MEMBERS ABSENT:  [20]       
ARCH:      B. Price
BUS:        M. Parks
CLASS:    K. Brown, S. Craig, W. Herendeen, D. Jacobs, G. Jowett, J. Middents, R. Murray, G. San Miguel, T. Tillery
EDU:       M. Connell, C. White
ENGR:     T. Cleveland, R. Metcalfe, D. Shattuck
LAW:      P. Linzer
LIB:        S. Ferimer
NSM:      K. Kadish
TECH:    C. Goodson
 
ON-LEAVE:   B. Breitmeyer
 
VISITORS:   Arthur Smith (UHS Chancellor and UH President), Edward Sheridan (UHS Senior Vice Chancellor and UH Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost), John Rudley (UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Administration & Finance), Elaine Charlson (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and UH Associate Vice President for Academic and Faculty Affairs), Jim McShan (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Administration and Finance), Marco Mariotto (Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies), Ed Hugetz (UHS Assistant Vice Chancellor and UH Assistant Vice President for Planning & University Outreach), David Bell (UHS Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs), Robert Herrington (UHS Assistant Vice Chancellor and UH Assistant Vice President for Human Resources), Dave Maggard (Director of Athletics), John Robinson, Jr. (Senior Associate Athletics Director), Craig Ness (Executive Director, Academic Budgets & Operations, SVP-AA), Thomas Ehardt (Executive Director of Budgets)

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:  The March 19, 2003, minutes were approved.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
     The Faculty Awards Luncheon will be April 22 at 12:00 noon in the Grand Ballroom of the UH Hilton Hotel.
 The next meeting of the Faculty Senate will be Wednesday, May 7, at 12:15 p.m. in the Kiva of Farish Hall. Guest speaker will be Raymond Flumerfelt Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering.
     Commencement is set for Friday, May 9, at 9:00 a.m. in Hofheinz Pavilion.  The commencement speaker will be Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service.

KUDOS:
     The Faculty Senate offers kudos to Cynthia Freeland, Professor of Philosophy, has received a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to support her research project "Fakes and Forgeries: Value in the Arts."   The anticipated result will be a book of the same name to be published by the Oxford University Press.
     Also receiving an NEH grant is Rex Koontz, Assistant Professor of Art, for his project "Performance and Power at an Ancient Mesoamerican Capital: El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico"
     W. Jackson Rushing, III, Professor of Art History, has been awarded a Fellowship for 2003-04 from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a book project titled "Insurgent Messages:  Edgar Heap of Birds and Contemporary Visual Arts."

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION FROM THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT:  Anne Jacobson
     Pres. Jacobson reminded the Senate that at the last meeting we passed the following resolution:

 That the Faculty Senate recommit itself to support the Library as it has for the past 20 years
and work to support of the Library expansion in partnership with the current Faculty/Staff
Fundraising Campaign.

BUDGET & FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT - Peter Copeland, Chair
     The Budget and Facilities Committee met on 26 March with Helen Stout, Associate VP for Administration, concerning the CougarOne Card.  Several problems with the card were raised in general usage and use by faculty in particular.  Issues included: confusing or missing information about the sign-up procedures and the bank that issues the card, incompatibility of the numbering system on the card and the system used by the library, the small size of the picture on the card, and the fact that the official UH faculty ID card now has the logo of the MasterCard corporation on its face, which may lead some outside the University to presume this to be a credit card.
     AVP Stout was aware of some, but not most, of these issues and she said that she would move to have the CougarOne website modified to provide better information about the card and look into how the card could be redesigned to address some of the issues raised. She promised to get back to the committee with the results of her investigations.
     The next meeting of the Budget and Facilities Committee will be on 23 April; the BFC will meet with Ileana Trevino to discuss the plans and priorities regarding fundraising by development personnel.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES REPORT – Joseph Eichberg, Chair
     Sen. Eichberg said the committee is carrying out its routine function of seeking nominees for the UH standing committees across campus.  There are two meetings scheduled, one with John Rudley and another with Elwyn Lee, to discuss committees with whom they work in their roles.

EDUCATIONAL POLICIES & STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT - Sara McNeil, Chair
     Committee members are working on gathering data for the issues brought forth at the last Faculty Senate meeting. The committee is preparing a list of speakers to provide information about these issues. One issue is textbooks.  The committee plans to meet with the chair of the Bookstore Committee and to work on drafting faculty guidelines for selecting textbooks.
     Each college appears to have a different policy about how textbooks are selected.  Obviously, if a textbook is selected for a college core course taught by a number of people, they should meet in committee to decide on that book.  The committee is trying to investigate what standing policies colleges and/or departments have for selecting textbooks for courses with few or single sections.  The committee will develop a broad list of guidelines that colleges and departments without policies might adopt or adapt.

FACULTY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT - Katy Greenwood, Chair
     The Faculty Affairs Committee met March 26 with Marco Mariotto, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies, as guest speaker.  He was present specifically to talk about the ongoing process that he is leading to provide an annual Scholarship Report for the University.
     Dr. Mariotto explained that last year the Research Council wanted an annual scholarship report to be done by the University, sponsored by the Office of the Provost.  Dr. Mariotto was assigned the task.
     He has asked a sub-committee of the Graduate and Professional Studies Council to come up with a template that can be used without asking faculty to produce additional paperwork.  This group has collected examples of faculty activity templates from colleges, with the goal to include all colleges.  The results will be aggregated at the Graduate Dean’s office.  Dr. Mariotto indicated that other universities already do this for publication purposes and/or for accreditation responsibilities.
     Members of the Faculty Affairs Committee questioned why the aggregation cannot be done at the Department level, once the desired templates are known.  Dr. Mariotto indicated that every department does not use Activity Reports for evaluation purposes.
     The ultimate goal is to arrive at rankings for Departments or programs and to more fully itemize non-funded as well as funded research.  The data could also provide more information for resource allocation.  The Provost’s office has little information from which to make decisions.  The University needs a way to measure output.
     There was discussion about research output in terms of faculty load.  A member of the committee suggested that faculty should be able to document 50% of their time as research or scholarship.  Others suggested that would depend on teaching load.
     This topic will be addressed further in ongoing Faculty Affairs Committee meetings.
 
     Pres. Jacobson commented that a number of committees are undertaking definitions of research and scholarship excellence.  The Research Council is one of the groups working on this.  One concern is that many faculty seem to be unaware that information on criteria for excellence is being collected from the colleges and departments.  This indicates a lack of faculty input.  There is also concern that, depending on what/how data are gathered for merit reviews, the information used can vulcanize such reviews using outdated criteria.  Pres. Jacobson said she plans to raise these issues with the deans on April 22.

RESEARCH & COMMUNITY COMMITTEE REPORT - Joseph Kotarba, Chair
     On March 21, the Chair of the Committee was invited to address the College of Technology’s Friday Colloquium.  An open and spirited discussion revealed the importance of understanding the variety of ways faculty engage in scholarly activity, beyond any narrow definition of research.
     The committee met on April 2 with Dr. Arthur Vailas, UH System Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Research and Intellectual Property Management. Dr. Vailas was invited to informally discuss ways this new committee can assist scholarly activity among faculty.  Dr. Vailas was accompanied by Dr. Scott Perry, the incoming chair of the Research Council, and Ms. Rosemary Grimmet, Executive Director, Research Services.  Dr. Vailas spoke of the importance of coordinating the Senate's committee’s activities with those of the Research Council.  The committee agreed to pursue discussions with the Research Council.
     The committee’s main task for the coming year is to formulate a draft of a committee charge that fits the needs of the Faculty Senate.  In order to prepare a draft to be submitted for Senate approval, the RCC will continue to informally collect information on (1) the varieties of ways faculty in the various colleges and departments engage in scholarly activity; (2) the resources needed to enhance these activities; and (3) the relationship of faculty scholarly activity to the communities UH serves.

DISCUSSION:  “Principles of Shared Governance” (Revision:  03/18/03)

Principles.   Shared governance is the collective commitment of the faculty and administration at the University of Houston to work cooperatively, together with other University constituencies, to achieve a common vision of excellence for the University.  Successful shared governance requires an active partnership at all levels of the enterprise, from individual programs to the overall University, to provide a basis for joint participation in setting priorities and formulating policy.  Effective implementation of shared governance depends on mutual trust, shared confidence, and frequent communication among faculty and administrators, informed by an appreciation of their interdependent roles and responsibilities.

 Faculty Role in Shared Governance.  The faculty provides the excellence in teaching and research that determines the quality and reputation of the University.  The faculty has a major role in devising academic policies, establishing performance standards, and in protecting academic freedom.  Therefore, the faculty shall have the primary responsibility for curricular matters and degree programs.  Recommendations about appointments, retention, and post-tenure review are a central faculty responsibility.  The faculty shall have significant input in the formulation of budget priorities, including compensation policies.  The faculty also shall have a major role in the selection and review of administrators at all levels of the University.  [The faculty also shall assist in the articulation of goals that impact the quality of campus life, affect the surrounding community and improve the national academic standing of the institution.]

     Sen. Eichberg commented that the Faculty Handbook revision committee has been working for about two months.  This is substantial revision and is taking longer than anticipated, but the hope is to have it finished early in summer.  The revision will then be submitted to the Provost.
     Sen. Eichberg said two months ago the Senate considered a document on shared governance that has since been revised by Sen. Huber.  The sentence in brackets is submitted for consideration as the final sentence.  This completed document is intended to become the preamble to the Senate Constitution and Bylaws.
     Sen. Huber moved, with a second from Sen. Ignatiev, to delete the sentence in brackets:

  [The faculty also shall assist in the articulation of goals that impact the quality of
  campus life, affect the surrounding community and improve the national academic
  standing of the institution.]

   “That the Senate adopts the statement on second reading with the editorial
   changes noted, and that the responsibility for completing that editorial wording
   rests with the Executive Committee which will report back to the Senate.”

NEW BUSINESS:
     Sen. Brady said she was asked by several of her colleagues from her department to express concern to the Senate and administration regarding the recently announced changes in medical coverage, mainly the elimination of HealthSelect Plus and the increased co-pays.  This affects everyone, especially people with young children.  Dr. Brady asked if the upper administration and the Faculty Senate were planning a reaction to these changes.  Can anything be done?  Dr. Herrington said he wished UH had some options to bring forward some type of protest.  The State of Texas gives power to manage group health insurance to the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS).  They have made their decision based upon the budget cuts that they have been given by the State of Texas just as UH is addressing budget cuts here.  This is a self funded program and all claims must be paid by the State of Texas.  There are currently insufficient funds in the State to pay the current claims for the remainder of this year.  That is why they are having to take these drastic actions.   It will impact 2,600 employees within the system, most of them on the main campus.  Employees who are in HealthSelect will have increased co-pays and some additional changes to the prescription drug program.  Employees who are moving from the HMO over into the HealthSelect will have some significant charges that they haven’t been paying under the HMO program.  The ERS Board of Directors meets in Austin tomorrow.  UH will also have representatives in Austin Friday to discuss the impact of the ERS meeting.  To date, four workshops have been held on campus with generally 100 plus employees at each one of these meetings. The ERS will communicate directly with every employee who is affected by this change.  Two more workshops are scheduled and are listed on the HR Website [http://www.uh.edu/admin/hr/].
     Sen. Lange said, thinking something might be done with regard to the pharmacy changes, she called pharmacy managers and was told that if they receive enough complaints after changes are made, they will do some kind of deal with the ERS.  Pres. Jacobson said the Faculty Affairs Committee could possibly look into what might done to protest changes.
     Sen. Leiss said he was intrigued about the comment that the system doesn’t have enough money to pay the claims.  He asked Dr. Herrington if it was his impression that there would have been a crisis even without the 7% reduction.  Dr. Herrington responded, probably so if the legislature didn’t appropriate the dollars that the ERS had requested, approximately $700 million plus, to keep the current benefits.  Dr. Herrington said charges coming from hospitals and clinics and prescription drugs were in excess of what had been appropriated by the state.  Prescription drug expenses alone increased 27% this past year.  It is probable that there would have been an increase in premiums or some other adjustments for September 1.
     Sen. McNeil said in one of the communications from the Human Resources (HR) office it was noted that there would be more changes proposed for September 1.  There was a suggestion for individuals to contact their legislators to give them feedback about these changes because they are likely to be twice as devastating as the changes that will happen on May 1.  Dr. Herrington said there are some significant changes being proposed which require legislative action.  The changes for May 1 can be made by the Board of Directors for ERS.  The September 1 changes would affect UH graduate students.  ERS would no longer provide them health insurance coverage which would impact this University.  ERS also plans to put in a waiting period of 30 days before benefits would began.  This could cause problems for new faculty who would have to make arrangements, either through COBRA, their former employer, or UH would have to work in some type of arrangement to provide them with some supplemental outside insurance.  There are some additional changes along that line that would require legislative action.  Dr. Herrington said he is not sure at this point what can be done other universities in the state are having similar types of challenges.
     Sen. McNeil asked what do A&M and UT do about the changes?  Dr. Herrington said UT and A&M both have independent plans.  They are each self-insured.  Their premiums are slightly higher, and they have higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
     Sen. Brady asked if there is any chance of these changes being reversed in the future if things get better?  Dr. Herrington said the primary thing that drives premium and benefit coverage is utilization.  He added that it appears the idea is to put more up-front cost to the employees so that utilization will go down and possibly stabilize the fund.
 
REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM VICE CHANCELLOR & UH VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE:  John M. Rudley
     Dr.. Rudley provided an overview of the budget for higher education in Texas and for the University of Houston.  Details are being reviewed for accuracy and will be provided in the near future.

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UH ATHLETIC DIRECTOR:  Dave Maggard
     Dr. Rudley said one of the questions that the Budget and Facilities Committee asked about the Athletics was what is the administration doing to get control over the Athletics deficit.  Biweekly meetings take place between Jim McShan and Athletics staff to provide budget expertise.  The Budget and Facilities Committee appreciated the fact that Athletics is being monitored.
     Mr. Maggard thanked the Senate for the opportunity to make a few comments.  He introduced John Robinson, Jr., Senior Associate Athletics Director, who is new to the Athletics staff.  He has been at UH for only a few months.  Mr. Maggard said he has been here just a little over a year.  What he has been trying to do is to get his arms around what’s happening on the campus.  Athletics has had tremendous support from Dr. Smith and Dr. Rudley, and the rest of the administration.   Mr. Maggard said he tries to get to know as many of the faculty here as he can.   He started with the idea that Athletics want to be as transparent as it can possibly be.  Sen.  Kotarba is the head of the faculty Athletics Advisory Committee.  Athletics administrators meet with the committee about once a month.  They try to share what is being done with the budget as well as look at the academic achievements of student athletes.  Mr. Maggard said he wants to share that information with the University.  First of all, he understands the faculty’s concern about the subsidy given to  intercollegiate athletics.  This has been taking place for some period of time.  Obviously, the hope is that growing the revenue generated by football, basketball, and other sources will cover those expenses.  That has not yet been the case here.  It has not been the case because men’s football and basketball on this campus have not been very successful in the last ten years.
     Mr. Maggard provided a handout (available in the Senate Office) that summarizes what has taken place in academics with the UH student athletes.  It is improving and will continue to improve.  Graduation rates for student athletes are better than the campus average. There are still a couple of sports which are not doing as well as they should be in academics, basketball being the primary concern.  That has to improve.  If one looks at what has taken place with the overall graduation rates and progress towards graduation it is absolutely getting better and it will get better.  One of the ways in which this is happening at least in a small way is summer school.  Many UH athletes do take summer school; including a number of football players.  Summer school is not allowed unless the athletes take a minimum of three units each session, six total, and these units have to be towards graduation.  This is a new requirement and should help the graduation rate.  This information is shared with Sen. Kotarba and the Athletic Advisory Committee.  Mr. Maggard said he wants them to keep tabs on this program.  If the Senate would like, Mr. Maggard said he would come back in the fall to see what each sport is doing relative to their graduation rates as compared to non-athletic students on this campus.
     What are plans in terms of reducing the subsidy?  Dr. Smith indicated some time ago that he wanted a three year plan to reduce the subsidy provided by the University.   Mr. Maggard has submitted a three year plan.   He has reviewed it with Dr. Rudley and his staff.  In addition to the three year plan, this year’s budget is being reviewed as well.  Most of the revenue emanates from either through football or basketball.  By the time word about budget reductions came, this year’s main expenditures, and football and basketball revenues, were already finished.  In addition, most of the contests are by contract, including traveling to certain places, etc.  Mr. Maggard said he is going to keep tabs on the budget on a day to day basis.  There are still a number of things to do through this year.
     The three year plan is going to be a tremendous challenge given the size of the program.  Athletics is counting on football to improve immediately.  There is a new coach, Art Briles.  There is an extremely good feeling about him being here.  He is a UH student athlete alum, and graduated.  Mr. Maggard said he thinks Mr. Briles is going to do a terrific job.
     How long will it take to turn this big ship around out in the ocean?  Mr. Maggard said he is going to push and shove very, very hard.  But he can tell everyone that the numbers that he has been given are going to be a great challenge.  So UH has to improve in football.  It has to improve in basketball.  The other part is that Athletics has done very little fundraising for annual operations or scholarships.  Scholarships cost almost $3 million.  Everybody else is very pleased about tuition going up, but this is going to be a double hit for Athletics because the department will then be paying more for scholarships.  There are about 300 men and women in the program.  The $3 million has been committed for the time being.  Athletics pays over $1 million annually for its operations in administrative cost to the University.  It pays for all maintenance and utilities for each of its facilities.   Mr. Maggard is committed to working with the administration to reduce the subsidy.  UH is going to end up having essentially the kind of program that the Board of Regents and faculty for this University want.
     Mr. Maggard said he believes a well run athletics program can be a great benefit to a university, so he will push and fight very hard to have a competitive athletic program here at UH.  At the same time Athletics needs to pay more of its way.  So the increases need to come in terms of revenue at the gate.  He has started a new fundraising program, Cougar Pride.  That is going to be Athletics’ annual fundraising program, essentially for scholarships.  The ultimate goal is to raise enough money on an annual basis to pay for all scholarships.  This may take a little bit of time.  Some people may say they have heard that before, but Athletics is taking some very aggressive steps.  When he speaks with alumni, Mr. Maggard tells them he is trying to wake up the big cat.  Get alumni to come back to the campus and get alumni supporting Athletics and it can be much more self-sufficient than at the present time.  Mr. Maggard said he asked Pres. Jacobson several weeks ago to come and visit with the Faculty Senate to indicate what Athletics was going to do.  He said he would be happy to come back at any time to report on any aspect of what is being done in Athletics.  If anyone has questions, please feel free to call him.
     Sen. Auchmuty asked about the prospects of getting a nice TV contract.  Mr. Maggard said it is all about winning; winning is the name of the game.  UH is going to have one football game on television next year on ESPN.  UH has to get its program back at a much more competitive level to garner media attention and funds.
     Sen. Copeland asked how much of the three year plan depends on increased revenue and how much of it depends upon increased expenditures?  Mr. Maggard said it is a combination of both, but most of it is increasing revenue.  Decreases are tough because UH has a program that is going to continue to grow.  He added that he could assure everyone that there are institutions within Conference USA spending well over $10 million more than UH.
     Sen. Copeland said it is tremendously hopeful to think that changes are going to take place on the based on the action of others; people giving Athletics money.   But Athletics could take the other approach and change what it can change by cutting expenditures.  Mr. Maggard said the annual fundraising has been successful.  It can improve.  Mr. Maggard said the other part of it is that he believes that the UH football program is going to improve.  Now Athletics is also reducing expenses.  The one thing to keep in mind is a university has to have a certain number of scholarships and programs to remain Division 1A so a certain amount of money has to be spent.
     Sen. Copeland said for the 14 years he has been at UH, it has been the practice of Athletic Directors to come in and blame the guy before them until it is time for them to leave, at which time they declare victory and move on.  He asked Mr. Maggard how he wants to be judged.  Sen. Copeland added that Mr. Maggard has only been here for a year and it is quite fair to say that he inherited some problems, but when the time comes, on what specific criteria does he want to be judged?  Mr. Maggard said he has no answer to that.  He said he doesn’t care what anybody else has done.  He is here and he has the ball now and he is going to do whatever he can do to try to make Athletics work.  He is going to work 24/7 until he can make a difference at this place.  Mr. Maggard said he didn’t know when that is going to be other than the fact that every day Athletics is making a difference and it is getting better.  Now, did Athletics start in a pretty good hole?  Yes.  He said he doesn’t know whose fault that is and he’s not interested in who was at fault.  UH’s record over a relatively long period of time has not been very good in Athletics, either in terms of success or the financial picture.  Dr. Smith has asked him where he wants Athletics to be in three years and that plan has been submitted.  Now he has to work to make that plan work.  Mr. Maggard said he is not going to blame anybody.  He said he will blame himself.  It is one of the reasons why the fundraising program was started.  Mr. Maggard said he will be accountable for it.  He will be responsible for it.  If Dr. Smith asks him about it now or if the next president asks him about it, then Mr. Maggard said it’s his fault, whatever it is.  That is the way he is going to deal with it.
     Sen. Kotarba said it seems like everyone is concerned about the Athletics program and how expensive it is, but he wanted to commend Mr. Maggard and the Athletic Department for great progress that is being made academically for UH’s student athletes.  Sen. Kotarba said it is amazing to see that their graduation rate is higher than the average university’s students.  The numbers keep going up and that is very, very good, but there is another dimension to this that should be kept in mind.  It is becoming increasingly clear that presidents of universities are becoming the power block when it comes to generating policy for intercollegiate athletics around the country.  Dr. Smith has been very dedicated to supporting athletics here.  In the search for a new president it is important to put a high expectation on candidates to be sure they can to promote what is good for UH at the conference level and at the NCAA level.  Sen. Kotarba said there are some other factors that he didn’t want to get into right now but there are issues about how to deal with Conference USA in terms of what the teams UH will be playing and whether there are natural rivalries that could increase attendance at sport events, so he looks forward to having Mr. Maggard and other representatives from the Athletics program constantly informing faculty over the coming months.
     Mr. Maggard said it is an obsession for him to try and make this program better.  If he doesn’t, then he dies trying.  Student athletes who don’t go to class, don’t take tests or don’t come to study hall, don’t play.  If they flunk more than one course this semester and have more than one withdrawal, Athletics will not pay for them in the summer.
     Sen. Lange said all over campus every single department and the Library are making sacrifices, in positions, library acquisitions and things like that.  She said she appreciates Mr. Maggard’s statement about funding but has the Athletics program had any scenario for sacrifices.  Mr. Maggard said yes, absolutely; the program has already cut positions this year and cut travel.
 
REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM CHANCELLOR & UH PRESIDENT:  Arthur K. Smith
     Dr. Smith said the Senate has heard two excellent presentations from Dr. Rudley and Mr. Maggard so he would just respond to questions.
     Sen. Copeland said he heard this week that business managers are being forbidden from holding on to what they call shadow systems or shadow account systems.  Is this true?   Dr. Rudley said it hasn’t been mandated but there are some departments that are using PeopleSoft.
     Sen. Greenwood said her college's financial records are the worst they have ever been.  People have not been paid from last year.  She heard only the shadow systems are performing well.  Dr. Rudley said he has heard both sides of this.  The administration is trying to improve the whole lot.  It was understood that switching to PeopleSoft would be a bump in the road.  Also some business offices are better than others.  The first approach is to go through and see if problems can be solved.
     Sen. Khumawala said UH has become so efficient, it should not wait.  Dr. Rudley asked her to say it again.
     Sen. McNeil said her college has been using PeopleSoft instead of the shadow system and it has been fantastic.  EDU is sending its project managers to PeopleSoft training and it is working beautifully.  Dr. Rudley said UH wants to replicate best practices.

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR & UH SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS/PROVOST:  Edward P. Sheridan
     Dr. Sheridan said summer school is coming.   Faculty should be aware that with all the budget cuts, everyone is concerned about the summer.  Everything is being done to have a good summer.  He urged faculty to respond positively if approached by their chairs to teach larger sections.  The requirements of some courses may prevent that, but where possible faculty should consider adding students.  Budgets will be very tight this summer.
     Often people say to him that they didn’t get input into the budget.  Dr. Sheridan said there may be colleges that don’t talk enough about budgets, but this is the time deans come to the Provost to discuss plans for the next fiscal year, faculty will want to make certain that they talk to their chairs if there are things that they want to get into the budget and then their chairs will talk to the deans.  Dr. Sheridan reminded everyone that UH is asking everybody to cut 5% from their budgets, so there may be some people who won't talk to their chairs, hoping that they will not be noticed.  That is one strategy.
 
The meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.