Executive Committee (ECUS) Report 

given to the University Senate on September 25, 2006

submitted by Dr. Craig Turner

 

1.      Cliff Wilkinson was elected by the Department of Government and Sociology to replace Veronica Womack who resigned from both the University Senate and Budget and Planning Committee in August 2006.

2.      Student Government Association (SGA) Nominees to committees have been supplied by SGA President Janessa Hartmann. They are Jonathan Barton (AGC), Robert Buckley (BPC), Matt Alhanti (SAC), and Alissa Torchia (USC).  Committee websites and email lists have been updated to include these new student members.

3.      The Executive Committee held an orientation luncheon for standing committee officers on Friday September 15.

4.      The Executive Committee met on August 27, September 12, and most recently met jointly with the standing committee chairs on September 19 for a session on agenda coordination.

a.       Aug 27 Highlights: 

1.      A Governance Retreat Planning Committee is being formed.  The charge of this committee is two-fold: (1) review 2006 retreat feedback with an eye toward refinements/improvements, and (2) plan the next governance retreat (May 2007)  The committee is chaired by Karynne Kleine with members Paige Campbell, Vicki Folendore, Margie Johnson, Roger Noel, and Craig Turner.

2.      Recognition:

                                                                                             i.            Senator Pins will be one-time-in-a-career recognitions. Further, for each academic year, all incoming senators that do not already have a pin will receive one at the first meeting of the fall semester,

                                                                                           ii.            Each Senator (except four VPs and University President) will receive a certificate at the conclusion of her/his term of service, noting that the six Presidential appointees and SGA President and Staff Council Chair have one year terms, while elected faculty have two year terms. These certificates will be presented at the annual governance retreat.

                                                                                          iii.            Each Senate leader (Standing Committee Officers and elected Senators on ECUS) will receive a certificate for her/his service as an officer or ECUS member. These certificates will be presented at the governance retreat

                                                                                         iv.            All non-Senators serving on standing committees of the Senate will receive a certificate at the conclusion of their term of service. These certificates will be mailed directly to the recipient.

                                                                                           v.            The University President will send letters to each Senator and to each non-Senator on Senate committees each fall

                                                                                         vi.            Awarding of Senator Pins will be retroactive to the extent practical and feasible for all Senators serving from August 2002 to the present time.

b.      Sep 12 Highlights

1.      Finalized the agenda, supporting documents, and plan for the Standing Committee Officer Orientation on Sep 15.

2.      Reviewed drafts of Aug 2006 University Senate minutes, Sep 2006 University Senate meeting agenda, and the supporting document for the governing concepts motion.

3.      Agreed to a plan and timeline for drafting the governance calendar for the 2007-2008 academic year.  This calendar is in preparation and will be reviewed by standing committee chairs and the executive committee at their next joint meeting, scheduled for Oct 24, 2006..

c.       Sep 19 Highlights

1.      An aggregate attendance report has been posted to the University Senate webpage as called for in the bylaws (See Article II.Section3.B.5).  There are two codes for absences.  They are “Regrets” meaning the individual was not present at the meeting and sent notification of absence to the Chair and Secretary prior to the meeting and “Absent” meaning the individual was not present at the meeting and no prior notification given.  This practice has been used by the Academic Governance Committee for a couple of years and is being implemented by the other committees and the University Senate for the 2006-2007 academic year.  The attendance report is being reviewed by committee secretaries  for accuracy.  Please review the lines of this report applying to you and alert your committee secretary (and chair) of any errors you notice.

2.      An information item is the apportionment of the 34 elected Senator positions to the schools and library for the 2007-2008 year and election of Senators with 2007-2009 terms.  There are 36 elected positions and 2 of these are at-large. According to the bylaws, the apportionment is to be determined by the Executive Committee (ECUS) and then announced to the University Senate no later than October 1. The Corps of Instruction List, on which this apportionment is based, was received from the Office of Academic Affairs on September 13, 2006.  Links to both the Corps of Instruction List and the Apportionment Report are included as part of the agenda of the September 2006 University Senate meeting.

3.      Beginning in October 2006, Senators will find motion forms including supporting documents under consideration at the Online Motion database rather than attached to the agenda itself.  For convenience, the motion numbers and the text of the motions will be on the agenda, and a link to the motion database will be on the agenda as well.  As we gain experience we may decide to refine this process, so please share feedback and constructive suggestions on this new environment with Craig Turner at craig.turner@gcsu.edu or by phone at 478.445.0973.

4.      Elected members of the Executive Committee will be meeting with their respective school dean and I will meet with the library dean to clarify the election calendar for elected positions on the University Senate with 2007-2009 terms.  These meetings should be occurring within the next couple of weeks.  The process by which each school and the library elects its respective University Senators should be determined by its respective faculty and is due by December 1, while election results are due by February 1.  The letter from the Executive Committee to the School and Library Deans is available on the web at  http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/univ_senate/Elections_0708/DeanLetter.htm

5.      Each standing committee chair shared their meeting agenda for October 6 with the other committee chairs and Executive Committee.

5.      An On-line Senator Database was developed by students under the supervision of Dr. Tanya Goette in three phases: (1) prototypes were developed as class projects during the Fall 2005 semester (2) an independent study student merged the prototypes during Summer 2006 (3) Dr. Goette made some final refinements as the database was seeded in Summer 2006.  This database allows one to see rosters of committees and the University Senate for the entire history of the Senate including the 2002-2003 interim year as well as a history of all committees and senate terms for a given individual.  This is now accessible from the University Senate page.  Its direct link is http://oldcapitol.gcsu.edu/senatemembers/

6.      An On-line Motion Database has been under development by Mr. Jay Lancaster in consultation with the Executive Committees during the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years.  This database allows one to track a motion through the Senate review process from committee consideration to senate review to Presidential review to Board of Regents review (if required) and finally to indicate the individual named as implementer when appropriate.  This is now accessible from the University Senate page.  Its direct link is http://oldcapitol.gcsu.edu/senate/. 

7.      The University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee (USBGCC) is continuing to review the bylaws.  This is an administrative committee that reports to President Leland.  The membership of this committee is the ECUS members from 2002-2006 and the current and past Staff Council Chairs.  This committee met on Wednesday August 23 and Wednesday August 30 and Wednesday September 13 to continue to discuss and refine the draft of a revised committee structure.  At present, the hope is to draft bylaws revisions by early November 2006 to allow this body adequate time to consider the proposed revisions to committee structure, scope, and composition for possible implementation for the 2007-2008 academic year.  The url for the committee webpage is  http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/univ_senate/USBGCC/index.htm

8.      Upcoming on the University Senate Calendar

·        No later than Su, Oct 1, Apportionment Report to US

·        Fri, Oct 6, Standing Committee Meetings of AGC, BPC, SAC, and USCt

·        Sun Oct 15 Motions Due to ECUS

·        Sun Oct 22 US Meeting Agenda to Senators;

·        Tue Oct 24 Joint SCC/ECUS Meeting for Agenda Coordination for November 3, 2006 Committee Meetings

·        Mon Oct 30 US Meeting

9.      The Governing Concepts that were developed by the University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee during 2005-2006 and discussed at the 2006 governance retreat are being proposed for adoption.  Dr. Lee Gillis is here to provide a report as a member of the USBGCC.  The seven Governing Concepts are

a.       Shared Sense of Purpose,

b.       Investment in Shared Governance

c.        Positive Motivators

d.       Adequate Resources

e.         Shared Information

f.         Transparent Decision Making

g.       Collegial Leadership

 

TEXT OF MOTION 0607.EC.001.O: To adopt the supporting document as the official specification of the Governing Concepts of the University Senate including the preface that articulates their purpose.