Minutes of the University Committee
for November 10, 2003

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 12:11 PM by Prof Gary Wood, Chair. Present in addition were Profs Sylvia Beyer, Doug DeVinny, Christine Evans, James Kinchen and Don Kummings, members; and Prof Walter Feldt, Secretary of the Faculty.

Business:

Report on Regents Meetings of Nov 6 & 7, 2003
Prof Wood reported that the Board of Regents (BOR) had approved four of the six points proposed by the UW System concerning the transfer of credits from the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to UW System campuses. Proposals to expand the offerings of "college parallel" programs and to allow for full general education credit for students receiving associate degrees from WTCS institutions were held over. For more details, see http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2003/r031107c.cfm.

Legislative Report
Prof Wood said that the legislative proposal to allow trained Wisconsin citizens to carry concealed weapons now includes an exemption for UWS buildings, Prof Wood reported. He further stated that Gov Doyle has indicated that he will veto the proposal, but an override vote might be close. Some background documentation can be found at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/ttp/ttp-09-2003.pdf.

The legislature has approved an expansion of the K-12 charter school concept and and 18 cr limit on UWS courses available under the Youth Options program.

Provost's Fund for Research and Creative Activity
Prof Wood reported that Profs Susan Haller and Fay Akindes had met with Provost Rebecca Martin concerning the provost's newly created fund for research and creative activity. The matter has been settled. See report.

Tenured Assistant Professors on Departmental Executive Committees
The Committee agreed that tenured assistant professors may be invited to join departmental executive committees. It agreed upon the following proposed change to UWPF 3.04 ...

(1) Each department has a Departmental Executive Committee, consisting of all full-time members of the department who are tenured professors, tenured associate professors, or, with the permission of the committee, tenured assistant professors.

Additionally, as determined at the time of appointment with tenure, any person holding a part-time tenured appointment as a professor, associate professor or assistant professor, may be granted membership on the executive committee, with the permission of the executive committee.
This will be proposed to the Faculty Senate for action.Proposal on Office Hours
Starting with a proposal from Dean Cress, the Committee agreed to ask the Faculty Senate to approve a Policy on Office Hours...

The proposal reads ...

Instructors should be available to students outside of class. With this objective in mind, the Faculty Senate hereby establishes the following Policy on Office Hours for Instructional Staff.

All instructors should post a minimum of one office hour per week per class. "By appointment" hours are also encouraged. Office hours should be scheduled for the convenience of students in all classes taught and be published in the syllabus and posted on or near office doors.

Instructors should be available to students during posted office hours and should be reasonably accessible to students by telephone, e-mail or by contact through the department office.

If an instructor must, due to extenuating circumstances, not be available during posted office hours, he/she should post a notice to that effect and notify the departmental office.

Personnel Review Committee - Full Professor Criteria Statement
Responding to a request from Dean Cress, the Committee discussed asking the Personnel Review Committee (PRC) to modify its Criteria Statement for promotion to full professor (see http://uwp.edu/staff/gov/faccom/prc/prcfull.html). The proposed modification is an expansion in the description of the service area.

Furthermore, it was agreed that having the Statement approved by the Faculty Senate would assure that the Statement would guide not just the PRC but also the departments and the administration. The Secretary of the Faculty was asked to consult with PRC on the proposed modified text and to prepare a proposal for the Faculty Senate.

It was further agreed, that in the longer run, it would be desireable to to incorporate all standing faculty personnel documentation into Chapter 6 of the Faculty Policies and Procedures.

Teacher Preparation Steering Committee
Prof Feldt updated the Committee on the status of the election for members for the Teacher Preparation Steering Committee as required in PSF 6/03-04.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 1:10 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Walter T Feldt
SECRETARY OF THE FACULTY