WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

                                                                         FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

                                                                      Regular Meeting – May 19, 2008

Call to Order

Jeff Newcomer, 2007-2008 Faculty Senate President, hosted Orientation for new Senators at 3 pm and called the regular Senate to order at 4:02 pm.  Newcomer welcomed twenty-two (22) Senators, one (1) ex officio member, the recorder (1), and three (3) guests who included newly elected Senators, for a total of twenty-eight (28).  (See attached roster).

Items from the Senate President

Approval of Senate Minutes.  

Senators accepted Senate minutes of May 5, 2008 and Standing Committee minutes. 

Reports

Newcomer reported:

·    That the Opportunity Appointment policy as passed by the Senate Fall Quarter is in its 30-day review period. The next step is approval by the Executive Policy Group and the Board of Trustees;

·    The Executive Council has identified two Business and Financial affairs policies for open review: verifying employment eligibility and placing a hold on faculty accounts;

·    Subgroups are completing initial drafts for the Performance Agreements; and

·    President Morse is expected to announce the winner of a new Faculty Service award at the next meeting.

Items from the Administration

Vice Provost Lawson, sitting in for both President Morse and Provost Murphy, announced that a national search for Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs is being instituted at the request of President designate Shepard.  Please email Jeff Newcomer with faculty volunteers or nominees for the search committee which expects to select a Provost by January 2009.  At least five faculty will be selected for the committee, including one Library faculty.

Items from UFWW

Bill Lyne, UFWW President, expressed cautious optimism that bargaining negotiations would be completed this week, as postponement would eliminate any possibility of ratification this Spring. 

Comments on the Minutes:  University Planning Council

Performance Agreements.  Senators asked if issues are going to be resolved according to a faculty point of view, or according to a legislative point of view.  Comments in response indicated that these were not intended to be punitive, but rather envisioned that one side does something and in return the other side agrees to do something. However, the only recorded successful performance agreements in the country occur at the Colorado School of Mines, according to the Chair.  Downing continued that the subgroups are submitting possible lists of areas where we can invite agreement, and if we play our cards right we might get rewarded for this.  It is a mistake to think a whole lot can come from this right away, or that we can solve longstanding problems.

§    Lyne mentioned that the legislators most engaged with this sit on policy committees, not on “money” committees. We need to be certain that there is some specific mechanism for a quid pro quo; there will be escape clauses.  If some future legislature does not fund what they are supposed to fund we don’t have to keep our part of the agreement.  There is no waiving of or intrusion into collective bargaining agreements; we cannot raise our workload or change the way we get paid or anything like that.  There is a committee being formed that will have someone from the committee of each institution who will be able to stay in touch on the State level. 

§    Newcomer proposed that the summer will be interesting when all the priorities come out; to see if the legislature gets out a “standardization brush” to make things more similar rather than leaving alone.

§    Lyne added that this is driven by a notion of ordering up a certain number of degrees that the State thinks it needs, and for that reason the committee may end up preferring one school’s plan over another.  Lyne added though, that another impulse is a genuine interest in higher education and a desire to come up with dramatic forms to improve funding; however, this will most likely lose as long as the Appropriations Committee is structured the way it is.  Newcomer added that the HEC Bd Master Plan calls for a specific number of degrees, increasing over the next few years.  They don’t get the point that people learn just by taking courses, without necessarily graduating.  The target is to increase degrees by 45%. 

§    The topic of improving summer session funding and improving the attraction of summer school was discussed, as a way of increasing enrollment.  Summer cannot be a quarter like all others, but Summer Session might take some of the pressure off completing the GURs for students. 

Decision Packages.  Downing reported that UPC was told it would be apprised of these but has not seen them yet, and there are only two more UPC meetings this year.

APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS – Mick Cunningham, Officer

Senators reviewed obligations of the deputy legislative liaison 2008-2009 position, and learned that the nominee would be expected to attend a few legislative sessions in 2009 to learn the processes for representing faculty interests as preparation for being the 2010-2011 legislative liaison.  The legislative liaison gets release time and travel expenses to Olympia.  John Purdy will continue to serve as the 2009 legislative liaison.

Remaining Faculty Vacancies:

Legislative Liaison: 2010-2012

Academic Coordinating Commission:  1 Library Faculty, 1 Senator

University Planning Council:  1 faculty, 1 Senator (except A, B or C)

Academic Technology Committee: 1 Senator.   Faculty from each College Technology Committee

Assessment Committee (ACC):  3 to 5 faculty; Writing Program rep; Chair of Accountability workgroup.

Graduate Council (ACC): 1 from College Graduate Programs (preferably E, D, G, or H)

Other University Committees

Judicial Appeals Board and Student Academic Grievance Board – 4 candidates for each, Provost appoints two and an alternate.  Academic Honesty Board –1 through 2010.  Academic Fees Committee – 1 (meets once during year). LGBT Concerns Committee – 3.  Parking Appeals Board – 1  

ACTION ITEMS:

Term Limits for Standing Committee membership – MOTION TO APPROVE

By Motion Senators unanimously approved revisions to By-Law 7 of the Constitution: Committees, Councils, and Commissions which will allow faculty to serve on Standing Committees for up to six consecutive years.  The information has been published to the Faculty and in FAST as required by the Faculty Handbook.

The first revision reads:  “Faculty members on these Committees, Councils, and Commissions may be reappointed by the Faculty Senate and may serve for up to six consecutive years. provided that only in exceptional cases will any faculty member serve on any Committee, Council, or Commission for longer than two consecutive terms.“   The second revision is the deletion of the following sentence:  Chairs shall be invited to the Executive Council on a quarterly basis and as circumstances warrant.

Academic Coordinating Commission Charge – Motion to Approve

By Motion Senators approved a revised charge for the Academic Coordinating Commission, which provides that curricular committees of the colleges nominate the faculty who will be approved by the Senate to serve on the ACC.   Following publication in FAST and email to the faculty, Senators will conduct a second vote. 

DISCUSSION

Senate Library Committee Charge – First Review

Senators reviewed a revised Senate Library Committee charge and suggested edits.  The charge will be brought to a vote at the next meeting.

Notice regarding last Senate meeting on June 2^nd

§    Senators were reminded that all outgoing, continuing and new Senators were expected at the June 2^nd meeting to complete Senate business.  The new Senate will confirm Matthew Liao-Troth as President 2008-2009, elect its officers, hear reports and appoint Standing Committee members.

Faculty Caucus and Adjournment

Senators moved to a brief Faculty caucus and adjourned at 5:49 pm.

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, 5-19-08

                                                                                                            _______________________

                                                                                                            Joan Stevenson, Secretary

Roster of the 2007-2008 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)