2007-08 Faculty Senate April 21, 2008 Minutes Summary
May 14, 2008
I. Roll – The following senators were absent: Barcelona, Calculator,
Chandler, Dowd, Hamlin, Kaen, Lane, Park and Walsh. Excused were Afolayan,
Charpentier, Graham, Howey, Lieber, Nimmo, Richman and Senier. The provost
was a guest.
II. Remarks by and questions to the provost – The provost said that
he is pleased to have a faculty contract and is eager to move forward on many
issues; and he added that faculty participation will be needed for many of
those tasks. He said that the Academic Affairs Office is concerned about threatened
state appropriations, flat or declining indirect cost returns, growing deficits
in some academic and non-academic units, rapidly rising energy and health insurance
costs, new faculty start-up expenses, the decline in New England high school
graduates, and staff unionization efforts, as well as relationship and climate
issues and the need to articulate the research mission and the integration
of academics and research. Other projects are the COLSA reorganization, the
Discovery Program implementation, review and renewal of the Academic Plan,
merit and equity distributions, and faculty contract negotiations to start
in February of 2009. Regarding the need to address cost and program factors
in international education, the provost said that he would bring a report on
that to the senate in the fall.
The Office of Academic Affairs will work on strategic planning, budget planning,
governance issues, curriculum development, and institutional development. Regarding
governance, the provost said that he speaks frequently with the senate chair
and vice chair and reads the senate minutes. He is glad to see that the senate
has produced a document on shared governance. He also has written on the subject;
and a colleague wrote a monograph as well, which the provost will send to the
senate chair and vice chair. Faculty and administration representatives will
discuss these matters this summer, in order to agree on wording for core principles
and processes. The provost’s office will work via shared governance for
a resolution of the tuition model for managed study abroad programs. The provost
would like a campus-wide discussion on promotion and tenure standards. He plans
to form a Strategic Planning and Alignment Committee, in order to connect institutional
planning, budget planning, and resource allocation, as well as institutional
effectiveness activities. He would like to extend and adapt the academic program
review model to include the non-academic units. He will also work on a process
for review and approval of interdisciplinary schools, including governance
structures. The provost said that the university would like to improve faculty
mentoring and enhance the retention of a diverse faculty
The provost is hoping for final review and action on the Discovery Program
and its inquiry courses and capstone experiences during the coming academic
year. His office plans to work on assessment of student learning outcomes and
identification of valid measures to assess student learning. Institutional
development will include leadership at UNH, the faculty mentoring program,
the NEASC fifth year report, and the Carnegie application for the “engaged
campus” classification. A senator said that the Discovery Program was
proposed seven years ago and that a primary concern is sufficient funding,
especially for the inquiry courses. The provost replied that the university
has allocated $400,000 per year for three years to help with the initial offerings
of inquiry courses. He added that, if there are funding challenges at the end
of the start-up process, the university will decide at that time what to steps
to take.
Another senator asked if the current promotion and tenure standards are inadequate
or old. He expressed concern that assessment is often driven by state mandate
and yet the state gives little funding, and he suggested that this assessment
might be considered an unfunded mandate. The provost said that one concern
is that current promotion and tenure standards may not adequately cover scholarship
in newer electronic media. Also, to what extent should patents and other forms
of commercial intellectual property count in promotion and tenure, since such
work provides value and advances knowledge? In addition, the evaluation of
teaching effectiveness should not just rely on student evaluations. The provost
said that some departments evaluate teaching effectiveness using measures in
addition to the standard student forms, but most departments do not. He added
that the topic of student learning assessment did not originate from the state.
The NEASC report includes expectations for some method of assessment. Also,
if other institutions which compete with UNH develop ways of assessment and
UNH does not, UNH might lose new students. UNH should choose its methods of
assessment before another entity tells the university how to do it. Assessment
would consider how students have improved in quantitative and qualitative reasoning
and in the ability to write, and the provost would like faculty to help decide
on the most appropriate method of assessment. Some faculty asked that the university
exert more selectivity in admitting students; and the provost expressed concern
that, if the university admits fewer students, it might become less accessible
to qualified New Hampshire residents and might not be able to function financially.
III. Remarks by and questions to the chair – The senate chair said that
a five-year interim report for NEASC will be sent to the chairs of the senate’s
Academic Affairs Committee, Student Affairs Committee, and the Research and
Public Service Committee. Those committees are expected to bring recommendations
to the senate on 5/5/08. Victor Benassi will also be present then, to answer
questions on the report. The senate chair said that total giving to UNH for
fiscal year 2008 is up fifty percent from the same time in the previous year
and that the number of donors is up 3.2 percent. Also, applications for first-year
admission have passed 16,200. However, a deficit of five to seven million dollars
is projected for the next fiscal year. The senate chair added that the senate
office has forwarded to the senators a message about the “students for
concealed carry on campus” protest, which may take the form of wearing
empty holsters to campus, in order to draw attention to a belief that, if ostensibly
law-abiding students and others could carry appropriately-permitted concealed
weapons on campus, this would somehow improve safety.
IV. Minutes – The minutes of the last senate meeting were approved,
unanimously except for one abstention.
V. University calendars – The administration has presented for approval
five years of university calendars, covering academic years 2009/10 through
2013/14. Members of the Agenda Committee have reviewed the calendars, to see
if they comply with the senate’s calendar guidelines. The review found
only minimal deviations, which appeared to be necessary due to a lack of available
days in some semesters. Therefore in some cases the reading days were slightly
shortened. On behalf of the Agenda Committee, Ruth Sample moved that the senate
approve the 2009/10 through 2013/l4 university calendars. She suggested that,
since there are a different number of days in the spring and the fall semesters,
a senate committee could review that issue at a later time. Many people would
like to end the fall semester by December 22, but there are also concerns about
starting school before Labor Day. Sometimes the deadline for grade submission
has been after Christmas. Some senators would like to have a winter term of
three weeks or a little more. Having a long winter break implies a shorter
summer vacation, and so students miss out on internships and certain jobs.
A professor suggested approving only the first calendar year, but another faculty
member said that the university must have dates in place a long time in advance.
A senator said that in some years faculty have to decide to teach or cancel
classes for the Friday after Thanksgiving and that those who teach on Friday
are put in this awkward position more often. A senate committee could be charged
with reviewing these matters next year; and the senate chair will send a note
to Mark Rubinstein about this intention. Also, the senate chair will ask him
if there are any degrees of freedom regarding later changes for the fourth
and fifth years. The senate passed the motion to approve the five calendars,
with all ayes except for five abstentions.
VI. Remarks by and questions to the president – The president expressed
interest in the possibility of UNH having a winter session. The chair of the
senate’s Finance and Administration Committee asked whom he should contact
to discuss the committee’s charge to enhance shared governance regarding
the distribution of capital campaign funds. President Huddleston replied that
the president of the UNH Foundation is Peggy Sullivan and that building the
infrastructure for the foundation is an important first step. The Alumni Association
may have infrastructure redevelopment also. The provost just described a long
list of challenges for UNH, and the need for funding is a common chord. Therefore
the capital campaign and other types of fund raising should be a high priority,
in order to increase both short-term and long-term funding. Regarding media
coverage, the president has met with WMUR and various newspaper editorial boards,
to encourage them to publish the university’s news releases. The president
said that UNH gets some news coverage but is an under-appreciated asset to
the state. Some announcements and displays can be done only on a paid basis.
The university is also working on having another bus tour of the state, to
encourage a better understanding of how the university helps the state.
A senator said that a lot of the character of the university is provided by
its rural setting and open spaces. He is a member of the Land and Property
Use Advisory Committee and said that the committee was recently asked to choose
the best of several already-listed nearby sites for a huge building which would
house the largest wind tunnel in North America. He said that the committee
should not be forced to choose “the least of those evils” and further
encroach on the open spaces which are used in various important ways by the
university. The president replied that he would look into that situation, and
he said that the university has a strong campus master plan.
A professor said that the departments in James Hall must move out because
the building will be renovated and that the smaller departments will lose dedicated
classrooms. If those departments must use distant classrooms, there will be
a loss of solidarity with the students; and this would be a permanent problem.
The president said that he would inquire about that. Classroom space is tight.
The senate vice chair suggested that the issue of dedicated classrooms could
be dealt with as a shared governance matter. The senate then had a brief discussion
on how to deal with increased energy costs and the pros and cons of special
fees.
VII. Slate for the 2008/09 Agenda Committee – The senate vice chair
said that, in May of each year, the outgoing senate chair conducts an election
by the senate members for the next year’s Agenda Committee members, for
one-year terms. The 2007/08 Agenda Committee will present the following slate
for next year’s Agenda Committee: Marco Dorfsman as chair, Paula Salvio
as vice chair, and Karen Graham, David Richman, Barbara White and one other
person as members at large. Bill Stine will be an ex-officio member as past
chair. Biographical information for all the members of the slate will be sent
to the senators soon on email. Additional candidates may be nominated from
the floor, if they have agreed to serve if elected.
VIII. Participation in the shared governance retreat – The senate vice
chair said that shared governance is an important issue for the senate and
that the president has proposed a retreat this summer, to confirm a joint understanding
of the shared governance process. The senate will provide about ten retreat
participants, which could consist of some members of the Agenda Committee,
the chairs of the Academic Affairs Committee, the Finance and Administration
Committee, and the Research and Public Service Committee, and some other senators.
Any senators who have a strong interest in participating in this effort should
contact the senate chair.
IX. Blue Ribbon Panel and discussion of research at UNH – Kevin Gardner
listed the members of the Blue Ribbon Panel’s working group. The process
for engaging faculty across the university includes the representative constitution
of the working group and the panel, engaging faculty through upcoming college
meetings and through faculty-wide email, reports to the Faculty Senate by members
and chairs of the panel, a draft report which is scheduled to be completed
this summer, and then additional college-based meetings in the fall, to provide
input on the draft report. The panel and the working group will conduct a mission-driven
exercise addressing the charge from the president, will create a set of recommendations
with a ten-year perspective, and will consider the historical information available,
including the final report of the Commission on Graduate Education submitted
to Provost Walter Eggers in October of 1992, the preliminary report of the
Commission on Research and Graduate Education from December 18, 1989, and a
report from Vice President Don Sundberg entitled “Research Excellence:
Goal Four of the Academic Strategic Plan – Overview and Cross-Cutting
Issues” from March 28, 2002. President Huddleston, in his letter dated
December 12, 2007, announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Panel and its
charge to engage the university community to address three key questions: (1)
What does UNH need to do now to ensure the vitality of research, scholarship,
and creative activity for the next ten years? (2) What is the right mission
and organizational structure for the Office of Research and, by extension,
the right qualifications for a vice president for research? (3) How do we ensure
that research activities are integrally connected to and supportive of our
broader academic mission? One of the issues will be the balance between scientific
research and liberal arts functions.
X. New business – The senate vice chair said that senate members participated
in a visioning seminar last summer and that he would like to hold such a seminar
for the senators this summer as well, in order to develop agenda priorities.
XI. Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned.
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