UNF Faculty Association Minutes of October 1, 1998 Meeting

I.		Call to Order
		The meeting was called to order at 12:15 p.m. by Association President Steve Shapiro.
II.		Approval of Minutes
		Noting the appearance of the September minutes on the Web, Steve entertained a motion to accept the minutes. The minutes were approved as distributed.
III.		Announcements
		Steve reminded all faculty to try to see all of the incoming presidential candidates. There will be a special meeting of the Faculty Association October 12 at 9 a..m. in 15/1303 to hear Chancellor Herbert discuss the proposed "differential mission." Try to be at that meeting. Dr. Herbert is no longer bound to answer questions from the faculty as in the past.
IV.		Standing Committee Reports
		Academic Programs Committee - Joyce Jones
		The committee will meet October 13 at 1 p.m. in the large conference room in the College of Business. No agenda items today.
		Academic Standards Committee - Simin Vaghefi
		Steve reported that the committee will meet October 6 in 42/2004 at noon to deal with withdrawal and forgiveness policies. It will also look at a proposal to give academic credit for volunteer work.
		Academic Technology and Support Services Committee - Dennis Gay
		The committee met September 4 and elected Pat Plumlee vice-chair. Members heard a presentation about campus technology. The committee will meet again October 20 at 12:30 in 11/1327.
		Adjunct Affairs - Allent Tilley
		The committee has decided on a strategy and will work to implement its goals. Diane Kazlauskas was elected vice-chair.
		Budget and Legislative Information Committee - Joe Perry and Sheila Mangum
		Steve reported for the Chair that the committee met with President Fretwell who spoke on the proposed "differentiated missions" among the state universities.
		Faculty Affairs Committee - Judy Solano
		Three (3) items on the agenda today. The committee will meet again October 6 at 12:15 in the faculty meeting rooms. Members have been working on revision of the Association By-laws and will have a meeting on that issue October 20 at 12:15.
		Nominations and Elections Committee - Barbara Tuck
		Election next month for PEP Committee members and for Nominations & Elections Committee members. Look on the Association Web site for the committee's informational items
		Promotion and Tenure Committee - Bill Slaughter
		The committee met on September 15; Kathy Hassell was elected vice-chair. The committee will meet again in December to receive their charge from the Provost.
		Executive Committee - Kathleen Cohen
		Judy Solano reported for the chair that the committee will meet October 22 at 12:15 in the faculty meeting rooms. Kathy needs agenda items by October 20 from committee chairs; let her know if you cannot attend and arrange to send a substitute.
V.		Other University Committee Reports
		Graduate Council - Bill Wilson
		No report.
		Safety Advisory Council - Ted Stumm
		No report.
VI.		Special Reports
		UNF Interim Presidentt - E.K. Fretwell
		Salary adjustments have been made for various low-paid staff. He then deferred to Provost Kline who spoke of five areas of interest related to salary: 1) 2.78 % raises provided by the legislature. 2) $150,000 set aside for pay adjustments, compression/inversion, and other issues. Letters with those recommendations are going out today. 3-5) TIP, PEP, and performance incentive money in sixty $1000 merit awards. The latter awards will be recommended by deans and chairs later in November or December and will be retroactive to October. President Fretwell stated that he would be happy to see Chancellor Herbert and that he also had met with the Faculty Association Budget Committee.
		Capital Campaign - Pierre Allaire
		Vice-President Allaire spoke about where we are in the campaign: why are we doing it? Outlining our needs, priorities, and planning has helped us focus on the future; in some cases, only private funds can support some of our identified needs. UNF is ready now to move forward. Why raise money when we don't have a president? We will have one soon, he noted, and we will present a plan to the new president and can then move forward. How will faculty benefit from the campaign? Benefits can be direct, such as being the recipient of endowed professorships, chairs, and the like. Indirectly, one can benefit when the quality of students improves due to competitive scholarships. Private dollars helped the business building obtain better classrooms. What is the time frame for the campaign? From January 1996 to February 1998, we were in a preparatory phase; from February until the beginning of the year 2000 we will be in a quiet phase. Then the public phase will last for three years. Total time: 7 years. UNF hopes to raise $55 million; we have over $20 million already counted toward that goal. What will it cost? $1.3 million ($750,000 funded through the UNF foundation, the rest from state resources). That is a good return on that investment. Faculty can e-mail Vice-President Allaire for more information.
		Legislative Liasion Report - Janet Owen
		Steve reported an item of interest from Janet: one former candidate from the first presidential search is now an SUS V-P. Also, $48 million has been requested from the legislature for salary enhancement for faculty and staff. She will be at the association meeting in November to give an update.
		United Faculty of Florida - Gary Harmon
		Gary thanked the faculty for input to his draft letter on the proposed SUS system reconfiguration. His revised letter was sent by the UFF President to Chancellor Herbert. UFF Representatives will meet with Dr. Herbert later this month to discuss several issues including those posed in the letter. Harmon hopes that the information they receive from the chancellor will be positive, especially for teaching-intensive institutions. He reminded faculty to go to the October 12 meeting with the chancellor. On October 22 the UNF campus chapter will co-sponsor with the provost's office a campus visit of area legislators on topics of importance to us.
		UNF Athletics - Hank Camp
		Hank is the Faculty Athletics Representative; he introduced Kathy Klein, UNF's compliance officer. She works on the academic side of athletics; UNF's Division II athletics has 14 separate programs: 7 for men, 7 for women. Our golf program is in Divison I. Hank anticipates a Divison I swimming program for women in 2000. NCAA procedures are complex. He showed a chart with student-athletes' GPAs. Some of the teams have award-winning academic records. He nominates individual students for academic awards, sends out congratulatory letters to those with 3.5 or better. He also certifies athletes for eligibility. Those who struggle are advised and encouraged. He wants faculty to report athletes' mid-term grades honestly. Hank also encouraged faculty to apply to participate in the General Education task force.
VII.		Question and Answer Period
		From Nick Wilson to President Fretwell and Provost Kline: Can you provide the faculty with 1) a detailed analysis of the most recent US News and World Report UNF rankings, and compare the ratings of UNF in comparison with the average ratings of the schools in the first tier of southern colleges and universities, and 2) the plan to maintain those ratings that we equal or better other colleges and universities, and the plan to improve our ranking in those criteria that we fall below the average? President Fretwell and Provost Kline responded together that we're trying to collect the data better and count the degrees better, for instance. They are intent on working on the plan. Steve Shapiro reminded the faculty to see Lynda Lewis' response to that question, asked at last month's meeting, on the Web. From Judy Solano to Provost Kline: The list of institutional priorities in 1997-98 did not involve input from faculty; the same thing happened this year, too. When and how were faculty involved? Provost Kline responded that this was true; the original planning body did not use faculty consultation, but relied instead on historical documents. To demonstrate continuity that list was reaffirmed for SACS. Any new planning process will be broader-based in the future and include faculty input.
VIII.		Legislative Items
		Item #1 FA 98-35 : Submitted by the Faculty Affairs Committee, UNF Teaching Incentive Program 1998-99 Judy Solano moved the item, commenting that changes were necessary after re-negotiations between UFF and the Board of Regents. The sections dealing with the self-nomination packet and then measures of instructional quality are UNF's. Discussion ensued. Scott Hochwald asked if "productivity" is mandated by the agreement? Judy: Yes, this is in the contract. Scott: And "special assignment?" Does it include more than sabbatical and developmental leaves? Joann Campbell: Yes, the definition includes extra-classroom assignments. Scott: Is that for the duration of the 3-year period? Judy: No. Long-term, extra-classroom assignments put you out of the process. Bill Caldwell: Can one pick up earlier semesters' data to compensate for the loss of teaching time? Judy: Yes. Susana Urbina asked what measures of productivity apply? Judy told her to look on page 5, Section C for that information. She offered and Judy Solano accepted a friendly amendment to page. 8, line 14; strike "and productivity." Mark Workman: Appointments for graduate co-ordinator, for instance, typically run for two years, and anyone who would take it would disenfranchise himself from the awards. He wants the number of years extended further back to make more eligible. He proposes that the number of assigned semesters match as many semesters as faculty have served. Judy suggested that the words "one or two semesters" be stricken from line page 5, line 37. The motion to strike those words passed. The TIP item then passed in its entirety. Item #2 FA 98-36 : Submitted by the Faculty Affairs Committee. UNF Professorial Excellence Program 1998-1999 Judy Solano moved the item. A friendly amendment has been accepted to page 11, line 35, after the word "merit": "as a librarian or in scholarship". Librarians are eligible for PEP and the wording needs to include them. Bill Caldwell: why does the application packet limit to two pages each area of effort (teaching, scholarship, service)? Chris Rasche replied that the applicants tend to focus on scholarship; this emphasis will give a more rounded picture of the candidate's activity. Bill Caldwell then moved to amend that section by striking the parenthetical phrase on page 12, lines 9-10. The amendment to strike passed, followed by passage of the whole PEP item. Item #3 FA 98-37 : Submitted by the Faculty Affairs Committee. Evaluation, Promotion, and Tenure Policies Judy Solano moved the item. Discussion followed on the associate professor qualifications. John Maraldo questioned lines 26-39 on page 15, calling the wording problematical. Part of the qualifications are now clearer, but other parts are more nebulous. The document needs to make the measurements more precise: what is a "scholarly" work? Steve remarked that one assumes it is a refereed work. Judy: the intent was to strengthen the requirements, but with a definition not a term like "excellent" as before. She said the document was open to faculty recommendation. Dale Clifford: But by removing the qualitative words, the document reads as thought it might be lowering scholarly standards. Steve: Then perhaps we need to restore some of the deleted language. Dennis Bell objected to the change in wording as it does not speak to quality. Bob Vergenz suggested re-introducing the words "excellent in scholarship" for promotion to associate professor, followed by "as evidenced by an agenda of inquiry....". He argued that the body of one's work must be of high quality. John Maraldo: why not just use "outstanding" in the wording for full professor? Bob Vergenz then moved to amend p. 15, line 27-28 after "teaching," accepting a friendly amendment from Dennis Bell so that the line now reads "excellent in scholarship as evidenced by an agenda of inquiry that has resulted in published scholarly or creative works of high quality...." Motion passed on associate professor amendment. Discussion followed on the full professor qualifications. John Maraldo: for full professor add "outstanding" before the word scholar on page 15, line 37, followed by "as evidenced by .....published scholarly or creative works of high quality...." The motion to amend passed. Judy Solano observed that we now need to adjust the tenure section on page 17, lines 9-16. Miscellaneous comments were made by various unidentified voices. Bill Slaughter: hopes we will make promotion and tenure one decision as it is elsewhere. The amendment to make the language for tenure parallel passed. Peter Braza: Objects to wording at end of paragraph 5.4 about one's "professional manner." There is too little discussed under teaching, and too much for service. Jeff Will remarked that you do not have to keep working well with one's colleagues after that; this language is not germane for full professor. Bob Vergenz questioned what was stricken. Shira Schwam-Baird: is there a different qualifying time for tenure than before? Judy: Yes, it should be in the sixth year, with six years of credit accumulated (see page 16, lines 22-23) to be consistent with the contract. Joann Campbell: people eligible this year have the choice to operate under this provision or the previous one. Jeff Will: statement of collegiality is gratuitously imposed since nothing is said about it in promotion to full or associate professor. Mark Workman: can tenure decisions then be deferred to a seventh year? Judy: No. "At the option of the individual..." (line 26-27) needs to come out. Peter Braza moved to strike the new wording in the qualifications for tenure paragraph (5.4) and reinstate the old wording. Dale Clifford offered a friendly amendment to keep the word "must" on lines 13 and 17. The Braza amendment passed. Oscar Patterson called attention to page 18, lines 13-17 (5.4, 3.2); he fears that use of indefinite articles (a, an) could suggest that a single piece in a refereed journal could suffice for promotion and moved to strike the indefinite articles to suggest more is needed. Bill Slaughter reminded the body that these are minimum criteria; fulfilling these do not necessarily get you anything, they just make you eligible. The Patterson amendment passed. Hank Camp: further questions about the scholarship section. He moved to strike Sections E (but not book reviews) and G. Bill Slaughter: leave it as is, as evidence of such activity could be important. Steve asked if there was a motion to adjourn. Judy Solano noted that this is the first time the committee has had feedback, although the document has been on the Web for months. Please send comments to her before the next meeting. Some voiced the desire to stay and vote. Joyce Jones: wants to read the document and make sense out of it as a whole document. Discussion on Item #3 - FA98-37 will continue at the November 5th meeting. Adjournment was called for and passed.
IX.		Adjournment
		The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth L. Furdell, Secretary