Faculty Council

Wednesday, March 2, 2005, 12:00 p.m.

Cohen House, Esther M. Cohen Dining Room

 

Present: Ed Akin, Jose Aranda, John Casbarian, Marj Corcoran, Steve Crowell, Rebekah Drezek, Lynne Huffer (Speaker), Nancy Niedzielski, Bob Patten (Deputy Speaker), Caroline Quenemoen, and Patricia Reiff. Absent: Vicki Colvin, Donald Morrison, Matteo Pasquali, Mark Wiesner, and Herb Ward.

 

(1) Minutes: The minutes were approved from the February 9, 2005 business meeting.

 

(2) Transition to New Governance System: This meeting primarily focused on addressing the transition to the new governance systems.  First, Faculty Council members were officially thanked for all their hard work to help get the governance reform proposals passed. Akin, Chair of the Elections sub-committee, is drafting transition proposals for both the Promotion and Tenure committee and the Faculty Senate. The Promotion and Tenure committee transition will take into consideration the need for continuity and the need for bringing in new constituencies.

 

The following recommendations were made during the discussion of the transition and elections process:

  1. Hold elections this Spring, enabling the Senate to create a constitution and by-laws during the Summer break.
  2. Continue the process of nominating candidates by petition to ensure support within the department.
  3. Discuss recruiting of candidates with the Deans in each school.
  4. Automatically nominate current members of the Faculty Council whose terms have not expired and who will not be serving on P&T for Senate positions.
  5. Hold the P&T Committee elections prior to the Senate elections.
  6. Allow the newly formed Senate to determine the staggering structure for representatives.
  7. Convene a meeting of the Senate in the Spring to elect the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Executive Committee.

 

Faculty Council agreed to present a transition proposal during the General Faculty meeting scheduled for March 16, 2005.

 

(3) Report from Faculty Council Sub Committees on Benefits: Niedzielski, Faculty Council Liaison to the Benefits Committee gave a summary of activities for the year. The Benefits Committee is working to manage the rising cost of Healthcare and will be requesting more money from the Administration to subsidize rate increases.  The Benefits Committee is also currently analyzing the types of employees in each level of medical coverage and researching the possibility of a consumer driven healthcare option. In addition, they are continuing the emphasis on wellness with several new wellness programs.  They are working on improving communication of benefits by updating and improving the webpage, translating information into Spanish, and holding an addition Ricefest benefits fair.

 

(4) Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m., with the next Faculty Council business meeting scheduled for March 23, 2005.

 

Sarah Holloman

Executive Assistant