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Don Foss (UH System Senior Vice Chancellor and UH Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost), Elwyn Lee (UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Student Affairs), Elaine Charlson (UHS Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and UH Executive Associate Vice President for Academic and Faculty Affairs), Ed Hugetz (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for Planning & University Outreach), Spencer Yantis (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for University Advancement), Keith Kowalka (President of Staff Council and Director of the University Center and Associated Facilities), Marco Mariotto (Dean, Graduate & Professional Studies), Teri Longacre (UH Ombudsperson and Associate Professor, Management), Elizabeth Fletcher (Associate Dean of Administrative and Academic Affairs for C. T. Bauer College of Business and Associate Professor of Decision and Information Sciences), Joseph Eichberg (Professor, Biology-Biochemistry), Karl Titz (Associate Professor, Hotel & Restaurant Management), Evelyn Brass (Associate Librarian, UH Libraries), Loretta Wallace (Assistant Librarian, UH Libraries)

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UH SYSTEM VICE CHANCELLOR AND UH SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: Don Foss

Dr. Foss reported on: (1) The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) has been sent out to the campus for comments. The time to review is very limited and faculty were urged to provide comments by Friday (Jan. 25) if possible. It was not known how many comments had been made on the QEP. The Provost noted that the QEP is a conceptual document and a work in progress. (2) Information on the Faculty Travel Fund should be up on the website in the next few days. An announcement will be sent to the Deans, Chairs & Faculty. (3) The Provost has appointed a Task Force on the Universities Studies Division. The USD needs to be a pathway for UH students toward graduation. Dan Wells, Faculty Senate President-elect, will chair this Task Force. (4) The Budget, Tuition & Fees Committee has had a series of meetings and is working on its recommendations.

Dr. Birx provided an overview of the presentation he made to the February 2, 2008 meeting of the Board of Regents. He showed how research was progressing in the UH System for 2007. Sponsored research grew 10% in the past year with the greatest growth for UH occurring in the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. He pointed out that the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics is still the leader in research funding.
Dr. Birx reported on: (1) Funding has been secured to complete the Science-Engineering-Research-Classrooms (SERC) building. The first floor is close to being up and running. The building should be finished out in the next few years. (2) A newsletter is being produced on what’s happening with research. (3) He was in Washington, D.C. last week. In the future more energy will be put into federal and state funding. Targeting federal initiatives can take two to three years. Research is working on cluster hires to build around core facilities, thereby maximizing resources. (4) The Lone Star Wind Alliance is first in wind production. Wind is the only renewable technology that will continue to grow. (5) Changes have been made in the Research office and are continuing to be made. The idea is to team up with colleges to have support for researchers. (7) The Center for Industrial Partnership, a 501C3 proposal for a nonprofit center, is intended to foster profitable, flexible partnerships. (6) Some of the challenges that lie ahead for UH Research include realizing UH’s potential for excellence, faculty recruitment and investment, facilitating key hires for clusters and core facilities, linking start-up package budgets to faculty lines and aligning promotion and tenure processes for multiple Principal Investigators (PIs).

            Each year the membership of this organization undergoes some changes. This year the Faculty Senate says thank you for your dedicated service to the following out-going members: Steven Craig, Natalie Houston, Sara McNeil, J.T. Richardson and Karl Titz.
            Among the faculty leaving the Senate are two long-time members. Joe Eichberg joined the Faculty Senate in January of 1993. He first served on the Budget Committee, but during the ensuing years, he served on every Senate committee, including four years with the Committee on Committees and two years chairing the Faculty Affairs Committee. In December of 2000 he was elected as President-elect, becoming President in 2002. For newer senators, it should be noted that 2002 was the year that the Senate released its first Climate Survey. It was a tense time, the faculty climate was notably grim and required Joe Eichberg to go before the Board of Regents to present the results. It was a turning point for shared governance at the University of Houston. Dr. Eichberg is also the force behind the addition of the Preamble to the Faculty Senate Constitution which describes faculty expectations in the Shared Governance Process. Joe Eichberg served as Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate Commission on University Governance, the legendary FS-CoUG. This past year, Joe chaired the Report Committee for the Second Faculty Climate Survey. While there were less fireworks this time, it was a still a lot of effort. Joe Eichberg was also responsible for heading up the Revision of the Faculty Handbook in 2004 and served on the Committee for last year’s Revision, too.
          Joseph Eichberg has been a true leader. In appreciation of his outstanding service, Pres. Kotarba presented Dr. Eichberg with a crystal gavel and plaque, inscribed with his years of service.
            While the Constitution of the Faculty Senate was first adopted in May 1961, Stephen K. Huber, Senator from Law, is credited with rewriting it and putting the current system of Senate operation into effect. Steve Huber joined the Senate in November of 1976 – just two years after coming to UH. Since then he has served in every elected position of Senate leadership and was the first President of the Faculty Senate, following the adoption of that title in 1985. He was elected to the Committee on Committees a record eight times. The Senate is going to miss its Senior Statesman. Although he is not present at today’s meeting, the Senate has a crystal gavel and plaque inscribed with his service dates to be sent to him.
            New members who joined the Faculty Senate during the past semester are: Dale Alexander, GCSW, Anadeli Bencomo, CLASS, Miranda Bennett, LIB, Kishore Mohanty, ENGR, Kaye Newberry, BUS, and Jeffrey Sposato, CLASS
            New members for the 2008 year are: Seth Chandler, LAW, Shankar Chellem, ENGR, Cheryl Craig, EDU, Marie-Theresa Hernandez, CLASS, Philip Howard, CLASS, Faye Hall Jackson, HRM, Michael Rea, NSM

            As president of the Faculty Senate, I presented my inaugural address to this body one year ago, almost to the day. I began my presentation as follows: “This is truly a great honor for me. To serve as president of the Faculty Senate is to serve as a primary medium for faculty concerns and a primary voice for faculty aspirations for the University of Houston. I come to this point in my work with the Faculty Senate with humility, since I will be the caretaker for one year of an already energetic and successful organization that has done so much to help U of H evolve into the great university we all want it to be.”
            One year later, I would like to update you on the state-of-the-faculty-senate and the great progress we have made as the primary medium for faculty concerns. In a word, I am very proud to have served as a part of and a witness to the significant work we have accomplished this past year. But, for the sake of my successors, let me be frank: this has been the busiest year of my life. (As I look over the audience, I see a number of my predecessors smiling with that “I told you so” kind of grin.)
            One year ago, I discussed my vision of the Faculty Senate in terms of two dimensions. In terms of the first, and I quote:

“The first part of my vision is to maintain our progress on the path of success my predecessors have paved. We will continue growing
our commitment to key components of the university’s general welfare, by continuing to strive towards key goals such as shared governance,
institutional planning, an increase in faculty size, and the continuing evolution of our good friends and partners in library and staff.”

            The ability of the Faculty Senate to provide valuable leadership to the university has grown considerably this past year. We have served as a constant during this period of administrative change. When Dr. Gogue left U of H, we supported Dr. Rudley’s fine work as interim university president. We were an integral part of the recruitment committee that selected our new president, Dr. Khator. We continue to provide administrative leadership for the University Coordinating Committee. The UCC continues to fulfill the vision of shared governance described in the FS Coug report assembled by former presidents Joe Eichberg and Jerry Freiberg. We called upon Joe Eichberg, along with former president, Al Warner, to design, distribution and analysis of our second Climate Survey. We expanded our efforts toward enhanced shared governance by piloting an ad hoc planning committee, led by former president Steve Craig, whose efforts will continue on in the future. I am very proud of the leadership David Mazella, chair of the educational policy committee, has taken in helping to develop an exciting and doable Quality Enhancement Program for the entire university. The Faculty Senate is represented on both the medical school and health sciences planning committees.
            Our commitment to the university’s general welfare made great strides in the area of communications. We were awarded a regular position on the Board of Regents’ agenda, and we made four presentations to them this past year that were very well received. We voiced faculty views on topics ranging from the need to enhance support for faculty travel to the value of faculty input into our relationship with the state legislature. I would like to thank former Regents Chair Leroy Hermes for providing us this access. In a related activity, we contributed five columns to the University of Houston Campus News, discussing such issues as the importance of faculty involvement in the management of our intercollegiate athletics programs to the necessity of faculty working with student government to achieve common goals.
            We extended the Faculty Senate’s leadership beyond UH this past year. We hold positions on the executive committees of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates and the Coalition for Intercollegiate Athletics. There are many other ways Faculty Senators contribute to the welfare of the university.
            The second dimension of the vision I discussed a year ago dealt specifically with you, the faculty. And I quote:

“As we continue to grow the university and the faculty, I feel it is appropriate to let the pendulum swing a bit in the other direction,
that is, towards taking better care of the faculty we already have, the faculty who have committed themselves and their careers to
the University of Houston. Thus, the major theme of my presidency will be the enhancement of the role and identity of “Professors,”
as Plato put it, those who profess the truth.”

            We engaged in four major, successful initiatives. The first is The Provost’s Faculty Travel Award Program. We were successful in making the argument that increased support for travel to professional meetings is a good investment in our faculty. Dr. Foss agreed and we are grateful to him for initiating and funding this program.
            The second initiative was the Scholarship and Community Conference I had the honor to organize in September. The theme was “Music Across Boundaries” and the goal was to demonstrate the value of bringing faculty together by means of a scholarly area that involves teaching, research and service interests across colleges. Suzanne Ferimer, and her Scholarship and Community Committee, did a wonderful job designing the conference.
            The third initiative was the Faculty Senate retreat in October to which we invited local state legislators. By all accounts, this retreat was a great success, as we worked to established way to communicate faculty views on the future of the University of Houston to our senators and representatives. I appreciate the good work Mark Clarke and his Faculty Affairs Committee put into conducting the retreat. We look forward to growing this initiative in the future.
            The fourth initiative was the Budget and Facilities Committee’s Faculty Salary Survey. As a result Richard Willson’s leadership, we now have the data we need to support concrete proposals such as an increase in the promotion increment.
            There have been numerous other Senate initiatives directed specifically to faculty welfare. Under Suzanne Ferimer’s leadership, the Faculty Appreciation Dinner we began three years ago has become a widely-appreciated university institution. We have worked hard to establish a dialogue with Mike Rierson’s shop to share faculty’s ideas on university development. We worked with Interim Vice President for Finance Jim McShan to design simplified and informative pay stubs. And, through Wynne Chin’s good leadership and former Senator Dale Rude’s expertise, we started to look into faculty retirement issues.
            Let me conclude by thanking a number of other people whose support has made my job easier and more effective this past year. Dean John Antel, my Chair, Nestor Rodriguez, and my colleagues in sociology covered my back many times this year. Senator Katy Greenwood provided me with a great role model for my next job as chair of the committee on committees. Keith Kowalka, Chair of Staff Council, became a good friend as well as a good colleague. Marybeth and Amy make the whole operation work, and should be acknowledged for taking much of the leadership in designing our pending move to new and elegant facilities in the Library. All the administrators have been great as we move along together on the path to true shared governance. All of the senate presidents who preceded me with whom I had a chance to talk—Ernst Leitz, Steve Huber, Alex Ignatiev, Jerry Frieberg, Joe Eichberg, Ann Jacobson, Giles Auchmuty, and Steve Craig—have been wellsprings of good advice. I want to thank Al Warner specifically for being there for me all year, to guide me through Roberts Rules of Order in my more anarchistic moments, and more generally to simply help me figure it all out. Most of all, I want to thank the senators who always said yes when I called to ask/beg you to serve on innumerable committees; and who are dedicated to the important work of the senate that transpires in those committees.
            I will hand off the president’s gavel to my successor in Olympic fashion. I will soon dash off to my “in box” where numerous emails have been collecting this past year, with threatening messages such as “Joe, where is that chapter you promised me?” I am excited about the quality and commitment of the incoming faculty senate leadership, President Wynne Chin and President-Elect Dan Wells. It’s gonna be the busiest year of your life, you may not leave with much more expertise than how to critically assess box lunches—the quality of the cookie makes it or breaks it, by the way—but if you leave as I do, you will say with honesty: I’d do it again. Thank you.

Pres. Chin welcomed new and returning Senators to another year of business. While he did not prepare a formal Inaugural Address, he said he will work as a team with Dan Wells, the President-elect, to make plans for the next two years. Taking a cue from Dr. Birx, Pres. Chin said the Senate needs to work on alignment. Senators need to consider the welfare of their colleagues. Everyone needs to be on the same page. Pres. Chin said he recently consulted with a Fortune 500 company. Each level of administration thought they were following the company’s mission, but the leader’s message was not getting through to middle management or to the front lines. How does an organization become aligned? Pres. Chin said the Senate would talk about core issues at the Spring Retreat. He asked all the Senators to save Friday, February 22, for the retreat. The focus will be strategic planning. The Senate will discuss its priorities in the morning and meet with President Khator and Provost Foss in the afternoon. He noted that the Retreat will be held off-campus at La Colombe d’Or. Pres. Chin said he planned to poll the faculty to see what they were the key issues.
Pres. Chin praised the great work of the faculty who chaired the Senate Committees during 2007. Citing the adage, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Pres. Chin announced the chairs will remain the same for 2008.