April 2018
April 2018
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
April 13, 2018
Attendance: Tom Christensen, Stephen Ludwig, Ravinder Singh, Chuck Litchfield, Andrea Herrera, Harriet Napierkowski, Carmen Stavrositu, Maja Krakowiak, Melissa Benton, Barbara Prinari, Norah Mazel, Rhonda Glazier, Eileen Gerrard-Gough, Carole Traylor, Kaitlyn DeGhetto, Martin Key, Matt Metzger, Andrea Bingham, Patty Witkowsky, Jugal Kalita, Les Tekamp, Michelle Dorne, Suzanne Cook, Leah Chandler Mills, David Diamond, David Havlick, Leilani Feliciano, Andrew Lac, Sarah Treschl, Kristi McCann, Wendy Haggren, Nicole Huber, Kathrin Spendier, Joel Tonyan, Tabatha Farney, Scott van Ness, Samantha Adrian, Elizabeth Daniels, Dave Anderson
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from March 9, 2018 meeting by Melissa Benton
Seconded by Rhonda Glazier
Motion passed with 25 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention
Reports of Visitors:
Stephen Ludwig, Regent:
He was here to discuss the CU Online Initiative, which was passed in November (Phase I), and has been seeking input from all the CU campuses. Some of the goals are as follows: 1) 6 bachelor’s degrees - 3 at CU Denver, 3 at UCCS; 3 master’s degrees - 3 at CU Denver, 3 at UCCS; 2) double the number of people doing these degrees by 2022; 3) by Fall 2022, CU Boulder will have a $15,000 online-only master’s degree; 4) also by 2022-23, CU Denver will have a $15,000 online-only bachelor’s degree; 5) by 2023, we’ll have at least 6,000 students who are online-only across all the CU campuses at the bachelor’s level. There was much discussion with the faculty representatives surrounding this online initiative.
Ravinder Singh, Faculty Council Chair:
As the outgoing Faculty Council Chair, he wanted to thank the representatives for their participation in faculty governance and encourage them to solicit more faculty input, which is always necessary in order to continue the dialogue. The main goal is making education more affordable and available to a wider population.
Chuck Litchfield, Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance:
He is our new VCAF and CFO, who was previously the Associate Vice Provost for Finance and Administration of Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He mentioned that he received his MBA at UCCS via a hybrid online program through the College of Business and he was one of the first to do so. His main point was to illustrate the importance of innovation in education, which is needed and necessary.
Tom Christensen, Provost:
Article VII, which deals more with students, is moving along and we received many good comments, so we are getting ready for the next round. Article V just completed the second round of comments and the Provosts will be meeting to compile and assimilate those comments.
Carmen Stavrositu, Vice Chair of Faculty Council Communications Committee:
The committee is proposing a new regular section in CU Connections for editorial content by faculty called Faculty Voices. Some material describing this proposal along with a survey were distributed in order to solicit faculty feedback. [attached]
Harriet Napierkowski, Faculty Relations Manager:
She introduced herself as the new Faculty Relations Manager and distributed her informational handout for reference. She stressed that her main emphasis is to provide a safe environment for discussion of faculty issues.
Andrea Herrera, Associate Vice Chancellor for Inclusion & Academic Affairs:
Andrea introduced herself to the representatives and described her new position along with the expanse of that role. She explained the importance of establishing grass roots with “antennas on the ground” in order to get issues exposed. She has been focusing on reaching out to as many areas as possible and asked for help in locating concerns so that proper connections can be made to bring about resolutions. She welcomes and encourages feedback.
Officer Reports:
Past President’s Report
No report
Reports from Standing Committees:
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
Women’s Committee:
Today is the final day to submit proposals for the FAWC Mini Grants.
Intercollegiate Athletics:
No report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities:
Not present – no report
Reports from Representatives:
1. Testing Center – faculty have been told it may take 3 or 4 months to get in; hours have been increased slightly; VC Sentwali is working on these issues.
2. Faculty Retention – quality faculty are moving on for better opportunities, better pay and self-growth
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Motion 1:
The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee moves that Section IV.B of the bylaws be suspended for one month only, to hold the May Faculty Representative Assembly meeting on the first Friday of the month rather than the second.
(Motion passed with 29 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 abstentions)
Background for Motion 1: Commencement takes place on the second Friday of May, so the FRA meeting is rescheduled to avoid a time conflict.
Discussion 1:
CU Online Initiative – a continuation of the initial discussion with Regent Ludwig. Additional points made were: 1) feasible cost per credit hour; 2) salary compression also a concern; 3) properly priced online education; 4) quality degrees, not necessarily cheaper degrees; 5) faculty remaining open to being innovative; 6) how would faculty be supported? Harper Johnson is helping to lead the online initiative. It is important that current students not suffer for online initiatives.
Discussion 2:
Inclusion on Campus – a continuation of the initial discussion with Andrea Herrera. Andrea is coordinating in each college a process to select a tenured faculty fellow (2 from LAS) who are well-regarded by their peers to work with their Chief Diversity Officer to identify diversity inclusion subcommittee members who would work with their college’s faculty on diversity and inclusion issues. An academic staff person would also be included. In addition, a faculty associate would need to be identified in each college to be charged with mentoring. The resulting conversations would then be integrated cross-campus to encourage overall campus involvement.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Rhonda Glazier
Seconded by Melissa Benton
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.