Approved Minutes
January 19, 2000


1. & 2.             Call to Order and of Roll

Present:

Dagenais, Stanfield, Vetrosky, Arata, Brown, Bowers, Chryslee, Cohen,  Jones, Labbe, Miller, Morris, Payne, Rogers, Bracken, Kennett, McGinnis, Langan, Ryder, Frederick, McIntosh, Van Haneghan, Olsen, Engebretson, Murray, Norman, Ballard, Brandon, Cepeda, Foster, Kayes, Ledoux, Nelson, Teplick, Townsley, Wesenberg, DeWitt, Doolittle, Weitzel.
Absent (Excused):
Hamid, Spector, Allison, Haywick, Hitt, Dilsaver, Hsu, Davidson-Shivers, Sternberg, Stevens, Trufant .
Absent (Unexcused):
Zhang, Wilson, Strange, Parker, Cox, Honkanen, Tuck-Muller, Weston.
3. Approval of Minutes:
Corrections were made to the December meeting minutes which were then approved.
4. Communications from the University President:
President Moulton came to the January meeting to address the Faculty Senate regarding a decline in the University's enrollment, tuition, and student credit hours over the last 3 to 5 years. He stated that it did not have anything to do with student dissatisfaction, but was felt to center around the loss of service areas in Florida and Mississippi. He stated that student enrollment from the Mobile and Baldwin counties which make up the bulk of USA's service area in Alabama has not changed over the years examined. He felt that if employment opportunities and the economy were not so favorable that student enrollment should have increased, especially from Mississippi. President Moulton also pointed out that state appropriations to USA remained low despite a good lobbying effort and support from the Alabama University Presidents to increase appropriation to USA. He will be meeting in Montgomery with the legislature next week. He urged each faculty member to write their state representative regarding the very low appropriations given to the University. Mr Ayers also spoke about an upcoming public relations campaign to raise awareness of the appropriation issue. A rally will be held in Montgomery during the legislative session, and interested faculty are encouraged to go. President Moulton stated that unless enrollment and appropriations increased dramatically within this next year, raises would not be possible. Though he was not too optimistic this would happen, President Moulton did state that if any source(s) of extra monies were realized they would all go toward raises. He thanked us all for our efforts and the opportunity to address us.


5. Report from the Chair:

Dr. Labbe reported that Carr & Associates would be here on February 24th at 9 am to present the results of their study regarding the prospects of a football program at the University. This will be a public presentation and the faculty are encouraged to attend. Richmond Brown has been asked to represent the faculty senate.

The search for the Dean of Arts and Sciences is well in progress. The current plan is to narrow the list to 4 final names by Wednesday, January 26.

The search for Vice-president for Academic Affairs is in the interviewing phase. The interview schedules are being set up and will be posted soon. Dr Labbe again encouraged each faculty member to attend each applicant's presentation. She stated that there will be a meeting with the faculty senate for each candidate. The executive committee met with President Moulton to discuss the selection process from this point forward. He stated that he would make the final decision based on input from all areas of the University community. He stated that he welcomed faculty input. He also stated that the search committee would not rank the candidates after the interview process. The President stated that if  the four current candidates did not meet the best interests of the University, the other six candidates files will remain active until the best candidate for the University is selected.

Since the last faculty senate meeting the caucuses from the Colleges of Allied Health and Computer Sciences expressed their displeasure at the memo Dr Labbe presented to the search committee. Dr Labbe also stated that the faculty from the Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education reported that they approved of the memo. She stated that she sees her role as representing the various opinions of the faculty who communicate with her and the executive committee. She stated that she will continue to fulfill this role. She further stated that she encouraged everyone to take a constructive, positive approach to the search as there are four excellent candidates that will be interviewed.


6. Reports from Standing Committees:

Salary and Benefits Committee report was given by Susan Ledoux. She stated that within the month there will be a Web site which the faculty can access to express their interest in a university dental plan. Additionally, a survey will be conducted during the same time period.

Policy and Handbook Committee Is investigating the policy on distance education courses and intellectual property. The committee is also looking into the new grade grievance policy changes and will report on both issues soon.

Evaluation Committee reported that it is working on the new questionnaire and welcomes any questions or comments on last years questionnaire. Dr Jones stated that last years result will be reported soon.

Planning Committee reported nothing new.

7. Reports from Caucus Leaders:
Education: There was some concern over the vacation policy introduced at the last senate meeting which will be discussed in Old Business.

There were no other caucus reports.

8. Old Business:
The resolution to commend Mr. Keith Ayers was voted upon and passed.

The resolution on teaching overload was introduced, and discussed. Recommendations to amend the current resolution were offered and discussed. The revised resolution will be voted on at the next senate meeting.

There was much discussion on the vacation policy which centered around the issues of 12 month and 9 month faculty applicability and interpretations of the policy by the various colleges. An amendment was introduced regarding the accrual of vacation time, and was passed. Discussion continued and the resolution was tabled for further investigation.

9. New Business:
There was no new business.
10. Adjournment:
Elise Labbe adjourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m.
 Respectfully submitted by:
 D. Vetrosky, Secretary


Back to Faculty Senate Homepage
Back to USA's Homepage
To make comments or suggestions about this webpage, email Sally Murray
Last updated: 3/13/00. sm