Origin

Item

Status

President

Revise Faculty Handbook concerning internal senior hires.
There is currently no process for targeted internal hires for senior faculty chairs or professorships.

Referred to Faculty Compensation Committee

President

Revise Faculty Handbook concerning internal administrative hires.
There is currently no process for targeted internal hires for senior administrative positions.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Faculty/staff exercise and wellness facility.

Scheduled to be a part of the stadium expansion per President commitment.

Faculty Senate

Travel per diem.

Travel per diem rates will now be determined by the GSA rate or federal standard rate

Provost

Form task force to revise policy on classroom behavior (including cell phone usage).
There is currently no guideline in the Faculty Handbook that specifies faculty rights or process for controlling disruptive behavior such as cell phone use in class. Suggest that faculty include a statement in the syllabus.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Form research policies task force.
Policy issues: quicker authority to hire outside contractors, fund junior faculty fellowships with private funds, reinstate senior faculty fellowships (replaced with Presidential Professorships?), raise limit on equipment that needs regents approval, graduate fellowships, research on human subjects, etc. The Research Council feels that they have too much work to add this to their agenda.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Form benefits oversight committee.
Promised by Brian Maddy

VP for Administration

Faculty Senate

Pocket directory for hand-held palm for OU. Include departments and administrative offices in the on-line phone directory.

ITC

Faculty Senate

Revive Campus Planning Council.
The campus planning council has had little business and no input to long range planning for campus facilities.

Schwarzkopf

Internal Auditing

Revisions in IP policy.
Add a review committee reporting to the regents.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Deadline for adding a course.
Shorten the time for students to freely add/drop from two weeks to one week at the beginning of the semester

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Revise Faculty Welfare Committee/Faculty Compensation Committee charges.
Roles and needs have changed.

FWC and FCC

Faculty Senate

Make a Faculty Welfare Committee member an ex officio voting member of Employment Benefits Committee (or handle internally).
Need to assure that changes in benefits are also considered by the senate.

On agenda for the executive committee

Info. Technology

E-mail policy.
Privacy, ownership, etc.

Executive Committee to ITC

Faculty Senate

White paper on on-line class notes.

ITC

Faculty Senate

Tenure for faculty who are half time.

On agenda for the executive committee

President

Nominate faculty to task force for retention and advising.
The President has declared a goal of 60% graduation to be reached in four years. Faculty have been asked to identify how they should contribute to this.

Roger Harrison nominated to task force. We need to appoint another ad hoc committee to evaluate faculty role.

Faculty Senate

Faculty definition--non-tenured or tenure track--e.g. renewable term. Representation for renewable term, interdisciplinary, graduate faculty who are staff or non-OU employees.
There are a number of non-tenure track faculty who are not represented either on the faculty senate or the staff senate.

Formed ad hoc committee chaired by Ed Cline

Faculty Senate

Substantive issues concerning discrimination/harassment grievance policy.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Concern about identity theft.

On agenda for the executive committee

Provost

Feedback on accreditation study.

Re-accreditation team due the last week of October.

Faculty Senate

Cost of local phone service for faculty (switch to cell phones).
Phone charges, especially international long distance, are much higher than commercial rates. Why?

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Provost's policy on central funding of spousal hires and targeted hires of minority faculty.

Reviewed with provost. Suspension of central funding is temporary. Existing funds allocated to this year's raise.

Faculty Senate

Tuition/fee waivers for employee dependents.
Has been requested a number of times.

Under review by administration

Faculty Senate

OU Child Care facility.
Very high quality child care is scarce. This is a retention issue for both faculty and students

Under review by Faculty Welfare Committee

Faculty Senate

Difficulties in obtaining sufficient number of textbooks for classes.

On agenda for the executive committee

Faculty Senate

Legislative relations.
We are developing initiatives to get closer and more personal relationships with legislators.

Formed ad hoc committee chaired by Greg Kunesh