Executive Committee Report 11-27-06

Executive Committee Report intended for the Nov 27, 2006 University Senate Meeting (but time ran out)

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)

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

Prepared by Craig Turner (craig.turner@gcsu.edu, 478.445.0973)

1. The Executive Committee met November 14, 2006 and the elected faculty members of the Executive Committee met on November 7, 2006 to review the contents of the ECUS parking lot, our committee to-do list. Items 2-5 of this report were considered at our November 14 meeting.

2. In the future, the Executive Committee hopes to provide further clarification of definitions and examples of policy, procedure, information, and concern items, as there is presently an attempt to classify agenda items for a committee using the convention of PIC – Policy, Information, Concerns. The University Senate is the policy-making body of the University subject to the approval of the President, while administrators implement policy and have the authority and responsibility to draft and revise the procedures and forms by which policy is implemented.
The committee’s recent progress in this area is a refinement of the working draft of the operational definition of policy in consultation with the University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee (USBGCC). The primary concern of USBGCC was that the statement should be recorded in writing, thus “statement” was changed to “statement of record”. An annotated list of the drafts attributing those involved in their development follows.
Definition of policy (Drafted by ECUS faculty Oct 3, Reviewed by ECUS Oct 10, Shared with SCC Oct 24)

Shared with University Senate on October 30, 2006

A policy is a statement that governs the conduct of the University Community or a general principle that guides University affairs.

DRAFT 2 from University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee (USBGCC) on 11-08-06

A policy is a binding statement of record that

(A) governs the conduct of the university community and/or

(B) embodies a general principle that guides university affairs.

DRAFT 3 from ECUS on 11-14-06 (endorsed by USBGCC on 11-15-06)

A policy is a statement of record that governs the conduct of the university community and/or embodies a general principle that guides university affairs.

Illustrative Examples from ECUS on 11-14-06

One example of policy of the first type (statement of record that governs the conduct of the university community) is the Shared Leave Policy (October 2004). Roughly, the policy is “Leave can be shared under certain conditions” (see page 35 of the Employee Handbook for the entire policy statement), and the University Senate reviewed the initial process by which leave would be shared which accompanied the policy. The administrator charged to implement this policy (Director of Human Resources) has the authority and responsibility to revise the procedures by which leave is shared as necessary, while the University Senate has the authority and responsibility to review and revise the policy as necessary.

One example of policy of the second type (statement of record that embodies a general principle that guides university affairs) is the Rights and Responsibilities of Students (March/April 2006). Some of these rights and responsibilities reference existing policies. For example one policy is roughly that “Faculty members shall post their office hours and designate a minimum of one clock hour per day during which (s)he is available to students” (Academic Affairs Handbook 2.10.02). Note that the corresponding student right is “The right to consult with faculty outside usual classroom times such as regularly scheduled office hours, by appointment, or online” while the corresponding student responsibility is “The responsibility to approach faculty with questions or concerns.”

3. The Executive Committee reviewed the language in the bylaws for administrative committees and forwarded recommendations to the University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee which they (USBGCC) may consider at their next meeting scheduled for Wednesday December 6, 2006 from 12:30-1:45 in Arts & Sciences 1-16.

4. Finally, the Executive Committee is beginning to draft checklists for the major, reoccurring tasks that it oversees including Standing Committee Organizational Meeting, Governance Calendar Preparation, Governance Retreat Planning, Elections of Faculty Senators Oversight and At-Large Election Implementation. Also in preparation is an Executive Committee Calendar indicating the responsibilities to which the committee should attend for each month. Each of the aforementioned checklists and the calendar will be reviewed by the Executive Committee during January 2007, and these items may become part of the 2006-2007 Executive Committee Annual Report or form the basis for a Standing Operating Procedures Manual for future Executive Committees to reference. One reason this information is being shared is the possibility that other committees may wish to do something similar.

5. The next Executive Committee meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, December 5, 2006, is a joint meeting with the Standing Committee Chairs to share information and coordinate agendas for the committee meetings scheduled for January 12, 2007. This is anticipated to be the final meeting of the 2006 calendar year for the Executive Committee.

6. University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee (USBGCC) is proposing revisions to the current committee structure of the University Senate. The most current draft of the proposal is attached (Committee Scopes (word document) and Committee Structure (excel format))and being shared as an information item. The USBGCC welcomes all input and hopes to finalize its draft soon for Senate consideration at the Jan 2007 meeting for possible implementation in 2007-2008. The next meeting of the USBGCC is scheduled for Wed, Dec 6 (READING DAY) 12:30-1:45 in Arts & Sciences 1-16. Share your feedback with any member of the committee USBGCC Membership: J.W. Good (chair), Betty Block, Cheryl Reynolds, Ken Farr, Lee Gillis, Mike Whitfield, Jude Hirsch, Craig Turner, Tanya Goette, Karynne Kleine, Kendra Russell, VP Gormly, Neil Jones, Gina Peavy.