The University of Oklahoma (Norman campus)
Regular session – May 7, 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: Baer
(1), Bemben (0), Bergey (1), Bisel (1), Chang (1), Devegowda (2), Ellis (2), Grady (2), Gramoll (2), Hahn (0), Keresztesi (2), Klein (2),
Kosmopoulou (0), Laubach (1), Leseney (2), Loon (1), Marsh-Matthews (2),
McPherson (1), Minter (2), Morvant (0), Moses (0), Moxley (3), Nelson (0), A. Palmer
(0), G. Palmer (1), Park (3), Stock (1), Stoltenberg (1), Tabb (2), Taylor (3),
Vehik (0), Verma (1), Wydra (1), Zhang (3), Zhu (3)
Provost's office representative: Mergler
Graduate College liaison: Taylor
ISA representatives: Cook, Hough
ABSENT: Adams
(5), Apanasov (1), Ayres (3), Buckley (1), Burns (3), Cox-Fuenzalida (4), Fagg (1),
Jean-Marie (3), Kimball (3), Morrissey (4), Natale (3), Ransom (1), Soreghan (1),
Williams (3)
[Note: During the period from June 2011
to May 2012, the Senate held 9 regular sessions and no special sessions. The figures in parentheses above indicate the
number of absences.]
________________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
Schedule of Senate meetings for fall 2012
Summary of Speakers Service program
Faculty retirees
Bike to Work Day
CRPDE administrator
Remarks by Athletics Director Joe Castiglione
Senate Chair's Report:
Rewards for receiving prestigious awards and
fellowships
Benefits: Retiree medical benefit proposal
Budget
Online purchasing system
Phased retirement
Electronic submission of tenure and promotion dossiers
Faculty Advisory Council to the state regents: new
funding formula, affordable learning
Retirement contributions for summer salary
Certificates of appreciation
Election, councils/committees/boards and Senate standing committees
Election, Senate Executive Committee
Resolution of appreciation to Prof. Georgia Kosmopoulou
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of April 9, 2012 was approved.
The regular meetings of the
Faculty Senate for fall 2012 will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Jacobson Faculty Hall
102 on the following Mondays: September
10, October 8, November 12, and December 10.
Summary of the activities of
the Faculty Senate Speakers Service for the past year: From May 2011 to April 2012, the Faculty
Senate office arranged for 50 faculty and staff to give 103 presentations to 56
organizations in 18 communities throughout the state. The Faculty Senate and the University
sincerely appreciate the members of the Speakers Service who share their
expertise and knowledge with the people of Oklahoma.
The
Faculty Senate thanks these faculty members who retired during the past
academic year for their dedication and contribution to our community.
|
NAME |
DEPARTMENT |
RETIREMENT DATE |
CAME TO OU |
|
Abraham, Michael |
Chemistry & Biochemistry |
6/1/2012 |
1973 |
|
Breen, Marilyn |
Mathematics |
7/1/2012 |
1971 |
|
Caldwell, Janalee
|
Zoology/OMNH |
1/1/2012 |
1990 |
|
Cook, Paul |
Chemistry & Biochemistry |
8/1/2012 |
1996 |
|
Dillon, Connie |
Educ. Lead. & Policy Studies |
7/1/2012 |
1988 |
|
Doezema,
Ryan |
Physics & Astronomy |
5/16/2012 |
1979 |
|
Elugardo,
Reinaldo |
Philosophy |
7/1/2012 |
1989 |
|
Emery, Gary |
Finance |
7/1/2012 |
1987 |
|
Fillpot,
Bob |
Architecture |
8/1/2012 |
1998 |
|
Herrerias,
Catalina |
Human Relations |
6/1/2012 |
1999 |
|
Hurtado,
Albert |
History |
6/1/2012 |
1998 |
|
Jenson White, Kathryn |
Journalism & Mass Comm. |
6/1/2012 |
1992 |
|
Kamoche,
Jidlaph |
History |
7/1/2012 |
1977 |
|
Kershen, Drew |
Law |
6/1/2012 |
1971 |
|
Latrobe, Kathy |
Library & Information St. |
7/1/2012 |
1986 |
|
Lee, Sul |
University Libraries |
7/1/2012 |
1978 |
|
Magid, Andy |
Mathematics |
6/1/2012 |
1972 |
|
McCullough, Darryl |
Mathematics |
1/1/2012 |
1978 |
|
Noley,
Grayson |
Educ. Lead. & Policy Studies |
5/10/2012 |
1996 |
|
Rager, Kathleen |
Educ. Lead. & Policy Studies |
1/1/2012 |
2001 |
|
Ralston, David |
Mgt./Internat’l
& Area St. |
8/1/2011 |
1999 |
|
Rath, Carl |
Music |
5/16/2012 |
1981 |
|
Rodgers III, Joseph |
Psychology |
7/1/2012 |
1981 |
|
Romanishin,
William |
Physics & Astronomy |
1/1/2012 |
1989 |
|
Ryan, Stewart |
Physics & Astronomy |
1/1/2012 |
1977 |
|
Schlegel, Robert |
Industrial & Systems Engr. |
3/2/2012 |
1980 |
|
Swoyer,
F. Christopher |
Philosophy |
6/1/2012 |
1975 |
|
Tull,
Monte |
Elec. & Comp. Engr. |
1/1/2012 |
1995 |
|
Vitt,
Laurie |
Zoology/OMNH |
1/1/2012 |
1990 |
|
Zmud,
Robert |
Management Info. Systems |
8/1/2012 |
1998 |
The Mathematics Department
invites you to a retirement reception for Dr. Andy Magid (1989-90
Faculty Senate Chair) on May 7, 4:00-6:00 p.m., in Beaird
Lounge of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. RSVP to 325-6711.
The annual Bike to Work Day
for central Oklahoma is Friday, May 18 (see http://www.acogok.org/Newsroom/biketowork12.asp). It is part of
a national campaign to promote bicycling as a healthy and efficient
transportation alternative.
The Center for
Research Program Development and Enrichment (CRPDE) is pleased to announce that
Susan Dubbs was recently appointed as its Center
Administrator. She will be assuming many
of the duties previously performed by Cindy Clark. Ms. Clark remains in CRPDE but has new
responsibilities administering the Research Council, administering internal
funding programs for the Vice President for Research, and managing the limited
submission process for OU.
REMARKS BY ATHLETICS DIRECTOR JOE
CASTIGLIONE
Athletics
Director Joe Castiglione said he has met with the Faculty Senate all 14 years
he has been here and sometimes with the executive committee. He said he wants to operate as an extension
of the University’s mission and in full transparency.
He
introduced Dr. Connie Dillon, faculty athletics representative, who was a
former Faculty Senate chair and served on the Athletics Council. He said she has worked hard to understand the
challenges of student-athletes, and he appreciates her leadership at OU and
nationally. The incoming chair of the
Athletics Council is Charles Kimball, who is a member of the Faculty Senate. He then gave an overview of the Athletics Department’s
activities.
Mr.
Castiglione subscribes to the concept of the student-athlete, not
athlete-student. He is aware of the
challenges the department will face in the next several years. The department continues to make progress. Last semester, 65 out of nearly 600 student-athletes
had a 4.0 GPA. More than two-thirds
maintain a 3.0 GPA or better. Eleven of
the 21 teams have at least a 3.0 GPA. The
cumulative GPA is 2.996.
Student-athletes do many great things outside their athletic
careers. A football student-athlete
received the John Wooden Citizenship Cup last year. OU has had two winners in six years. In January, a former women’s basketball
player, Danielle Robinson, was named one of the NCAA Top VIII award winners. Student-athletes give back to the community
in schools, in reading programs, and to students who are challenged
academically. Over 1400 hours of
community service are performed a year on top of the hours committed to academics
and athletics.
The
Athletics Department tries to find ways to build relationships with a variety
of colleges. The department established
a $1 million endowment with the library, which is funded with a portion of the proceeds
from the sale of licensed merchandise, and worked with library dean Sul Lee on
the Books That Inspire project. Mr.
Castiglione served on the search committee for the new library dean, Rick
Luce. The Athletics Department also has
partnerships with Engineering, Education, Business, and Journalism & Mass
Communication. Sixty students work in
the Athletics Department’s Sooner Vision video department on video boards, live
event production, and other feature productions.
Graduation
rates are improving. Some of the strategies
put in place in recent years are paying dividends. In time, student-athlete graduation rates
should mirror the general student body. This
week, 102 students are receiving their degrees.
Thirty-eight completed their degrees in four years, 18 are completing
master’s degrees, two are receiving Ph.D.s and one is
receiving a law degree.
Financially,
the department faces the same challenges as the rest of the campus. The difference is the Athletics Department is
totally self-sustaining. It does not
receive any money from the state, university or student fees. The budget is almost $94 million. Only 5-6 athletics programs in the country
are totally self-sustaining. Today, the
department competes in a very difficult arena. The focus is on setting the right
expectations, operating with core values, and competing at the highest
level. Student-athletes have the
opportunity to compete against the best there is in the United States. In addition to addressing its financial
demands, the department assists the campus by providing about $7 million toward
the academic budget in unrestricted money.
It is rare among universities in the country for an athletics program to
provide that level of funding and for as long a time. Mr. Castiglione said he understands the
criticism about commercialism, coaches’ salaries, facilities, and the arms race
in athletics. The way the Athletics
Department compensates the coaches relates to their contributions to their
sport. All of the funds come from
private sources and have nothing to do with funds that would go to the
campus. The Athletics Department
generates funds though donor giving, corporate sponsorships, and so on. In these tough economic times, the department
has held back on hiring staff, just as the campus has, and has not expanded. Its budget has stayed relatively flat over
the last 3-4 years in spite of rising costs.
Some
of the teams are having better years than ever, yet they do not get the
attention that other sports receive. Football
had a successful season, 10-3, and has a great coach. Football expects to have another good team
this year. Basketball has a new coach,
Lon Kruger, who is trying to build relationships across campus. Women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale did an exceptionally good job, finishing second in
the Big 12 and going to the NCAA tournament.
Men’s and women’s gymnastics went to the national championships. The track team is ranked in the top 15. Women’s rowing is only in its fourth year and
almost won the conference title this year.
The women’s golf team won the conference championship. Across the board, the sports programs are
competing strongly, and the student-athletes are doing
well in the classroom.
In
an effort to improve the resources provided to student-athletes, a new
residence hall is being built and will open in fall 2013. Although 51 percent of the beds must be
filled by non-student-athletes, the Athletics Department is trying to raise
money to pay for the entire building. The
facility is state of the art, is close to classes, and will have a small amount
of retail space on the first floor that can serve the general student body. Prof. Moses asked if the Athletics Department
would pay completely for the new dorm.
Ms. Castiglione said it is being paid with private funds that will come
from donors, sponsorships, and some of the TV rights fees. The majority of the residents will be first
and second year students. Some of the academic
support areas will be housed there to make it convenient to the students.
Prof.
Grady asked about the future of TV rights, specifically contracts with men’s
basketball and football, and the new conference realignment. Mr. Castiglione said the conference
realignment came about over the past two years; he hopes for no more changes
this summer. The bulk of the TV rights
fees are distributed to the conference according to a revenue-sharing
model. In the past, a portion would go
into an incentive pool for teams that appeared on TV and incentivized teams
that scheduled more high profile non-conference match-ups. Now any revenue – TV rights, post season,
bowl games, NCAA tournaments, and sponsorships – generated in our conference is
split equally between the ten member institutions.
Prof.
Palmer asked whether Mr. Castiglione had a wish list of sports he would like to
have here. Mr. Castiglione said an
extensive review was done several years ago before the Athletics Department
added women’s rowing. People have asked
about adding men’s soccer and hockey and men’s and women’s
swimming. Given the Athletics Department
commitment to women’s sports and Title IX compliance, no men’s sports will be
added at this time. About 85 women
participate in rowing, and the facilities are being expanding here on campus
and in Oklahoma City.
Ms.
Castiglione said he was excited to give a sneak preview of an offer that came
out of conversations with the Faculty Senate and Athletics Council. The department is developing a new
faculty/staff all sports pass that will be effective this fall. Mr. Castiglione said it will be quite a good
bargain. The $40 pass will admit the
employee and a guest to all regular season baseball, women’s softball, men’s
and women’s gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, and wrestling. Certain sports are free anyway. Conference and NCAA events would have a
separate admission charge. Mr.
Castiglione said this would give more people a chance to get involved with
sports and support our student-athletes.
More details on how to order one will be transmitted in the next few
weeks.
“The office of the Vice
President for Research is initiating a program that will provide rewards to faculty
for receiving prestigious awards and fellowships. This effort was welcomed by
research liaisons and the executive committee members of the Senate. The
details of this initiative have not been finalized yet. The VPR’s office is also working on a thematic
mapping of all researchers’ work within and across disciplines. You may contact the research liaison in your department
for further information.
“The Senate Executive
Committee met with President Boren this month and had primary focus on two
issues: the retiree medical benefit proposal and the
budget. On the issue of retiree medical
benefits, we had proposed to the President earlier to eliminate premium
payments for those who retired with at least 25 years of service and at the age
of 62 or more. The change we proposed would benefit faculty and staff members.
We are happy to announce that President Boren decided to support our
recommendation to eliminate those premium payments for those who are 65 and older with at least 25 years of
service. It was really important for us
to get the premium down to 0 for people with 25 years of service. The
President is continuing his efforts and talks with the Governor but was not
very optimistic about the budget in our last meeting. The details of the budget
for next year will not be finalized until the Legislature decides on the
state’s budget and OU’s allocation.
“Burr Millsap came to the
executive committee meeting last week to talk about the new online purchasing
system called CrimsonCorner. This is an electronic
Purchasing-to-Payment system that they are putting in place and will eventually
replace the P-card. There will be extensive training on this that will be
starting this summer. The main concern we heard was that the workload is
expected to shift from purchasing to departments, and some departments are
worried how they will handle this increased burden with shrinking M&O
budgets. It is probably too early to assess the impact. Most likely, we will be
discussing this issue again after its implementation to evaluate its impact on
departments.
“The executive committee also
discussed the phased retirement program that OU has in place. There is an
interest among some faculty members in revisiting the program and revising it
in the future.
“The college of Arts and
Sciences agreed to try out electronic submission of tenure and promotion
dossiers this year. Departments will have to provide some information up front
starting this summer, for example, information on who is eligible to vote. This was on the wish list of the Campus
Tenure Committee for a number of recent years, at least for the years that I
was there. If it runs well, it is expected to provide flexibility to reviewing
members and to reduce printing costs.
“I attended the meeting of
the Faculty Advisory Council to the State Regents on April 11. At this meeting, Amanda Paliotta,
Vice Chancellor for Budget & Finance, Information Technology Communication
and OneNet, discussed the new funding formula.
Revisions were made to the funding formula based on input from the presidents,
studies from other states, professional organizations, and legislative
interest. This formula is based on eight
performance indicators that include Graduation Rates, Number of
Certificates/Degrees Conferred, One Year Retention Rates, Complete College
America Degree Target Completion and Program Accreditation. We also discussed the availability of
AffordablelearningOK.org, a website for faculty, staff and students who are
seeking no/low cost course content that can substitute for textbooks. If you
access the website, you can easily find course material that can be used as
supplemental textbook material for your students. Go to free e-Textbooks and
enter an ISBN number or related keywords and find material that relates to
particular coursework. It is a useful
tool to reduce costs to students.
“HR sent out an e-mail to
notify faculty of a change in the enrollment process for 403(b) and 457(b)
deductions for faculty member that have elected to have their contract salary
paid August through May. If you belong
in this category, and if you are receiving summer salary this year and wish to
contribute to a 403(b) or 457(b), you will need to enroll for summer by logging
on to www.fidelity.com/sooners and enter the amount you want deducted from your
May, June, July and/or August paychecks.
You will also need to re-enroll in September if you wish your 403(b) and
457(b) deductions selected during summer to continue during the fall
semester. All summer elections will
terminate at the end of August. If you currently have a deduction set up and
will not receive a summer salary, you do not need to re-enroll for fall. This
change applies only to faculty who want deductions from summer salary. If you have additional questions, please
contact Payroll and Employee Services at 325-2961.”
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to the
following outgoing senators who completed full three-year terms (2009-12): Hester
Baer, Eugenia Cox-Fuenzalida, Gaetane Jean-Marie, Charles Kimball, David
Moxley, Allison Palmer, Murray Tabb, Laurette Taylor, Pramode Verma, and Brad
Williams. Certificates also were
presented to other senators whose terms expired and to the outgoing members of
the Senate Executive Committee. Prof. Kosmopoulou
thanked the senators for their contributions.
The Senate approved the
Committee on Committees’ nominations for end-of-the-year vacancies on
university and campus councils/committees/boards and Faculty Senate standing
committees (attached). The names of the remaining volunteers will be
forwarded to the administration to consider for the appointments they
make.
The following slate was
proposed for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for 2012-13:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AT-LARGE
MEMBERS
Hester Baer (Associate Professor of Modern Languages,
Literatures & Linguistics, Ph.D. Washington, at OU since 2002)
Andrew Fagg (Associate Professor of Computer Science, Ph.D.
Southern California, at OU since 2004)
Andrew Strout (Professor of Art, M.F.A. Oklahoma, at
OU since 1980)
SECRETARY
Edgar O’Rear (Professor of Chemical, Biological & Materials Engineering, Ph.D. Rice, at OU since 1981)
CHAIR-ELECT
Mark Morvant (Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D. Oklahoma, at OU since 2006)
Prof. Bemben said a few words
in support of Prof. Morvant’s nomination as
Chair-Elect. The Senate approved the
nominations on a voice vote.
Prof. Kosmopoulou thanked the senate executive
committee members for their time, dedication and efforts that produced
invaluable input. She also thanked Sonya
Fallgatter and Ivonne Sandoval of the Senate office for their hard work. She thanked the Provost for maintaining an
open channel of communication with the Senate and the executive committee,
participating in the meetings, and providing information on some of the
critical issues examined this year. She
thanked the President for having open and frank discussions with the faculty in
these difficult times for higher education and for taking the senate’s input
under consideration. She said she was looking forward to the leadership of Mike
Bemben, the new chair of the Faculty Senate for 2012-13.
Prof. Bemben introduced a
resolution of appreciation to Prof. Kosmopoulou, which was approved by
applause.
Whereas
Georgia has been able to keep the Faculty Senate Executive Committee focused
and on task when many different minds were running in different directions, and
Whereas
Georgia has always been able to look at the “Big” picture while paying careful
attention to all the small “details,” and
Whereas
Georgia has always tried to build consensus by fostering open and honest
discussion of issues while recognizing that it is okay to disagree, and
Whereas
Georgia has been able to blend a historical perspective of faculty concerns
with a vision for potential future issues, and
Whereas
Georgia has been able to continue positive interactions with the Health
Sciences Campus, the Tulsa Campus, Staff and Student Senates, and Central
Administration, and
Whereas
Georgia has ensured that the Faculty Senate always had the necessary
information and data to make informed decisions and recommendations about
critical issues such as the proposal to modify the retiree medical benefits
program, faculty and staff salary programs, changes in the defined contribution
program, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield contract renewal process, and
Whereas
Georgia has coordinated the efforts of the Faculty Senate in helping to make
our campus tobacco free, making our campus more bicycle friendly, responding to
and balancing differing needs regarding health care benefits and verbalizing
our need for differences in teaching workloads so that the administration,
members of the legislature and the public have a better understanding of what
we do,
Be
it resolved that the Faculty Senate expresses sincere appreciation to Georgia
Kosmopoulou for her steadfast leadership and unselfish service to the
University of Oklahoma.
Prof. Bemben presented Prof. Kosmopoulou
with an engraved clock and a certificate of appreciation.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, September 10, 2012, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Michael Bemben, Chair-Elect