February 2009

FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
February 13, 2009

Attendance: Andrew Czaplewski, Peg Bacon, David Moon, Jim Null, Pam Shockley, Brian Burnett, Pam Carter, Suzanne Cook, Josh Dunn, Kelli Klebe, Bob Durham, Judith Rice Jones, Michele Companion, Andrew Ketsdever, Monique French, Morgan Shepherd, Tabatha Becker, Barbara Frye, Travis Peterson, Andrea Hutchens, Sylvia Martinez, Eddie Portillos, Don Morley, Ron Fitz

Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve the minutes from December 12, 2008 meeting by Jim Null
Seconded by Kelli Klebe
Motion passed unanimously

Reports of Visitors:

Pam Shockley:
Chancellor Shockley just completed 6 campus budget forums with a total of approximately 500 people in attendance.  She will do another round of 6 in May before school is out, when more information will be available as a result of the March budget forecast rewrite, the Long bill and input from the Regents meeting in late April.  Spring enrollment is up by 6.4%, which is the highest retention among excellent students in the history of the campus.  The Southern Colorado Innovation Strategy Charette Group Meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 27, 2009.  This initiative is directed at engaging the community in discussing how to make investments in university alternative strategies, given the current state of the economy.  So far the participation turnout is good with 107 people currently signed up.  The Chancellor’s Roundtable group met recently and appear to be willing to address the challenge of making up the deficit in scholarship monies caused by the weakened economy.  Chancellor Shockley stated that she is “guardedly optimistic” about the current financial condition.

Regent Steve Bosley:
Regent Bosley confirmed that the budget is the burning issue and there might be further cuts – it could be a 3-year process.  He said that the support from the Regents, our campus and President Benson is very strong.  The CU campuses are making their own cuts without directives from the Regents or President Benson.  Everything needs to be examined when making these cuts.  President Benson’s leadership is evident in his experience dealing with the legislature.  His main emphasis is the importance of state investment in CU, which will in turn provide a boost to the state economy by exhibiting the value of an educated workforce.  Regent Bosley expressed his appreciation to everyone for their commitment to CU.

Peg Bacon:
Update on the Tenure Report – has been approved by Faculty Council and System-wide EPUS and is on its way to the Policy Committee the week of February 16th for the change in Regent policy adding professional practice for our campus.  Then it should be voted on in the large Regent meeting in March.

The Dean of Engineering and Applied Science search has 3 candidates – Interim Dean Dandapani and 2 other candidates from off campus.  Dr. Dan will be interviewing the last week of February.

The proposal for a Ph.D. in Applied Science is going through the approval process and will be voted on in the next UBAC meeting.

Senate Bill 212 passed last year calling for an alignment between K-12 and higher education concerning post-secondary readiness.  A meeting at CSU-Pueblo is scheduled next week (February 17) to discuss this and all are welcome to attend.

Brian Burnett:
Construction status – our loss is minimal compared to others.  The new Science & Engineering building is on track for May opening.  The renovation of the current Science building will begin in the Fall of 2009 and by Fall 2010, everyone should be moved back into the renovated Science building.  The new Rec Center building made LEED gold certification, which is a high “green” building standard.  That building along with the other newly constructed buildings will put us second to CU-Boulder in the number of “green” buildings on campus within the state.  St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is the scheduled celebration day for this achievement.  The Event Center is planning to open December 31, 2009.  North Nevada update – Costco is still planning to open in August; Kohls and Lowe’s are planning to open the first quarter of 2010; the underpass is halfway complete.  Budget update – CU took disproportionate cuts several years ago and President Benson campaigned diligently to make sure this scenario did not happen again this time; salary freeze is needed to try to balance the budget, however, academic promotions are not part of the freeze.  Enrollment is very important.  They are working on shifting the burden of bill pay to tuition.  The CU system is also included in budget cuts; not just the campuses.  It is currently not in the plan for faculty furloughs.  The governor’s commitment to higher education is strong.

Jim Null:
Expressed his appreciation for the campus Leadership Team’s effort and hard work.

Officer Reports:

President’s Report
Report attached

Vice-President’s Report
No report

Past President’s Report
No report

Reports from Standing Committees:

EPUS Report:
Report attached

Personnel & Benefits:
No report

Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
No report

Minority Affairs Committee:
Report attached

Women’s Committee:
No report – no one present – have been told there will be a member soon

Non-Tenure Track Faculty:
Will meet next Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Academic Computing:
Report attached; ITunesU security issues have been resolved

Library:
No report

Intercollegiate Athletics:
No report

Sustainability:
Report attached

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

There was a lengthy discussion concerning the possible movement toward using online FCQs.  The campus currently contracts with Boulder for paper FCQ administration at a cost of $22,000/year for the whole campus and we have been informed of a cost increase of 10% per year for the next 3 years.  A $5,000 discount is being offered to switch to an online FCQ system starting July 2009 in preparation for introduction Fall 2009.  It was determined that the benefits versus the costs need to be analyzed.

Discussion of adding more Friday classes was postponed until President Jackie Berning is consulted for clarification.

MOTIONS

No motions this month

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting
Motion passed unanimously

Meeting adjourned at 1:46 p.m.