UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
June 19, 2002

 

1.  Call to Order:

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm.

 

2.  Roll Call:

 

Present:  Aldes, Aronson, Bailey, Barik, I. Brown, Dickens, Donovan, Ellis, Gifford, Gray, Hanks, Kimball, Longenecker, Moreau-Johnson, Robertson, Sanders, Slagle, Tate, Temple, and Teplick.

 

Absent (Excused):  Bowers, R. Brown, Figarola, Gamble, Garmon, Hermanson, Hill, Kwiatkowski, Matheson, Morris, Mozur, Perkins, Peters, Pillen, Rodning, and Wheeler.

 

Absent (Unexcused):  Boggs, Broome, Broughton, Cohen, Dagenais, El-Saba, Foster, Jefferson, McNair, Painter, Pettyjohn, Rowe, Sylvester, Vest, and Wilson.

 

3.  Approvals of Minutes:

 

Minutes for the April meeting could not be approved since quorum was not met.  The minutes were tabled until the next meeting.

 

4.  Roger DuMars, Institutional Self-Study Director, gave the faculty senate a short report on the current status of the USA self-study for SACS.  The university is in compliance with 574 standards, with 16 criteria not met (non-compliance).  All areas of deficiency are specified in the report.  (For the complete report see:  www.usouthal.edu/academicaffairs/selfstudyreport.html)  University administration has indicated that they are willing to do whatever it takes to correct the final 16 areas of non-compliance by the next SACS meeting.

 

All faculty must be available for SACS peer committee on Nov 18-19th, between 8:30-3:00.  Faculty should be able to answer several questions pertaining to the mission of USA, your department’s goals, how the curriculum reflects the goals of the institution, faculty involvement, or adequacy of university resources. If needed, Dr. DuMars (rdumars@usamail.usouthal.edu) is available for further information.

 

5.  Report of the Chair

 

Faculty Chair Brown reported on the 2002 Faculty Survey.  The response rate this year was lower than previous years.  One of the problems was with answering the survey online, and the concern over the possibility of tracing back the responses to those who answered.  Bart Longenecker, Chair of Evaluation Committee, addressed the issue of identifying specific responses on the survey with the responder.  He indicated that mechanisms are in place to prevent the tracing back to those who answered the survey.  Once the survey is completed, the association between the answered survey and who answered it is lost.  An additional problem was the timing of the survey, which came at the close of the academic year. 

The numerical data will be presented on-line, but the issue of publishing specific comments will need to be addressed.  Consensus was not to publish personal attacks, but rather the Committee should summarize the information from the comment sections.  Final results of the survey should be available by July Faculty Senate meeting.

 

Faculty Chair Brown also reported on the June meeting of the Senate Executive Committee with President Moulton.  Some of the issues addressed at the meeting dealt with faculty morale and long-term planning.  The university administration distributed copies of “Visions” which had previously been given to the Deans.  There was a request for the possibility of ensuring some type of raise to faculty on a yearly basis, but the administration indicated that this would not be possible given the economic situation.  Other issues discussed included:  faculty-student ratio, communication between university administration and faculty, and the new research park.

 

6.  Report from Standing Committees

a.  Salary and Fringe Benefits—there is some dissatisfaction in the new health program, but the program is still only in the early stages.  Donation of Sick leave policy is being examined in light of University of Alabama at Birmingham’s policy. 

 

b.  Evaluation—no report.

 

c.  Policy & Development—no report.

 

d.  Planning & Development—no report.

 

7.  Reports from Caucus Leaders

 

No reports available.

 

8.  Old Business

 

None

 

9.  New Business

 

Resolutions for Busta and Whiddon were presented, but tabled until the next faculty meeting due to a lack of quorum.

 

Concern was raised regarding the preservation of the trees/green space within the area for the building of the new research park, especially in light of the removal of several large live oak trees along Old Shell Road that was necessary for the widening of the street by the State.  The consensus of the remaining senate members was that this concern over preserving green space on campus should be conveyed to the university administration.

 

10. Adjournment

 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by:

V. Tate, Secretary