October 2010

FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
October 8, 2010

Attendance: Andrew Czaplewski, Peg Bacon, David Moon, Pam Carter, Suzanne Cook, Catherine Kelly, Morgan Shepherd, Margaret Beranek, Katie Kaukinen, Don Morley, Tom Huber, Amanda Sinclair, Andrea Hutchins, Rita Hug, Bob Durham, Rebecca Webb, Michele Companion, Sheri Trumpfheller, Eddie Portillos, Lonnie Schaible, Lesley Ginsberg, Daniel Worden, Barbara Frye, Julaine Field, Christina Martinez, Travis Peterson, Mark Malone, Ron Fitz

Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve the minutes from September 10, 2010 meeting by Barbara Frye
Seconded by Christina Martinez
Motion passed unanimously

Reports of Visitors:

Peg Bacon:
The General Education Taskforce, co-chaired by Susan Taylor and Steve Tragesser, has conducted three faculty campus conversations and assembled the feedback received into a set of draft goals that will now be sent to EPUS for review.  Then it will go to the Faculty Assembly Executive Committee for placement on the Faculty Assembly agenda and eventually distributed to the entire faculty for their vote, which will hopefully be completed before Thanksgiving.  The next phase will be aligning the curriculum with the approved goals and we will be looking for interested faculty to participate in this phase.  This will involve reviewing the curriculum as a whole and not course by course.  The issue of core curriculum in general education is an important issue of interest to the regents.

Back to the Bluffs events were held at the beginning of the month and were very successfully planned by Jennifer Hane in Alumni Relations.  A first-time dinner was held with former SGA executives, which was well-attended, even by those from the ‘70’s!  As a result, we are starting to build some nice traditions.

There are some interdisciplinary research efforts taking place on campus, which will involve some unique partnerships to include the Colorado Initiative on Molecular Biotechnology (CIMB) in Boulder and the NANA Corporation in Alaska, which will concentrate on wellness initiatives.

While there is no change in the F & A policy, a goal has been established this year to get $10 million in sponsored research dollars.  Katie Kaukinen has already obtained a $500,000 grant and we have also received a $750,000 FIPSE grant to be used by the Southern Colorado Education Consortium, which is a group of southern Colorado colleges and universities that work cooperatively for the purpose of increasing the number of southern Colorado residents who attend college.  The Consortium will use this grant money to expand their efforts to encourage current middle and high school students to continue their education beyond high school.  We have also suggested some ways to deal with the cliff issue by taking $100,000 off the top next year and keeping the same percentages going to the colleges.

Andrea Cordova:
Commencement is scheduled for Friday, December 17, 2010 at 2:00pm at the World Arena and faculty participation is highly encouraged.  The deadline for ordering regalia has been moved up this year to October 15.  Both rental and free sustainable gowns can be ordered through the Bookstore and will be available for pick-up on Tuesday, December 14 before Friday’s Commencement.

Mark Malone:
A retreat is being planned for CU system Faculty Council members to discuss ways to improve the university.  A key person from the ISIS system will be attending the next Faculty Council meeting at the end of October.  Non-tenure track faculty issues are also on the agenda for discussion.  The tuition program is another issue of concern and a report is forthcoming which compares our tuition rates with those of other institutions.  In addition, the health care issue is also being examined along with the fact that UCCS does not have the same access to CU Denver’s university hospital.

Officer Reports:

President’s Report
Report attached; Don Morley has agreed to chair the Faculty E-mail Taskforce, which will report back to the Chancellor by Thanksgiving concerning the faculty-l e-mail issues.

Vice-President’s Report
No report

Past President’s Report
No report

Reports from Standing Committees:

EPUS Report:
Report attached

Personnel & Benefits:
Currently trying to fill vacancies and find a common meeting time

Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
Report attached; UCCS has been planning well for the budget cuts, which have been managed by growth and efficiencies; another $10 million cut from the state is projected; tuition increases for next year are likely, but no definite amount has been determined

Minority Affairs Committee:
Report attached; new faculty reception is tonight at 5pm in the Library 3rd floor Apse

Women’s Committee:
Fall Brunch had 45 attendees at the Provost’s home; call for mini-grants was announced on 10/01/10 for $500, which are due on 10/22/10; full faculty survey concerning work-related issues is being developed for distribution by the end of the semester by Institutional Research; workshops are being developed for the spring

Non-Tenure Track Faculty:
Report attached

Academic Computing:
No one present – no report

Library:
No one present – no report

Intercollegiate Athletics:
Athletes are doing well academically; Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference expansion/contraction is being discussed along with the resulting travel demand effects on student athletes

Sustainability:
Report attached; Harvest Moon dinner at the Heller Center in September went very well and much of the food came from the student garden planted there; books suggested for all-campus read are being reviewed by the committee

PRIDE:
No one present – no report

OLD BUSINESS

Michele Companion opened general discussion on the proposed course scheduling changes for the campus.  Based on her informal polling of assorted groups, it was determined that no one wants to start evening classes at 5pm because they do not want to get out of class at 10pm and no one wants a 7:30am start time for classes every day.  She said that her polled groups overwhelmingly voted for no change.  Andrea Hutchins pointed out that nursing students working night shifts cannot make a 7:30am class start time.  David Weiss stated in an e-mail that it would be difficult to drop off children at the Family Development Center any earlier than is currently allowed.  Tom Huber asked his students if they would take 7:30am classes and they told him that they would not.  Rita Hug mentioned that the Library currently opens at 7:30am so that they are open before classes start, however, they would not have the resources to open at 7:00am if the class start time began earlier at 7:30am.  She did say, though, that they felt the 5pm evening start time was a good idea.  Andrew Czaplewski said that the College of Business grad students did not want to start evening classes at 5pm if it meant that they would not get out of class until 10pm.  As it stands now, most students will avoid registering for 8am and 7:15pm classes and will waitlist for those classes offered at alternate times.  Andrew also suggested that more widespread student input be obtained concerning this issue.  Peg Bacon did clarify that this premise is merely a recommendation from a task force looking at alternative course scheduling and not an edict from the Leadership Team.  The overall consensus from the assembly was to leave course scheduling class start times as is and the 10-minute break between classes should also remain as is.

NEW BUSINESS

None

MOTIONS

None

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Andrew Czaplewski
Seconded by Andrea Hutchins
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 1:09 p.m.