121207 min

UNIVERSITY HOUSTON FACULTY SENATE MINUTES – December 12, 2007

President Kotarba called the December 12, 2007 Faculty Senate meeting to order in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion of the M. D. Anderson Library at 12:15 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: [26]

BUS: R. Keller, K. Newberry
CLASS: A. Bencomo, S. Craig, M. Haun, J. Kotarba, D. Mazella, M. McHenry, J. Middents, J. Sposato, G. Trail
EDU: S. McNeil, A. Warner
ENGR: Y.L. Mo, K. Mohanty, R. Willson
HRM: K. Titz
LIB: M. Bennett, D. Camille, S. Ferimer
NSM: P. Copeland, J. Eichberg, A. Ignatiev, G. Johnson, D. Wells
PHA: S. Sansgiry

MEMBERS ABSENT: [26]

ARCH: M. Sabatino
BUS: W. Chin (w/notice), C. Pirrong
CLASS: E. Brown-Guillory, A. Gordon, W. Herendeen, N. Houston, A. Kugler, D. Montoya, F. Schiff
EDU: M. Clarke (w/notice), J. Freiberg (w/notice)
ENGR: A. Kamrani, J. Richardson
GCSW: D. Alexander (w/notice)
LAW: M. Duncan (w/notice), S. Huber (w/notice), P. Linzer
NSM: X. Gao (w/notice), K. Kadish, T.R. Lee (w/notice), M. Ru, J. Subhlok (w/notice)
OPT: R. Manny (w/notice), S. Quintero (w/notice)
TECH: K. Greenwood (w/notice)

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), Teri Longacre (UH Ombudsperson and Associate Professor, Management), 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), Marco Mariotto (Dean, Graduate & Professional Studies), Agnes DeFranco (UH Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Studies), Dale Rude (Associate Professor, Management), Christa Howard (Project Manager, Studio West, Plant Operations), Ginger McFadden (Project Manager, Studio West, Plant Operations), and Mayra Cruz (Reporter, Daily Cougar)

Pres. Kotarba made an announcement that Craig Ness was in the hospital. The Senate has sent flowers and its wishes for a speedy recovery. The Executive Committee has discussed the salary report with Dr. Foss. The group has suggested that promotion raises need to be improved and that a pool for equity raises needs to be created.

Pres. Kotarba opened the polls for the election of 2008 Senate officers and the Committee on Committees. He added the polls would close at 1:00 p.m. He also reported that Wynne Chin will be the chair of the University Coordinating Commission (UCC) beginning in January 2008. Proposals will need to be sent to the UCC earlier to be reviewed. A suggestion was made that there be a periodic report from the UCC on what has been happening there. The Faculty Senate’s new home will be on the third floor of the Library once Development completes its move to E. Cullen.

Richard Willson, Chair of the Faculty Senate Budget & Facilities Committee and a Member of the Purchasing & Plant Operations Committee, asked faculty to contact him (Willson@uh.edu) if they knew of a classroom in need of repair or renovation.

The Faculty Senate will be moving to the third floor of the Library in the near future. The designers showed schematics of the proposed space and samples of the materials that would be used. The idea is to have a room enough large enough to hold 60 people as well as break into small groups. There will be a 10-foot coffee bar, storage cabinets & a white board. The room is approximately 1600 square feet. This meeting space will have elevator access.

REPORT FROM AND DISCUSSION WITH UH SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS/PROVOST: Don Foss

Dr. Foss reported on: (1) Faculty Travel. The deans have a very positive outlook on Faculty Travel. There were talks of amending the proposal and various suggestions on how to handle travel. (2) Faculty Promotion Raises. There is opportunity with promotion raises, but it will not solve all the problems there are with salaries. Recommendations need to be made and this discussion will need to include the deans and departments chairs. (3) College Portrait – Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA). UH needs to look at the aspects of the VSA and what choices other universities are making. A group of faculty with expertise needs to be formed to consider the issues involved.

Dr. Foss announced that he would form an Ad Hoc Committee to study the University Studies Division. There are over 5,200 students in USD who do not have a major. Many of these students are new to UH, some are transfer students and some aspire to a major but are not eligible. Of these students only 60% will return next year. UH needs to find a way to move this large group of students through the system. The Enrollment Management Task Force recognized this issue and has made some progress, but the number of USD students hovers around 5,000. The Provost said the Ad Committee would include membership from the Faculty Senate, the EMTF, department chairs and the Undergraduate Council. The group will charge to make a comprehensive review and report by Fall 2008 to reduce the number of USD students by 90%. The Provost plans to implement the plan in 2008-2009..

David Mazella, Chair of the Faculty Senate Educational Policies & Student Affairs Committee and a Representative to the Quality Enhancement Plan Committee, urged faculty to be watching for the release of the proposed QEP on Dec. 20 or Dec. 21. He asked faculty to read the proposal and provide feedback. The final document will be sent to Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on February 25. The SACS site visit will be in April.

Sara McNeil, Member-at-large of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and a Member of the University Commission on Women, announced the release of a new report on the Status of Women at the University of Houston. The document is on-line at: http://www.uh.edu/wrc/documents/StatusofWomenattheUniversityofHoustonReport10-25-07_000.pdf

President Elect: Dan Wells, NSM
Secretary: Ruth Manny, OPT
Members-at-large: Jerome Freiberg, EDU, and Al Warner, EDU
Committee on Committees: Damon Camille, LIB, Katy Greenwood, TECH, Robert Keller, BUS, Randall Lee, NSM, Sara McNeil, EDU, and Jonathan Middents, CLASS.

Research related to The Houston Retirement Project has been conducted by students over the past three years. The students, working in collaboration with Human Resources, researched retirement options. The research has revealed that the faculty needs help in making better decisions when it comes to retirement. At UH, 85% of the faculty participates in an Optional Retirement Program (ORP) while 15% participate in our pension plan, the Teacher Retirement System (TRS). Based upon the students’ findings and relevant academic research, Dr. Rude advocated investing in index funds because of the high fees and lower long term performance from other types of funds. Dr. Rude recommended that all faculty review their retirement plans. Questions and invitations to address faculty groups may be directed to Dr. Rude at drude@uh.edu.