WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

Regular Meeting – March 12, 2007

Call to Order

Ira Hyman, 2006-2007 Faculty Senate President, called the Senate meeting to order at 4:06 p.m. Hyman welcomed twenty-three (23) Senators, two (2) ex officio members, the recorder (1), and the past president (1) for a total of twenty-seven (27).  (See attached roster).   Hyman welcomed Buff Schoenfeld who is sitting in for President Morse.

Approval of Minutes

§    Senators accepted the minutes of the February 26^th meeting as written.

Items from the Chair

Hyman responded to previous constituent concerns raised by Senators:

1)      Hyman is formally asking the administration to urge a change in state policy so that faculty can get better travel arrangements.  There are many state regulations surrounding travel.  You can use your own corporate card if it is a Western card.  If you use a personal card you can use it only once, and then you will not be permitted to do so again.  Part of the reason for the regulations is that the State likes to track direct usage of airlines between cities on the premise that they can get better air fares, all for last minute travel, with fully refundable airline tickets.  However few faculty ever use a last minute air fare.  Hyman reported he asked Dale Monroe, Western’s Director of Purchasing, to press for a change of policy.  State funds often do not cover full fare anyway.  Provost Bodman responded that he is currently looking for greater flexibility to save us money.  Buff Schoenfeld reported that the administration has the same difficulty which is irksome, and is motivated to resolve the challenge.

2)      Hyman reported that the Registrar’s office will no longer allow its student employees to pre-register for classes as a way of testing registration software.

3)      Hyman reported that pre-registration for students with certain types of disabilities is reasonable, following an inquiry on the topic to David Brunnemer, Director of Disability Resources. 

Items from the Administration

§         Provost Bodman anticipates a favorable House Budget package that aligns with the governor’s proposal by next week.  Bodman reported that key people are lobbying on a variety of decision packages.

AGENDA - ACTION ITEMS

Reading of Standing Committee Minutes (Exhibit B):   

Comments on Minutes

Academic Coordinating Commission

Provost Bodman explained that changing the Astronomy number back to 103 was done as a friendly change to avoid confusion.  MaryAnn Reynolds sought clarification that although the department wants to change the number of a course, we don’t think it needs to be changed, and so we are not approving the department’s action.  Later minutes will attest to the department’s action. 

Academic Technology Committee

Chair Meehan reported that the rankings used on the STF proposals will be made available in the next set of minutes coming forward to the Senate.

University Planning Council

David Fewings pointed out that we have been asking for earmarks in budget to develop the site of the old drive-in known as Lincoln Creek with the idea of building a parking structure there.  Fewings claims that the need for this escapes him given the spaces available on campus. Fewings added that we are not that far from reaching our 12,500 limit, so why are we pursuing the development of the old drive-in site.  Fewings added that his review of the Institutional Master Plan calls for playing fields down at Bill McDonald Parking and South College Drive.  He asks that UPC follow up with these ideas and review how they fit in with the Institutional Master Plan.

Senate Library Committee

§         A Senator asked why the committee was asking in a survey how many people use the library, when there are statistics already available.  Kyle Crowder suggested that this discussion came out of the budget allocation process which they are considering redoing, but was not a key issue, rather part of a brainstorming process. 

§         Another Senator added that “use” is hard to define and is linked to numbers of faculty, students, and numbers of courses.  There are one thousand different ways to operationalize usage. Another Senator asked why the library would survey the departments to find out how much departments use the library when it should have those records. 

§         Crowder responded that the point is to get a handle on the requirements placed on the departments by students, rather than actual usage.  With slippage between requirements and what students actually do, members realize that they may have to redo the wording a bit.

§         Another Senator asked if data on interlibrary loans was available as that would seem to indicate where that unmet demand is.  At the same time that we hear that interlibrary loan is prohibitively expensive, we find some departments might actually shape curriculum around interlibrary loans, so that adds an interesting element to the question.  Crowder suggested that the committee is trying to get a feel for how the current acquisition system shapes the usage within each department.  Letters have gone out asking chairs to encourage students to use the library.  

APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS – Matthew Liao-Troth, Officer

Report on Senate Elections:  Vacancies and faculty candidates for the 2007-2009 Senate (additional nominees sought in every area by the March 19^th deadline):

Area A-Natural Sciences (4); Chris Suczek, Geology.  Need 3

Area B-Social Sciences (3): Ron Helms, Sociology; Larry Symons, Psychology; Mitch Cunningham, Sociology

Area C-Humanities (4): Kathryn Vulic, English; Andrea Gogrof-Voorhees, Liberal Studies.  Need 2

Area D (1); John Friesen, Music

Area E (1): David Fewings, Finance;

Area F (1): Dan Larner, Fairhaven;

Area H (1): Chuck Lambert, Special Education, Tracy Coskie, Elementary Education. 

Senators voted to appoint Matthew Liao-Troth to the Faculty Senate for a one-year term to replace Steve Henson, through 2008.  Ira Hyman conducted the election.

MOTION FROM THE SENATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The Senate unanimously passed a Motion from the Senate Executive Council that revised the language below in Articles I through VI of the Constitution of the Faculty, Appendix B of the Faculty Handbook (new material underlined; deletions struck-through).  A full vote of the faculty will be held in April, and then the document will be forwarded to the Board of Trustees in June.  Changes take effect following that approval.  The entire document can be found on the Senate website at http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/senate

Article I:  Name and Purposes

I.1     The name of this organization is the Faculty of Western Washington University.

I.2     The purpose of this organization is to provide the Faculty of Western Washington University with a governance system empowered to speak and act for the Faculty in University affairs not covered by the contract between Western Washington University and the United Faculty of Western Washington.

Article III:  Faculty Senate

III.1    The Faculty Senate is empowered to speak and act for the Faculty in University affairs that are not covered by the contract between Western Washington University and the United Faculty of Western Washington with particular responsibility in the areas of curriculum, academic programs, Faculty salary, Faculty status, scholarly activities, and all matters relating to the welfare of Faculty, the education of students, and the academic mission of the University.

III.2    The Faculty Senate is limited to 30 voting members elected by the Faculty,; and the President of the University, the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University, and a college dean appointed by the Provost serving as Provost’s Council representative and the President of the United Faculty of Western Washington as ex-officio non-voting members.

III.3   Terms of Office.  Elections are held yearly in Spring Quarter.  Voting members of the Senate serve for two years or until the installation of a new Senate.  Elected Senators may not serve be elected for more than two three consecutive terms.

Article V:  Executive Council

V.1         and V.2 unchanged. 

V.3         Duties.  The Executive Council reports to the Faculty Senate, schedules its meetings, prepares its agenda, meets on regularly scheduled basis with the President and/or Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University and the President of the United Faculty of Western Washington, and performs such other duties as may be delegated to it by the Faculty Senate.  The Executive Council is to establish and maintain communications between the Faculty Senate and the University administration, and between the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees.

Article VI:  Amendments

     VI.1, 2, and 3 unchanged.

     VI.4   Bylaws to this Constitution may be adopted, amended, or repealed by majority vote of the total voting membership of the Faculty Senate provided that they are proposed in writing at one meeting of the Faculty Senate, are posted on the Faculty Senate website and delivered to the faculty through an email; flyer; or by publication in FAST as proposed, and are voted on at a subsequent the next regular meeting of the Faculty Senate. (2005)

-end of revised paragraphs

Constituent Concerns

Senators asked:  1) Do term limits for the Senate affect term limits on subcommittees?

2) Can the branch post office in Viking Union provide a scale and automatic stamp dispenser for after hour use? 3) Can a postal drop box be provided at the South End of campus?

ADDITIONAL TOPICS

Report from Fees Committee – David Fewings, Senate Representative

§    Fewings was concerned that if the basic philosophy is to increase student fees above the present rate of expenditure in order to reduce the negative balance then future students would be affected.  Fewings is concerned that if not enough was charged in the past and a negative balance is created, then the pressure to reduce the negative balance can place an undue burden on future students.  The chair of that committee had explained this was not the case, but Fewings is bringing it forward to the Senate.  He is also going to investigate further to understand the matter better.

§    Provost Bodman responded by expressing concern about the many more accounts with positive balances which may represent current students overpaying such as in chemistry where they must replace equipment.  Bodman warned against drawing unwarranted inferences, and that it is much more characteristic of these accounts to be positive rather than negative, and that they are used to replace durable equipment.

§    Fewings brought a second concern about a perceived high balance in the faculty grants account and asked when it is going to be expended on grants.  Bodman explained that at any particular time there may appear to be as much as $1 mill in the account, but that it is used up on an annual basis and is the fund from which summer session salaries are paid, research activity is funded, and matching funds are given to departments.  The amount reflects a healthy state of affairs for research, but it expended regularly and goes directly back to faculty pursuits.  Bodman added that this should not be a matter of concern but that additional information can be obtained from Provost Ghali.

§    Jeff Newcomer asked about lab fees which can only be raised as allowed by 601, and expressed a concern that departments have not been able to raise fees fast enough to catch up.  However, every variable lab fee was approved as requested this year.  Bodman takes exception to this style of fee and suggests that if we can’t tell a student how much he is going to have to pay, we have a big problem institutionally.  Bodman favors few variable fees or none at all, so that we can tell students what things will cost before they take the class.  Bodman understands that in engineering technology this might be a problem, but not in most cases, and discourages faculty from recommending variable lab fees as a broad course of action.  Hyman will follow up on more detailed discussions on these topics with Bodman.

Spousal Accommodation – Larry Symons

§    Symons asked the Senate reexamine spousal accommodation as outlined in the Faculty Handbook and suggested that implementation of the policy has largely been abandoned.  Symons asked the Senate to revisit the policy to make it more explicit. Symons reported on the loss of faculty to other universities because of spousal accommodation issues, plus the added factor of not knowing the decision for more than five months.. He cited statistics that 40% of faculty have a spouse in the job market, and sometimes as many as 63% of women have spousal accommodation needs.  Hyman expressed appreciation for bringing the topic forward.

§    Bodman expressed concern that there are significantly more requests for spousal accommodations this year than in previous years, and he is striving to find a way to address the needs.  Bodman does not anticipate successful resolution to a lot of the requests this year, and Hyman added that he is not sure if we have a really clear set of guidelines for implementation of the policy as written in the handbook.  Bodman is interested in the departments’ points of view and is not sure if the Senate can now tackle this if it revolves around conditions of employment. Bodman added that he can put in a budget request for allocated positions so that those denied this year might be accommodated next year.

§    Senators discussed the fairness and unfairness of spousal accommodation issues both to individuals and to the departments.  In some cases the faculty accepted a spousal accommodation that nobody wanted because the Dean and the Chair said yes.  One Senator expressed support for Symons’ comments and pointed to the absurdity, given the amount of money searches cost, and the number of non-tenure track faculty we have, of losing a fulltime faculty member because of the inability to make a spousal accommodation at half time in an area that wants that half time person.

§    The role of the Dean and the administration beyond the Dean in this matter is something Senators think should be discussed, as well as whether the opinion of the Dean or the Provost should trump the opinion of faculty in two departments.  Senators noted that there is an additional problem when members of a department can feel pressure when the Dean and the Provost support and the Chair agrees to a proposal.  This becomes more acute in several years when it becomes time to address tenure, annual review, etc.  and it becomes difficult between members when faculty are being asked to give good reviews and avoid making suggestions of termination when they were not favorable to the accommodation initially.

§    Hyman concluded by noting that the Senate had touched on a timely topic, and one that affects a fair number of departments around the campus.  He posited that he believes Bodman never thrust an unwanted person on a department, nonetheless, departments can still feel that it has happened.  He added that we  need a clear set of processes as to how these things are handled.  We could stand a little more transparency and timeliness and clarity around the process.

§    Bodman added that every case has to go through EEOC as an exception and EEOC reviews each thoroughly; we also have to do a search and an authorization, both processes are straightforward. Every university is now doing this and is faced with same problem alluded to by Symons.  Faculty are coming here with partners that are highly valuable to the university and “we have to make the right match”.  The department has the right to say no to a spousal accommodation, and no one is trying to coerce departments.  Before the end of the year Hyman hopes to continue discussions with Bodman and the Senate to clarify handbook language. 

Items from the Faculty Union (UFWW)

§    Bill Lyne, United Faculty of Western President, reported the first full bargaining meeting with administration is scheduled for March 21^st.  Senators asked if partner accommodation will be part of the contract and if the terms will include same sex partners.  Lyne responded that he will have to seek legal advice on the subject.  He added that the use of the word “partner” opens the door to further discussion and question.

Senators broke briefly at 5:14 p.m. and returned to a faculty caucus at 5:19 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

Senators adjourned at 5:59 p.m.

Written by Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, 3/12/2007

                                                                                                _______________________

                                                                                                Lorraine Kasprisin, Secretary

Roster of the 2006-2007 Faculty Senate

Article III.  Faculty Senate:  The Faculty Senate is empowered to speak and act for the Faculty in University affairs with particular responsibility in the areas of curriculum, academic programs, Faculty salary, Faculty status, scholarly activities, and all matters relating to the welfare of Faculty, the education of students, and the academic mission of the University. The Faculty Senate is limited to 30 voting members elected by the Faculty, and the President of the University, the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University, and a college dean appointed by the Provost serving as Provost's Council representative as ex officio non-voting members.    (Faculty Handbook, page 55)