May 2011

FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
May 13, 2011

Attendance: Peg Bacon, Brian Burnett, Andrea Hutchins, Peggy Beranek, Katie Kaukinen, Amanda Sinclair, Andrew Czaplewski, Bob Durham, Rebecca Webb, Sheri Trumpfheller, Pam Carter, Suzanne Cook, Catherine Kelly, Tom Huber, Barbara Frye, Tabatha Farney, Christina Martinez, Rory Lewis, Eddie Portillos, Beth Kumar, Rita Hug, Lonnie Schaible, Don Morley, Ron Fitz

Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve the minutes from April 8, 2011 meeting by Andrea Hutchins
Seconded by Amanda Sinclair
Motion passed unanimously

Reports of Visitors:

Brian Burnett:
Budget update – General Assembly session ended Wednesday, May 11 and there shouldn’t be an additional special session.  The budget was signed last Friday by Governor Hickenlooper with a $36 million cut to Higher Ed, which is far lower than expected.  Of the $519 million in the General Fund, $145 million will be coming to CU and $17.3 million of the state budget will be coming to UCCS primarily because we are growing our resident students faster than our counterparts in the CU system.  The Regents met April 27 and set tuition and fees for us with an increase of 7% for resident tuition and an increase of 2% for non-resident tuition – this is the lowest tuition increase in the state.  While state classified employees are going into a third year salary freeze, which is totally controlled by the state, the Regents approved a 3% base-building salary increase pool effective 10/01/11 for faculty and professional exempt employees if it is certified that we’re on track for enrollment projections, which is a 2% enrollment growth for fall for UCCS.  CU system employees’ raises are dependent on all 3 campuses hitting their targets.  Promotions in academic ranks will be funded effective July 1, as they have been in the past.  We are looking at non-base building one-time options for classified staff and building equity among all classifications of employees, including student employees, who will also receive raises.  We are also looking at possible new investments of $8.4 million, but continuing to keep the campus in a prepared and cautious position.

Peg Bacon:
The Promotion & Tenure Reception will be held at the Provost’s home on Saturday night, May 14, in honor of those faculty members who have just received tenure and/or a promotion.  The CU Foundation dinner was held last night and was very impressive.  The rededication of the SENG building was held yesterday in honor of Ed and Mary Osborne, who are donors who gave the largest gift we’ve ever received and the building will now be called the Osborne Center.  Commencement is a week from today on May 20 and faculty participation is highly encouraged.  The General Education and Online Taskforces are progressing well.  The yearly update on RTP is as follows:  with this being the second year under the new department criteria, we are discovering that the criteria still need to be clearer.  The VCRC has also suggested training the department chairs in this process.

Jeff Cox (Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs / Boulder):
A presentation was given to the assembly representatives concerning the FIS (Faculty Information System) and VIVO, which is being rolled out in CU-Boulder.  It is a new online search and discovery faculty profile system that emphasizes research, expertise and global connections at the Boulder campus.  All types of faculty appointments can be included in the faculty profiles.  A demonstration was given to illustrate how this system is utilized for the annual faculty FRPA (Faculty Report of Professional Activities) reports, which can now be done online.  The UCCS campus has yet to go to this system, but the goal is to start using it January 1, 2012.

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 (also see Old Business and New Business)

Personnel & Benefits:
Report attached (also see New Business)

Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
Report attached

Faculty Minority Affairs Committee:
Report attached

Women’s Committee:
No one present – no report

Non-Tenure Track Faculty:
Report attached

Academic Computing:
Report attached

Library:
Currently implementing experimental system to restrict quiet zones – research/work only; no Facebook, cell phones or social media networks

Intercollegiate Athletics:
No one present – no report

Sustainability:
No report

PRIDE:
No one present – no report

OLD BUSINESS

(See Motion 1)

NEW BUSINESS

(See Motions 2 and 3)

MOTIONS

Motion 1
The Educational Policy and University Standards Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly recommends approval of the University of Colorado—Colorado Springs Student Academic Ethics Code (attached) and Student Academic Ethics Policy (attached).   (motion passed unanimously with corrections as noted below by a vote of 20-in favor and 0-opposed)

Notes:  The Student Academic Ethics Code had no revisions.  The Student Academic Ethics Policy had several revisions made by campus legal review.  It was mentioned that item F-2.e (incorrectly labeled as F-2.f) on page 4 should be moved to item F-1.e and will be so moved.  It was also noted that there are some minor formatting corrections, which do not change any content, that also need to be made.  As stated by campus Legal Counsel, Jenny Watson-Willits, these revisions put the campus administration in better legal standing.  Upon a student code violation, if a faculty member imposes a course-level sanction, then the authority level rests with the Dean.  If the sanction is beyond course level, then the authority level goes to the Provost.  Students may not appeal course level sanctions.

Motion 2
The Personnel and Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly recommends the entire merit pool, {after promotional raises have been taken out,} be allocated to merit raises with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs continuing to seek dollars for dealing with the uncompensated merit problem.   (motion passed with corrections as noted below by a vote of 15-in favor, 3-opposed, and 0-abstentions)

Notes:  It was voted on by the assembly to delete the phrase {after promotional raises have been taken out,} from this motion by a vote of 19-in favor, 0-opposed and 1-abstention.  The money for promotional raises is not part of the merit pool this year and has already been funded from another source.

Motion 3
The Educational Policy and University Standards Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly recommends approval of the revisions made to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Policy (Policy Number 200-001) to address comments and issues identified during a University of Colorado system Tenure-Related Processes – Policy Review. (attached)   (motion passed by a vote of 14-in favor, 0-opposed, and 2-abstentions)

Notes: During a system policy audit, it was discovered that there were inconsistencies between UCCS and system policy, therefore, these various inconsistencies and corrections needed to be made in order to maintain a consistent CU system policy.

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Andrew Czaplewski
Seconded by Amanda Sinclair
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 2:01 p.m.