WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

Regular Meeting – September 29, 2008

Call to Order

Matthew Liao-Troth,

2008-2009 Faculty Senate President, called the Senate to order at 4:01 pm.  Liao-Troth welcomed thirty (30) Senators, three (3) ex officio members, the Legislative Liaison, the Past President and the recorder (3), and two (2) guests for a total of thirty-eight (38) (see attached roster).  

Items from the Senate President

Approval of Senate Minutes.  

Senators accepted Senate minutes of June 2, 2008. 

Reports

§    Liao-Troth welcomed Craig Dunn, Chair of the Provost Search Committee who emphasized efforts to effect a transparent process and referred Senators to the website at http://www.wwu.edu/provostsearch/ 

Constituent Concerns

Senators heard Liao-Troth report on the following constituent concerns:

o   Previous bicycle policy language is undergoing the 30-day review period;

o   The Executive Dining Committee determined not to pass judgment on political activities of Sodexho vendors as long as Sodexho policies are harmonious with university policies and hiring policies are non-discriminatory;

o   Senators ask for an automatic default for delivering repetitive teaching evaluations to faculty;

o   Faculty requested a code be assigned for classroom technology to include slide projectors.

Items from the Administration

Senators welcomed University President Bruce Shepard to his first Senate meeting of the year.

President Shepard reported on budget forecasts and suggested that clarification will come with the election of the next governor. Shepard and the budget office are working to develop a clear process.

§    Shepard will invite the President of the Senate to be part of the President’s Council in anticipation of continued transparency and issue sharing.

§    Shepard suggested that the term “Course Reaction Survey” is preferable to the term “teaching evaluation”.  He suggested that the latter term is semantically confusing. 

Provost Murphy reported he is continuing to refine the Performance Agreement draft although an October 1^st meeting in Olympia has been cancelled. 

§    Murphy is beginning the search for the Distinguished Professor for the Leadership Institute.  In addition, he has asked colleges to prioritize search requests while awaiting clarification on the budget.

Items from UFWW

§    Bill Lyne, UFWW President, suggested that there is some urgency required for departments to develop policies for post tenure evaluation, which now requires satisfactory review in 3 out of 3 areas.  Lyne suggested there is room to write broad criteria, and that departments retain sovereignty in their policies.

§    Lyne further reminded Senators that departments must also develop a process for promoting eligible adjunct faculty to the rank of senior instructor. 

APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS –Tracy Coskie, Appointments Officer

The Senate appointed the following faculty to its standing committees:

To Academic Coordinating Commission:  Joanne Carney, Woodring, through 2009

To Academic Technology Committee:  Troy Abel, Huxley College; Derrick Mears, PEHR, and Mike Seilo, CSD (through 2009).

ACTION ITEMS

Revised Senate Library Committee Charge – Tabled

Senators noted that not all of the faculty had received the revised charge in the mail, and that some were still being sent out this day.  As a result, the second vote was postponed until the next meeting and the motion to approve was tabled. The charge, when approved, will go before the Board of Trustees in December.

Revised Academic Coordinating Commission Charge – Motion to approve one section

One section of the Academic Coordinating Commission charge having to do with the appointment or selection of members has been revised several times, and appeared before the Senate as follows: 

Faculty members are appointed Spring Quarter and are seated at the last ACC meeting of Spring Quarter.  ACC members in categories a, b, and c (above) are selected by the curriculum committees of the organizations they represent appointed for two-year terms and ratified by the Faculty Senate.  The At-Large representative and two voting Faculty Senators are appointed by the Senate for two-year and one-year terms respectively.  The student Vice President for Academic Affairs is elected by the Associated Students, and three additional students are appointed by the Associated Students’ Board of Directors. 

Members spoke for and against this revision, which indicates a return to the original style of appointing Commissioners in a previous version of the charge.  Chris Suczek made a motion to approve the revision, seconded by Spencer Anthony-Cahill, and Chris Friday called the question.  The motion passed.  The revision will come back to the Senate at its next meeting for a second vote.

DISCUSSION ITEM: 

Revisions to the Faculty Handbook 

Matthew Liao-Troth presented a list of sections of the Faculty Handbook that would most likely be omitted from any new version because those sections are now subsumed under the union contract.  The list of sections is as follows:

Section I – Part 5, Evaluation of Faculty; Part 6, Tenure Regulations; Part 9, Faculty Files; Part 13, Leave of absence;  Park 16, Severe Sanctions; Part 17, Procedures for same.

Appendix E: Grievance; Appendix I: Reduction in Force Proceedings; Appendix M: Patent & Copyright

Section II – IX.  Senators considered that revised Bylaws of the Colleges ought to be continued in the Handbook as Appendices, thus avoiding the need to present frequent changes to the Board of Trustees.

Tracy Coskie asked if the handbook will contain reminders that these documents exist and that they apply to them.  Chris Suczek argued for keeping the college plans in the handbook, because it should be possible for anybody to get a plan from any of the colleges, but you do not know what is in those plans unless they are included here.  Senators agreed they could be in the appendices as well as on a publishable link, and pointed out that one of the problems with having hard copies is that the updates don’t get into the handbook in a timely manner.  Senators asked who is going to determine that the college plan doesn’t conflict with the Faculty Handbook.  And they mentioned that the Senate should have the ability to decide what the process is for approving the appendices, although this process has been unclear in the past.

President Shepard noted that there can be a sentence that states:  “In the event there is a conflict, the Faculty Handbook prevails.”

Senators will consider the entirely revised handbook as a whole for a vote upon completion, but will also vote on smaller sections as the revisions proceed.  At the final vote there can be a disclaimer that typographical corrections can be done without a major revote required, provided there are no significant changes in meaning.

Senators reviewed several paragraphs in Section I for revision, and will come back to the Section at the next meeting, after suggestions and edits have been incorporated.

Adjournment

Senators moved to adjourn at 5:50 pm.

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, 9-29-2008

                                                                                                _______________________

                                                                                                Chuck Lambert, Secretary

Roster of the 2008-2009 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)