President
Jacobson called the meeting to order in the Farish Hall Kiva at 12:15
p.m.
MEMBERS
PRESENT: [27]
ARCH: D.
Kacmar
BUS:
W. Chin, S. Khumawala, M. Parks, D.
Rude
CLASS: V.
Brady, K. Brown, A.
Jacobson, J. Kotarba, J. Middents, R. Weldon
EDU:
S. McNeil, A. Warner, C.
White
ENGR: R.
Metcalfe, G. Paskusz, D.
Shattuck
HRM:
K. Titz
LIB:
J.
Myers
NSM:
P. Copeland, J. Eichberg,
K. Kadish, E. Leiss
PHA:
C. Pedemonte
OPT:
R. Manny
TECH:
K.
Greenwood
GSSW:
H. Karger
MEMBERS
ABSENT: [23]
CLASS:
B. Breitmeyer, S. Craig, P. Gingiss, W.
Herendeen, B. Johnsen, G. Jowett, B. Lange, R. Murray, G. San Miguel
EDU:
M. Connell
ENGR:
T. Cleveland, O. Ghazzaly,
S. Kleis
LAW:
S.
Huber, P. Linzer
LIB:
S.
Ferimer
NSM:
G.
Auchmuty, D. Blecher, G. Etgen, A. Ignatiev, D. Wells
OPT:
S.
Quintero
TECH:
C.
Goodson
RESIGNED: CLASS:
D.
Jacobs, T. Tilley
VISITORS: Marco
Mariotto (Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies), David Bell (UHS
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs), Craig Ness (Executive
Director, Academic Budgets & Operations), Francine Parker
(Director,
Internal Communications), Karleen Koen (Senior Managing Editor,
Publications),
Matt Dulin (Reporter, Daily Cougar)
APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES: The May 7, 2003,
minutes
were approved. Sen. Warner said there is a
handout that
completes the Senate’s minutes of April 16.
It is a collection of notes used by John Rudley during his
presentation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The
Faculty Senate will host its 11th Scholarship
and Community Conference on Wednesday, October 1, 2003 from 8:45 a.m.
to 4:30
p.m. The conference titled,
“Bringing
Science to Life: A Conversation with
Oliver Sacks and Others,” features the
renowned neurologist and author of the 1973 book “Awakenings,”
The Fall Faculty
Assembly will be Wednesday, October 22, at
noon in the Kiva of Farish Hall. The
new UH System Chancellor and UH President, Jay Gogue, will be the
keynote
speaker. The Senate meeting will
follow at 1 p.m.
KUDOS:
Kudos
go to P. Shiv
Halasyamani, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, who will receive the
2003
ExxonMobil Faculty Fellowship in Solid State Chemistry at the upcoming
American
Chemical Society national meeting in New York.
The award, administered by the ACS Division of Inorganic
Chemistry and
made possible by a grant from ExxonMobil Research & Engineering,
recognizes
significant contributions to solid-state chemistry by junior faculty
members at
U.S. institutions.
Kudos
go to James Pipkin,
Associate Professor of English, for being named a Minnie Stevens Piper
Professor. The Piper Award is
bestowed
upon 15 professors at colleges and universities in the Texas each year
for
outstanding achievement in teaching.
Participation in the award program is by invitation only and
candidates
must be nominated through the office of
the university president.
Special Kudos go
to
the Staff
Council for another successful Cougar First Impressions. This two-day event, which helps students
find their way around the University on the first two days of classes,
had 486
volunteers who helped 18,142 students.
While the efforts of all of the staff, faculty and
administrators who
participated are appreciated, special
thanks goes to the 2002 Staff Council President Jeff Fuller, the
current
President Angie Shortt, and
the co-chairs who organized CFI: Rebecca Szwarc and Jeanie Langston.
Pres. Jacobson said UH
has a new president, Jay Gogue, and a new interim provost, Jerald
Strickland. Dr. Gogue has an extremely
strong reputation for shared governance.
The next step will be the search for a permanent provost. Dr. Jacobson said a search committee has
been formed and, as President of the Faculty Senate, she is on it. Garret Etgen, Senator from NSM is also a
member of the search committee.
At its Retreat on September
12, Dr. Gogue asked the Senate for three main characteristics the
Senate would
like to see in the new Provost. The
Senate said it wanted a provost who will take UH to the next level,
facilitate
the faculty in moving forward and moving the University forward. The group wanted someone who had a strong
record of participation in shared governance and who had academic
credibility. Senators also wanted
someone capable of collegial leadership.
Pres. Jacobson said she was that in constructing this list some
items
are pretty obvious and might be taken for granted.
She added that she didn’t want the faculty to lose an
opportunity
to think about and define what is really needed because of trying to
avoid
something that was problematic in the past.
One thing to do is to think about is what would be
characteristic of a
person who could really help advance this University.
Sen. Leiss said
capability is not what the committee should seek. It
should look for commitment.
You said capable of collegial leadership. It
should be commitment, too.
Sen. Myers said the
first and third characteristics should be rolled in together and say
something
like strong record of collegial leadership, leaving space for something
else. She added that she agreed
somewhat with academic credibility.
Sen. Brady asked is
there a job description? The Senate
should examine the job description to see what might be missing.
Sen. Myers said after
the shared governance and collegial leadership, it was expressed at the
Faculty
Retreat that the committee should be looking for someone who will help
build
the best University of Houston and not comes in with the idea of
turning UH
into some other place. That is so
common among administrations. The
faculty want someone to build UH in the direction that it needs to go.
Sen. Copeland said
doesn’t that go against the notion of wanting a leader.
Do the faculty want a leader to lead UH
exactly where it is willing to go already?
Sen. Myers said yes. Sen.
Copeland said that is not leadership.
Sen. Myers said leadership is getting everyone together to move
forward. Sen. Copeland said but someone
new might have a good idea. Sen. Myers
said so the faculty will listen to the new ideas, but people don’t want
someone
coming in here who wants to turn UH into Princeton; faculty want to be
the best
UH.
Sen. Brady said if
leadership means someone who likes to control things then faculty don’t
want
that kind of leadership. Faculty want
someone who facilitates or mediates rather than controls.
Sen. Greenwood said UH
needs someone who has a totally new philosophical perspective. There have been traditionalists and the
pyramid model where only the very few top people are rewarded. In the meanwhile faculty benefits and
compensation packages have eroded.
There hasn’t been an across-the-board increase in years. UH needs a philosophical leader who adores
the activity of problem solving and will foster it.
Sen. Chin said there is
the notion of the managerial transitional controlling model leader and
there is
the more charismatic transformational leader.
Essentially the Senate is talking about somebody who will have
capabilities similar to what the City of Houston wants.
Sen. Greenwood said she
is concerned about the phrase “go to the next level.”
What does it mean? Pres.
Jacobson said that in the past “the next level” and “Tier 1” meant
pretty much
the same thing.
Pres. Jacobson asked
what are some of the parameters of a University that should be included? What are some of the major issues? Sen. Eichberg said a word that comes to mind
would be interacting. UH needs a
Provost who is willing to engage in openness.
Pres. Jacobson said UH
wants somebody who is a transformational leader but not somebody who
leaves the
faculty behind.
Sen. Paskusz said one
example of shared leadership would be the relationship between the
campus
Grievance Committee and the Provost.
The decisions of the campus Grievance Committee should be the
final
decision and if a Provost thinks differently, he/she should have to
negotiate. As it is now the Grievance
Committee doesn’t
even find out what he is going to do.
Pres. Jacobson said the
Faculty Senate can address some of these issues before UH gets a
Provost. She added that the issue with the
Grievance
Committee is a good thing to take to Dr. Gogue. A
second thing to take to Dr. Gogue is the “zero tolerance
policy” about which no one seems to know.
This policy involves sexual relations with students. The University has had this policy but
nobody seems to know about it. A third
involves an issue raised at the retreat by a number of people who said
that
deans are saying that they don’t have to act according to the Faculty Handbook. The Senate
needs to bring these issues
forward.
Sen.
Pedemonte said he
thought that anybody who come here looking for the Provost’s job will
have done
some homework and will know what to say to get the job.
The question was asked about the next level,
but there was not an answer. At the
Retreat, Dr. Gogue asked the Faculty Senate what it wants.
He wants an answer and the Senate should
talk about this, so it can give the President an answer.
Pres. Jacobson said
deciding on the criteria necessary for the Provost candidates to
possess is
important as it announces the faculty’s values. But
it is also important to discuss what the next level is.
What do we really mean when we talk about
something like “Tier One”?
Sen. Myers asked about
the process for this list. At some
point will it be presented as a draft on which the Senate can comment? Pres. Jacobson said the Senate Executive
Committee is having a meeting on Friday and should address this.
BUDGET & FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT - Peter Copeland, Chair
On August 27, the committee met with John Rudley regarding two topics: (1) the current and future state of the UH budget, and (2) the allocation of indirect costs (IDC). Robert Herrington, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, Jim McShan, Associate Vice Chancellor and Associate Vice President for Finance, and Tom Ehardt, Executive Director of Budgets, were present.
Some
of the information provided by Dr. Rudley at the meeting included:
Sen. Pedemonte asked how the IDC money would be earmarked. He added that the previous president put the excellence funds in the general funding.
Sen. Copeland said while UH is going to get twice as much IDC money next fiscal year, there hasn’t been any formal discussion about how allocations might be changed. One concern of the committee involved the fact that no part of the IDC has ever been directly given to Dr. Rudley who is responsible for repairs, including research-related repairs. Dr. Rudley was responsive to the idea that when things break they ought to be fixed and to the possibility of a portion of new IDC funds being set aside for this purpose.
Pres. Jacobson said it was very interesting that when we raised this question, Dr. Gogue’s response was to ask if the faculty had drawn up a proposal. Pres. Jacobson said the Executive Committee is working on this issue. She added that Dr. Rudley is aware of a number of problems regarding repairs.
Sen. Eichberg said the legislature has given UH $25 million to help it recover from costs incurred by Allison. Sen. Leiss noted that given the fact that a number of maintenance problems were postponed to handle emergencies associated with Allison, one would hope that there might be funds to fix things now.
COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES REPORT – Joseph Eichberg, Chair
The Committee on Committees met on September 22 to fill several committee vacancies and to continue its custom of meeting with representatives of standing committees. Specifically, the COC requested an update from the UH System Fringe Benefits Committee concerning recent changes in faculty and staff benefits.
Robert Herrington, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, and Lane Renfro, Manager of Benefits, reviewed the small decreases in monthly premiums (for individuals) and the substantial mandated increases in co-payments for physician visits and prescription drugs. In addition, changes in State law that impact benefits policies were discussed. These include the newly instituted 90 day waiting period for all new employees prior to being able to obtain health and retirement benefits. The possibility of purchasing “bridge coverage” for this period through other insurance carriers was discussed. Alterations in the eligibility of employees upon retirement for health insurance was also highlighted. In this regard, effective September 1, 2003, the age of eligibility has been increased from 55 to 65 for employees with at least 10 years of service. We were told that this change potentially affects approximately 400 faculty members who are in this age range and a similar number of staff.
Concern was
expressed as to how conversant faculty and staff are with the
implications of
the new regulations. In particular, it
was felt that orientation of new faculty with respect to benefits
should
receive expanded attention. It was
suggested that new faculty attend a regular Monday orientation session
to
insure proper coverage and give adequate time to chose a retirement
plan.
Dr. Herrington and Mr. Renfro are willing to discuss these issues at a Faculty Senate meeting, should Senators feel it would be a sufficiently interesting and timely topic. Sen. Leiss said he thought it would be very useful to invite them.
Sen.
Rude said he would like to suggest one small change to the report. He believes the rule of 80 (refers to the
total of an employee’s age and years of service) is still in effect. It is not mentioned here and it is
important.
EDUCATIONAL
POLICIES & STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT - Sara
McNeil,
Chair
The Educational
Policies and Student
Affairs Committee met on August 27 and during the Faculty Senate
Retreat on
September 12 and discussed the following issues:
Status
of the Q Grade: Brian McKinney,
Director of Academic Programs, told the committee that the Q grade has
been
approved, and he is meeting with two groups as issues arise in the
implementation. One group is made up of staff representatives who
directly
oversee the grade posting process, and the second group is made up of
faculty
representatives. He said that Q grades would be available during the
fall 2004
semester.
Academic
Honesty and the Task Force Recommendations:
Dr. McKinney told EPSAC that the recommendations of the
Academic
Honesty Policy Task Force were approved in July and are reflected in
the
Student Handbook for fall 2003 (see pages 9-13 of the Student Handbook
2003-2004). The Committee would like to work with Dr. McKinney on a
one-page
handout for faculty about the policy and perhaps plan a way to
distribute
information about the policy throughout the Colleges.
Course
Evaluations: The committee
discussed updating and revising the course evaluations and perhaps the
way they
are distributed (paper vs. online). Dr. McKinney will work with EPSAC
on
this. Patrick Daniel, Director of
Learning Assessment, from the UH Testing Center will be a guest speaker.
Textbooks with Non-Returnable Workbooks: The committee is working with Dr. John
Rudley to review the policies regarding textbook adoptions with
non-returnable
workbooks.
Sen. McNeil noted a sheet on the handout table from the Information Technology and Computing Committee (ITCC) and a picture of its old website. Sen. McNeil is also a member of ITCC and will try to bring news of the committee to the Senate. Help is needed to redesign that website so if anyone has ideas on what should be included such as reports, minutes, etc., please let her know (SMcNeil@uh.edu). There is also a brief report from ITCC. There are some funds for educational software licenses, and not an insignificant amount. If faculty know of software that could be used in a number of labs or classes, please let Sen. McNeil know so she may bring that need to the committee. There is also a move to consolidate licenses for all four campuses.
Sen. Leiss asked about the issue of consolidation of site licenses, because that has always been a concern and this University and other System campuses have wasted an enormous amount of money simply by not knowing what each one uses. Sen. McNeil said the ITCC meets tomorrow and she will report back.
Sen. Myers asked whether ITCC is looking at One Note from Microsoft. Sen. McNeil said she didn’t know but would ask. Sen. Myers said she hadn’t seen their educational price for it or anything about site licensing, but she thinks it will be a big deal. Sen. McNeil said they have a reduced fee for certain Adobe products and certain Micromedia products.
Sen. Kotarba asked if UH has site licensing for Word Perfect. Sen. McNeil said she doesn’t know but if he would e-mail her a reminder, she will ask tomorrow. Sen. McNeil said they are in the process of putting current site-licensed products on the ITCC website. To find it go to the info tech address. Much software is available that faculty can buy fairly inexpensively. Sen. McNeil said she meets with the committee tomorrow so please e-mail her any thoughts on software licensing or other issues ITCC should address. The new chair of ITCC is Paul Raffoul from Social Work.
Pres. Jacobson said she couldn’t remember if Senators talked about this at the Retreat or not, Sen. Shattuck has begun an initiative to find a name for this University that would clearly distinguish from the other members of the UH System. Dr. Gogue’s reaction was to refer the question back to the faculty. She added that it would be the best to understand the culture in devising a name.
Sen. Leiss said Dr. Gogue asked what the University is really called.
Sen. Myers noted this discussion harks back to asking the state to designate the entrance to UH as something beyond Spur 5. There is a sign underneath an overpass that says University of Houston next two exits, but most people miss it. She added that she guessed the new main entrance is now University Drive.
Pres. Jacobson announced that the first meeting of the Provost Search Committee will be tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Hopefully, the faculty won’t have to make a statement then. Clearly this is something the Senate should be considering. There was a long list of questions about what is UH’s best future and charge? What do the faculty say to Dr. Gogue? The chair will be chosen tomorrow.
Sen. Myers said she noticed on the agenda that the President and Provost are unavailable. Mary Brantley, the Faculty Senate Staff Associate, said Dr. Gogue is in Washington, D.C. meeting with Alumni and legislators. Dr. Bell said that Dr. Strickland is out of the country for an engagement he had before being named Interim Provost. Sen. Myers noted that the Senate does want to make sure they understand that the Senate would like their attendance at meetings now that they have enough notice to arrange their schedules. Pres. Jacobson said Dr. Strickland said very carefully that this was arranged some time ago and it is very important. Sen. Myers said that the Senate wants them to know that we would appreciate their attendance and participation.
Sen.
McNeil responded that if the Senate is going to ask the President and
Provost
to arrange their schedules, we need to say something as well to Faculty
Senators who are absent. Sen. Leiss
said given that it was known that the President and Provost weren’t
going to be
here, then they didn’t show up. Sen.
Warner asked would it be useful to have records in the minutes of who
is here
and who isn’t and would it be useful to have this information posted. Sen. Warner said, frankly in a lot of cases
senators are elected because somebody agrees to take on the role,
whether or
not he/she ever comes, participates, or makes a contribution. Sen.
Myers asked
isn’t a notification made if there are a certain number of absences? Ms. Brantley said the attendance information
for each meeting is posted on the minutes (and on the Web), but the
Senate has
not been sending notification. Sen.
McNeil said perhaps notification needs to be done.
She added that it is very disappointing for her as a senator
if the President and Provost had been
here with only half of the senators present. Sen. Greenwood asked
whether the
Senate has a policy of 3 absences and they are out.
Ms. Brantley said the President of the Senate has the option of
replacing senators who miss three meetings; it is not mandatory.
FACULTY
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
REPORT - Katy Greenwood, Chair
The committee met on August 27.
Committee members heard an update on the completion and submission of the Faculty Handbook to the Provost Office; members were interested in the wording of the policies regarding a cap on the number of non-tenure line faculty (clinical or educational technologists) who could be hired in proportion to the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty.
The committee was requested to examine the timetable for tenure and promotion to make sure faculty had sufficient time to review these important documents. The current timetable was moved up earlier this year than last year, and compresses the tasks into a shorter period of time.
The committee continues to be concerned about the negative impact on faculty of the insurance changes implemented by the State of Texas beginning September 2003. The committee advocates studying the need for the University of Houston to provide a supplemental health insurance policy for faculty that would offset some of the out-of-pocket money that is the result of current health insurance costs.
The committee continues to be concerned about rising parking costs for faculty, especially without across the board pay increases in the foreseeable future.
Members of
committee are: David Blecher, Valentini
Brady, Michael Connell, Steven Craig, Garth Jowett, Howard Karger,
Stanley
Kleis, Peter Linzer, Jonathan Middents, Dale Rude, Roberta Weldon,
Cameron
White and Katy Greenwood, Chair.
SCHOLARSHIP
& COMMUNITY COMMITTEE REPORT - Joseph Kotarba, Chair
Ms. Sultan said
that she had never
been to a Faculty Senate meeting before so she was eavesdropping a
little on
the conversations. The words that
struck her were national reputation.
She asked how many Senators know that UH has a museum with an
international reputation? She noted a
few people did. She said good. Then announced that she is the director of
that museum. She came to the Senate
today because the museum has been doing a lot of surveys about whether
or not
people know that it is here. Ms. Sultan
said she is shocked
Ms.
Sultan said she wanted to come to talk about the museum and what it has
to
offer to faculty and to their students.
The Blaffer has very good collaborative relationships already
with the
College of Education, the Art Department, the English Department and
the
Creative Writing Program. But there are
many things that it could do with other faculty in their curriculum to
help
with learning tools to get a message across to students.
One of the most important things that it has
to offer is an authentic experience.
The
Blaffer does eight exhibitions a year that range from painting to
sculpture to
print making, group shows and individual shows. The
Blaffer does original research. It
publishes books. It is
free. The Blaffer is open every day
except Mondays. Classes are welcome to
tour. There is an education department
that develops teacher packets for K-12 and adult education, all of
which is
accessible by the Web (http://www.hfac.uh.edu/blaffer/). Handouts
included bookmarks, a flyer advertising the current exhibition and a
newsletter
that is published three a year. The
last item talks about the things that the Blaffer does.
It also has a section with articles by
invited scholars. There are brown bag
lunches five or six times a year to which everyone is invited to bring
lunch and
walk through the exhibition. There are
contemporary salons in the evenings to talk about topics that relate to
the
exhibitions.
Ms.
Sultan then went through part of the Blaffer’s website that was
developed by a
class of Instructional Technology students in the College of Education. Ms. Sultan worked with the students for a
year to develop this site prior to the opening of the current show. Chuck Close is probably one of the most
important living artists of this generation.
He is world-renowned. His work
in printmaking has never been represented by anyone in this country so
the
Blaffer Gallery is the first to do this.
The exhibition opened here two week ago and will be on view
until
November 23 when it goes to the Metropolitan Museum in New York
followed by an
eleven-city tour. The Blaffer is on a
par with the Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Arts Museum and the
De Menil
collection. The Blaffer does not
collect so it has to continually renew itself every semester with new
shows.
Ms.
Sultan said she wanted to reach out to the faculty because in turn the
faculty
will reach out to their students. The
Blaffer has done some interesting seminars for classes inside the
gallery. These don’t necessarily have to
relate
directly to what is being taught in the classroom but faculty can use
the works
of art to reach people. The gallery is working on a cognitive science
seminar
right now with Chuck Close because his work has a lot to do with sight
and
perception; the way one sees shapes and colors. By
just being in that environment the students seem to be awake
and respond and make dimensions that they might not be able to make
otherwise. It is called process and
collaboration because it is a celebration of the process of working
together as
a group to achieve a whole. Chuck Close
is the artist. The prints are
made. One can see works like the
world’s largest Japanese wood block or the world’s largest reduction
linoleum
block. What is different about this
exhibition is that the process of how each of the works are made is
shown
rather than the end results so that it can be used as a teaching tool.
Ms.
Sultan said the Website offers numerous learning resources.
Faculty can download packets that might be
useful to their students. That is just
for Chuck Close. In terms of just
talking about the gallery in general, Web posting include the hours,
location
and an update of the exhibitions that are on view and upcoming
exhibitions
projected well into the next year.
There is an architecture show coming up in January that will be
something very new for the Blaffer. The
master’s fine arts thesis exhibition is coming up in the spring.
There will be an exhibit from a photographer
from New Mexico, Daniela Rossell and a Houston area
exhibition of
the works of British Artist Margot Sawyer.
Education and outreach programs are on the list.
The site tells people how to become a member
of the Gallery. Even at the low rate of
$10 a year a member can get access to the newsletter and invitations to
all of
the openings.
One
of the things that Ms. Sultan has been working with Mike Cinelli,
Executive
Director of External Communications and Wendy Adair, Associate Vice
Chancellor
and Associate Vice President for University Relations, to figure out a
way to
dovetail the Blaffer’s public relations efforts into University-wide
PR, yet
when the gallery has an opening exhibition UH has a very hard time
mentioning
it. The Blaffer is not allowed to use
the University listserve to send faculty and staff e-mails about an
upcoming
opening so the gallery has to figure out a way to get those messages
out. Ms. Sultan welcomed suggestions about
how
the Blaffer can better reach the faculty to tell them what is being
done so
that the faculty can reach their students at the same time. The Blaffer is at UH. It
is in the Fine Arts building in the
back. It is open and free to everyone.
Pres.
Jacobson asked why Blaffer isn’t allowed to use the faculty listserve? Ms. Sultan said what she was trying to get
was the list that could broadcast information to everyone but was told
if the
Blaffer were allowed to use it, everyone else would have to be allowed
to use
it. Sen. Myers said the Blaffer should just get permission to post
announcements to the listserve. Sen.
McNeil added that with the new interim provost this subject is becoming
easier
to broach.
Sen.
Myers said that Nancy Hixon sends the events to her and she is sure
that if
anyone wants to be notified if they would just tell the Blaffer so they
can be
added to its address book. Ms. Sultan
said that is true; the gallery has its own list. To
be added, e-mail Ms. Sultan at tsultan@uh.edu.
Sen.
Kotarba suggested that when the periodic list of university activities
comes
out of Francine Parker’s office, the Blaffer could be featured there,
too. It is black and white text.
Francine
Parker said her office can’t send out anything that is technically
complicated
but that might change. Brian Mckinney
in the Provost’s Office controls the faculty listserve.
Ms.
Sultan asked if it would be useful to faculty to receive this
information? Ms. Parker said there is an
events
listserve. She asked if faculty would
be interested in receiving it once a month or every other week? Sen. Leiss said it would be good to get
information every week because if getting it once a month it is too
long and
people forget. Get it out once a week
and then give people the choice of opting out.
Sen. Myers said she would rather receive a link to an events
listing.
Sen.
McNeil said that in the past she had been told that the event she was
trying to
advertise was not of interest to all of the faculty. She noted that
this was
not Ms. Parker’s fault nor that of Dr. McKinney, but she thinks
faculty, as a
whole, would rather delete things from their in-box and know about what
is
going on rather than not having information available to them.
Sen.
Warner said this may be something the Executive Committee can
informally bring
up, especially with the Interim Provost since Dr. McKinney works in
that
office. Again this is the notion of
shared governance: how these decisions
can be shared and how these decisions are made are important issues.
Sen.
Warner asked, once he gets to the Blaffer’s Website, is there a place
where he
can run off a form and send it back to become a member? Ms. Sultan said yes, on Website one may down
load a membership form and send it right back.
Ms.
Sultan asked, how far in advance would it be useful for faculty to know
the
Blaffer exhibition schedule? Sen.
McNeil said if it were for a course that faculty wanted to bring
students, they
need to know a semester before.
Sen.
Leiss said there is a technical answer because there are certain dates
by which
faculty have to decide what they are going to teach in one semester so
if for
scheduling the summer/fall courses, that is basically in January; for
scheduling spring courses, then that is basically done in August. So if faculty want to be able to take
advantage of a year’s offerings of the Blaffer, those would be the
dates.
Sen.
Myers suggested when the Blaffer sends out a mailing about the upcoming
exhibition, either put a brief schedule at the bottom or put a link to
the
schedule at the bottom to remind people of that.
Ms.
Sultan said the Gallery is essentially booked through 2006. The Blaffer know exactly what it is going to
be doing every month from now until 2006 so that could easily be sent
out to
everyone.
Sen.
Eichberg said, in terms of trying to reach the broader constituents on
the
campus, one idea would be to invite selected people for a brown bag
lunch in
the Gallery and then just talk about the kinds of things the Blaffer
can do and
give some idea about the future.
Sen.
Kotarba suggested that the Blaffer announce upcoming shows and programs
and
perhaps entice faculty members to be available to act as service
leaders with a
brown bag discussion and with other kinds of groups.
Given the wide range of topics and styles of coverage the
gallery
could borrow faculty from all of the colleges and units, which would be
another
way to develop more networking outside of the immediate University
community. Sen. Kotarba said The
Blaffer Gallery strikes him as being one of the real gems of this
University. UH is the typical state
university bureaucratic setting. It has
a lot classrooms and offices with steel case furniture in it and the
Blaffer
Gallery is a place where there are wood floors and art; it’s a place to
go and
feel like an intellectual. It is a
valuable resource for the University and our faculty.
The faculty look forward to the new Library to provide that type
of experience, too.
Ms.
Sultan said the Blaffer Gallery is called the Art Museum at UH. It is not supported by the Blaffer
Foundation nor is it supported by UH.
The Gallery raises all of its own support costs.
Sen.
McNeil pointed out that students in the College of Education
collaborated with
Ms. Sultan to create the Blaffer website.
She said that class is open to all graduate students across the
University and if faculty members have graduate students who would like
to take
electives and work on authentic projects like this, she would be
delighted to
have them enroll in CUIN 7330. Students
from all fields are welcome. They don’t
need web skills. There are plenty of
students who have web skills, what is needed are students with content
skills
and writing skills.
Ms.
Sultan asked faculty to please send any suggestions to her and she will
start
sharing things. She added that she had
tried to start something three years ago called the Committee on Visual
Culture
where a group of people, representatives of various disciplines in the
colleges
in the university, could come together to talk about these ideas and
share
exhibition schedules. Ms. Sultan said
she is going to try to resurrect that so if any faculty have an
interest in
coming to the art museum twice a year and learning what the exhibitions
are,
please e-mail her and she will start getting that committee going again.
The meeting adjourned at
2:00 p.m.