January 27th, 2004 –Faculty Senate Minutes

 

I. At 3:35 p.m. the meeting was called to order.

 

II. Roll Call: All present except for: Bob Brownbridge, Claire Ferraris, Tom Kelly,  Mark Perlman, John Rector, Judie Rhoads, Bill Schoenfeld, Dovie Trevino

 

Ex-Officio Member:  WOU President Conn

 

III. Minutes from last meeting were approved at 3:36 p.m. with no corrections.

 

IV. Reports from the Presidents

 

A. Senate President Janeanne Rockwell-Kincanon introduced the new VP for Student Affairs, Dr. Gary Dukes. Dr. Dukes addressed the Senators briefly expressing his excitement to be a part of the WOU community. Before coming to WOU, he was the President for Students at the University of Colorado at Pueblo, and before then the Director for Housing at Southern Oregon University.

 

B. President Conn's time started with Kristina Frankenberger's report on the status of the Strategic Planning process. She reported that this process is gaining momentum this term with the task forces collecting information and everyone involved hard at work. The Strategic Planning Council plans a variety of activities this term. There will be two newsletters per term (the first one coming out the week of January 26th), and open forums. The first one was to take place on January 28th from noon to 1 p.m. The university website also has a link to Strategic Planning with extensive information and updates, as well as the option of leaving anonymous comments for anyone interested in doing this.

 

President Conn thanked Dr. Kristina Frankenberger for her report. Then he reported that the faculty union and the administration agreed on a contract given our current financial plight. He also briefly mentioned a meeting of the 10-12 member study commission chaired by Peter Courtney and promised that an email letter with details will follow.

 

Finally President Conn urged the Senators to vote "Yes" on Measure 30 since the total loss for Western Oregon University would be about $600,000.

 

C. The ASWOU president Jeremy Quintanilla was not present at this meeting.

 

V. Consideration of Old Business

 

A. The discussion opened with a question about the statement that the new theatre program would not require the hiring of new faculty for the next 4 years. It was clarified that the four years stipulation was simply required in the OUS program form and it had no real significance. Then there was a motion to approve the BFA proposal. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

B. The student presentation on shared communication was tabled for the next meeting. Dr. Conn clarified that the students are held back by a consideration of a formation of a union for non-classified staff. As soon as this decision is reached, ASWOU would revise the document appropriately.

 

VI. Consideration of New Business

 

A.  The summary report of the effectiveness of Faculty Senate was distributed to the Senators. It was decided that this summary would be shared at the coming division meetings and then hopefully more suggestions and comments would be generated. Perhaps the final result would be a change implementation of some sort.

 

VII. Report of IFS

 

IFS Senator and President Elect Bob Turner reported that the newest developments on the ORP situation are to be found on the IFS website. There was a question about where the extra funds from WOU's employees are and whether the university will realize these savings. Darin Silbernagel would check on the situation.

 

The next meeting of IFS is scheduled for February 6th and 7th at WOU. It is expected that the Chancellor, the Governor's General Counselor, Peter Courtney, and the OUS HR representative would be at the meeting.

 

An AOF representative would be here at the February 27th Meeting of Faculty Senate to discuss ORP, and the senators were encouraged to let their colleagues know about this meeting.

 

VIII. Report of Committees

 

A.  John Rector was not present at the meeting.

 

B. Kit Andrews gave a report of the work of the Honors Committee. The Honors Program is healthy with a total enrollment of 38 students, of whom 16 are freshmen. There is room for more, so the Senators were encouraged to send interested students to talk to the Program Director Bob Turner. There is scholarship money available only to honors students.

 

Kit Andrews also reported that there would be an honors junior seminar this spring: HUM 399H, The Truth of that Particular Fiction: Fact, Falsehood, and Invention in Historical Fiction, taught by Professor Kirtley. There would be two honors junior seminars during the 2004-2005 academic years: during the winter term, on the Terrorist as a Liminal Figure, and during the spring term, on Math and Maps. These seminars are open to the general student population after honors students enroll.

 

IX. A motion to adjourn was approved around 4:10 p.m.