November 2008

FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
November 14, 2008

Attendance: Jackie Berning, Andrew Czaplewski, Peg Bacon, Jim Null, Barbara Frye, Pam Carter, Susan Szpyrka, Josh Dunn, Kelli Klebe, Bob Durham, Judith Rice Jones, John Harner, Andrew Ketsdever, Monique French, Tabatha Becker, Sue Byerley, Travis Peterson, Andrea Hutchens, Sylvia Martinez, Jenenne Nelson, Tom Zwirlein, Edgar Cota-Torres, Suzanne Cook, Ron Fitz

Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve the minutes from October 10, 2008 meeting by Jim Null
Seconded by John Harner
Motion passed unanimously

Reports of Visitors:

Susan Szpyrka:
Rosemary Augustine, Senior Associate-University Counsel, will be officially retiring the end of December after 25+ years in the CU system and a new counsel should be in place by January. The University Event Center construction project is on track for opening in December 2009. The Science & Engineering building is off the frozen list for funding and the $17.085 million for the renovation has been funded by the state. CU system Vice President for Finance, Robert Moore, is retiring from the state and will be the new Vice President at Colorado College. The governor has asked for $33 million for higher education for fiscal year 2010, which they are just starting to budget for and Brian Burnett said that he is cautiously optimistic about the outcome. Tuesday, 11/25/08 and Wednesday, 11/26/08 the campus bookstore will be closed for a major software update. The men’s cross country team is going to the national championships and one female cross country team member is going to the national championships.

Peg Bacon:
Several top campus administrators are attending the AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Conference in California 11/15 – 11/19/08.

Peg and Dave Anderson attended the Recognition Ceremony for the President’s Awards for Outstanding Academic Leadership in October in Denver. Our Chemistry Department was recognized for undergraduate excellence and received a $5000 award for the department.

The Workshop on Learning Communities was held on campus on 10/31/08. Dr. Jean Henscheid from the University of Idaho was the guest speaker and was well-received. The RFP will be going out next week and we should have some learning communities starting next fall.

The issue regarding the student club SPECTRUM’s request for funding from SGA (Student Government Association) was mentioned. The SGA has a great deal of autonomy, but it is important for the university’s administration to assure that the values of view point neutrality and anti-discrimination are adhered to by all members of the campus community. All student groups have access to student fees. It was also mentioned that PRIDE (a new LGBTQIA faculty/staff group) would like to have a faculty representative on Faculty Assembly.

Officer Reports:

President’s Report

As you all know the faculty vote for the RPT task force was passed by a margin of 70% to 30%. Approximately 50% of the faculty voted. Faculty Assembly will be working with EPUS and the Provost’s office over the next couple of months to manage any policy changes that will need to take place so that we can implement the new structure. I have been contacted by both the Boulder and the Denver Campus about exploring the same model for their respective campuses.

On another note, Peg Bacon and I were appointed to a follow-up tenure task force that was formed late last spring to work on any follow-up changes or implementations from the Estes Report. In the Estes Report there was a recommendation for a document that addressed faculty responsibilities and ethical principles. The task force has presented a document that has gone out to all the University of Colorado Campuses for feedback and comments. The basis of this document came from the Boulder campus. They were working on a document like this for years. I have attached the document and would greatly appreciate your feedback.

UCCS faculty and staff (myself, Rosemary Augustine and Jane King) have been appointed to the President’s Task Force on Efficiency. This task force is charged to review University Administrative Policy Statements (APS) that appear to place an undue administrative burden on faculty and staff, and to find ways to improve the general efficiency and effectiveness of System operations. I will be asking for your input to many of these policies over the course of the next few months as the task force committee starts it work. In addition, the chancellor sent out an email from President Benson announcing a website that was developed to input on your thoughts on how we can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of system administration and its interactions with university communities.

Lastly, we have several slots on system wide committees that are not yet filled with UCCS faculty. Many of these committees make decisions that affect how we teach and govern UCCS. Some of these committees are now going to video conferencing which means you do not have to drive to Denver to attend the meetings . I encourage you to participate in faculty governance and if you are so moved, please contact me and I can place you on a committee.

It was noted that administrators cannot be part of Faculty Assembly and since Jenenne Nelson is a part-time administrator, she can no longer serve on Faculty Assembly. Therefore, a new representative is needed to replace her.

Vice-President’s Report
No report

Past President’s Report
Jim Null stressed the value of faculty committee participation to ensure a voice in decision-making policies. He asked Jackie Berning to send out a list of current committees with their members and a list of committee members still needed.

Reports from Standing Committees

EPUS Report:
No report

Personnel & Benefits:
Report attached

Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
No report yet – UBAC waiting for Denver budget

Minority Affairs Committee:
Report attached

Women’s Committee:
No report – no one present

Non-Tenure Track Faculty:
Report attached

Academic Computing
ITAC Meeting Minutes

Library:
No report – no one present

Intercollegiate Athletics
Charlie Shub out of town

Sustainability:
Report attached

OLD BUSINESS

Motion to make the Faculty Research Council a standing advisory committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly (withdrawn)

Motion to make the Teaching Excellence Council a standing advisory committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly (postponed)

NEW BUSINESS

Discussion of a request from PRIDE, a new LGBTQIA faculty/staff committee, to become a standing or standing advisory committee to the Faculty Representative Assembly. The importance of reviewing the process for establishing committees was noted – why create new committees, what is the purpose, who are the members? PRIDE agreed to deliver this information to the Faculty Assembly Executive Committee at their meeting on Friday, 12/05/08. It was decided to postpone further discussion on this issue until Friday, 12/12/08.

The voting process for Reappointment, Tenure Task Force Report recommendations was discussed. Kelli Klebe and Jackie Berning verified faculty votes collected via Robyn Marschke. It was decided that future faculty votes should be handled by faculty only.

The implementation of recommendations of the Reappointment, Tenure Task Force Report is being developed by EPUS, Faculty Assembly and the Provost’s office.

The Faculty Professional Responsibilities and Ethical Principles document was briefly discussed. It was determined that this document should be reviewed by EPUS and that Jackie should ask for more deliberation time at the next Faculty Council meeting.

MOTIONS

The Personnel & Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly should be involved in interviewing the final candidates for the benefits officer position at UCCS. Further, a good portion of the interview process should be on the UCCS campus. (passed unanimously)

The Personnel & Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly strongly recommends that the University of Colorado modify its FSA plan to “provide an extended period of coverage up to 2 ½ months at the end of each flexible spending plan year in which participants may incur expenses to access the previous year’s balance.” This modification should be implemented no later than the 2009-2010 plan year. (passed unanimously)

The Personnel & Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly strongly recommends that the salary amount for promotion of Non-Tenure Track Faculty from instructor to senior instructor be standardized across colleges and departments at $3,000 commencing with the 2008-09 academic year. (passed unanimously)

The Personnel & Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly strongly recommends that the dollar amount for promotion for Non-Tenure Track Faculty be increased each year by the same percentage as the increase for promotions for Tenure-Track Faculty. (passed unanimously)

The Personnel & Benefits Committee of the Faculty Representative Assembly recommends approval of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Compensation Principles for Faculty (document attached). (postponed until 12/12/05)

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 2:18 p.m.