1.0 Call to Order
2.0 Call of the Roll:
Roll was automatic. The following Senate
Members were absent: Joel Alexander, Maureen Dolan, Mary Ann
Linden (for Linda Keller), David Olson, Mark Perlman, Mark
Seabright, and Tamina Toray.
3.0 Corrections to and approval of the minutes from the previous
senate meeting/agenda adjustments.
The previous meeting
minutes were approved and the agenda was not adjusted.
4.0 Reports of the Presidents
4.1 Senate President:
John previewed next week's major agenda
item (PT3/CTL presentations and discussion). Adele Schepige and
Jeff Taylor also announced WOU's hosting of the Oregon Academy
of Science Meeting (Junior Competition, March 3), soliciting interested
judges from the sciences and math.
4.2 President of Western Oregon University:
President
Youngblood encouraged all faculty to contact her with budget
concerns and questions. She stressed, again, that the budget
situation will likely not be resolved until summer or later. She
mentioned that an alternative proposal made by the Legislature will
add back $29 million to the plan proposed by the Governor;
however, what portions of this could go to WOU remain unknown
and somewhat unspecified. Finally, she emphasized that
increasing full-time faculty remains a key goal.
4.3 Student Body President:
Andy high discussed the upcoming
OSA and OUS lobbies. He reported that the childcare grant has
made it to the Ways and Means Committee for review. Student
senate activity includes discussing incidental fee increases (to
$133).
5.0 Consideration of Old Business
5.1 Pastega Award:
This contentious issue has not been
resolved. Reports from several divisions yielded a strong difference
of opinion: Humanities, Social Science, and Creative Arts (for the
most part) support limiting the award to teaching faculty only (as
defined by the bargaining agreement). Natural Science and
Business do not support proposed limitations. Health/PE does not
have a consensus. Teacher Ed. perceived no need to change the
eligibility requirements given that this problem happens so
infrequently. There was no report from Computer Science.
Questions about Pastega's intention and how long
Teaching Research has been recognized on campus were
discussed, as were issues about the guidelines the Honors
Committee used to rate applicants. A new draft of guidelines
will be written and it is likely a Faculty Senate vote will be made
upon submission and re-consideration by Divisions.
6.0 Consideration of New Business
6.1 Report from Kerry Frost, WOU Bookstore Manager:
Please
review materials provided by Kerry. The bookstore has increased
its mark-up from 20-30%, citing a variety of reasons; these include
significant increases in rent, freight (tied to increased gasoline
prices), and unsold books or mistake/last-minute purchases.
Internet competition was discussed but there was some debate
about how substantial this drain was or would be in the future.
Some discussion about the copyright legality of providing texts via
the library was had, owing to some students requesting this service
(in lieu of paying for books); however, this practice seems
questionable. Kerry also urged faculty and departments to let Kris
Adams (the book buyer) know about books that would be used again
(from term to term and year to year) because this could reduce unsold
text costs.
A motion to extend the meeting beyond 5:00 was made and approved.
7.0 Reports of Interinstitutional Faculty Senators:
Bob provided
an outline of the recent IFS meeting at WOU and quickly
summarized key points. Please share and review. Specifically, the IFS
commended the WOU administration for their upfront presentations
about the budget (as apparently compared with other campus
administrations, noted by several IFS members). Faculty are
urged to write personal letters to legislators to best communicate
budget issues and concerns.
The meeting was adjourned.