Executive Committee Report  given at the Mar 19, 2007 University Senate Meeting

Steering Committee of the University Senate and Faculty Advisory Committee to the University President

Members President Leland, Vice President Gormly, Kendra Russell (SoHS), Cheryl Reynolds (SoE) <ex-officio non-voting>

Officers: Secretary: Tanya Goette (SoB), Vice-Chair: Karynne Kleine (SoE), Chair: Craig Turner (SoLAS)

1. Since the last University Senate meeting (February 26, 2007), the Executive Committee met as a committee of the whole on March 6, 2007 and jointly with the Standing Committee Chairs on March 13, 2007.  In addition, the elected faculty members of the Executive Committee met on February 27, 2007.
2. On February 27, 2007, elected faculty of the Executive Committee discussed:
   1. the at-large election (see sentence three of 3.a.ii),
   2. the logistics of recognitions, i.e. the plan for preparing the text of certificates, of senators and non-senators for 2006-2007,
   3. a plan for drafting the executive committee annual report,
   4. a plan for drafting the committee preference survey for senators and committee interest survey for non-senators,
   5. the tentative agendas of the March 6 and March 13 meetings.
3. On March 6, 2007, the Executive Committee
   1. received an update on the at-large election from Kendra Russell:

                                                               i.      The process for the at-large election was the following (1) Wed Feb 14 - Fri Feb 16 call for nominations (2)  Mon Feb 19 -  ThuFeb 22 corps of instruction faculty vote electronically by secret ballot (3) announce results to the university community no later than March 1. 

                                                             ii.      On Feb 26, Kendra was contacted by a nominator who noted that one of the nominees did not appear on the ballot.  After checking, it was verified that an email nomination submitted within the nomination window had been overlooked.  On February 27, the elected faculty of the Executive Committee met and agreed that an election should be held with both nominees if this overlooked nominee was willing to accept the nomination.  Following this meeting, an email conversation between the nominee and Kendra resulted in the nominee declining the nomination.  It was determined than a second election was not necessary and thus not held.  As the name of a candidate that declined a nomination would not have been shared by the at-large election process, it is appropriate not to identify by name the overlooked nominee.

                                                            iii.      Additional discussion was focused on how to improve the process for the future.  For example, the nominations process for the at-large faculty senator might include invitations for nominees at the time school and library elections are being implemented.  If you have suggestions for improving the at-large election process, such as alternate ways to call for nominations in addition to the email call used this year, please share them with any member of the Executive Committee.  Such suggestions would be included as advisory information to next year’s Executive Committee in the form of the elections checklist or annual report. 

2. received an update from the Committee on Nominations (CoN) from Kendra Russell: 

Committee on Nominations Chair: Dr. Kendra Russell

Membership:  all members of ECUS, Standing Committee Chairs (Mike Gleason, Kathleen McGeever, Richard Mercier, Ken McGill), SGA President (Janessa Hartmann), and Staff Council Chair (Gina Peavy). 

Committee Charge   The main function of the Committee on Nominations is to prepare a slate of nominees to serve on the committees of the University Senate for the 2007-2008 academic year.  This slate is subject to the approval of the 2007-2008 University Senate at its organizational meeting on Wednesday April 25, 2007.

                                                               i.      The proposed calendar by which this committee plans to complete its work is

·         Mar 1 – Mar 16: Prepare surveys  to inform the slate of nominees to US committees

a.        Committee Preference Survey for Senators

b.       Committee Interest Survey for Non-Senators

·         Mar 19 – Mar 23. Implement these surveys

·         Apr 2 – Apr 6:  Prepare slate of nominees

·         No later than Tues, Apr 10:  Submit slate of nominees as a motion for Apr 25 Senate meeting  

3. Received an update from the Governance Retreat Planning Committee (GRPC) from Karynne Kleine revealing that

                                                               i.      a potential site for the retreat in Sandersville, Georgia is being visited by a subset of the committee on March 12 to assess its feasibility.

                                                             ii.      the committee has prepared an outline of the sessions for the day, but the format of the retreat remains consistent with the format that has been so well received by past retreat participants

                                                            iii.      a “save the date” message, noting the retreat is scheduled for Th, May 10, had been sent by email to the pool of participants which is the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 University Senates

4. Reviewed and finalized a draft of the Feb 2007 University Senate minutes that was distributed to University Senators by email for review.
5. Reviewed the agenda for the March 19 University Senate meeting, and reviewed the motion for a Conflict of Interest Policy sponsored by the University Services Committee ultimately adding this motion to this agenda.
6. Agreed to assign a one year term of service to each of the four elected staff senator positions for the 2007-2008 University Senate.  The primary reason for this decision is that the recent revisions to the bylaws do not allow sufficient time to fully implement the process articulated in the bylaws for the election of staff senators during this transitional year.  It was further agreed to defer the staggering of the three year terms for these elected staff senator positions to the 2007-2008 Executive Committee.
7. Reviewed the feedback on the common meeting time received from the Horizontal Chairs, a committee consisting of all academic department chairs at the University. It was agreed that the information received required further clarification and that it should be posted to the University Senate webpage once it is complete and accurate to allow all interested parties access to the information.
8. Discussed briefly the need for tracking non-business items that emerge as peripheral items during University Senate meetings. The general consensus was that although no formal process was necessary, an ECUS parking lot (possibly named “On the Radar”) could serve as a reminder to periodically review such items to ensure that each of the emerging items receive the attention it merits, and to reduce the likelihood that such items would slip through the cracks and remain unaddressed.  An item recently added to this list was the University Holiday Calendar including an exploration of the feasibility of a floating holiday for university employees.
9. Were consulted by President Leland regarding her presidential appointments to the 2007-2008 University Senate and its committees.  At that time, she had not named individuals but rather had settled on a plan for making the selection of her appointees in consultation with the vice presidents that also have appointees to senate committees. It was noted that the letter of the bylaws require the naming of these presidential appointees by March 11, and that the short turnaround time in light of the recent bylaws revisions may require this deadline to be relaxed during this transitional year.
3. On March 13, 2007, ECUS and Standing Committee Chairs discussed the following matters:
   1. Received an update from the Governance Retreat Planning Committee (GRPC) from Karynne Kleine

                                                               i.      Noting that the potential site in Sandersville, Georgia was not large enough to accommodate the anticipated number of participants.

                                                             ii.      Proposing the Macon Center as a possible site for the retreat.  This was well-received by those present and it was noted that the anticipated May 1 opening date of this facility makes this a possibility.  More information is needed before this site can be confirmed.

2. Noted that committee annual reports (AGC, BPC, ECUS SAC, USC) are due no later than noon on May 1 and that these reports should be informed by a consultation with the entire committee.  As committee members, you should anticipate discussing your committee annual report at a future committee meeting.  The committee report serves as both a historical summary of committee activity over the academic year and an advisory document to the successor committee affording new members of the committee a resource to orient themselves to the committee work.  More information about the committee annual report is available on the website at http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/univ_senate/Annual_Reports_2006_2007/
3. Reviewed the feedback on the common meeting time received from the Horizontal Chairs, a committee consisting of all academic department chairs at the University.  It was agreed that the ECUS chair would attend the meeting of the Horizontal Chairs on Thursday March 15 at 4:00 p.m. to clarify the request to (1) explore the feasibility of alternatives to the current common meeting time (12:30p.m.-1:45 p.m. Monday Friday) and (2) provide a summary of the discussion including any recommendations for adjustments to the current schedule.  It was noted such recommendations may have policy implications and may require review by the appropriate Senate committee.
4. Heard a report from each committee chair to share information about and coordinate agendas of the final committee meetings of the 2006-2007 academic year scheduled for Fri March 23 and Wed Apr 4.  The content of these reports was included in the reports provided by committee chairs at this meeting and will not be repeated here.
4. Karynne Kleine respectfully requests that outgoing Senators (those with terms ending in April 2007) meet briefly at the conclusion of today’s senate meeting.  The topic of discussion is the governance retreat.
5. A message from the Governance Retreat Planning Committee to all University Senators: As this is your retreat, the governance retreat planning committee welcomes any suggestions you have regarding the retreat.  The chair of the GRPC is Karynne Kleine and members are Ginger Carter Miller, Paige Campbell, Vicki Folendore, Margie Johnson, Roger Noel and Craig Turner.
6. The next meeting of the entire Executive Committee is presently scheduled for Tu, April 10, 2007 and will be held in the University President’s Conference Room (third floor Parks Administration Building).  The committee will not meet on Tu, March 27 as this falls during the Spring Break from classes, and at present Tu, Apr 3, 2007 is the date on which the Committee on Nominations will meet to prepare the slate of nominees for the 2007-2008 University Senate.  The elected faculty will meet tomorrow, Tu, March 20, to discuss the current draft of the committee annual report and plan for these future meetings.