April 19, 2002

Present: Robert Grainger, Michael Smith, Kathryn Neeley, Rebecca Kneedler, Houston Wood, George Cohen, Julian Connolly, David Brautigan Rob Grainger, Chair of the Faculty Senate, called the meeting to order.

Mr. Grainger gave an overview of the student-proposed online course evaluation plans. The Research and Scholarship Committee, Chaired by Susan Perry, is working with Abby Fifer, Student Council President, on this initiative. Mr. Grainger said Gene Block, Vice President and Provost, has indicated that ownership of this initiative will be with the faculty. The idea for the online course evaluation system is to have all departments/schools include in their current course evaluation a set of pre-defined questions that will be manually put into the centralized online course evaluation. Exactly what questions should be asked is now being brainstormed by faculty and students. The Research and Scholarship Committee will continue to work with Student Council next year to develop a plan for implementation of the online course evaluation system.

David Brautigan brought up the issue of the newly implemented financial system at UVA, Oracle. Several faculty members commented that they are others in their department are experiencing difficulty with Oracle. Rob Grainger said he will relay concerns at the next ISP Steering Committee meeting.

Mr. Grainger acknowledged three Senators that have recently received recognition for their outstanding teaching. These Senators are Michael J. Smith, Government and Foreign Affairs, Robert E. Davis, Environmental Sciences, and Daniel Hallahan, Curry School of Education.

Michael Smith, Chair-Elect of the Senate, discussed his agenda for the 2002/03 academic year. Mr. Smith will finish up a number of initiatives left over from this year. Mr. Smith said he would like for the Faculty Senate to depart from a retreat this year and sponsor a conference, with a prominent speaker. Suggested topics of a conference might be access to public education, the importance of research, information technology, and human rights and health. Mr. Smith is working with Ruth Gaare-Bernheim and James Childress, from the Institute for Practical Ethics, on the topic of human rights and health.

Mr. Grainger gave an overview of the planned Colonnade Club renovations. He also distributed a copy of the Club's Master Plan Booklet.

The revised Faculty Discipline Procedure was distributed and discussed. A formal motion will be read verbatim at the upcoming Faculty Senate meeting, and the full Senate will be asked to endorse the policy.

A draft document detailing Harrison Award planning was distributed and opened for discussion. The draft was written with the help of Bill Sublette, Director of Development, to be used as a fundraising instrument. The Executive Council decided to have further discussions before formalizing a document for distribution.

Regarding the creation of a graduate student center, it was decided that further discussions with Ed Ayers, Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Joe Grasso, Associate Dean for Planning and Operations, would be in order.

It was also decided that the Executive Council would have a meeting in early summer to discuss the possibility of having a faculty member on the Board of Visitors.

Council members continued planning for the upcoming Faculty Senate meeting. Nominations for new officers and members of the Executive Council will be taken at this meeting.

Michael Smith, Chair-Elect of the Faculty Senate, announced that the University of Virginia would host a Faculty Senate of Virginia meeting on November 9, 2002.

The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

Submitted by Kathryn A. Neeley, Secretary of the Faculty Senate.