December 2019
December 2019
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
December 13, 2019
Attendance: Venkat Reddy, Tom Christensen, Chuck Litchfield, David Weiss, Monique French, Lynn Gates, Deborah Kenny, Kathy Prue-Owens, Martin Key, James Van Scotter, Diane Stutey, Pam Carter, Darshika Perera, Suzanne Cook, David Havlick, Leilani Feliciano, Claire Rau, Christine Robinson Coon, Roger Martinez, Wendy Haggren, Kirsten Ortega, Matthew Jabaily, Michael Landon-Murray, Tabatha Farney, Scott van Ness, Elizabeth Daniels, Tisha Mendiola Jessop, Dave Anderson
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from November 8, 2019 meeting by David Weiss
Seconded by Pam Carter
Motion passed with 22 in favor, 0 opposed and 2 abstentions
Reports of Visitors:
Venkat Reddy, Chancellor:
Mountain Lion Research Day, which was held earlier today, had a very good showing. Thanks to the faculty who participated in this event. Be sure to check out the new spine road, if you haven’t already. The students have submitted several name choices for this road. The city must approve the final choice. Campus will be closed for the first time over the holiday break, which will be beneficial for our staff. Giving Tuesday was a big success with about $82,000 raised this year. We sent out text messages around the country and 40 states responded. We are raising money for the Cybersecurity building and we’re applying for a grant for $5.5 million. A reminder that Venkat is chairing the CU Denver Chancellor search. Dr. Angie Paccione, the CDHE Director, came for a lunch meeting and tour of our campus yesterday. It was her first visit to UCCS and she was very impressed. The Town Hall held on 11/13/19 regarding the incentive based budget model was well attended and gave everyone a chance to meet the consultants. Some fear and anxiety have been expressed concerning this budget model, but remember we have the best interest of the campus at heart. As far as budget cuts are concerned, there is a question of whether there will be raises for promotions. The answer is yes, we always put that money aside. There is also a question about merit increases, and there is not a certain plan at this time. We are spending time with each college and leadership group to collect information.
Tom Christensen, Provost:
There are three main items to mention. First, we had three RPT faculty forums recently and overall about 30-40 faculty attended. As a result of the forums, Tom updated his RPT collection document and sent it back out to the faculty. Now we need to work on each college’s departments’ RPT criteria. Early in the spring we should review instructor issues, i.e., how to handle promotions on a 3-level system and multi-year contracts. We would like to have a forum focused on Teaching Evaluation and FCQs and encourage the deans and department chairs to also attend. We also need to have one on annual merit review, but may need to postpone that till next year in the fall. The second item deals with the civics topic. The Board of Regents approved some funding for the first round of projects concerning this topic. However, the possibility of a graduation requirement related to civics was not well-received, so further discussion was postponed until the January University Affairs Committee meeting. Finally, an update on the dean searches. We do have a new College of Business dean, but that has not yet been formally announced. There were about 100 LAS dean candidates, which were narrowed down to 8-9 applicants brought forward. There will be a meeting on Saturday to determine which applicants will then be selected for campus visits. We have a new Human Resources Assistant Vice Chancellor, Laura Alexander, who will start next week. There is a possibility of snow over the weekend, which could cause some weather problems for finals beginning on Monday. We know those cannot be rescheduled, so we will be cautious on how we handle any weather issues.
Chuck Litchfield, Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance:
As Tom mentioned the possibility for inclement weather conditions on Monday, we realize that we have little flexibility with those conditions given that finals start that day and cannot be rescheduled. Therefore, we will be very careful with our judgment on any closure/delay decisions due to weather conditions, keeping in mind that safety remains a top priority as well. In response to several questions received from Faculty Assembly representatives, such as: 1) what is the proportion of UCCS’s budget that has been dedicated to faculty, staff, and administration positions (above Dean level) in each of the past 5 fiscal years; 2) what is the rate of growth in salaries across these categories during this same time; and 3) how much money is currently budgeted for consulting services by UCCS and what is their itemization, some informational handouts were distributed to the Faculty Assembly representatives. Chuck mentioned that the data was difficult to pull. They reviewed the SIR reports and compared them to a large salary pool, which was also based on benefits-eligible faculty. In response to the dollar amounts paid for consultants, the list includes $173,000 to Jera Partnerships; $32,000 to Strategic Communications; $149,000 to EAB; $240,000 to the search firm used for the HR Assistant Vice Chancellor position and 2 Dean searches; and, $600,000 to Huron (CU President is also paying 2/3 of this expense).
Officer Reports:
Past President’s Report
Not present - no report
Reports from Standing Committees:
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
Not present – no report
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
Women’s Committee:
Teaching & Learning Conference scheduled for 1/15-1/16/20; mini-grant award recipients will be notified soon
PRIDE:
Not present – no report
Intercollegiate Athletics:
Not present – no report
Committee on Disability:
Not present – no report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities:
Not present – no report
Reports from Representatives:
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Motion 1:
The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee moves that the Resolution on Faculty Roles and Responsibilities Concerning Pedagogy and Curriculum be approved.
(Motion passed unanimously with 22 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 abstentions)
NEW BUSINESS
Motion 1:
The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee moves that David Fenell be approved for reappointment to the System Privilege and Tenure Committee.
(Motion passed with 21 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention)
Motion 2:
The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee moves that Don Gardner be approved for reappointment to the System Privilege and Tenure Committee.
(Motion passed with 19 in favor, 1 opposed and 2 abstentions)
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by David Weiss
Seconded by Pam Carter
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m.