete the 2010-13 term of John Chiodo (Instructional Leadership &
Academic Curriculum). Congratulation on your election.
“Higher Education Day
is coming up on February 21. This is a day where educators and students gather
at the State Capitol to promote the importance of higher education to lawmakers.
“In our
last executive committee meeting, we invited Prof. Al Schwarzkopf to discuss
the work of the Information Technology (IT) Council and also IT Vice President Loretta
Early, who talked about emerging technology trends and identified areas of
focus for IT. We discussed service fees on computers sold through the IT store
and Loretta said that, for computers provided in academic departments, IT will
remove a number of existing fees, such as the customization fees, costs
associated with receiving and staging for Windows, and program management
fees.
“The Vice President for Research (VPR) office established
recently the Center for Applied Research and Development (CARD), and the VPR
website is updated with all the information on the center (see http://vpr-norman.ou.edu/files/vpr/reports/CARD.pdf). The VPR’s office also established a new
internal funding program known as Applied Program Support (APS), designed to
provide discretionary resources to support research. APS applies only to activities associated
with CARD. The VPR received feedback
from a number of faculty and administrators and has created a structure for APS;
it can be found on the website.”
The meeting adjourned at 4:31
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13, 2012, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Fran Ayres, Faculty Secretary