James Madison University

Summary Notes on Main Facult= y Senate Topics

Taylor Hall 306

= September 2, 2004

      =        I.   &nb= sp; New F= aculty Senate representative for GenEd.

      =     II.   &n= bsp; The n= ew Center for the Arts - reorganization of College of Arts & Letters ̵= 1; in its beginning planning stages

      = III.      Merit Pay

      = IV.   &n= bsp; New Faculty Senate Committees’ Structure

      =      V.   &nb= sp; The F= aculty Handbook Committee

      = VI.   &n= bsp; The A= cademic Calendar Committee

     VII.=       Explanation regarding the planning of the academic calendar

VIII.      Unten= ured faculty midterm evaluation<= o:p>

      = IX.   &n= bsp; Integrity of the Honor Code

James Madison University

Faculty = Senate Minutes

Taylor Hall 306

September 2, 2004

1.          &nb= sp;       Faculty Marshall, Oris Griffin, call= ed the meeting to order at 3:3= 0. Members present included:

Aashir Nasim, Psych= ology; April Roth, Communica= tion Studies; Bill Knorpp, Philosophy and Religion; Bob Jerome, Economics; Bob Lembright, History; Brian K. Miller, Business; Brooks Marshall, Finance and Business Law; = Carmenza Kline, Foreign Lang= uages and Literatures; Charles Runyan (for Rory DePaolis), Communication Sciences and Disorders; = Claudia O’Neill, Nursing; Craig&= nbsp;Shealy, Psychology (Grad); Cynthia Gilliatt, English; David Bernstein, Computer Science; Dietrich Maune, Media Arts and Design; Edgar Pa= rker, Mathematics and Statistics; Elizab= eth Cole, Accounting; George = Wynn, Marketing; Jason Haney, S= chool of Music; Jennifer McCabe, Libraries; Jim Ruff, Engl= ish; Joe Rudmin, Physics; John Gilje, Chemistry; J= ohn Singer, Kinesiology & Recreation Studies; John Wolf, Military Science; Karen&= nbsp;Ford, Social Work; Karen Santos, Education; Kenneth G.&= nbsp;Lewis, Senate Treasurer, ISAT; Kent Zimme= rman, Senate Speaker, Management; Nikitah Imani (for Laura Lewis), Sociology & Anthropology; Mark Roo= ker, Art and Art History; Mary Fitzgera= ld, Political Science; Michael Smilowitz, Communication Studies; Roberta Mitchell, C.L.A.S.S.; = Roger Hall, Theatre and Dance; Jon Kastendiek (for Sharon Babcock), Biology; Solange A. Lopes-Murphy, Senate Secretary, Education; Stephanie Chisolm, Health Science; Thomas Wood, Computer Info Systems;

Traci Pipkins, Writing Progr= am. Guests included: Doug Brown, Teresa Gonzalez and Sus= an Wheeler, Office of the Provost.

2.  &n= bsp;      Approval of Minutes: Kent Zimmerman, Speaker of the Senate, announced there were minutes to be approved.

3.         Treasurer’s Report: Ken Lewis reported that there was $935.01 as of July 9, 2004; and $872.01 as of August 9, 2004 in the flower f= und. The senate’s university acco= unt has a total of $7,185. Dues w= ere raised to $5.00 per faculty.

4.    &= nbsp;    Speaker’s Report:

   &= nbsp;        Kent Zimmerman requested GenEd represen= tative for the Faculty Senate. Traci Pipkins volunteered to represent GenEd.

<= /o:p>

5.         VPAA’s Report:

Doug Brown announced that lots of things will be done with the legisl= ator this year. He stated that the= Governor is committed to Higher Education and has dedicated a second biennial increa= se by a $700.000 dollar range to JMU to help several projects on campus.

Doug mentioned that the new Center for the Arts - reorganization of College of Arts & Letters - is at its beginning planning stages. A number of new libraries are being planned on the east campus with additional resources for faculty. The Center for the Arts will be bu= ilt across Main Street. The new library will be devoted to faculty support, a project Karen Santos is leading. The library is expected to be func= tional is 3 years.

Doug’s next topic was faculty salary adjustments. He stated that there is approximat= ely $330,000 in addition to the 3% allocated for salary adjustments. He explained that the 3% will be allocated by merit as specified by law - each college will determine= how they will do their merit process. According to Doug, the Deans are inclined to assign 2.25% for those faculty who have performed satisfactorily. Those who are considered exemplary faculty as a result of their accomplishments will receive the 3% increase.<= /p>
Mr. Myer asked about the po= ssibility of the 6^th year by-out . Doug mentioned that the Deans have= been authorized to offer that.

The last topic had to do wi= th new staff and faculty parking lots. Doug shared that the next parking lot is planned for CISAT. There will also be another parking= area at the historical west campus. He does not anticipate any increase in the parking fees.

6. &nbs= p;       Committee Reports:

   &= nbsp;

   &= nbsp;        A.        Nominations and Elections: No reports.=

B.      =            Committees:= Kent announced that he would like to leave the meeting with a committee structur= e in place. He suggested that atte= ndants would assign themselves for the various committees.

a.      = Cynthia Gilliatt announced that there will be a Faculty Concerns Committee meeting Thursday, September 9 3:30 p= .m., in Kezell 214.

b.      For Student Concerns contact Stephanie Chilsom.

c.      = Robert’s Rules of Order is now available at the Carrier library.

C.&n= bsp;            = ;    New Co= mmittees’ Structure:

a.      = The Nomination and Elections Committe= e: Roberta Mitchell, April Roth, John Singer, Charles Runyan, Roger Hall, & Karen Ford.

b.      The Faculty Concerns Committee: K= en Lewis, Claudia O’Neill, Traci Pipkins, William Knorpp, Aashir Nasim, James Ruff, Jason Haney, Cynthia Gilliatt (chair), Brooks Marshall, Laura L= ewis, Craig Shealy, & Carmenza Kline.

c.      = The Student Relation Committee: M= ark Rooker, Jennifer McCabe, Mary Fitzgerald, Stephanie Chisolm (chair), Nikitah Imani, & John Wolf.

d.      The Committee on Academic Policies: Ed Parker, Teresa Gonzalez, David Bernstein (chair).

e.      = The Faculty Appeals Committee: Di= etrich Maune, Bob Lembright (chair?), Ge= orge Wynn (chair), & Bob Jerome.

f.      = Budget Priorities: Elizabeth Cole & Joe Rudmin.

g.      = Faculty Development Commission: K= aren Santos.

8.         Old Business:

The Faculty Handbook Committee sent forward recommendations to the president for revisions. Recommendations will be taken to the Board of Visitors in the October meeting. It is expected that recommendations will be approved in the January Board meeting and adopted a= fter that. The Faculty Handbook Co= mmittee is getting back together to work on revisions on the handbook. The information is on the Faculty = Senate webpage.

<= /o:p>

Changes on the Faculty Senate Constitution will happen simultaneously with the revisions of the Faculty Handbook.

9.          &nb= sp;       New Business –

Bob Jerome suggested that an Academic C= alendar Committee be formed by a committee with greater faculty representation. It is felt that most faculty would prefer to have more than one week of classes after Thanksgiving break= .

Kent Zimmerman read the amendments for the academic calendar committee out loud proposed by Bob Jerome.

      “Motion for consideration by the Faculty Senate:

      Whereas the University is a large = and varied organization, and

      Whereas the scope of the University operations is large enough to preclude a complete knowledge of operations a= nd values by any small group of individuals, and

      Whereas the temporal environment is significantly tied to the effective operation of the various units of the University, therefore

      The Faculty Senate does hereby req= uest the establishment of a standing University-wide committee charged with the establishment of the annual academic calendar. The Senate does further request th= at committee include at least three full-time faculty members.” <= /i> =

      The motion was seconded by faculty.

=

Teresa Gonzalez provided t= he Senate with an explanation regarding the planning of the academic calendar. According to Teresa= , the academic calendar is not prepared by a committee. Dates are set based on when the university is open and closed. The end date of the fall semester is set 10 days prior to Christmas Eve. The starting time of the spring se= mester is follows the needs of the Financial Records Office in getting things done prior to students coming to campus.

Once the academic calendar draft is developed, it is s= ent to Sherry Hood. A group of 85 pe= ople across campus then review the draft and provide feedback for changes and/or= revisions to be made.

Teresa also talked about th= e open week between the end of the spring semester and beginning of the May session. Teresa emphasized th= at the week was added based on faculty request.

Teresa suggested that those wanting to provide feedbac= k to the academic calendar if not part of the standing committee should express their concerns on their College faculty meetings or at the Faculty Senate meetings.

Joe Rudmin is against the resolution. Michael Smilowitz suggested taking resol= utions back to department, investigating the need for this kind of committee, and = reconstituting the committee with appointments made by the senate that faculty can speak to the academic calendar.

Kent Zimmerman suggested th= at the resolution be discussed once again in the next Faculty Senate meeting when it will be = read again.

Resolution related to the s= alary merit

“Whereas: Faculty at James Madison University have, during three years with no raises= at all, conducted themselves as responsible professionals, continuing to teach= , to lead active scholarly lives, and to render service to the institution;=

Whereas: Awarding all faculty who achieve ratings of satisfactory 2.25% raises, and awarding raises of .75% to those who achieve a higher rating trivializes the achievements of all faculty;

Therefore Be It Resolved: That James Madison University allocate the 3% pay raise on = the basis of merit, with the full 3% going to faculty whose evaluations are satisfactory or higher, and no raise going to those who fail to achieve a rating of satisfactory.

Submitted by Cynthia Gilliatt.” was withdrawn by Cynthia Gilliatt after Doug Brown has addressed the issue considering this is a legislator’s decision.

A new issue was raised by <= span style=3D'mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Aashir Nasim regarding faculty midterm evaluation. Dr. Nasim express= ed the need for a procedure regarding protection for untenured faculty to e= nsure that each tenure process is done fairly.&n= bsp; According to Aashir, faculty should be provided with a formal report formally about their annual performance.&n= bsp; There should be some sort of midterm evaluation for tenure (after 3 years) to provide faculty with their midterm evaluation. Kent recommended referring the matter to the Faculty Concerns Committee.

Susan Wheeler explained tha= t the Faculty Handbook states that colleges will determine whether a midterm evaluation review is needed. There is no statement in the Faculty Handbook about mandating a midterm review.

Several attendants shared h= ow their specific colleges approach midterm faculty reviews. Kent suggested sharing proced= ures across campus regarding midterm faculty review and examining best practices= . He also recommended referring this= issue to the Faculty Concerns Committee.

Nikita Imani expressed a new concern regarding the integrity of the Honor Code. He pointed out specifically to the enforcement of developments added to the Code or the lack of enforcement to= the Code. The recommendation was = to refer the matter to the Students’ Concerns Committee. .

The issue of plagiarism was raised. However, the issue was ended on the Faculty Senate. = Doug stated that Ralph Alberico is in the process of reviewing plagiarism in software packages. A report will come out at the end of fall 04. This will determine whether software packages will be purchased or not.

The Speaker of the Senate t= hanked Doug Brown for his work on the Board of Visitors.

The meeting was adjourned a= t 4:37 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Solange A. Lopes-Murphy, Se= cretary