2006-07 Faculty Senate, Dec.11, 2006 Minutes Summary
January 24, 2007
I. Roll – The following senators were absent: Burger, Calculator, Carr,
Chasteen, Graham, Kistler, Morgan, Quigley, Rebellon, Reid, Schiller, Tenczar
and Walsh. Excused were Ament, Becker, Berndtson, Brown, Brunet, Dorfsman,
Jacobs, Jolley and Thomas.
II. Remarks by and questions to the chair – Today is the last day of
the Dimond Library exhibit entitled “Unplugged”. The provost has
requested that a member of the Faculty Senate’s Library Committee be
identified to serve on the search committee for the next library dean. The
Agenda Committee believes that the Faculty Senate should provide a representative
to serve on that search committee, because this committee is analogous to the
presidential search committee and because the library serves all the students
and faculty in UNH.
Regarding university institutes, the senate chair will meet with the provost
this week and ask him if other groups besides EOS are in the process of applying
to become university institutes. The senate office will work on constructing
a time line showing actions, discussions and documents about university institutes.
Marco Dorfsman has last year’s minutes from the Academic Affairs Committee,
and the UCAPC minutes are available on the UCAPC website. The senate chair
will ask the provost to clarify which is the current UNH Policy on University
Institutes, because the document on the USNH Policy Manual website differs
from the document the provost sent. The senate chair will also ask the provost
to send the final draft of the EOS institute proposal, as well as the version
of the university institute policy which was active when the EOS proposal was
written.
The Faculty Senate chair had also written to Mark Rubinstein asking what steps
the administration has taken to ensure that the Office of Financial Aid understands
and will implement the agreement between the administration and the Faculty
Senate regarding student scholarships. On 11/15/06, the vice president indicated
that he was gathering information and would respond soon; but since there was
no response so far, the senate chair recently sent another note.
The senate chair told the Academic Leadership Council and the president’s
staff that the Faculty Senate is being responsive and responsible regarding
its business and that, although the faculty contract settlement will be retroactive,
the delays caused by work to rule will not be recoverable. The Discovery Program
will not be implemented for the 2007 academic year at least.
III. Minutes – The senate unanimously except for one abstention approved
the minutes of the last Faculty Senate meeting, with an amendment to insert
the following after the first sentence of item IV: “Since the Faculty
Senate is not entertaining any motions for action, the committee found that
it would not be productive to move forward on preparing such motions at this
time. The committee regrets the state of contract negotiations and is eager
to get to work on the faculty's business.”
IV. Procedure for reviewing proposed university policy – Todd DeMitchell
suggested that a procedure should be confirmed and clarified to track what
is to be done when the administration brings a proposed procedure to the Faculty
Senate. The Agenda Committee has concluded that a reconfirmation of shared
governance is perhaps not needed as a senate motion; but some of the proposed
material could become part of the senate’s orientation document, which
would be useful for both faculty senators and also candidates for university
president. A task force could be instituted to modify the orientation document
and might include Senators DeMitchell and Becker.
V. Presidential search – A senator inquired about the composition of
the Presidential Search Committee, asking how it was chosen and if it had enough
senior faculty and senior administrators as members. He expressed concern about
the small number of candidates brought to campus and asked about their credentials
and about whether an internal candidate was given sufficient consideration.
Although this search committee has twelve rather than twenty members, it has
the same number of faculty as last time: Professors Becker, Seavey and Stine,
who are each from a different college. Senator Stine said that the committee
has been unanimous in its decisions and that the faculty representation seems
appropriate. Regarding the number of candidates who come to campus, it is hard
for sitting university presidents to announce their candidacy for a new position
elsewhere; and so it is rare to have more than two good university presidents
agree to participate in the public stage of candidacy. After discussing the
qualifications and experience of the two candidates who have agreed to come
to the UNH campus, he added that the search committee felt that they were very
good candidates. The two candidates for president have done well as professors,
come from a good academic background, have a lot of experience working with
a legislature, and are aware of a number of the current situations at this
university. A professor expressed concern that university presidents usually
do not stay a long time at UNH.
When the campus meetings with the candidates are completed, the search committee
collects feedback about the candidates and passes it on to the chancellor and
the chair of the Board of Trustees, usually with a ranked list of acceptable
candidates. The Board of Trustees will make a choice after considering input
from the faculty, the chancellor and the chair and vice chair of the Board
of Trustees. Faculty may provide input via Senator Stine by Friday, December
15.
VI. Use of inessential technology by students in class – Senator Feldman
said that students now bring to class a variety of electronic devices, which
some of the students use for entertainment purposes. When students watch unrelated
movies during class, this is distracting to other students and disrespectful
to the professor and the university’s mission. Senator Feldman moved
and Senator Ferber seconded that the “Student Rights, Rules and Responsibilities” publication
should be amended to indicate that students should not use technology in the
classroom in a way that is distracting and unconnected to the academic mission
and that the penalty could be as severe as failure in the course. A professor
suggested that the problem could be dealt with by giving frequent tests on
the class material. Another faculty member said that she deals with such issues
via the class syllabus and announces at the beginning of the semester what
behavior will be required; and many senators agreed that this would be the
most appropriate approach, since the syllabus is intended as a binding contract
with the students. A few professors suggested that the matter be passed on
to the senate’s Student Affairs Committee. Other faculty said that students
look to faculty to control the learning environment in the classroom and that
faculty should tell students to close the technological device or leave the
classroom. A professor said that, although faculty prefer not to confront their
students, even if the proposed change were made to the publication, the rule
would still need to be implemented; and so confrontation would be needed. The
motion’s mover and seconder made a friendly amendment to the motion to
say that these matters should be sent to the senate’s Student Affairs
Committee for review. The motion to send the issue to that committee passed
unanimously except for two abstentions.
VII. Adjournment – Today’s meeting was adjourned.
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