December 2017
December 2017
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
December 8, 2017
Attendance: Susan Szpyrka, Tom Christensen, Maja Krakowiak, Melissa Benton, Barbara Prinari, Norah Mazel, Pam Carter, Rhonda Glazier, Eileen Gerrard-Gough, Margaret Hunt, Carole Traylor, Kaitlyn DeGhetto, Martin Key, Matt Metzger, Andrea Bingham, Joe Wehrman, Jugal Kalita, Les Tekamp, Michelle Dorne, Suzanne Cook, Leah Chandler Mills, David Havlick, Leilani Feliciano, Andrew Lac, Sarah Treschl, Glen Whitehead, Kristi McCann, Wendy Haggren, Nicole Huber, Kathrin Spendier, Joel Tonyan, Michael Landon-Murray, Monica Yoo, Tabatha Farney, Carlos Duarte, Scott van Ness, Elizabeth Daniels, Dave Anderson, Dale DeBoer
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from November 10, 2017 meeting by Pam Carter
Seconded by Monica Yoo
Motion passed with 23 in favor, 0 opposed and 3 abstentions
Reports of Visitors:
Susan Szpyrka, Senior Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance:
For those of you who are on a 9-month contract paid over 12 months, it’s possible that the one day payday shift we have on July 1 may go away. The state controller issued an alert and that alert states that section 2450 no longer applies to higher education, so campuses will be looking at that to see if we can shift it back to the 30th. More information will follow. Campus moves updates: Human Resources will be moving to University Office Park in February, and Admissions and the Graduate School will be moving into the vacated HR office space; Theatreworks will be moving into the new ENT Center for the Arts in January, and Career Services will be moving over to Cragmor Hall in their vacated space; Dean of Students and the Office of Institutional Equity will be moving into the same area office space in Main Hall; and some Advising and Alumni Relations offices will also be moving.
Tom Christensen, Provost:
Updates on the Article 5 Regent Law process: UCCS had many comments and the Vice President’s office has done a draft of the revised Article 5. They will be issuing the new draft of Article 5, which will be open for a 60-day review/comment period. There are several things to review and you are encouraged to read it, as it governs the policy between faculty and administration. Look at the tenure changes, which will be incorporated into the colleges’ departmental RPT criteria. Tenure will be based on what you’ve actually accomplished only at time of tenure decision process. The 1/6 rule (1/6 of time and effort can be spent on outside activities) was confusing because no one knows how to measure effort, so it has been changed to 1/6 of time. There is a third rank now in Instructor rank positions, so please review this. Also, the regents did pass an online resolution that we have been working on. We need to see it as an opportunity to determine how we benefit from it and not as an edict from the regents. Campus search updates: there is a VCAF candidate open session being held right after this meeting; the last Engineering Dean candidate is coming in next week; the Business Dean decision process is underway; the AVC for Inclusion and Academic Affairs position is getting settled. The AVC for Research position will become full-time and is opening this month. Please let me know if you are interested in being on the search committee.
Student Government Association Representatives:
Joey Vijayam (Student Body President) and Holly Moershel (Student Director of Finance) gave a brief update of the Student Government Association, which is comprised of 25 students serving on the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches. Their organization works to allocate the $336,000 budget from the Student Activity Fee to support student clubs and organizations. There are over 150 clubs on campus and 60 clubs received funding - $107,884 was allocated to clubs and organizations through SGA this Fall. UCCS has a 14.5% voter turnout in SGA elections compared to a 4% national average. They have a high interest level in activity and participation from the students. 61% of UCCS students voted in the 2016 national election compared to the national average of 50.4%. Some current projects they are involved in are the Clyde’s Student Relief Fundraiser, the Inclusive Campus Campaign, the Bike Share Program and the Zachary Schlagel Commemoration for the student who was recently killed in the auto/pedestrian accident near campus.
Officer Reports:
President's Report:
There are 2 openings on new retention committees which will meet quarterly; FCQ survey response has been good
President-Elect’s Report
No report
Past President's Report:
No report
Reports from Standing Committees:
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
Call for mini grants in January
Teaching with Technology
Looking at alternative to Scan-Tron machine
Intercollegiate Athletics:
No report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities
Reports from Representatives:
Some concerns were expressed regarding the grading deadline after finals are given. Grades are due the Monday after finals week this year. Some faculty are giving early finals the week before so that they can get their grades done in time. This causes some concern about the quality of the exams. Faculty would like to know why the grading deadline was moved up.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Discussion 1: Regent’s CU Online Proposal (update)
Maja shared concerns from our campus at the system Faculty Council meeting and Regent Ludwig was surprised at the comments. She has invited him to come to one of the upcoming Faculty Assembly meetings. The resolutions that passed did seem to be more moderate and not as constrictive as initially thought. Overall, however, the faculty was generally not supportive of this and expressed their concerns.
Discussion 2: Term Limits for Administrators
This topic was brought up at Faculty Council, but was not prompted by anything specific. Is this something we should establish? Is a 10-year term limit good enough? Those administrators are absorbed into faculty lines. It was also suggested that a better review process for administrators is needed with more protection for anonymity.
Discussion 3: Future Presidential Searches
Another discussion topic brought up at Faculty Council to better prepare for future presidential searches. The regents prefer a non-academic person in this role and also want more representation on search committees. Faculty disagree with this preference and feel that academics should also be considered equally.
NEW BUSINESS
Discussion 1: System APS on Workplace Bullying
The CU system Personnel & Benefits committee has been working on this for at least 1-1/2 years. Legal Council has been involved and they are drafting it for a Faculty Council vote in February. A lot of work has gone into the actual wording of this draft, so they are seeking general impressions of it and not detailed input on its wording.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Barbara Prinari
Seconded by Rhonda Glazier
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.