President Chin called the August 27, 2008 Faculty Senate meeting to order in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion of the M. D. Anderson Library at 12:15 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT:  [39]

MEMBERS ABSENT:  [12]

VISITORS:   

MINUTES:  The minutes for the May 7, 2008 Senate meeting were approved.

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT:  Wynne Chin

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE UH SYSTEM CHANCELLOR AND UH PRESIDENT:  Renu Khator

Dr. Khator participated in the Cougar First Impressions (CFI), in which staff and faculty volunteers welcome students back to campus.  She added the challenge now is to keep that first impression.  The President visited over 3,000 students in classrooms.  She said UH is creating the leaders of tomorrow. 

Dr. Khator provided handouts to the Senators, including The University of Houston Goals, Approaches toward those goals, information on what constitutes a National Research University, a comparison of UH and TARU (Top American Research Universities), her July 23, 2008 presentation to the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education which suggests a Matching Gift Program, her May 16, 2008 presentation to the Select Committee on Public and Higher Education Finance which discusses the need for Tier One Universities in Metropolitan Areas and the need for Partnerships with the Private Sector, the Lisa Falkenberg article from the July 31, 2008 Houston Chronicle, an opinion piece from the August 8,2 008 Houston Chronicle on “Tier One:  Houston needs and deserves to have the state’s next nationally ranked research campus” and a copy of the University of Houston Progress Card.

Dr. Khator said the legislators and community are behind UH in becoming a top Tier university.  One of the goals of the University is to become a national research university.  Another goal is to bring leadership in to the University by having a strong Provost in place.  The Provost needs to work with college deans and organize strengths.  The administration also needs to determine what resources will be utilized in trying to build the University up.  As far as fundraising goes, UH must obtain private funding.  A meeting with the Greater Houston Partnership is scheduled for September 3; this needs to be a top priority.  The University must involve the community in establishing UH as a national research university.  The university needs approximately $100 million a year for the next five years to establish its status as Top Tier. She pointed out that UH wants to be a global university and internationally competitive. 

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE UHS EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND UH EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AND FACULTY AFFAIRS:  Elaine Charlson

Dr. Charlson reported in place of Dr. Strickland.  She stated UH counts faculty hire numbers by the calendar year.  For 2008, there are 60 new tenured or tenure-track faculty.  Of these, 39 are replacement hires and 21 are new positions.  She added that 33 faculty have been lost, including 13 retiring, 18 voluntarily leaving, 1 death and 1 not receiving tenure.

She also reported on (1) Enrollment at UH is 35,617.  This represents a 2.9% increase over the same time last year.  Undergraduates make up 80% of the student body and graduates make up 20%.  There are 3,664 first time in college students and 3,575 transfer students.  UH is down 5.7% in doctoral students, but this should change as UH reclassifies students who are now counted as Masters but should be listed as doctoral.  Masters numbers are up 6.8% but this will change with the reclassification.  UH has experienced an increase of completed applications and an increase on denials of admission.  (2) A call for QEP proposals will go out in early September. 

In response to a question, Dr. Charlson said that approximately 700 students were accidentally unenrolled.  The problem was a people issue, not a PeopleSoft error.  The enrollment process is done in eight segments and someone did not monitor all the segments properly, so a number of students with financial aid were unenrolled and their financial aid was not disbursed.  The problem has since been corrected. 

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH THE UHS VICE CHANCELLOR AND UH VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT:  Michael Rierson

About $77 million has been raised for this campus and $80 million system wide.  This is an improvement of 54%.  People have donated money for Cemo Hall, the End Zone Facility and Scholarship Support.  Half is expendable income and half is endowment.

Mr. Rierson announced that over 70 tables have been sold for the Investiture Gala, with the funds going for scholarships.  Tickets for the Investiture Scholarship dinner are available at a discount for faculty and staff at $100 per person.  The dinner will be held on Thursday, September 18, at the Hilton Americas.  Many people made gifts toward the dinner and did not get a table.  He pointed out that these events often serve as an entry for future donations from guests.  He encouraged everyone to attend and support UH.  He also noted that 85% of funds raised are expendable in that year.

REPORT ON BACKGROUND CHECKS BY THE UHS VICE CHANCELLOR AND UH VICE PRESIDENT FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS & GENERAL COUNSEL:  Dona Cornell 

Criminal background checks are done on 90% of staff hired for Security Sensitive Positions.  This is mainly done for those who have access to a computer.  Currently only the Law Center requires background checks on new faculty.  It costs $1-2 per person and is done by an independent firm using Name, Date of Birth and Social Security number.  People are not finger-printed.  If a search gets a hit, the individual has the opportunity to correct it.  The information goes to Human Resources, not necessarily to the Hiring Department; it depends on the severity of the crime and the length of time passed since it occurred.  All problems are heard on a case by case basis.  This is not State mandated, but is a recommendation from the Auditor’s report.  Sen. Clarke mentioned that the Senate surveyed other public Texas Universities and all, except Texas Tech and UH do background checks on new faculty.  Exact details of such a policy have not been finalized.

REPORT ON COALITION ON INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS BY UH FACULTY SENATE DELEGATE:  Joseph Kotarba 

The purpose of the CoIA is to give faculty a voice and venue to discuss intercollegiate athletics.  Last year the CoIA issued a “Best Practices” Report to make sure that student athletics included academics in its program.  In July it issued a press release on its intention to develop a ratings system that will assess and compare the integration of athletics into the academic goals and mission of NCAA FBS schools.  The plan is “to highlight schools doing a good job of integrating athletics into their academic mission using best practices; and to offer a means of self-study for institutions wishing to examine the role of athletics at their school.”  The report is available from the Faculty Senate office.

The meeting adjourned at 1:52 p.m.