Minutes of the Faculty Senate
for March 3, 1998
PSF 21-97/98

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Faculty Senate met on Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at 3:30 p.m. in Molinaro Hall D137. Members present were Bell, Brunner, Canary, Colston, Dean, Dudycha, Feldt, Goldsmith, Gurnack, James, Kavenik, Kinchen, Lamb, Lyter, Mayer, McArthur, Meyer, New, Ostheimer, Richards, Rosenberg, R., Shailor, Shea, Snyder, Stathatos, Van Dyke, Wood, and Wright.

Approval of Minutes

The senate approved the minutes of November 25, 1997.

Report of the Chancellor

The chair announced that the University Committee had changed the usual agenda to allow the report of the chancellor to come first.

The chancellor noted that our enrollment target for Fall 1997 had been 3499, with our actual enrollments coming in at 3217. Our accumulated shortfall from such failures to reach our targets was at $1.2 million. In negotiating base budget reductions with President Lyall, she recognized that the campus had taken and was taking real steps to reverse the decline. Our target for next fall would be 3399, and he felt that we could make at least the 3365 needed to come within 1% of that figure if we continued to work hard at recruitment and retention. The President was forgiving $750,000 of the short fall and allowing us to take the remaining $450,000 in base budget cuts in two installments, #225,000 next year and the same the following year. This would be reviewed, moreover, next January. The cuts for next year could be handled through attrition, and we were still authorizing 10 new tenure track hires, and 8 new lecturers. We would be studying what new programs were needed to serve this region.

NEW BUSINESS

Approval of Revised Major in Art

On recommendation of the Committee on Academic Planning the University Committee recommended to the senate the following resolution (revised from that found in the original agenda):

RESOLVED, that the faculty senate approves the changes in Art major included in the agenda documents.

In discussion, Professor Rosenberg (Economics) asked if the 59 credits for the Graphics Design concentration were customary, and Professor Devinny (Art) said it was. MOTION PASSED on a voice vote.

Committee of the Whole Discussion:
Proposed Vision Statement

The senate will resolved into a committee of the whole to discuss a proposed Vision Statement for the campus. There being no other nominations, the chair continued as chair. In discussion, members suggested more mention of the arts, of research, and of global concerns. It was noted that not all differences were resolved in this statement. A straw poll on whether individuals supported the general thrust of the document found only 3 dissenters raising their hands. The committee rose and the chair reported on its behalf that there was general support for the document, with some specific concerns and a desire that the senate have an opportunity to vote on the final version.

Resolution on Campus Weapons Policy

Ten faculty members having signed a petition (Professors Christoph, Gellott, Kinchen, Kornetsky, Kummings, Leeds-Hurwitz, Lindner, Longeway, Manogaran, Stathatos), the following resolution was automatically on the agenda:

WHEREAS, the decision has been made in the administration to permit university police to carry guns on their persons fulltime;

WHEREAS, this decision was made during the semester break, thus aborting appropriate governance consultatiojn and involvement in a decision that is of great consequence to the campus;

AND WHEREAS, the decision to permit officers employed by the university to carry guns fulltime has engendered substantial concern from sectors of the student body, faculty, and staff;

RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside hereby expresses concern about the aborted governance involvement in this most significant decision which affects the entire campus community, and does hereby strongly urge the administration to reconsider this decision, to open appropriate campus discussion on this matter, and to involve the necessary governance bodies in this decision.

Robert Deane, Director of University Police and Public Safety, said that the decision had been in process for quite some time and that he and others had talked to a great many groups during that time, especially last fall. Professor Kinchen (Music) said that though he was opposed to campus police carrying guns the motion was directed toward the question of process. The University Committee had advised that the Committee on Health, Safety, and Physical Environment be consulted and they had not been. There needed to be wider input and more consensus before such a decision was made.

Several students spoke on behalf of the new policy. An RA said that the residence halls had frequent confrontations where safety was a concern, both with guests and residents. Another student said she would have been opposed before she lived on campus but now favored letting campus police carry guns at all times--why wait till someone was shot?

Professor Lyter (Physical Education) wondered whether the police wearing guns would prevent incidents like those described by the students. Professor Mayer (Biological Sciences) said that if the residence halls were as bad as pictured it was shocking news.

Assistant Chancellor Street (Administration & Fiscal Affairs) said that he had been instinctively opposed to guns on campus but had been won over by Chief Deane's arguments. Armed police are common in high schools and shopping malls now, and without these tools of the trade, our highly professional police can be mistaken for mere security guards. The other urban campuses in this system have similar policies.

Professor New (Teacher Education) said that she wasn't sure that getting students used to armed police was conducive to liberal education, and that she herself did not feel safer when around police with guns. Professor Kinchen said he had trouble with some of the doomsday scenarios being proposed and wasn't sure that having campus police carry guns would help in all of them.

MOTION PASSED on a voice vote.

Committee of the Whole Discussion:
Recruitment and Retention Plan for Minority and Female Faculty and Staff

The senate resolved itself into a committee of the whole for a discussion of a plan (appended) drafted by Charlotte Westerhaus, Assistant to the Chancellor for Equity & Diversity, with input from a wide variety of groups, including the University Committee. The discussion was extended past 5:00 PM by a vote to suspend the rules. Discussion centered on the legality and desirability of various strategies suggested in the plan, with Ms. Westerhaus pointing out that these were strategies rather than mandates.

When the committee rose, the chair reported that some details of the plan were problematic for various faculty members but that there was a shared commitment to meeting diversity goals. Professor Van Dyke asked whether the senate couldn't make a more positive endorsement. Professor Kinchen said that most of the concerns mistook strategies for mandates. The chair said that a motion would be in order. It was MOVED by Professor Kinchen, SECONDED by Professor Richards to endorse the draft as found in the agenda documents.

MOTION PASSED on a voice vote.

Adjournment

The senate adjourned at 5:20 PM.