MINUTES
FACULTY SENATE MEETING
DECEMBER 10, 1996
1. Call to Order:
Frank Hanson, Chair of the Faculty Senate, called the
December meeting of the 1996-97 Faculty Senate to order on
Tuesday, December 10, 1996 in Room 219 North of the
University Center at 2:15 p.m.
2. Roll Call:
The following members were present: Blumberg, Bren,
Cartwright, Clayton, Clements, de Onis, Downing, Eamon,
Fraedrich, Freiberg, Gahvamshahidi, Ghosh, Goroff, Hanson,
Huang, Jentoft, Jones, Karges, Klug, Kozlowicz, Molloy,
Nelson, Ossers, Parks, Payson, Reid, Savage, Schauer, Snow,
Sorensen, Tetley, Thatcher, Topp, Webb, Weston and
Witherill.
The following members were absent: Arntson and Hurstad.
3. Approval of Minutes:
The minutes of the November, 1996 Senate meeting were
unanimously approved without correction.
4. Addition of Items to Agenda.
Dick Schauer requested that the customary motion regarding
December graduates be added to the agenda. This addition
was accepted. He also asked that a resolution regarding
naming a facility for former faculty member Rex Foster be
added to the agenda. Chancellor Greenhill said that the
matter first had to go to the Memorials Committee.
Doug Eamon and Frank Hanson also had motions to add to the
agenda regarding the Regents' refusal to go along with
Katharine Lyall's salary proposals. These were added to the
agenda.
5. Announcements.
Hanson reported on the December Regents meeting. Katharine
Lyall presented her annual accountability report. The report
was generally quite favorable, and the System is shown to be
efficient and responsive. Hanson identified some faculty-
related areas of concern from the report. One area
mentioned was faculty workload. The average faculty member
works 57 hours a week, with 33 of those hours in teaching-
related responsibilities. Staff development funds are
insufficient. The attrition rate rose to 6.8% from 6.2% the
previous year, and 4.9% the year before. Facility
maintenance is inadequate. More academic staff and fewer
faculty are being hired for teaching positions. The report
also contained the suggestion that future accountability
reports consider the funding available as well what is being
done with that funding.
A Regents' advising group is considering a surcharge for
credits-to-degree beyond 162. They will probably wait to
see how various campus initiatives work before instituting
the yet-to-be-determined surcharge.
At the Faculty Representatives’ meeting the instructional
role of academic staff was discussed. A report will be
prepared and submitted to the Board of Regents in the
spring.
The 1997/99 pay plan was discussed. The Regents will
probably indicate that 1/3 must be allocated for merit, and
the rest will be up to the discretion of the campus.
Course and instructor evaluations were discussed. Some
campuses have come up with two evaluations, one of which is
for general use and one for faculty personnel matters.
The Regents' decision not to recommend Katharine Lyall's
proposed pay increase for faculty and staff was discussed.
Several campuses have prepared strongly worded protests. A
System-wide resolution on this matter is being prepared and
distributed to Faculty Representatives for consideration of
each campus’ Faculty Senate.
Regent Phyllis Krutsch has prepared a draft statement
regarding the essentials of the baccalaureate degree. It
will be duplicated and distributed to faculty. Several
aspects of the plan appear troubling. Many of the items
covered could and should be faculty matters, rather than
being handled by the Regents. In addition, some of the
competencies described may not be appropriate for
university-level study.
Chancellor’s Cabinet meeting included a "spirited"
discussion of the proposed faculty salary plan.
6. Reports.
The report of the November 8 meeting of the University
Curriculum Committee was unanimously passed on a
Jentoft/Reid motion after brief discussion.
The revised Final Examination Policy was presented. The
Chancellor had not approved the version passed by the
November Senate meeting and had requested changes. After a
long discussion Karges/Klug moved to refer the policy back
to the Admissions and Academic Standards committee. The
motion passed on a show of hands vote, 21-12.
7. Resolutions.
A. Schauer/Freiberg moved the graduation motion, following
the form of the previous May's resolution with dates
changed as necessary. The motion passed unanimously.
It reads:
The Faculty Senate at the University of Wisconsin-
Whitewater recommends to the University of
Wisconsin System Board of Regents that the UW-
Whitewater students who have applied for
graduation in December, 1996 and who have been
certified by the University Registrar to have met
all academic requirements and completed all of
their courses of study be granted their degrees at
the December, 1996 commencement exercises.
(FS 967-6)
B. Schauer/Klug then moved the promotions policy
implementation resolution. A typographical error was
corrected and the phrase "(See implementation
schedule)" was added. The motion was approved on a
voice vote, and reads:
1. Resolved that the 1996-97 membership of the
University Promotions Committee be designated as
the Interim University Promotions Standards Committee and that
it begin its work according to the charge of the
University Promotions Standards Committee and that
it begin its work no later than 1 March 1997 with
a joint meeting among Provost Schallenkamp, the
University Promotions Committee and the Faculty
Senate Rules Committee. (See implementation
schedule.)
2. Resolved that Faculty Senate recommends to the
Organization Committee that the Faculty By-Laws be
amended to replace the University Promotions
Committee with the University Promotion Standards
Committee.
C. Schauer/Ghosh then moved the resolution regarding
first-year probationary faculty. After lengthy
discussion the motion was defeated 12-15.
D. Hanson then yielded the Senate chair to Secretary
Payson to move (Hanson/Eamon) and present the report of
the Salary Committee. Discussion followed.
Witherill/Downing moved to strike section III. A
question was raised as to whether the committee
intended all salary savings, or only a part of the
salary savings to be used to address market issues.
Hanson said that the committee did not intend that all
salary savings be required to go towards correcting
market factors. After additional discussion, Schauer
called for a quorum at 4:30 p.m. Since only 25 members
were present, there was no quorum and the meeting
adjourned.
A special meeting of the Senate will be held on Tuesday, January
28, 1997 at 2:15 p.m. to address the proposed faculty salary plan
and the proposed resolutions to the Board of Regents regarding
their decision to cut Katharine Lyall's salary recommendation.
The other uncovered agenda items will be considered at the
regular February meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn Payson
Secretary, Faculty Senate
|
