The
FACULTY SENATE
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
3:30 pm – 5:15 pm
Tippie Auditorium, W151, PBB
Members Present: David Asprey, Daniel Balderston, Jill Beckman, Gloria Bulechek,
Christine Catney, Jay Christensen-Szalanski, Steve Collins, Virginia Dominguez,
Edwin Dove, Sarah Fagan, Richard Fumerton, Carin Green, Kathleen Hanson, Paul
Heidger, Ronald Herman, Geoffrey Hope, Craig Kletzing, Johna Leddy, Yi Li,
Thomas Loew, Mazen Maktabi, Frank Mitros, Michael O’Hara, Christine Pawley, Amy
Poremba, Lynn Richman, Catherine Ringen, Victoria Sharp, Karin Southard, John
Sutphin, Christie Thomas, Downing Thomas, Brad Thompson, Tuong Ton-That, Walter
Vispoel, John Westefeld
Members Absent:
Garry Buettner, William Clarke, Denise Filios, Robert Garrett, Jennifer Glass,
Frederick Goodman, Thomas Grabowski, Vicki Grassian, Judith Heggen, Bruce
Justman, Mark Karwal, Lance Lichtor, Donald MacFarlane, Rene Martin, Steve
McGuire, David Min, James Nepola, Thomas O’Dorisio, Beth Pelton, Todd Pettys,
Gary Russell, Jarjisu Sa-Aadu, Thomas Schmidt, Janet Specht, Geb Thomas, Marcia
Ward, Catherine Woodman
Members Excused:
Susan Birrell, Linda Boyle, Kenneth Brown, Jane Desmond, David Drake,
Claibourne Dungy, Jose Morcuende, William Sharp, Linda Snetselaar, Anne Sullivan,
Steve Vincent
Guests:
George Lance (Emeritus Council), Laura Reed (Human Resources), Meredith Hay (VP
Research), Gregg Hennigan (Press-Citizen),
Emily Barnes (Daily Iowan), Chuck
Lynch (PCA), Julie Thatcher (
I. Call to
Order
Professor Kurtz, President Pro-Tem, called the meeting
to order at 3:32.
II. Approvals
A. Meeting Agenda
A motion to approve the meeting agenda was made by
Professor Herman and seconded by Professor Bulechek. It was unanimously approved by voice vote.
B.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Professor
O’Hara and seconded by Professor Ringen.
It was unanimously approved by voice vote.
C. Committee
on Committees, Sheldon Kurtz
A motion to approve the appointment of Laurie
McCormick to the Human Rights Committee (term 2006-08) to replace Ken Cmiel was
made by Professor Ringen and seconded by Professor O’Hara. It was unanimously approved by voice vote.
III.
Reports
A. Vice
President for Research, Meredith Hay
Professor Kurtz introduced Vice President Hay who
presented an informal report on the activities and plans of the Office for
Research. During the upcoming calendar
year the Office of the Vice President for Research will focus on research and
creative excellence in the three areas: the undergraduate experience,
collaboration and interdisciplinary research efforts, and community and global
engagement.
Vice President Hay announced new programs to
strengthen the mission of undergraduate research. The Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Awards will recognize outstanding accomplishments in scholarly investigation,
artistic creation, or performance by an undergraduate student in the fields of
arts and humanities; physical sciences, mathematics and engineering; natural
sciences; and the social sciences.
Recipients will be recognized at a spring undergraduate research forum
in the
Vice President Hay discussed her commitment to
increasing collaborative and interdisciplinary research across campus by
announcing two new Associate Vice President positions. These positions have been created to increase
communication between the Vice President for Research and the faculty. Both positions will be a 50%
appointment. The first position will
represent arts, humanities, and social sciences, and the second will represent
engineering, mathematics, the physical sciences, and the natural sciences.
Duties will include initiating and coordinating contact among faculty across
campus from different disciplines, assist in identification and acquisition of
external funding opportunities, planning, studying, and recommending new
programs, and facilitating interactions between research teams.
Vice President Hay then described a final initiative
to address global, interdependent, multicultural research by sponsoring two
events. In conjunction with President
Skorton’s Year of Public Engagement grant, the Office of the Vice President for
Research will support a project entitled UI Researchers in Collaboration. Led
by Steward Ehly and Jay Semel, this project will unite concerned citizens,
parents, providers, policy makers, and researchers for a forum on mental health
services for
Vice President Hay then answered questions from
Faculty Senators.
B. Presidential
Committee on Athletics, Chuck Lynch
President LeBlond introduced the Presidential
Committee on Athletics (PCA) Chair, Professor Lynch. Professor Lynch provided an overview of the
committee’s charge, structure, and activities.
This report can be read in full at http://www.uiowa.edu/~facsen/
Agenda/Senate05-06/3-7-06/2a-PCAReport.htm .
Professor Lynch recommended that for purposes of experience and
continuity of service PCA members be allowed to serve two 5-year terms rather
than one. Additionally, he offered a
“Did you know...” fact sheet from the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics,
which can be reviewed at http://www.uiowa.edu/~facsen/ Agenda/Senate05-06/3-7-06/2b-DYK.pdf. Professor Lynch heard concerns that the tone
of the fact sheet misrepresented appropriation of funds into “women’s”
athletics rather than “non-revenue generating” athletics. Professor Lynch will relay such concerns back
to the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
C. Campus
Climate Survey, Laura Reed
President LeBlond introduced Laura Reed who presented
plans for a campus-wide climate survey to measure employee satisfaction and
engagement in the workplace. The goal of
the survey is to provide targeted outreach, education, and support to
appropriate units. Her presentation may
be viewed at http://www.uiowa.edu/~facsen/
Agenda/Senate05-06/3-7-06/CampusClimate.ppt.
Ms. Reed answered questions and listened to suggestions. Questions arose regarding the transparency of
and access to the results, and Ms. Reed was invited to present the findings to
the
D.
1. Presidential
Search Update. The presidential search
open forum with the Board of Regents was last Thursday. There was good discussion on both sides, and
several leadership members were able to meet with Regents Downer and Vasquez
for 2 hours following the forum.
President LeBlond reported that the event was a success. The next Board of Regents meeting agenda
should include an item that sets the search process in place. At this point it is yet unclear what
decisions the board will make at the upcoming meeting and what, if any, our
response will be. In the meantime, faculty,
staff, and student leadership will continue to engage board members in this
discussion. President LeBlond noted his
appreciation that local legislators Joe Bolkcom and Bob Dvorsky both attended
the forum and encouraged Senators to thank them for their participation.
2. Shared
Governance Task Force Proposal Update. The purpose of this task force is to
review how the infrastructure supports communication and interaction among
faculty, staff, and student leadership and to determine ways to improve and
formalize communication among the bodies and with administration and
committees. It will be critical to speed
up the communication process in order to be more active participants in the
decision-making cycle. The Task Force
met and developed a model for achieving these goals and will discuss the
possibility of moving the office in physical proximity of each other.
3.
4. Request for
5. CIC
Leadership Program. The Provost’s Office
is soliciting three nominations of faculty to participate in this program. The UI typically sends five faculty members
on three 4-day trips to various CIC campuses.
The program generally attracts faculty interested in future
administrative roles. Faculty may
self-nominate or nominate colleagues directly to the Provost’s Office.
6. Representative
for the Review of Violence Policy.
Michael O’Hara volunteered to serve on the Dispute Resolution Committee’s
review the violence policy.
7. Final Senate
Meeting in Senate Chambers of Old Capitol.
President LeBlond noted the change of venue for the final Senate meeting
from the IMU to Old Capitol.
IV. From the
floor
There were no items from the floor.
V. Announcements
A.
B. Legislative Receptions, 4th Saturday of
each month
VI. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:04 pm.