The Executive Council of the Faculty Senate

Newcomb Hall, Room 481

September 1, 2005

Present: Houston Wood, Kenneth Schwartz, Marcia Day Childress, Teresa Culver, Rebecca Kneedler, Steven Nock, William Kehoe, Reginald Garrett, Susan Kirk

Guest: Gene Block, Vice President and Provost and Anda Webb, Associate Provost for Management and Budget

Houston Wood, Chair of the Faculty Senate, called the meeting to order. Mr. Wood welcomed everyone to the meeting. Introductions were made.

Chair's Report - Houston Wood, Chair

1. His activities over the summer included meetings with the following people:

a. Marcia Day Childress, Past Chair of the Faculty Senate, and Kenneth Schwartz, Chair-Elect of the Faculty Senate.

b. Gene Block, Vice President and Provost

c. Milton Adams, Vice Provost for Academic Programs

d. Ariel Gomez, Vice President for Research and Public Service

e. Roseanne Ford, Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies

f. Edward Ayers, Dean, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

2. Mr. Wood is scheduled to meet with John Casteen, Leonard Sandridge, and Craig Littlepage in the next couple of weeks to discuss topics of interest to the Faculty Senate. He will meet with Gene Block to discuss a presentation to the Education Policy Review Committee on September 23.rd. Mr. Wood will serve on the Committee, he reported.

3. The Faculty Senate annual retreat will be held sometime in January 2006.

4. There are two fall Faculty Senate meetings presently scheduled, one on Tuesday, September 27th, at 3:00 p.m. in the Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library, and the other on Thursday, December 8th (same time and location). Gertrude Fraser will be a guest speaker at the September 27th meeting, and Leigh Grossman, Vice Provost for International Affairs, will be a guest speaker at the December 8th meeting.

Marcia Childress updated the Councilors on the University's Charter Initiative. She said that she, Robert Grainger, past co-chair of the Faculty Senate Development Committee, and Michael Levenson, past co-chair of the Faculty Senate Development Committee, worked over the summer helping with preparation of documents to be submitted to the State. Clo Phillips sent Ms. Childress, for her review, a draft of the document that will be submitted to the State.

Committee Reports:

Academic Affairs Committee - Reginald Garrett, Chair

Mr. Garrett reported on the Faculty Senate Dissertation-Year Fellowships. Currently, funding has been secured for five Fellowships for the 2006/2007 Year. Elizabeth Meyer, Associate Professor of History, will chair the Dissertation-Year Fellowships Committee.

There are two new academic programs to go before the Academic Affairs Committee for review - one in the McIntire School of Commerce, and a joint BA/MPP in Public Policy. Mr. Garrett said that Provost Gene Block would like to have these two degree programs approved prior to the Board of Visitors September 30th meeting.

On-Line Course Evaluations - Mr. Garrett gave the group an overview of the steps the Research and Scholarship Committee went through in addressing this issue, including concerns regarding on-line course evaluations. Gene Block said that the on-line evaluations program will be used for a couple of years and then reevaluated. Mr. Block suggested there be a representative from the Academic Affairs Committee on the student evaluation program ad hoc committee.

Mr. Wood said he has received an e-mail message regarding a new program, called the Semester at Sea. The Faculty Senate should review the program for informational reasons. An alternative to this would be to have some dialogue with Gene Block during the review approval/non-approval of the program.

Research and Scholarship Committee - Susan Kirk, Chair

Dr. Kirk reported that the Committee's primary focus this year will be on the Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards. Dr. Kirk met with Nicole Hurd, Director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, last year to discuss this year's program. The Office for Undergraduate Excellence has overseen these awards for the past several years, working with the Research and Scholarship Committee on the review/selection process. One of the goals for these awards for the 2005/2006 year will be to put in writing the guidelines for submitting proposals, guidelines on the research itself, and guidelines on funding issues. These guidelines ideally will be given to both the student and the faculty advisor helping the student with his/her research. Dr. Kirk commented that a formal/unified review of the guidelines, and feedback to students, is needed. The Research and Scholarship Committee will do the bulk of the reviewing/judging the proposals. Dr. Kirk will work closely with Nicole Hurd during the entire process. The proposed timeline for these awards will be as follows: the "call for proposals" will go out during the week of September 6th, proposals are due by the end of November, the Committee will review the submissions after Thanksgiving break, and decisions will be made as soon as spring classes begin. A reception, to include the members of the Research and Scholarship Committee, will be held to honor the award recipients. Dr. Kirk commented that she and Ms. Hurd are working to codify the role of the Research and Scholarship Committee and the role of the Office for Undergraduate Excellence in administering this program.

In closing, Dr. Kirk said she feels that information sessions for both faculty and students participating in the Harrison Awards program are needed. It was also suggested that Nicole Hurd coordinate with Joan Fry, Special Assistant to the President, to parallel the Harrison Awards program with a similar program in the President's office.

Additional Reports:

1. Houston Wood reported on the Faculty Senate/General Faculty Council's joint committee. He said two Faculty Senate members will be appointed to the General Faculty Council Committee. It was noted that the Faculty Senate's by-laws do not address the issue that members of the General Faculty Council cannot vote for Faculty Senate school representatives, but can serve on the Faculty Senate. This issue will be discussed in more detail at a future meeting. Gene Block agreed to give a report regarding General Faculty Council issues at a future date.

2. Marcia Day Childress has been appointed as the chair of the Faculty Senate Development Committee. Ms. Childress gave a brief overview of this new Senate committee's charge and past activities. The past co-chairs, Robert Grainger and Michael Levenson, and Marcia met with Robert Sweeney, Vice President for Development. Ms. Childress said she would call the first committee meeting sometime around the end of September. Ms. Childress reported that the University Development Committee aims to have goals down on paper within the next several months.

3. Kenneth Schwartz, Chair-Elect of the Senate and the Senate's representative at Faculty Senate of Virginia meetings, reported that the FSVA will have a meeting on Wednesday, September 14th. The meeting will be in Richmond at VCU. The FSVA will meet from 8:30-10:00, and a Gubernatorial Forum on Higher Education will follow, beginning at 11:00 a.m. In attendance to speak and answer questions are the three candidates for Governor - Tim Kaine, Jerry Kilgore, and Russell Potts. Mr. Schwartz plans to attend and invited members of the Executive Council to also attend.

• Kenneth Schwartz will be the Faculty Senate's liaison to the Honor Committee.
• Kenneth Schwartz is the Faculty Senate representative on the University's Athletics Advisory Committee.

The meeting adjourned at 4:56 p.m.

Submitted by Teresa Culver, Secretary of the Faculty Senate