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Governance Minutes ArchiveSeptember 12, 1989
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Faculty Senate 12 September 1989 32 Pamplin Hall 7:30 p.m. Present: Senators Arnold, Barker, Batie, Baumgartner, Beyer, Birch, Canestaro, Conn, Crittenden, de Wolf, Dudley, Dugger, Duke, Eiss, Eng, Etgen, Geller, Geyer, Goss, Hillison, Falkingham (alternate for Kingston), Kriz, McDaniels, Marriott, Nielsen, Polan, Salvaggio, Saunders, Snoke, Sorrentino, Thompson, Ventre, Walker, Webster, Wokutch. Absent: Senators Bunce, Farkas, Morrill, O'Neil, Scanlon. Visitors: Mr. Ken Martin (for Ms. Karen DeBord, representing Extension faculty), Ms. Susan Truelove (Spectrum), Mr. Paul Medtz (library), and Ms. Vivian Allen (Acting President of the Agronomy Faculty Association) 1. Announcements Vice President Eng called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and welcomed guests. a. Announced that Faculty Senate officers met regularly throughout the summer with Dr. McComas, Dr. Perry and Dr. Carlisle and Mr. Ridenour. b. Two to three Senators are needed to draft a resolution honoring John Perry. c. College of Arts and Sciences needs to elect a liaison representative to CAS Faculty Association. d. Visitors Policy was included in the packet distributed to Faculty Senators before the meeting. Additional copies are available. e. Faculty Senate President Scanlon attended the fall Administrators Conference. f. Mike Appleby, Coordinator of Community Participation, University Planning, attended the Senate Cabinet meeting to discuss faculty participation. Senator Arnold requested that we ask Mike Appleby to present a workshop for Faculty Senate on the planning process. g. Send nominations for Ethics Committee to any cabinet member. h. The first lottery monies coming to VPI&SU for capital projects includes $7,342,000 for construction of the Wallace Hall infill and $875,000 planning money for the Engineering/Architecture building. 2. Agenda The agenda was adopted with the addition of two items: Faculty Senate dues and the gift of the Hotel Roanoke. 3. Minutes The minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of April 25, 1989 were approved. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of April 21,1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of April 27, 1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of May 16, 1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of June 2, 1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of June 30, 1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of August 4, 1989 were accepted. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of September 1, 1989 were accepted. 4. Program Dr. Carlisle, Senior Vice President and Provost, discussed why he came to VPI&SU and his view of the mission of the land grant university. He identified some of the important issues as: the issues associated with the fact that we are a top 50 research university (i.e. graduate support); effectiveness of undergraduate teaching, review of the liberal education (core) requirements; assurance that we teach our best students through the honors program; affirmative action (faculty, staff and student body); international studies and programs; university libraries; quality of student life. He stated that he had been asking himself, "What are the important processes in the university for reaching decisions? He suggested the planning process and the governance process were both important. A planning task force was appointed last year and prepared several reports including a description of the planning process which called for the implementation of the process that would get us toward goals, objectives, assumptions, directions that the university should take in the next several years. As it relates to the planning process, Dr. Carlisle reported where we were: 1) The President has assigned the University-wide planning process to the Provost's office. 2) The search for a University Planning Director will soon be opened. 3) Individuals will be invited to serve on the Planning Coordinating Committee. There will be four faculty on this committee 4) The planning process calls for a considerable involvement of the university community in developing a four or five year plan. 5) By the end of this academic year we need to have some type of draft plan in hand. In terms of governance, Dr. Carlisle stated that he wanted to work closely with the commissions, as well as the faculty senate, in order to involve and inform a great many people about what the issues, problems, and circumstances are. 5. Council, Commission, and Committee Reports UNIVERSITY COUNCIL-Senator Eng-4 Sept 89 Cornel Morton, the new affirmative action officer, was introduced. The Woodrow Wilson College was discussed. Dr. McComas reported on his meeting with the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce. COMMISSION ON EXTENSION-Senator Marriott-8 Sept 89 Acting chairman, James Johnson, provided a brief update on the anticipated future structure for extension and extension agent classification. The Commission voted to forward the proposal on the Academy of Extension and Public Service Excellence to the Commission on Faculty Affairs. The regular meeting date for the Commission will be the first Tuesday of each month at 3:00 p.m. COMMISSION ON FACULTY AFFAIRS-Senator de Wolf-8 Sept 89 Four pending CFA resolutions were discussed. 1) A resolution dealing with a change in the supplemental funding of Alumni Distinguished Professors was considered acceptable. 2) A resolution concerning the tenure period for non-tenure track faculty that convert to tenure-track positions was reworded to broaden the positions from other than Instructor or Lecturer to other than Assistant Professor. 3) Action upon a resolution on the term of appointment of division heads, chairs, and directors was deferred until the Provost has had another look at it. 4) Somewhat vague wording of a resolution on the Faculty Reconciliation Committee was referred to its chairman for clarification. No need was felt for action on a new faculty rank (Senior Professor) until notes of previous deliberations on this issue are distributed. COMMISSION ON GRADUATE STUDIES-Senator Snoke-3 May 89 No action was taken beyond referring some topics to subcommittees for further study. 1) A resolution from the Graduate Student Assembly which would increase considerably the number of Honors Colloquia as well as graduate student involvement in teaching colloquia (referred to the Graduate Students Relations Committee). 2) It was proposed that there be a workshop during the summer for faculty and staff who interact with the Graduate School on graduate school policies and procedures. Dean Bates and Arthur Snoke will organize such a workshop for Arts and Sciences departments as an initial effort. 3) Policies regarding proprietary information in theses and dissertations. 4) Procedures regarding reviewing the accuracy of course offerings and program descriptions that appear in the catalog. 5) Insuring adequate language proficiency for foreign TAs. 6) Policies for dealing with academic misconduct of students. COMMISSION ON RESEARCH-Senator Arnold-no meeting. COMMISSION ON STUDENT AFFAIRS-Senator Geyer-8 Sept 89 Items discussed included whether and how much certain student leaders should be paid over the summer and the fairness of the student elections. COMMISSION ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES-Senator Salvaggio-4 Sept 89 Dr. Carlisle opened the meeting by sketching out his ideas on undergraduate education, among them his interest in our looking at our present core curriculum. The one matter to attract considerable discussion was that of a university policy on religious holidays. Should we have a general policy suggesting guidelines for attendance, exam rescheduling, etc. on religious holidays and should "major" religious holidays be identified? These questions will be discussed at an upcoming meeting. ATHLETIC COMMITTEE-Senator Nielsen-no meeting The new chair will be Larry Killough, former Faculty Senator member. BUILDING COMMITTEE-Senator Dugger-1 Sept 89 There was a discussion on capital outlay items. The university plan was amended to add a recreational sports fitness center, creative arts center and the outdoor pool. A concern was expressed that we needed more academic space rather than other types of spaces. It was stated that these facilities would be funded through user fees. COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK COMMITTEE-Senator Nielsen-30 Aug 89 Discussed problem of queueing on the network which are suppose to be taken care of now. COMPUTER COMMITTEE-Senator Birch-6 Sept 89 The computing center was moved to the Corporate Research Center in July. Distribution of computer output now follows a new schedule. Problems due to the frequency with which the output is delivered remains a problem. Given the current financial situation, the delivery schedule will remain as is -- hourly delivery to Hutcheson, Burruss, and McBryde on the 7:00 a.m. to midnight shift and two-hour deliveries after midnight. There will be a new computing center department, computer purchasing, which will assume responsibility for university computing purchases that are greater than $500. Technical advise will also be available. Due to problems that result from unexpected power outages, the Computing Center is seeking to establish a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) by June 1990. User Services will be moved from Burruss to the reference section of the library. EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COMMITTEE-Senator Thompson-No meeting. EO/AA No report INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES COMMITTEE-Senator Dudley The committee has met three times for approval of patents and copyrights. LIBRARY COMMITTEE-Senator Duke-7 Sept 89 Discussed a draft of the annual committee report; revisions were suggested. Discussed a draft resolution regarding a policy on "branch libraries." An amended resolution is to be voted on at the October meeting. A major concern is to avoid reducing services at the main library by creating a branch library without adequate resources. The committee recommended that because of insufficient funds that membership in the Center for Research Libraries not be pursued at this time. With the recent departure of Phyllis Johnson the Senior Library Staff has been reorganized to cover all of the areas of responsibility eliminating one position. The Users Services Group will be moved to the Newman Library and housed near the reference librarians. The task force evaluating VTLS and alternative systems has decided to use "internet" in lieu of site-visit evaluations. The director announced that the library is third on the special projects list in the next biennium budget. NATIONAL SPEAKERS FORUM Last year's representative, Senator Salvaggio, reported that she thinks this committee has been dissolved. SCHOLARSHIP AND STUDENT AID-Senator Kingston-No meeting. SELF STUDY MONITORING COMMITTEE-Senator Arnold-No meeting. SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS COMMITTEE-Senator Barker-No meeting. PARKING/TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE-Senator Polan-31 May and 9 Aug The committee is composed of three faculty, three classifieds, two undergraduate and one graduate student, and five non-voting persons. At the May meeting, a subcommittee was appointed to review and proof new parking regulations, parking for retirees was approved with no charge when recommended by Mr. Butt, and visitor parking for civic clubs meeting regularly on campus was reported to be available. Only one person interviewed for director was acceptable to all persons, but the offer was refused. At the August 9 meeting, the committee addressed the exceptional cases that had been raised (car-pooling, part-time employees, enforcement off main campus, parking permits for research park people). A 15 and 10 minute parking space will be designated at the library. Due to questions raised by handicapped, an opinion from University council was sought on the legalities of charging for handicapped parking. The chairman developed a set of questions and answers concerning parking that were approved by the committee and steering group and were published in Spectrum. TASK FORCE ON ADVISING-Senator Etgen A task force (Drs. Rita Purdy, Jackson Webster, and William Etgen) was charged with 1) determining if there are undergraduate advising problems at VPI&SU, and 2) if so, to identify where these problems exist. The Task Force reviewed the section on advising in the Self Study, the reports of the ad hoc Committee on Academic Advising dated January 24, 1983 and February 4, 1985, a summary of the pre-graduate interviews from the graduating classes of 1986, 1987 and 1988 and the summary of the 1988 alumni survey during the summer months of 1989. Association between number of faculty in a department and number of graduates responding in the 1988 alumni survey was statistically analyzed. A first draft of the Task Force report has been written and is being reviewed by the committee members. FACULTY SENATE OF VIRGINIA-Senator Conn Executive committee met with officials of SCHEV on September 8. Among the agenda items was the 53% (plus) increase in BC/BS premiums, effective January 1, 1990. FSV will explore possible respondents to this most unsatisfactory situation. FSV will meet later in the semester and the executive committee with SCHEV officials in December. Send FSV agenda items to Senator Conn or via the Faculty Senate Cabinet. 6. OLD BUSINESS None 7. NEW BUSINESS CONSTITUTION Senator Arnold questioned whether the constitution revision proposed in the Faculty Senate Cabinet minutes 1 Sept 89 had to be submitted as a resolution at this meeting. The parliamentarian confirmed that notice must be given. Senator Nielsen moved and it was seconded that the recommendation made by the Faculty Senate Cabinet regarding Article VIII Amendments, Section 1, C Adoption as reported in the Faculty Senate Cabinet minutes 1 September 89 be considered proper notice. MOTION CARRIED. Note: The proposed changes were also noted in the copy of the Faculty Senate Constitution included in the initial fall packet. DUES Senator Etgen moved and it was seconded to raise annual dues to $5.00. MOTION CARRIED with one abstention. SUPPORT SERVICES Senator Duke raised a question about support services. To purchase a computer over $500 one must get a bid. If we want work done on campus it is difficult to get a bid. Where as a faculty can we approach the problems of physical plant? Senator Conn arranged a meeting for him and Senator Scanlon with Spencer Hall to address this issue over the summer. Executive officers will bring this up again. Senator Dugger moved and it was seconded that a Senate Task Force be appointed to look at supportive services and infrastructure and report to the Senate at the December meeting. MOTION CARRIED with one abstention. Committee members will be appointed by the executive committee. HOTEL ROANOKE Senator Eng reported on the executive committee meeting with Mr. Ridenour prior to the announcement of the University's gift of the Hotel Roanoke. Discussion at the Faculty Senate meeting centered around the fact that the Hotel acquisition was not a part of a long range process and that it was acquired without prior discussion with faculty such as the Faculty Senate. PLANNING PROCESS Questions were raised about the long range planning process. Who are the University decision makers? One Senator expressed concern about the report of the planning process and its lack of inclusion of the governance process. The meeting adjourned at 10:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary Goss, Secretary ADDENDUM Treasurer's Report 2 October 1989 Balance on hand, August 31, 1989 $ 77.25 Dues Deposit 19 @ $5.00 105.00 Balance on hand, October 2, 1989 182.25
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