UNIVERSITY HOUSTON FACULTY SENATE MINUTES – April 18, 200 

President Kotarba called the April 18, 2007 Senate meeting to order in the Farish Hall Kiva at 12:15 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT:  [36]
   ARCH:    M. Sabatino            
   BUS:       W. Chin, R. Keller
   CLASS:   V. Brady, S. Craig, A. Gordon, W. Herendeen, N. Houston, T. Karner, J. Kotarba, A. Kugler, D. Mazella, M. McHenry,
                  D. Montoya, F. Schiff, G. Trail  
   EDU:       M. Clarke, J. Freiberg, S. McNeil, A. Warner
   ENGR:    A. Kamrani, Y.L. Mo, J. Richardson, R. Willson 
   GSSW:   H. Karger  
   LIB:         D. Camille, S. Ferimer
   NSM:      P. Copeland, J. Eichberg, G. Johnson, A. Ignatiev, T.R. Lee, D. Wells
   OPT:       R. Manny, S. Quintero
   PHA:       S. Sansgiry
   TECH:     K. Greenwood

MEMBERS ABSENT:  [15]                
   BUS:       S. Kadipasaoglu (w/ notice), C. Pirrong             
   CLASS:  E. Brown-Guillory, M. Haun (w/notice), J. Middents
   ENGR:    J. Williams
   HRM:      K. Titz (w/ notice)
   LAW:      M. Duncan (w/notice), S. Huber, P. Linzer 
   LIB:         D. Bruxvoort
   NSM:      X. Gao (w/notice), K. Kadish, M. Ru, J. Subhlok

SEAT AWAITING REPLACEMENT:   [1]
   CLASS:  T. Karner (resigned April 6)

VISITORS:   
Jay Gogue (UH System Chancellor and UH President), John Rudley (UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Administration & Finance), Dona Hamilton (UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Legal Affairs & General Counsel), Elwyn Lee (UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Student Affairs), James Anderson (UHS Executive Associate to the Chancellor), John Powell (Assistant to the Chancellor/President, Communications), Elaine Charlson (UHS Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and UH Executive Associate Vice President for Academic and Faculty Affairs), Marco Mariotto (Dean, Graduate & Professional Studies), Wendy Adair (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for University Relations), Dennis Fouty (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer), Ed Hugetz (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for Planning & University Outreach), Dave Irvin (UHS Associate Vice Chancellor and UH Associate Vice President for Plant Operations), Agnes DeFranco (Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Studies), Oscar Gutierrez (Assistant to the Vice Chancellor/Vice President for University Advancement), Teri Longacre (UH Ombudsperson and Associate Professor, Management), Malcolm Davis (Chief of UH Police and Executive Director of Public Safety), Bob Bowden (UH Fire Marshal), Norma Ngo (Assistant Director, Counseling & Psychological Services), Kimberly James (Assistant Director, Counseling & Psychological Services), Brenda Rhoden (Coordinator, Constituent Events), Jared Barnes (Daily Cougar)

MINUTES:  The minutes for the March 21, 2007 Senate meeting were approved.

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT:  Joseph Kotarba

            Pres. Kotarba asked for a brief moment of silence for colleagues at Virginia Tech.  Afterward he stated that he had sent a letter of condolence to Kerry Redican, Faculty Senate President at Virginia Tech, expressing the Senate’s sympathies.

            Pres. Kotarba reported on:  (1) There was a meeting last week with Weill Cornell colleagues to discuss issues related to the medical center initiative.  There will be some organizing for interdisciplinary coursework and working on a business plan for an accredited medical curriculum.  A group of faculty members and administrators from UH will travel to New York in May for a site visit.  (2) The UCC will have their last meeting of their pilot year in May and a report will be designed on the next steps for the UCC.  The UCC will present this report in the Fall.  The UCC does not approve policies; it is responsible for distributing policies for discussion by relevant bodies. 

            The Faculty Senate thanks Dr. Foss for funding a new computer and a data projector for its offices. 

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE UH SYSTEM CHANCELLOR AND UH PRESIDENT: Jay Gogue

            Dr. Gogue stated that:  (1) There was good news in that 1,100 students have applied for admission to the University whose SAT scores are higher than 1200.  About 200 of those students have SAT scores over 1400.  This means the emphasis UH has placed on quality is paying off.  The problem is that without scholarship money these students won’t come to UH.  The President and John Rudley, UHS Vice Chancellor and UH Vice President for Administration & Finance, worked together to identify funding that will give 500 of these students scholarships. (2)  The Legislature is still meeting but at present both the House and Senate are working on restoring the 10% budget cuts, increasing HEAF funds and funding the Tuition Revenue Bonds (TRBs) that were passed in the last Special Session.  The Legislature is also considering linking the Research Excellence Funding with the Faculty Excellence Funding.  There are some differences between the House and Senate on the Formula Funding which will be worked out in Conference Committee.  (3) The administration has discussed the recent event at Virginia Tech and it is likely UH would have responded in a similar fashion to the procedures and protocol that were followed there.   Ideas about how to better alert the campus are being considered.  The Dean of Students Office has produced a booklet on “Dealing with Disruptive Student Behavior” available on-line at http://www.uh.edu/dos/pdf/new/Civilityflyer.pdf.  However, everyone should be aware that there are confidentiality laws that protect students.  There are alternatives and resources available to the student as far as being referred to the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) center. 

REPORT FROM THE UH FIRE MARSHAL:  Bob Bowden

              The UH Fire Marshal urged everyone to “Have an Exit Strategy” and be prepared to find alternative exits to their buildings.  Mr. Bowden talked about the nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people in 2003.  After that the Texas State Fire Marshal surveyed 197 nightclubs in Texas.  Ninety-six percent of those nightclubs had exit problems.  It takes just minutes for a room to go up in flames.  Exits should be displayed in each classroom.  Many high-rise buildings that have fires, the alarms only go off on the floor the fire is on and the floor above and below.  The reasoning is because of traffic jams and possible injuries.  Anything on campus built after 1995 should have a sprinkler system installed.  A short film was also shown on the intensity of how much damage a fire can do it just short amount of time.   

REPORTS FROM FACULTY SENATE COMMITTEES are available on-line at http://www.uh.edu/fs/FS_Cms_Reports_041807.html:  Highlights include 

   Budget and Facilities Committee:  Chair, Richard Willson 

 The Committee is still working to refine the salary data.

   Committee on Committee:  Chair, Katy Greenwood 

The Grievance Committee election has concluded.  Elected to three-year terms are:  David Zimmerman, ENGR; Yali Zou, EDU; George Gamble, BUS; and Richard Guajardo, LIB.  Elected to a one-year term is:  Basheer Khumawala, BUS. 

The Committee has met with Barbara Chapman, Chair of the Information Technology & Computing Committee, and will be  considering the ITCC’s report on its restructuring.  The COC also met with Dave Irvin about how to help the Purchasing & Plant Operations Committee function more effectively.

   Educational Policies and Student Affairs Committee:  Chair, David Mazella

A new policy is being proposed that will go into effect in the Fall 2007 where a student will be allowed to drop a maximum of six times.  A meeting is set for April 20 to meet and discuss this policy.  It was recommended that representatives of the Health Professions Advisory Committee be invited to the meeting.

   Faculty Affairs Committee:  Chair, Mark Clarke

The process to review college bylaws as recommended by the FS-CoUG Report is continuing. Also, there will be a meeting to discuss a proposal for a resource center for the GLBT group.  It was suggested that the FAC look into what happened to the proposed gap insurance.

   Ad Hoc Committee on Planning:  Chair, Steven Craig                   

                    The Committee is starting a new project to collect data on UH graduate students. 

NEW BUSINESS: 

Pres. Kotarba announced that he had invited Dave Irvin to the May 9 Faculty Senate meeting to discuss the closing of Cullen. 

Elaine Charlson, UHS Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and UH Executive Associate Vice President for Academic and Faculty Affairs, announced that the Committee to Select a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) had chosen the proposal on Undergraduate Research.  She expressed the hope that elements of the other two proposals, Writing in the Disciplines and Student Mentoring, would also be included in the final QEP.  She invited everyone to send input to her.

The meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.