The
FACULTY SENATE
Iowa Room, 335
Members Present: David Asprey, Daniel Balderston, Linda Boyle, Kenneth Brown, Garry Buettner, Gloria Bulechek, Jay Christensen-Szalanski, Steve Collins, Jane Desmond, Virginia Dominguez, David Drake, Sarah Fagan, Denise Filios, Robert Garrett, Jennifer Glass, Frederick Goodman, Kathleen Hanson, Paul Heidger, Ronald Herman, Bruce Justman, Craig Kletzing, Yi Li, Lance Lichtor, Thomas Loew, Donald MacFarlane, Mazen Maktabi, Rene Martin, Steve McGuire, Todd Pettys, Lynn Richman, Catherine Ringen, Jarjisu Sa-Aadu, Thomas Schmidt, Victoria Sharp, Linda Snetselaar, Karin Southard, Janet Specht, Anne Sullivan, Downing Thomas, Brad Thompson, Tuong Ton-That, John Westefeld, Catherine Woodman
Members Absent: William Clarke, Edwin Dove, Richard Fumerton, Thomas Grabowski, Carin Green, Judith Heggen, Geoffrey Hope, David Min, James Nepola, Thomas O’Dorisio, Beth Pelton, Amy Poremba, Gary Russell, William Sharp, Christie Thomas, Geb Thomas, Steve Vincent
Members Excused: Susan Birrell, Christine Catney, Claibourne Dungy, Vicki Grassian, Mark Karwal, Johna Leddy, Frank Mitros, Jose Morcuende, Michael O’Hara, Christine Pawley, John Sutphin, Walter Vispoel, Marcia Ward
Faculty Senate Officers in Attendance: Richard LeBlond, President; Sheldon Kurtz, Vice President; Michael Cohen, Secretary; Katherine Tachau, Past President
Guests: Charles Drum (University Relations), John Keller (Graduate College), Gregg Hennigan (Press-Citizen), Michael Hogan (Office of the Provost), Sam Edsill (Daily Iowan), Bill Reisinger (Office of the Provost), Jennifer Modestou (EOD), Cynthia Joyce (Ombuds), Craig Porter (Ombuds), Lola Lopes (Office of the Provost), Eugene Spaziani (Emeritus Faculty Council), Jennie Smazik (Faculty Senate Office)
I. Call
to Order
President LeBlond called the meeting to order at 3:34 pm.
II. Approvals
A. Revised Meeting Agenda
A motion to approve the revised meeting agenda was made by Professor Ringen and seconded by Professor Heidger; it was approved unanimously by voice vote. The discussion of the Council on Teaching Charter Revision was deferred to a future meeting.
B.
Faculty Senate Minutes, September 6, 2005
Professor Tachau moved, second by Professor McGuire, to approve the Minutes of September 6, 2005. The motion was unanimously approved by voice vote.
C.
Recommended Committee Replacements
Professor Kurtz made the following recommendations for Committee replacements, seconded by Professor Maktabi:
·
FRIC: Jane
Chalmers (Dentistry)
·
Student
Publications: Steve Berry (Journalism)
·
Council on
Teaching (1 year): Mary Trachsel (Rhetoric)
The motion was approved
unanimously by voice vote. A vacancy in the Diversity Committee (1 year) remains,
for which suggestions are being sought.
III. Reports
A.
Faculty Senate
President, Richard LeBlond
1. Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics Annual
Meeting December 2-3, 2006,
Professor
Dungy will represent the institution at the upcoming COIA meeting. He is a member of the Council and a
member of the Presidential Committee on Athletics.
2. NCAA
Self-Study, Vice Provost Pat Cain, (Report found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~our/ncaa-cert/)
The self-study is nearly complete and the majority of the report is available on-line at the URL listed above. The complete report is due this month and will be followed by a site visit February 8-10, 2006.
3. CIC Meeting, November 4-5, 2005,
Faculty
Senate President LeBlond will be representing the institution at the upcoming
CIC meeting. The focus of the
meeting is on senate infrastructure and the senate’s interactions with
university central administration.
4.
Charitable Giving
Enrollment, Richard LeBlond
Senate President LeBlond indicated
that the reported faculty contribution to
5.
Statement of
Support for President Skorton, Richard LeBlond and Sheldon Kurtz
The statement of support was sent to the Board of Regents but no response has been received.
6.
Road’s Scholars
Proposal, Downing Thomas
Professor Thomas, with help from Professor McGuire
and Ms. Jane van Vooorhis (President Skorton’s Office), helped prepare a
proposal for the Iowa Engagement Core, and was submitted by the October 6
deadline. The proposal focuses in newly
promoted faculty who will be involved with a dialogue of
7.
Faculty Senate
Directory, Senate President LeBlond
IV. New Business
A. Presentation, and Q & A,
Provost Michael Hogan
Senate President LeBlond
introduced Provost Hogan.
Provost Hogan presented
remarks about his first 18 months in office, summarizing his focus during the
past year and where he will spend his time in the upcoming year. More specifically, he discussed the
following:
· Provost Hogan thanked
other staff in his office, including the associate provosts, and summarized
some of the reorganizations that have taken place in his office
· The new strategic plan,
The Iowa Promise: <http://www.uiowa.edu/homepage/news/strategic-plans/strat-plan-05-10/>
This strategic plan
focuses on 5 key areas: undergraduate education, graduate and professional
education & research, diversity, vitality, and engagement.
Provost Hogan focused
his comments on two of these areas-- undergraduate education (including the
freshman seminar series, the Honors Program, service learning, a formal review
of the undergraduate experience, general education requirements, and the 2+2
Program [a closer working relationship between UI and community colleges]) and
diversity (including the Diversity Action Committee, the Faculty Diversity
Opportunity Program, and the Gender Equity Task Force).
· Provost Hogan then
discussed some budgetary matters, including the Transformation Plan, details
about how reallocations are being carried out, the loss of close to 90 tenure
track faculty lines because of cuts in state appropriations between 2001 and
2005, and his priority on increasing faculty salaries (which have fallen to 10th
out of 11 among peer institutions).
· Provost Hogan commented
about the importance of shared governance and the role of the Faculty Senate in
this process.
· Provost Hogan explained
his decision about the role of associate deans & associate provosts in the
promotion and tenure process.
· Provost Hogan announced
his plans to form a committee to review the tenure clock.
· Provost Hogan encouraged
faculty to look at the Provost’s Office web page: <http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/>
.
· Finally, Provost Hogan
responded to questions from the Faculty Senate.
A. Ombudsperson Office Presentation, Cynthia Joyce and
Craig Porter
Professor Porter and Ms. Joyce, both relatively new to the Ombuds Office, gave a report about the Office, and then responded to questions about the role of the Office.
B. Insurance Rates and TIAA/CREF, Professor Sheldon Kurtz
Professor Kurtz indicated that an average ~6% increase in premiums for health insurance rates could be expected, although this was plan dependent. In addition, he reported that TIAA would be increasing its options, starting January 1, 2006, to 59 funds, including, so called, life cycle funds, that will be available on the TIAA website (http://www.tiaa-cref.org/ ). Professor Kurtz also mentioned that generic drugs would be available at no cost to the employee, and that life insurance would we available without evidence of insurability.
Professor Kurtz also discussed an external review of the health plans and the establishment of health savings accounts (HSAs). This is an issue that will be explored by FRIC in the upcoming year. In addition, it was recommended that the number of plans be decreased from four to three; this will be explored also by FRIC in the upcoming year.
V.
From the floor
None
VI.
Announcements
A. Faculty Council, November 15, 3:30-5:15, Penn State
Room, 337 IMU
B. UI Catalyst Awards Ceremony, November 16, 4:00-5:30,
Second Floor Ballroom, IMU
C. Faculty Senate, November 29, 3:30-5:15, Terrace Room,
166 IMU
VII. Adjournment
There being no further business, Senate President LeBlond adjourned the meeting at 5:13 pm.