Executive Committee Report 01-29-07

Executive Committee Report given at the Jan 29, 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)

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

1. The Executive Committee met January 16, 2007 and jointly with standing committee chairs on December 5, 2006 and January 23, 2007. In addition, the elected faculty members of the Executive Committee met on January 9, 2007. A summary of the business conducted at these meetings follows.

2. The elected faculty members of the Executive Committee are preparing checklists for annually reoccurring tasks such as Standing Committee Officer Orientation, 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 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 and keep current.

3. At the joint meetings with standing committee chairs, the following items were considered

· An operational definition of policy, including illustrative examples, requesting (on Dec 5) each chair share this information with his/her committee at a future meeting, This information can be found in the November 2006 ECUS report to the University Senate.

· Finalized the 2007-2008 Governance Calendar (on Dec 5), [This calendar tags common meeting blocks as priority times for meetings of university senate, university senate standing committees, schools, school committees, and departments. In addition, dates for University Faculty meetings, Academic Division Meetings, University Senate Standing Committee Officer Orientation, and the Governance Retreat are identified. This calendar has been advertised via email to the university community.]

· Agenda items of each standing committee were shared (on both Dec 5 and Jan 23) to ensure that overlap among committee agendas is intentional, and to share information among committees through their respective chairs,

· Shared some operational suggestions (called ongoing reminders to standing committee chairs) to promote communication both within a committee and across committees as well as intentional communication of committee business to the university community (e.g. students, staff, faculty , administrators) in ways beyond the posting of minutes,

· Engaged in a discussion critiquing committee reports at Senate meetings asking how much detail should be included in the context of “What’s working?” and “What’s not working?” culminating with the observation that such reports strive to be both informative and brief.

4. In its steering committee function, the executive committee routed

· A proposed Conflict of Interest Policy to the University Services Committee (on Jan 16)

· A proposed Scholarly Misconduct Policy to the Academic Governance Committee (on Jan 16)

5. The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 6, 2007 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

6. University Senate Bylaws and Governing Concepts Committee** (USBGCC) has submitted a proposal for revisions to the bylaws of the University Senate. At its January 16 meeting, the Executive Committee agreed to sponsor, in the form of a motion for University Senate consideration, these proposed revisions. A handout has been distributed today which includes an executive summary, an advertisement for the information session Jan 31 at 1:00 p.m in A&S 2-72, tables showing committee compositions and university senate composition as proposed, the proposed language for standing committee memberships and scopes, and a frequently asked questions document. As USBGCC Chair, Dr. J.W. Good will now present a committee report providing contextual information for Motion 0607.EC.002.B: To recommend that the supporting document entitled "University Senate Bylaws, DRAFT for University Senate Review 01-10-07" replace the existing University Senate Bylaws

**USBGCC Membership: Dr. J. W. Good (Chair), Dr. Betty Block, Dr. Ken Farr, Dr. Lee Gillis, Dr. Tanya Goette, Dr. Anne Gormly, Dr. Jude Hirsch, Mr. Neil Jones, Dr. Karynne Kleine, Ms. Gina Peavy, Dr. Cheryl Reynolds, Dr. Kendra Russell, Mr. Quintus Sibley, Dr. Craig Turner, Dr. Mike Whitfield.