UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

Faculty Senate

Approved Minutes

April 17, 2002

 

 

 

1.  Call to Order:

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:05.

 

 

2.  Roll Call:

 

Present:  Aldes, Aronson, Bailey, Barik, Bowers, Broughton, I. Brown, R. Brown, Cohen, Dagenais, Dickens, Gamble, Gifford, Gray, Hanks, Hermanson, Hill, Jefferson, Kwiatkowski, Longenecker, Matheson, Moreau-Johnson, Morris, Mozur, Pettyjohn, Pillen, Robertson, Rowe, Sanders, Slagle, Tate, Temple, Vest, Wheeler

 

Absent (Excused):  Boggs, Broome, Figarola, Garmon, Kimball, Teplick

 

Absent (Unexcused): Ellis, El-Saba, Foster, McNair, Painter, Perkins, Rodning, Sylvester, Wilson

 

 

3.  Approval of Minutes:

 

The minutes from the March Faculty Senate meeting were presented and approved without change.

 

 

4.  Year End Reports:

 

Before the reports from the committee, Faculty Senate Chair Rogers gave a review of some issues that came before the Senate in the past year.  Last May, there was a special meeting of the Senate to draft a resolution to encourage the appointment of a USA alum to the Foundation Board.  Ultimately, a USA alum from Monroe Co. was added to the Board. 

 

South Alabama changed its healthcare plan to Blue Cross at the beginning of the year.  There was some discussion about adding questions concerning the new plan to the faculty survey.  There is also the possibility of creating a separate survey specifically about the new health plan.  Any suggestions for topics to cover, or questions to ask, should be directed to Bart Longenecker (bart@cis.usouthal.edu).

 

Other issues over the past year included the passing of a copyright policy; football at USA continues to be a topic of discussion; nominating ballots for faculty representation on the Foundation Board, with 98 names of faculty member, are due April 26th.

 

There were no reports from Evaluation Committee or from Salary & Fringe Benefits.  Planning Committee reported that there were no new projects this past year.  Policy and Handbook Committee reported that the workload issue was dealt with on a college by college basis rather than university-wide.  It was also reported that they were aware of the problem with the difference between the online version of the Faculty Handbook and the printed version. 

 

 

5.  Message from the President:

 

President Moulton reported that, after a nation-wide search for the position of Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, the position has been offered to Dr. Joseph F. Busta, who is currently the president of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.

 

President Moulton also gave a brief synopsis of the USA budget situation at the Alabama Legislature.  USA will get $1.8 million above last year’s base funding.  In regards to pay raises, the University would need $2 million to get a 1% raise.  Decisions on further tuition increases and raises will be discussed at the June Board of Trustees meeting.

 

Vice-President Covey addressed the Senate about the current status of openings in the faculty ranks.  There has been some progress in filling a number of the vacancies from the previous academic year.

 

 

6.  New Business:

 

No new business to report.

 

 

7.  Election of Officers and Committee Chairs:

 

The slate of officers and committee chairs presented by the Nominating Committee to the Senate were elected.

 

Chair:                                                   Isabel Brown, A&S

Vice-Chair:                                           Steve Morris, A&S

Secretary:                                             Vicki Tate, Library

Chair, Evaluation:                                Bart Longenecker, CIS

Chair, Policy & Handbook:                   Louise Hermanson, A&S

Chair, Planning & Development:            Michelle Slagle, MCOB

Chair, Salary & Fringe Benefits:            Leonard Aldes, COM

 

 

8.  Adjournment:

 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:15 pm

 

 

Respectfully submitted by:

V. Tate, Secretary

 

Rev. 6/20/02