Subject:                                 University Senate Meeting Report

Date:                                      29 November 2004

Committee:                           Executive Committee

Submitted by:                       Dr. Betty A. Block, Chair

The Executive Committee named and contacted the Committee on Nominations to replace elected Senators on the University Senate and Standing Committees. 

• As you know the Committee on Nominations is comprised of the Executive Committee, Standing Committee Chairs, President of SGA, and the Staff Council Chair. 
• Harry Glover was elected chair of the Committee on Nominations. He has begun the election process for the at-large election to replace Bob Wilson.
• The ballots are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, December 6^th.  Please encourage your colleagues to vote.
• Martha Colvin, SHS, has resigned her seat on the Senate.  An election is in the process of being held to replace her.
• Mary Magoulick will be teaching out of the country during Spring 2005 and will be unable to complete her term.  Rob Viau has been elected to complete her term of service.  He will join us January 1, 2005.

Last year, the President sponsored a Senate Retreat for the purpose of sharing information and identifying future directions. 

• This is a time when current Senators and newly elected Senators meet together and discuss the shared governance process and the duties and responsibilities of Standing Committees and Senators. 
• JW Good will coordinate the retreat this year. 
• The Executive Committee has created a parking lot of retreat topics; we encourage all Standing Committees and individual Senators to also list topics of concern for the retreat – pass these on to the Executive Committee. 
• Please plan to attend this retreat scheduled for Wednesday, May 11, 2005. 
• All members of the incoming and outgoing University Senate will receive an invitation from President Leland to attend this governance retreat.

There is an area of concern that the Executive Committee and Standing Chairs have regarding attendance at meetings. 

·         First, every Senator is expected to attend meetings and represent his or her constituents at those meetings. 

·         A review of attendance lists of Standing Committee meetings revealed that some of the committees could not conduct business because there was not a quorum present. 

·         The Executive Committee recommends (and the Bylaws state) that if there is a question regarding committee operations with regard to attendance, refer to Robert’s Rules and clearly state the committee’s procedure for conducting business based on the guidelines given in the Rules. 

·         Each Standing, Ad hoc, or Subcommittee should have a clearly defined operating procedure on file with the Executive Committee. 

·         Please make every effort to support the work of your committee.  We fought for so long to have the opportunity to share in our own governance.  Know that your voice is heard and your presence is valued.

The Executive Committee has one motion to bring forward at this time. 

• We move to adopt the Vision, Mission, and Belief Statements, as distributed, to be the official Vision, Mission, and Belief Statements of the University Senate. 

The Statutes and Bylaws Team has a report at this time, JW Good, the Chair of that group will come forward to give an update of their work and future plans.