May 2001 Minutes

Minutes of the Faculty Senate

May 3, 2001
Student Commons Forum Room, Academic Campus

Present:
Abubaker, Alder, Andrews, Bigbee, Bilyeu, Bowlin, Briceland, Brilliant, Britto (for Abbey), Burton, Byles, Cash, Coffman, Crouch, Davey, Dolan, Donnell, Fauri, Garcia, Harvie, Heldberg, Hughes (for Tepper), Jackson, Kester, Kirkpatrick, Kirkwood (for Wu-Pong), Kirsch (for Lewis), Koerin, Lamb, Leone, Little, Lloyd, McKelvey, Moon, Oggel, Poindexter, Poynor, Ream, Roberson, Seibel, Selinger, Simons, Turner, Vallarino, Van Tuyle, Walsh, Ward, Weaver, Whitehead, Wood.

Absent: Costanzo, Diegelmann, Klinker, Malloy, Moxley, Nadder, Nixon, Peel, Peng, Philipsen, Pitts, Rife, Schmitt, Seither, Spottswood, Wergin.

Senate President Dr. Wes Poynor called the eighth Faculty Senate meeting of the year to order at 4:00 p.m. Minutes for the April 3, 2001 meeting were approved as e-mailed to the senators.

The President announced that he would exercise the right to rearranging the meeting agenda from the customary action item first order of business to accommodate Dr. William Duvall, Dean of Students for the Academic Campus, and Chair of the Honor System Review Committee.

Dr. Duvall presented the Senate with copies of the final report generated by the Honor System Review Committee. He shared with Senators that the current Honor System document contained a requirement for the document undergo review every three years. Dr. Duvall informed Senators that the report was being given to the Senate for information only. He said that the Council of Deans reviewed the document earlier in the day. The Senate will review the document over the summer and early fall and take action on the report at the October 2^nd Faculty Senate Meeting. The Honor System Review Committee will meet in mid to late October to consider the response from the University community.

Dr. Duvall highlighted key aspects of the report including:

The Committee's decision not to recommend a change to a single sanction system
The emphasis to more closely align the two very different honor systems on the two campuses by creation of the Graduate and Professional Student Honor Council, that would afford graduate students on the Academic Campus access to the student run system model of the MCV Honor Council. Dr. Duvall indicated that this name may need to be changed to MCV and Graduate Honor Council.
The recommendation for Testing and Grading Guidelines
The change to permanent notation on a student's transcript of honor council imposed suspension
The recommendation to create a position for a Judicial Affairs Officer, who would assume responsibility for the operation of the VCU Honor System and adherence to and enforcement of the University Rules and Procedures Document
The recommendation for thorough Honor System training for University Community

Senator Alan Briceland encouraged Senators to examine the recommended changes carefully. He expressed concern that several of the suggested changes went to "weakening the document rather than strengthening it." He felt that the change from four to three faculty on the Academic (Undergraduate) Honor Council was a mistake. He felt that students were "incompetent defenders" and that his observations of the Honor System indicated that the defense was always "inadequate." He expressed his assessment that the "key to the system is to have critical thinking skills" and in his opinion that faculty are "essential to do justice."

Dr. Duvall responded that many honor systems are entirely student run and that the MCV Honor System prided itself as having operated successfully as a student run system since 1895. The incorporation of graduate students on the Academic campus he feels is a step in the right direction.

Agenda for Action

Several resolutions were presented for action by the Senate including:

Library Resolution

Senator Dan Ream reviewed the history of the Faculty Senate's support of funding for the VCU Libraries that dated back to 1999. The Academic Support Services Committee presented motion to which Senator Christina Turner made a friendly amendment to change the language from "the top priority" to "a top priority" the following motion was approved: Whereas, the Faculty Senate documented the great need for better funding of the VCU Libraries in its 1999 report, "An Assessment of the VCU Library's Funding Needs";

Whereas, the Faculty Senate in 1999 unanimously recommended that "the university administration make supplemental VCU Library funding a legislative priority in the year 2000 legislative session";

Whereas the Faculty Senate in 1999 also recommended that... "the VCU administration work with the Office for Information Technology, University Library Services administration, and representatives of the VCU Faculty Senate to develop a 5 year plan that will move the Academic and Medical Libraries of Virginia Commonwealth University to the median status in budget, salaries, and collections of its peer libraries as identified above by 2005 ";

Whereas, statistical updates provided by VCU Libraries show little progress toward these goals;

Therefore,

the Faculty Senate recognizes with appreciation recent efforts by the President and Provost that have improved the funding and facilities of the VCU Libraries and strongly encourages further action in this respect as Virginia Commonwealth University moves to secure its position as a major research university.

We the Faculty Senate of 2001 re-affirm that increased funding of the VCU Libraries is a top priority for legislative funding in the biennium ahead and we ask that the VCU Administration report to us in October, 2001 on the prominence of library funding in our VCU legislative priorities.

We also request that the VCU Administration report to the Senate on any progress made toward developing a 5 year plan that will move us toward median status among our peers for library collections, budgets, and salaries.

President of Senate will convey resolution to the University Administration.

Resolution in support of Dean Jack Haar

Senator Alan Briceland moved that the Senate act on the resolution drafted by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. The following resolution passed unanimously: The Faculty Senate expresses its appreciation to Dr. Jack Haar for his dedicated service to the graduate faculty and students of VCU while serving as the Dean of Graduate Studies. The Senate thanks him for his commitment to supporting and promoting graduate education at VCU. Dr. Poynor was designated to send the copy of the resolution printed on certificate paper and signed by the Executive Committee to Dr. Haar with copies to the President and the Provost.

Senator Alan Briceland moved that a second resolution drafted by the Executive Committee in support of continuation of the Dean for Graduate Studies position be endorsed by the Senate.

The VCU Faculty Senate strongly supports the continuation of the position of Dean of Graduate Studies. Having a Dean of Graduate Studies has brought our graduate programs deserved new prominence in the University and in the broader academic world. Because the dean's role is one of importance to the work of many faculty, we wish the position to be filled as quickly as a comprehensive national search can be mounted. We stand ready to participate with the administration in the search. Senator McKelvey asked about whether there were plans to appoint an interim dean. President Poynor said that he had been given assurance that an interim dean would be appointed but no decision had yet been made. [Note: Dr. Al Sneden has been named as the Interim Dean of Graduate Studies.]

Mentoring Program

Senator Charles Byles reported on the Senate Mentoring Program, which completed its 4^th round. This program, which was initiated under Faculty Senate President Terry Oggel has paired mentors with Turning Point class students since 1999. The Senate has recruited volunteers for ten weeks during the spring semester only. This year there were seven Turning Point classes, with 100 students and 28 faculty member volunteers.

The Provost, concerned that reports have indicated that 27% of freshman go on academic probation by 2^nd semester has asked Dr. Pat Cummins to head a project committee to address this problem proactively. He hopes to communicate "We care about you and we want to do something to help you and prevent you from going on probation."

The Provost has approved a plan that all students would need to see a faculty advisor to discuss:

Any difficulty with academic or non-academic issues
To help determine whether the students in "right" major
To decide about whether a Turning Point class would be helpful (VCU 102)
To determine whether it would be advantageous for the student to meet with someone in the Academic Success Center.

Vice Provost Blanks is also working on a different project team that would create an early warning/feedback system that would alert faculty advisors when students aren’t showing up to class.

Senator Briceland shared that at the University of Oklahoma, every foreign student is paired up with a faculty member. He suggested that perhaps VCU should consider in the fall semester, pairing up faculty with students with OSS and foreign students.

Senator Rod Poindexter expressed concern that students could drop a class without consulting with the faculty member teaching the class. He felt that it should be made mandatory for students placed on warning to meet with an advisor.

A motion was made and seconded to continue Faculty Senate support of the Mentoring Program, to look at mentoring to a different clientele and to incorporate any plans that emerge from the office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. The Mentoring Program Committee under Senator Byles leadership will investigate opportunities to combine efforts in this regard in the fall.

Announcement from the Vice President Elect of the Senate

Senator Chris Turner, Vice President Elect of the Senate, requested all Senators, who would be returning to the Senate in the fall, complete a Committee Preference Form indicating their first, second, and third choices for committee membership for the 2001-2002 academic year and to note with a "C" if one had interest in chairing a committee. She also indicated that if any Senator had any issues that they wanted to have the Faculty Senate address during the coming year that the Executive Committee wanted to hear those suggestions.

Report from Provost on Measures of Institutional Effectiveness

Dr. Rod McDavis reported on recent efforts by his office to select institutional effectiveness measures to submit to SCHEV. He stated that SCHEV had become increasingly concerned with accountability. They have identified 14 common institutional performance measures and in addition each institution has been asked to develop their own performance measures.

In March, SCHEV limited each institution to 11 measures. VCU had previously submitted 19, all of which were a part of Institutional Performance Agreement. Eleven of those 19 were approved by SCHEV. They include:

Association of Research Libraries ranking score for VCU.
Research productivity as defined by National Science Foundation ratings.
Percent of medical students passing the licensure exam their first attempt.
Percent of nursing graduates passing the licensing exam on first attempt
Six-year graduation rate of lower division community college transfer students.
One-year retention rate for lower division community college transfer students.
Professional program acceptance rates.
Standardized test scores for professional students. (Dentistry and Medicine)
First year retention rates for professional students.
Average time to degree for professional program graduates (1999-2000) as
percent of expected time. (OT, PT, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy)
Percent of professional program alumni contributing to university.

SCHEV was not willing to accept data obtained from students. SCHEV will put all of the Virginia universities’ results on their Web Site this summer. (The VCU report can be found at http://research.schev.edu/roie/four_year/VCU/body.asp and those of all institutions at http://research.schev.edu/roie/)

The Provost announced that he was unsure if these institutional performance measures would have any funding impact. The question he stated is "If these (measures) are not tied to funding, why are we collecting all this data?" The answer is public accountability. The story from SCHEV is that we are collecting this data anyway. All state universities will have this information posted and available for consumers to compare institutions.

According to Dr. McDavis "not one legislator has mentioned IPA’s or these institutional effectiveness measures." He indicated that this points out gap between the branches of state government, particularly the Governor and the Legislature. The IPA’s were an initiative from the Governor’s office. The Legislature is interested in base adequacy. A study indicated that Virginia institutions of higher education were underfunded by $200 million. VCU’s portion of that is $10 million. An additional $2.2 million is needed to move adjunct faculty in fulltime faculty positions.

Dr. McDavis stated that faculty should be aware that there are three entities involved in this process- an outgoing Governor, whose Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education recommended the IPA process, the Legislature, whose interest is in funding base adequacy, although they were unable to do anything about it this year with the budget impass, and SCHEV, that has created a "blueprint" for Higher Education in Virginia, but operates from a "pre-marginalized" position because they have no statutory budgetary role.

The Provost stated "I think our IPA is a good document" and indicated that VCU has made every attempt to be consistent with following the lead of the IPA in developing the institutional effectiveness measures for VCU. When asked whether there was going to be a new Strategic Plan developed, the Provost responded that SACS would be coming up in 2003-2004 and that rather than start something new prior to that process that VCU would "hold steady" and then following the SACS visit the Strategic Plan III process would be initiated. VCU will be among the first group of universities that will be under new SACS standards when it is reaffirmed in December 2003.

Senator Briceland asked whether the IPA was being considered as a replacement to the Strategic Plan. The Provost responded "We are bound to Strategic Plan II." He added that more recent initiatives like Life Sciences have emerged since Strategic Plan II was approved and they were included in IPA because of their importance to the University. If we can find revenue to implement the new initiatives, we will consider implementing those that were part of our IPA as a priority.

The budget for University was developed late because of the budget impasse in the General Assembly, but that it would be completed in time for May 17^th and 18^th Board of Visitors meetings. He stated, "We are having to live with budget developed 18 months to 2 years ago." The budget involves:

Tuition and Fees
Research Overhead Budget (<$50 million)
ENG Budget ($282 million)
Instructional Budget

To balance budget, a 4% tuition increase for non-residents will be necessary or internal re-allocation will have to be done. The overhead budget he said was "good news." The VCU Libraries and IT will have $556,000. The University Fee will be going up by 3%. The Provost stated that in regards to the University budget that it is a "good system where faculty do get involved." Dr. Poynor urged the Provost to continue including the Faculty Senate President on the Executive Budget Committee. Currently Jason Rife, Ron Poindexter, and Chris Turner are other faculty senators who serve on this committee.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Document

Dr. Poynor shared with the Senate that the EEO/AA Committee of the Senate had an interest in examining Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Document for sensitivity to diversity, gender, and disability issues. In the process it was discovered that this university document was not available on-line and had to be requested from Provost’s office.

Dr. Pat Cummins reported that part of her job would be taking care of updating this document, which was quite old and needed to be changed before being posted to the Web. Dr. Poynor expressed that it was extremely important that Faculty Senate involved in reviewing this document and the Faculty Handbook, as well, which was no longer available to faculty in a printed form, but only as a Web document. Dr. Poynor expressed concern that Web documents were subject to be changed and faculty should be aware of the process of how the document undergoes changes. Dr. Cummins indicated a desire to form a small Ad Hoc committee that would cut across the Faculty Senate members and those in the administration charged with this task. She indicated desire to become aware of faculty who were available to work on the document during the summer. (Note: Dr. Poynor reported at the September 2001 meeting that this document, approved by the Board of Visitors in 1976, would soon be available on the VCU website.)

Other Committee Reports/Closing

Senator Briceland reported that the Senate-proposed changes to the Drug-Free Workplace and Alcohol policy was still unapproved. He reported the history of the proposed policy changes that dated back to the Fall of 1999. At that time, the Senate made considerable suggestions and recommendations to the report from the University Substance Abuse Committee that was charged with rewriting the policy. At last review the report "took in 20-25% of the Faculty Senate concerns" but there were still a number of concerns. This will undoubtedly remain an open issue for the fall.

Dr. Poynor announced that the meeting was the last meeting of Academic year 2000-2001 and that the calendar for meetings for the coming year was currently under development. He expressed concern about the poor attendance by faculty at the April 17^th meeting with President Trani. He estimated that there were no more than 20-25 faculty present and 20-25 administrators. He is recommending that the meeting with President be moved to February and that it be held in perpetuity on the Academic Campus, where the attendance is traditionally much higher. Dr. Poynor announced that the next meeting of University Council would be May 10^th. Dr. Trani is interested in getting the VCU Alumni Association involved in renaming the Academic Campus. Dr. Tom Huff has been officially named as Vice Provost for Health Sciences.

Senator Lucy Harvey acknowledged the good work that Dr. Poynor has done for two years as President of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Poynor was given a round of applause of gratitude from the Senate and the meeting was adjourned at 6:04 PM.

Respectfully Submitted

Dianne F. Simons, Ph.D., OTR
Faculty Senate Secretary-Treasurer

Posted September 6, 2001 by Neil W. Henry