Senate Plenary Session A Success

On Friday, Feb. 20th, a Plenary session of the Faculty Senate was held in Kozlowski Auditorium. Roseanne Mirabella, chair of the Senate, presented a set of issues on which the Senate is currently working. These include:

SALARIES

TOP TIER WORK ENVIRONMENT

SHARED GOVERNANCE

GRANT REVENUES

PROGRAM REVIEW

CORE CURRICULUM

EXTERNAL REVIEW

PLANNING FOR NEW PROGRAMS

Progress on these matters will be reported on each month in this newsletter.

Top Tier Update

SALARIES: Faculty proposal made to University Planning and Budget Committee. Proposal not funded, but $250K included in 2004-05 budget to study compensation issues on campus for all individuals, faculty, staff and administration.

TOP TIER WORK ENVIRONMENT and EXTERNAL REVIEW: In a series of amendments approved as a whole by the Faculty Senate at its meeting on December 12, 2003, the Faculty Senate approved the following changes to the Faculty Guide:

* Language pertaining to external review

* 3/3 load

* travel money equal to 4% of average faculty salary for each faculty

* faculty development money: administered through University Research Council, budget to be sufficient to fund 30% of faculty at rate equivalent to teaching a 3-credit course in summer.

The Provost has responded to these requests by recommending that an ad hoc committee of Deans and Faculty Senate members be formed to explore these issues in more detail. Regarding the additional resources requested for travel and URC funding, the Provost suggests that the Faculty Senate work with him to develop a proposal for presentation to the University Planning and Budget Committee for the 2005-06 budget.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Nine-month Salary Issue Remains Unresolved

In an effort to expedite the change to a nine-month salary for those faculty who wish to take advantage of it, the Senate passed a motion on Feb. 27th urging the provost to take immediate action on this issue.

The change to a nine-month salary will greatly benefit faculty who receive grants since they will then be eligible to receive a stipend for three months in the summer instead of only two as is now the case. This change will also benefit the university, which reaps financial benefits from grant monies.

Executive Committee Resolutions Pass

Two resolutions of the Executive Committee of the Senate--one addressing the lack of decisive action on the part of the administration on recent Senate proposals, and the other on the inadequate funding of the University Library--were passed at the Feb. 27th meeting.

The content of those motions can be found in the following attachments:

Executive Resolution 1

Executive Resolution 2

ggggggggggg

Program Review Update

The Program Review Committee has issued its report to the chairs, program directors and deans for the 2002-2003 group. This report is currently being reviewed by the Senate and will be voted upon at the April 2 meeting.

The programs in the 2003-2004 group are concluding their work and will be submitting their self studies by April 1. This group includes the following programs and departments:

Public Administration

Modern Languages

Fine Arts

Art History

Graphic Design

EOP

Philosophy

Sociology

Anthropology

Political Science

History

Psychology

English

Counseling Psychology

School of Theology (all programs)

The 2004-2005 program review group will be announced in mid March.

The 8-year cycle of programs is now available on the Senate home page.

Images:
Smithsonian Museum: African American Art Collection

hhhhhh

Meeting Minutes 2-27-04

Executive Committee Report

Senate Membership

Senate Committees

Senate Meeting Dates 2004

January 16, 2004 - Beck Rooms

February 6, 2004 - Beck Rooms

February 27, 2004 - Beck Rooms

April 2, 2004 - TBA

May 7, 2004 - Beck Rooms

June 4, 2004 - Beck Rooms

All faculty members are invited to attend meetings of the Faculty Senate. Meeting locations can be found on the Senate homepage.

hhhhhh

If you have comments, questions, or suggestions regarding the material in this newsletter, please contact Mary Balkun, Faculty Senate Executive Secretary, at balkunma@shu.edu.

[Developed for the Faculty Senate by the TLTC.]

hhhhhh