Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting
October 14, 2003
PSF 2/03-04

 

The Senate was called to order in Molinaro D137 MOLN by acting chair Professor Walter Feldt, Secretary of the Faculty. Present in addition were Profs Funkenstein, Mayer, Wright, Allen, Castor, F. Akindes, McCann, Elechi, Kavenik, Li, Gellott, McNair, Eichner, Zaibert, Lyter, Schmidt, Monardi, Sasso, Eigenberger, and Warren, Senators representing the departments; C. Zanowski, Senator and Chair of the Academic Staff Committee; University Committee Members and Senators, Profs Beyer, DeVinny, Evans, Kinchen, Kummings, and Wood; Ex Officio Senator (non-voting) Provost Martin; Vick Sidhu, PSGA Representative; registered guests B. Bierdek, UW-P student, A. Crist, C. L. Saffioti-Hughes, D. Cress, D. Holmes, L. Moeller, R. Lott, M. Power, and K. Anderson, Kenosha Unified Schools.ELECTION OF CHAIR:Professor Feldt called for nominations for the position of Chair for the current academic year. Professor Wood nominated Professor DeVinney. There being no further nominations, Professor DeVinny was elected by voice vote and assumed his role as Chair.Minutes of the Meeting of April 22, 2003
The minutes of the Late-Spring Meeting of the Faculty Senate, held on April 22, 2003, were approved by automatic consent (PSF 41/02-03).BUSINESS:

Informational Reports - Faculty Committees for 2002-03

The following informational reports were received and filed:

Academic Achievement Assessment Committee
Academic Actions Committee
Academic Policies Committee
Admissions, Records, and Student Information Committee
Athletic Board
Awards & Ceremonies Committee
Committee on Advising
Committee on Research & Creative Activity
Course & Curriculum Committee
Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Committee
General Education Committee
Graduate Studies Committee
Information Resources Committee
Lecture and Fine Arts Committee
Personnel Review Committee

Report of the University Committee Chair
Prof Gary Wood, Chair of the University Committee, reported briefly on the following:

*While the Regents were urging a pay plan increase for unclassified staff of up to 4%, it was most likely that the actual pay
increase would be 0% and 1% for the biennium. *Health insurance premiums had not yet been set, but were likely to involve a required contribution from all participants, including those who choose HMOs. *Legislation was being proposed to require that sabbaticals be funding from gifts and grants. System has responded that the actual costs of granting sabbaticals was near nothing. *A proposed bill by Rep Marlin Schneider had been discussed by the UWS Faculty Representatives and a serious response was being contemplated. [The proposal was later widely distributed on campus and Prof Wood prepared a point-by-point response.]Report of the Chancellor
In Chancellor Keating's absence, Provost Martin reported as follows: *The Regents found that in order to move UWS faculty to salary ranges comparable to those at peer institutions, a biennial raise of 4% + 4% would be required, and that would keep faculty near the bottom of their peer groups. *The Regents were embarking on a study entitled "Charting a New Course for the UW System." See http://www.uwsa.edu/srvpadm/study/index.htm. *An item of lively discussion has been the transferability of credits from the Wisconsin Technical College System to UWS campuses. President Lyall has presented a plan to increase transferability of WTCS courses. *UWP is one of 12 campuses participating in the Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year. There is a group of over 20 UWP faculty and staff working on this venture. See http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=205 and http://www.brevard.edu/fyfoundations/aascu/index.htm. *The campus is also participating in the American Democracy Project, co-sponsored by the New York Times and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). See http://www.aascu.org/programs/adp/default.htm. *A Program Appraisal Framework document was being prepared in cooperation with the Committee on Academic Planning (CAP). This continues a venture started last year. Departments will be expected to respond by the end of the fall semester. *A $20K fund to support research and creative activity has been created from salary savings for 2003-04. This would be in addition to funding currently given to the Committee on Research and Creative Activity (CRCA).

OLD BUSINESS:

Academic Forgiveness Policy - Academic Policies Committee

Note:  The policy below was later modified by PSF 30/08-09.

RESOLVED, that upon the recommendation of the Academic Policies Committee, the Academic Forgiveness Policy be revised.

Prof Laura Gellott, Chair of the Academic Policies Committee (APC), said that the APC had decided to renew its request that the Academic Forgiveness Policy be revised. This item is held over from the Late Spring Meeting of the Senate. She said that the old policy (PSF 20/98-99) was overly complex and hard to understand and that the proposed policy was much leaner. Registrar Richard Lott said that the proposed policy would be much simpler for students to deal with. In response to a question from Prof Gregory Mayer, Mr Lott said that about 20-25 students a year sought relief under the Academic Forgiveness Policy. The proposal was APPROVED viva voce, without audible dissent. PSF 3/03-04. NEW BUSINESS:

Resolution Regarding Health Insurance - University Committee

RESOLVED, that upon the recommendation of the University Committee, the proposed Resolution Regarding Health Insurance be approved.

Prof Mayer, moved, seconded, that the proposal be amended to change the second paragraph as follows:

WHEREAS, the tradition of excellent benefits for employees in the UW System allows the UW to recruit and retain high quality employees, despite generally lower wages in comparison to the private sector and peer public universities; and

The proposed amendment was APPROVED. The proposal, as amended, was APPROVED, viva voce without audible dissent. PSF 4/03-04.

Amendment to UWPF 4.04 - Vacancies due to Absences on Elected Faculty Committees - University Committee

RESOLVED, that the UW-Parkside Faculty Policies and Procedures be amended in accord with the following addition of subcategory (e).

… (8) Vacancies

(a) A vacancy in an elective committee membership shall be filled by the available eligible candidate who had the highest number of votes in the last general all-Faculty, school or departmental election. Should there be no available eligible candidate from an all-Faculty election, the University Committee shall appoint a replacement. Should there be no available eligible candidate from a school election, the school shall choose a replacement, following school election procedures adopted by the Faculty Senate. Should there be no available eligible candidate from a departmental election, the departmental executive committee shall select a replacement. Departmental executive committees may choose to delegate this authority to the departmental chair. The members chosen to fill a vacancy shall serve through the remainder of that Committee Year. If the term of office would normally extend beyond this time, an election for the unexpired term is held at the next general election.
(b) Where practicable, a vacancy created by a faculty member being off-campus for one or two successive semesters shall be filled on a temporary basis according to (a) above. Upon his/her return to campus, the faculty member may reassume his/her seat.
(c) A vacancy in an appointive committee seat or an administrative or student seat shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The person appointed shall complete the remainder of the term of the vacated position.
(d) The chair of a Faculty committee or a majority of its voting members may, after three consecutive absences in an appointive seat at regularly scheduled meetings at which a quorum was present, request the appointing body to declare the seat vacant. If the seat is declared vacant, the appointing body shall make a new appointment.

e) The chair of a faculty committee, or a majority of its voting members, may, after three consecutive unexcused absences of a member filling an elected seat, at a regularly scheduled meeting at which a quorum is present, request the University Committee to declare the seat vacant, and invoke the procedure provided in subparagraph (a). The University Committee shall confer with the affected member before taking action.

Prof Feldt noted that the proposal would make the provisions for replacing frequently absent members on elective committees parallel to those currently in effect for appointive committees.

The proposal was APPROVED viva voce, with no audible dissent. PSF 5/03-04.

Creation of the Teacher Preparation Steering Committee - Teacher Preparation Programs Work Group

RESOLVED, that the Teacher Preparation Steering Committee be created as provide in the attached resolution.

Prof Gary Wood, Chair of the Teacher Preparation Work Group, said that the proposed Steering Committee contained membership that parallels the Department of Public Instruction's (DPI) content areas. Ken Anderson, of the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD), with the approval of the Senate, spoke in favor of the proposal as did Betsy Burdett, a current student in the teacher education program. Some discussion ensued concerning the prerogatives of the faculty of the Teacher Education Department (TEDU) vis a vis the role of the proposed Steering Committee. It was agreed that the Steering Committee would assume the curricular role formerly held by TEDU but that TEDU would continue to govern its own personnel affairs, including merit, tenure and promotion activities for its faculty. The majority felt that the program was indeed interdisciplinary and that this was a legitimate solution. An editorial correction was proposed. In the paragraph beginning "The Teacher Preparation Steering Committee (hereafter ...", change "having a impact" to "having an impact". APPROVED. An amendment to the next paragraph to add the word "primary", after "... Arts and Sciences with" was also APPROVED. A motion for closure was APPROVED and the main motion, as amended, was APPROVED with two noes and one abstention. PSF 6/03-04Extension of Meeting

A motion to extend the meeting for 15 minutes was APPROVED.

Administration of the Teacher Preparation Program - Teacher Preparation Programs Work Group

RESOLVED, that upon the recommendation of the Teacher Preparation Program Work Group, that the attached resolution concerning the administration of the Teacher Education Program be recommended to the administration for implementation.

Prof Wood urged that the Senate recommend the proposed structure to the administration. Dean Cress suggested that "effect" was more appropriate than "affect" in line 5 of paragraph 1 of the resolution. APPROVED. The proposal, as amended, was APPROVED, viva voce without audible dissent. PSF 7/03-04.ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 5:15 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Walter T Feldt
Secretary of the Faculty