TO:  University of Houston Faculty and Librarians

FROM:  William E. Fitzgibbon, III, President of the Faculty Senate

SUBJECT:  SURVEY OF FACULTY CONCERNS AND REPORT OF SENATE ACTIVITY
                     Please respond by mail to FS-2173 or by e-mail to MBrantley@uh.edu
                     [Response may be given at any time, but it would be most helpful if received by Tuesday, December 7.]

The mission of the Faculty Senate is to improve shared governance at the University of Houston.  This annual survey is intended to gather the concerns and issues of the faculty, which the Senate will attempt to address.  Your participation is appreciated.  You may write in the space below, use a separate page or e-mail your concerns to the Faculty Senate Office (MBrantley@uh.edu).  If you would like a response to your questions, please include your name and address.  The Faculty Senate President will follow-up these requests.

Following the space for your concerns is a report on what the Faculty Senate has done since January.

YOUR CONCERNS:  [Print out and mail to FS-2173 or e-mail:  MBrantley@uh.edu]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

FACULTY SENATE:

The Faculty Senate is the faculty organization best situated to bring faculty concerns to bear on general university policy.  The Senate consists of 52 senators elected by the colleges to constitute the official representative body of the faculty.  It operates on the calendar instead of the academic year.  The president of the Faculty Senate is a member of the University of Houston President's Cabinet that meets weekly and attends Board of Regents subcommittee and full meetings.  The president and president-elect of the Senate meet monthly with faculty representatives from the other UH System campuses and the Chancellor (UFEC).

The Faculty Senate maintains a homepage at http://www.uh.edu/fs/ with meeting schedules, minutes, current agenda and rosters.  There are also links to the Faculty Handbook, Student Handbook and the S.A.M.s and M.A.P.P.s on this page.

REPORT:

The University of Houston Faculty Senate has been busy in a variety of areas, carrying out its business through meetings of the full body and its committees.  Reports of committee business were shared with the full Senate for discussion, including the:

Budget & Facilities Committee which held meetings with:

Randy Harris, the UH System Vice Chancellor and  UH VP for Administration and Finance, to discuss the formation of the Plant Extension Committee that approves large capital expenditures on campus; the implementation stages of the PeopleSoft system; and certain contract renegotiations.

Development Officers Eli Cipriano, Sam Lasseter and Kelly Zuniga reported on the status of giving to the University which totaled $23.8 million in gifts during the year ending August 31, 1998.

John U. Martin, Associate Vice Chancellor of Finance, who reviewed maintenance and acquisition procedures for capital facilities.

which altered the selection process for the six safety committees that are regulated by statute (turning over selection and organization to the Vice President for Research or the Vice President for Administration and Finance, but instituting an annual report on performance to the Senate); changing the Conservation Committee into a Task Force charged with broadening the recycling program and institutionalizing it; and filling 87 vacancies on University standing committees.

Mario Lucchesi, the Registrar, and John Butler, Associate Dean of NSM, to discuss classrooms and the work of the UH Classroom Committee appointed by the Provost and charged with addressing both short-term and long-term problems.  Faculty interested in the actions and activities of this committee can access its web site [http://www.uh.edu/~jbutler/classrooms/classrooms.html].  EPSAC agreed with the recommendations of the Classroom Committee to prohibit food and drinks; to confine posted material to bulletin boards [with the exception of test scores, seating charts, etc.]; to have custodians clean classrooms every evening and identify problems; and establish a plan to notify the appropriate office about problems.  EPSAC also endorsed the recommendation of the Classroom Committee that an Annual Classroom Fund (ACF) be established to include a floor of $500,000 -- $300,000 for physical aspects and $200,000 for media aspects.  EPSAC also expressed support for making better use of non-prime time bands and enforcing existing University time bands policy.

Elwyn Lee, the UH System Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Student Affairs, and his associates to discuss confrontational interaction of students with a range of groups on campus; the changing culture of student behavior in classroom settings; and the funding of the Student Affairs Office.  Of these items, the bulk of the time was spent on the item dealing with student classroom behavior, especially attendance [specifically the lack of attendance] and disruptive classroom behavior.

Edward Sheridan, UH System Senior Vice Chancellor and UH Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Elaine Charlson, UHS Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and UH Associate VP for Academic and Faculty Affairs,  and Ed Apodaca, UH Associate VP for Enrollment Management.  The discussion focused on two topics:  small degree programs and how they would fare under funding redistribution plans; and student recruitment, quality of students and associated retention rates.

which is currently working on reports about various faculty concerns including salary compression (scheduled to be discussed at the December 8 Faculty Senate meeting), fringe benefits, retirement issues, research incentives, teaching emphasis, future funding allocation and support structure, how UH can create a Carnegie I institution and support system to go along with it, etc.

Wendy Adair, Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations, to discuss the McCann-Erickson public relations initiative for UH.

Grover Campbell, Vice Chancellor/Vice President for Governmental Relations, and April Burke, the University's federal liaison, to discuss the University's work with the legislature in Austin and Washington, D.C.

The full Senate meet on several occasions to discuss amending Faculty Senate Bylaw Seven to change the selection process for membership on the University's Faculty Grievance Committee.  The alteration was to remove the requirement to find two eligible candidates from each college.  The process now requires at least two candidates more than the number of available seats.  The change did provide that no college could have more than two members on the committee and charged the Committee on Committees with trying to find candidates from any college that does not have a representative currently on the committee.

Term limits for Faculty Senators were discussed with the general consensus against such rules being imposed.  The matter was referred to the Executive Committee which decided against the limits.
 
The format of Faculty Senate meetings was discussed.  It was agreed that questions for the administration could be sent in advance of meetings to the Senate Secretary, who would order and ask them at the next meeting.  Questions from the floor are to be directed to the Senate Secretary or to the Senate President who chairs each meeting.

The Senate heard from the administration on a regular basis.  UHS Chancellor and UH President Arthur K. Smith kept the Senate apprised of the legislative session and its beneficial outcome for the University.  A national search for a Vice Chancellor/Vice President for Institutional Advancement was announced, then due to the lack of candidates experienced in both facets of IA, it was changed to searches for both a Vice Chancellor/Vice President for Development and a Vice Chancellor/Vice President for University Relations.  Provost Sheridan talked with the Senate about the on-going searches for Deans and the Dean of Graduate Studies (filled by Marco Mariotto), evaluations of Deans, summer offerings and budget, graduate tuition program, and the University budget for Academic Affairs.

At the September 15 Senate meeting, Laura Frishman, Chair of the UH Research Council, reported on the changes made to the University's internal grant programs, including the New Faculty Research Program (formerly RIG), the Small Grants Program (formerly LGIA) and the Grants to Enhance and Advance Research (formerly PEER).  More information may be obtained at the Division of Research's Website at http://www.research.uh.edu/

A new item to Senate agendas has been the Kudos, a section where notable achievements by faculty and staff have been highlighted.   It was also noted that in an effort to improve communications between the Faculty Senate and its Executive Committee, non-confidential agenda items from the latter's meeting with the senior administration would be published on the Senate Website.  A Senate President's report on Executive Committee activities is also planned.

It was announced at the September 15 Senate meeting that Dr. Smith had formed a Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.  This group will undertake a comprehensive review of women's issues and concerns at UH.  The Commission has a 2-year term and membership includes Faculty Senators Janet Chafetz, Maria Gonzalez, Anne Jacobson, and Saleha Khumawala.

Presentations were made at the October 20 meeting by Edgar Berry, Assistant Dean of Students, who is recruiting faculty to work the Excel Program to mentor students, and by Richard Russell, Chair of Senate Select Committee on the Cougar Creed, who is recruiting faculty to work on the Creed statement.  At this meeting, it was requested that the Faculty Senate give a monthly presentation on the activities of the Executive Committee and UH Council Chairs.

WEBPAGE ADDENDUM:

On October 6, 1999, the University of Houston and its Faculty Senate hosted the 9th Annual Scholarship and Community Conference.  The theme, "University - School System Partnerships:  Working Together To Create Safe, Caring, And Healthy Learning Environments," brought together faculty and administrators from Universities and Public Schools and School Systems throughout the Houston Metroplex.  Speakers included: Edward J. Fuentes, Director of GEAR UP, U.S. Department of Education; Samuel C. Stringfield, Principal Research Scientist, Center for the Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University; Richard A. Tapia, Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Rice University; James R. Vivian, Director, Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute; H. Jerome Freiberg, John and Rebecca Moores Scholar, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Houston, Director, Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline Project; Rod Paige, Superintendent of Schools, Houston Independent School District; Susan Sclafani, Chief of Staff for Educational Services, Houston Independent School District; Eduardo Aguirre, Member, UH System Board of Regents; Arthur K. Smith, University of Houston System Chancellor and University of Houston President; and Elaine M. Charlson, UH System Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and  UH Associate Vice President for Academic and Faculty Affairs.  Tapes of the main sessions will soon be available for loan.