The
Regular session –
office: Jacobson Faculty Hall 206
phone: 325-6789
e-mail:
The Faculty Senate was called
to order by Professor Aimee Franklin, Chair.
PRESENT: Ahmed,
Apanasov, Asojo, Atiquzzaman, Baer, Bass, Blank, Bradshaw, Conlon, Cox-Fuenzalida,
Deacon, Franklin, Gan, Grasse, Hahn, Jean-Marie, Kent, Kershen, Kimball,
Lauer-Flores, Lifschitz, McDonald, Milton, Mitra, Morrissey, Moses, Moxley, Muraleetharan,
O’Neill, Palmer, Reeder, Rogers, Russell, J. Schmidt, R. Schmidt, Stock, Strauss,
Tabb, Trafalis, Vehik, Verma, Weaver, Williams, Wyckoff, Yi
Provost's office representative: Mergler
ISA representatives: Cook
ABSENT: Dial,
Eodice, Sadler,
________________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
Ed Cline faculty development award recipients
Retirement presentation and panel discussion
Senate Chair's Report:
President’s response to Faculty Senate actions
Academic integrity
Faculty Senate charter revisions and reapportionment
for 2010-13
Faculty award recipients
Athletics tutoring/turnitin.com
Research External Review Committee report
ASPIRE 2020 town hall meetings
OZONE transition issues
Meeting with OSU and HSC
AAUP Annual Report on the Economic Status of the
Profession
Legislative relations
Budget
Research Council charge
Recreational facilities
Preliminary nominations for councils/committees/boards
Guiding principles for budgetary actions
MLLL resolution on University
policy during budgetary shortfalls
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of
The Faculty Senate is pleased
to announce the recipients of the Ed Cline faculty development awards for
2009-10: Monica Alzate (Social Work),
Loretta Bass (Sociology), Lisa Byers (Social Work), Janet Croft (University
Libraries), Kristin Dowell (Anthropology), Barbara Fast (Music), William Frick
(Educational Leadership & Policy Studies), Paul Goode (Political Science),
Konstantinos Karathanasis (Music), Amy Kroska (Sociology), Tamera McCuen
(Construction Science), and Juanita Vargas (Educational Leadership & Policy
Studies).
The
1. Presidential Actions: President
Boren responded on March 12 as follows with regard to the actions the Faculty
Senate took last month (see 3/10 Faculty Senate Journal):
2. Academic Integrity: An organization called Koofers is now offering its
test-file and study-group service to students at the
3. Faculty Senate Reapportionment: The regular faculty received a ballot concerning the
change to the senate charter and approval of the reapportionment for 2010-13
(see 3/10 Faculty Senate Journal). The
deadline to vote is April 16. Those who have
not already voted may do so at this website: https://casapps.ou.edu/esurvey/faculty_senate.
4. Faculty Award Recipients: Senators
who were honored at the Faculty Tribute on April 1:
Good
teaching award: Loretta Bass, Sociology
Patents:
Rong Gan, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
Patents:
Pramode Verma, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Presidential
Professorship: Paula Conlon, Music
Presidential
Professorship: Ralf Schmidt, Math
49-year Anniversary: Don Wyckoff, Sam Noble Oklahoma
Museum of Natural History, Anthropology
20-year
Anniversary: William “
5. Athletics Tutoring/Turnitin.com: Prof. Franklin has been interacting with the
athletics tutoring office,
6. Research External Review Committee Report: In November, Vice President for Research
Kelvin Droegemeier spoke to the Faculty Senate.
Part of his Aspire 2020 plan, his strategic plan for research and
creative activity, was to work on the comments made by the research external review
committee that visited campus in the summer.
The final report of the committee is posted on the Research Cabinet webpage
at: http://researchcabinet.ou.edu/.
7. Aspire 2020: A video from the Town Hall meeting held April 6 is
available at the Aspire 2020 website: https://aspire2020.ou.edu/main.html. A 52-slide PowerPoint file is also available
to download.
8. On March 22 a meeting was
held of the large executive committee, which includes the chairs of Academic
Programs, Athletics, Budget, Continuing Education, Faculty Awards & Honors,
Information Technology and Research councils as well as the
9. On March 24 the Executive
Committee met with the OSU and HSC
faculty council/senate executive committees. General topics were budgets (proposed cuts and
tuition increases/waivers), benefits (health insurance premiums, wellness programs
and retirement benefits), and legislative issues (tuition authority, concealed
carry, tobacco statute). Academic issues
were academic integrity, responsible conduct of research and federal training
requirements, comparison of current and proposed policies regarding research
faculty incentives/SRI, and evidence for tenure. In general, the concerns were very similar
across the three campuses.
10. The 2009–10 AAUP Annual Report on the Economic
Status of the Profession was released today: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/comm/rep/Z/ecstatreport09-10/. An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the overall average
salary for a full-time faculty member increased 1.2 percent over last year, the
lowest year-to-year change recorded in the fifty-year history of the survey. Moreover, when adjusted for inflation, salaries
for continuing faculty members showed the first actual decrease since the
1970s. About 14 percent of reporting
institutions reduced contributions to faculty retirement programs this year,
and a few eliminated retirement contributions entirely. These changes provide limited savings for the
institutions but can create long-term problems for affected faculty members. The report offers a primer on the various
components of the revenue stream for higher education.
11. The ad hoc Legislative Relations Committee will go
to the state capitol on April 13 to talk with key legislators. Faculty who are interested in joining them in
upcoming visits may contact Al Schwarzkopf or Valerie Watts. The legislature acted on the endowed chairs funding
bill, and the bill is waiting to be signed by the Governor. The bill will refinance existing debt, which
will make more funding available for endowed chair positions.
12. Budget Update: At the faculty awards ceremony last week, President
Boren suggested that there would be no faculty or staff furloughs but that the
University was considering furloughs for executive officers. In addition, he seemed to indicate that
changes in our benefit plan were not imminent. The Executive Committee asked him about his
statements at its monthly meeting. President Boren is guardedly optimistic that
the education funding will again be protected in the 2010-2011 budget. The revenue picture continues to look better. While nothing is certain until the Governor
signs the budget bill, it is safe to say that the University will make every
effort to avoid reductions that would impact faculty or staff. Many faculty members have forwarded comments to
Prof. Franklin or the Budget Council regarding the cuts that are being
discussed. In response, the
Prof. Franklin explained that
the substantive change in the Research Council charge was in the paragraph
starting with “Individuals”: “Any unit
that has its own tenure line is eligible to nominate someone whose discipline
matches the call for a disciplinary area listed as having vacancies.” The addition is intended to be more inclusive
of faculty who have non-traditional appointments (see last month’s discussion). The proposed changes in the Research Council
charge (attached) were
approved on a voice vote.
Prof. Franklin said the
proposed resolution for free use of recreational facilities for faculty/staff (attached) was put
forward by the Faculty Welfare Committee and was being introduced by the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
Prof. Strauss asked what a resolution from the Faculty Senate meant. Prof. Franklin responded that action taken on
the resolution would be reported to the President. President Boren seems more interested in the
idea than he has been. Prof. Kershen
asked whether the golf course was included in recreational facilities. Prof. Franklin said it was not. Prof. Bass asked whether such a resolution was
also being considered by the Staff Senate.
Prof. Franklin said she was not aware of one. She asked the senators to gather feedback from
their colleagues and bring their comments to the May meeting, when the vote will
be taken.
The Faculty Senate Committee on Committees’
preliminary nominations for the end-of-year vacancies on university and campus
councils, committees, and boards were distributed at the meeting and will be
voted on at the May meeting. A few
vacancies still need to be filled.
The document, “Guiding
Principles for Budgetary Actions,” primarily developed by the Faculty
Compensation Committee, with input from the Faculty Welfare Committee, the
Budget Council, and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, was distributed at
the meeting (attached). Prof. Franklin pointed out that the
introductory paragraph reiterated the importance of an active participation
process with all stakeholders, not only for long-term financial planning, but
also for short-term budgetary actions. Principle
1 is “active participation of the Budget Council in all institutional budgetary
processes.” Principle 2 is “separate
consideration processes for long-term and short-term budgetary issues.” Principle 3 is “certain values should take
precedence in situations where reductions are inevitable.”
The drafting bodies wanted to
focus on something that would guide the institution in good times as well as
economic distress times and to respond to potential cuts to the defined
contribution plan or to furloughs. They
wanted to address issues that the University is likely to face
continuously. The goal is to make sure
the institution remains strong and competitive and is able to recruit and
retain quality employees. The intent is
to avoid being specific to any one idea or practice but to think instead about
what should be done as a general practice.
The committees are concerned, particularly, about the conflation of
long-term and short-term problems. Over
the long-term, we have issues related to unfunded obligations caused primarily
by health insurance guarantees and retirement programs. We received a negative outlook on our bond
rating because of these long-term obligations.
OU is not unusual in that regard.
It is due in part because of a change required by the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board. For all
public organizations, the unfunded liabilities tend to be an excessively large
number. It does not make sense to talk
about changes to the defined contribution plan as a response to a short-term budget
crisis. Likewise, it does not make sense
to have a short-term solution to a long-term problem. In Principle 2, we recognize the institution
has long-term issues, such as the OTRS unfunded liability. In Principle 3, the emphasis is that our best
resource is the people. We should
respect those people and should not sacrifice the educational mission in the
face of short-term budget cuts. We should
have strategies that provide flexibility so that colleges or units can craft
appropriate responses.
Prof. Milton commended the
work of the
Prof. Strauss said he was
glad to see the last point, “Remain sensitive to the employment expectations
established when employees joined the organization.” He said he wondered if the statement should be
stronger. Promises that are taken back
hurt employee morale. Prof. Franklin said
the President had received correspondence to that effect. She asked the senators to invite feedback and
bring comments to the May meeting or send them to her.
Prof. Baer handed out a
resolution that the Modern Languages, Literatures & Linguistics (MLLL) faculty
unanimously approved in response to potential budget cuts. She asked that it be recorded in the minutes
and suggested that it perhaps could provide a model to other departments. The resolution was done independently of the guiding
principles but corresponds with a lot of the statements in principle three.
The faculty of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures,
and Linguistics would like to express our deep concern regarding impending
budget cuts in the form of reductions to faculty benefits and/or faculty
furloughs.
The essential mission of the university is to educate its
students. The single most vital component in delivering this education to
students is the faculty. Together, students and faculty form the vital core of
the educational institution. To reduce support of faculty is to take aim at the
very heart of the university. This is particularly true in the case of any
reduction having long-term consequences, such as a reduction to faculty
benefits.
We fully recognize the challenging nature of the current economic
situation at our university, in the state of
In this spirit, we request that the university take every measure
to preserve intact its support of faculty.
Resolved by unanimous vote of the MLLL faculty
Tuesday,
Prof. Lauer-Flores commented
that MLLL is one of the largest departments at the university, and it reached a
unanimous decision. Prof. Muraleetharan asked
about the overlap with the guiding principles.
Prof. Franklin said she would recommend forming a joint committee to draft
a document that would reflect both resolutions.
Prof. Baer said her intention was to introduce the resolution from MLLL,
not necessarily have the Faculty Senate vote on it at this meeting. She expected that it might be modified to
reflect the larger perspective of the Faculty Senate.
Prof. Milton said the Physics
& Astronomy faculty discussed the issue of furloughs versus cuts in retirement
benefits and voted against the idea of using cuts in defined contribution plans
(DCP) to address short-term budget shortfalls.
Furloughs would be preferred in that situation. Prof. Franklin said she had received correspondence
from three other departments that were opposed to DCP cuts.
Prof. Apanasov said he
thought the two proposals complemented each other and the senate should work
out some united resolution. By a show of
hands, the senators expressed a preference for having a committee develop a
combined resolution to be discussed at the May meeting. Prof. Franklin said the combined resolution
would be introduced as a friendly amendment.
She will send it to the senators early enough so they can vet it with their
colleagues before the next meeting. There
is a great deal of overlap between the documents. It is reasonable for the senators to discuss
both documents with their colleagues.
The meeting adjourned at 4:18
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday,
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Amy Bradshaw, Faculty Secretary