Executive Committee Report given at the Sep 24, 2007 University Senate Meeting

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

Members:  President Leland, Vice President Gormly, Doug Goings (SoB),  Bill Richards (Library)

Officers:  Secretary: Chris Greer (SoE), Vice-Chair: Kendra Russell (SoHS), Chair: Craig Turner (SoLAS)

SUMMARY (an approximation to what was shared orally at the September 24 University Senate meeting)

• Since the August 27, 2007 meeting of the 2007-08 University Senate, ECUS has had two joint meetings with Standing Committee Chairs (Aug 30, Sep 20) and two elected faculty workshops (Sep 6, Sep 13). 
• Our standing weekly meeting time is Thursday from 9:30-10:45.
• In the Books (work which is complete)
  • finalized the agenda for the September 24, 2007 University Senate meeting
  • supplied committees with an email listserv to facilitate intra-committee communication
  • finalized the initial drafts of guidance documents for each standing committee to provide a menu of policy relevant to the respective committee scope at the institutional and Board of Regents levels.
    • APC (Kendra), CAPC (Chris), FAPC (Craig), RPIPC (Doug), SAPC (Bill)
  • planned and implemented under the superb leadership of Kendra Russell a Standing Committee Officer Orientation, held on Friday September 14, 2007 from 12:30-1:45 in Atkinson 110
  • met with Standing Committee Chairs twice to coordinate committee meeting agendas and share information (met Aug 30 in regard to Sep 7 committee meetings, met Sep 20 in regard to Oct 5 committee meetings)
• In Progress (work which is ongoing)
  • developing a set of meeting etiquette guidelines for University Senate consideration
  • considering and exploring the implementation of electronic communication tools (webpages, myCATS tab) that would provide a means by which the university community could access the business of the university senate at a glance as well as submit suggestions (essentially an electronic suggestion box), anonymously if preferred, regarding any facet of the University Senate,
  • transition of the online motion database to support the new committee structure
  • apportionment of thirty-four of the thirty-six (the remaining two are at-large) elected faculty positions to the schools and library is on hold pending the availability of the final draft of the Corps of Instruction list, expected now on Wed Sep 26.  This should allow the apportionment to be completed and shared with the University Senate (likely by email) in compliance with the Oct 1 deadline in the University Senate Bylaws.
  • exercising our oversight responsibility for
    • elected faculty senators (letters and supporting documents in preparation for school/library deans as well as drafting a plan for transition from two to three year terms)
    • elected staff senators (seeking guidance from staff council regarding bylaws language for staff positions on University Senate),
    • selected student senators (received feedback from Student Government Association leaders proposing changes to the timeline for the naming of student representatives to the University Senate to align better with the election calendar of SGA officers)
  • reviewing proposed University Senate Bylaws revisions including
    • aligning the calendar of selected students on University Senate with SGA calendar
    • aligning the logistics of elected staff on University Senate with Staff Council preferences
    • reducing from two to one the number of organizational meeting of committees and electing all three officers (chair, vice-chair, secretary) in April/May
• Steering:
  • Scholarly Misconduct Policy and Procedures Proposal formally steered to RPIPC on August 30
• The next meeting of the Executive Committee is an elected faculty workshop scheduled for Thursday, September 27, 2007 from 9:30-10:45 in Arts & Sciences 1-16
• It is now my pleasure to invite the Chair of the SubCommittee on Nominations, Dr. Douglas Goings, to provide you a report regarding a replacement member for the Academic Policy Committee.

DETAILS  (providing more comprehensive information for each of the individual committee meetings)

1. Since the last University Senate meeting (August 27, 2007), the Executive Committee met jointly with the Standing Committee Chairs on both August 30, 2007 and September 20, 2007.  In addition, the elected faculty members of the Executive Committee met on September 6, 2007 and September 13, 2007
2. Throughout, the following acronyms will be used.
   • Academic Policy Committee (APC)
   • Curriculum and Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC)
   • Executive Committee of the University Senate (ECUS)
   • Faculty Affairs Policy Committee (FAPC)
   • Resources, Planning, and Institutional Policy Committee (RPIPC)
   • Standing Committee Chairs (SCC)
   • Student Affairs Policy Committee (SAPC)
   • SubCommittee on Nominations (SCoN)
   • University Senate (US)
3. On August 30, 2007, the Executive Committee (ECUS) met jointly with Standing Committee Chairs and
   • introduced the graduate assistant, Donna Fuller, to the standing committee chairs who are

APC (Jan Clark), CAPC (Deborah Vess), FAPC (Todd Shiver), RPIPC (Doug Oetter), SAPC (Jennifer Hammack)

• invited feedback on a draft of the myCATS tab for University Senate, a front page summarizing the activity of the university senate with a channel (window) for each committee.  Of particular interest was whether committees would be willing and able to provide the information to support the environment which essentially involves maintaining an html page of headlines (likely agenda items for upcoming meetings) and as appropriate the details behind the headlines (supporting documents if any that would articulate any relevant details to substance, progress and timeline of the agenda item).  At present this myCATS tab is under development and accessible only on the developmental server, but if committees are willing to support this initiative, this tab would be made accessible to anyone having access to the myCATS environment.
• announced the existence of the committee email lists designed to facilitate intra-committee communication, noting there is a list for each committee (apc, capc, ecus, fapc, rpipc, sapc) as well as sco (standing committee officers), scc (standing committee chairs) and scon (subcommittee on nominations)
• noted the attendance procedure for tracking an attendance record (present, regrets, absent) for each committee member and senator, noting that a website provides one method by which a committee member or university senator could extend regrets (inform the chair and secretary in advance that (s)he would be unable to attend a particular meeting)
• invited feedback on draft one of meeting etiquette guidelines for University Senate
• discussed oral reports of committees at monthly meetings of the University Senate noting that these reports should summarize committee activity since the previous University Senate meeting as well as include motions (if any) submitted by the committee for consideration by the University Senate.  Such motions should be accompanied by a summary of the committee deliberation producing the motion as this supports informed decisions by all University Senators.  The Motion Flow Checklist and Flow of University Senate Business documents on the website provide guidance and context for filing motions.  Also noted that each month, a written report should be filed by each committee chair and that this written report would likely vary slightly (provide greater or lesser detail) from the oral report given at the meeting.
• discussed the annual comprehensive report for committees, typically due in late April or early May, and the template outlining the information that should be included in these reports, noting that this template was a living document and could be revised for the 2007-2008 academic year as deemed necessary.
• discussed the online motion database and noted that at present the system is in transition with programming modifications being developed to support the current committee structure (APC, CAPC, ECUS, FAPC, RPIPC, SAPC).  Each committee should designate an individual to enter motions on its behalf, and once the online system supports the new committee structure, access to the system will be given to these designees by the system administrator (currently Craig Turner) of the online motion database.
• invited standing committee chairs to suggest topics for discussion and agenda items for the standing committee officer orientation scheduled for Fri Sep 14, an event that is being coordinated by Kendra Russell.
• noted that guidance documents providing references to policy at the Board of Regents and institutional levels relevant to the scope of each standing committee, some of which are still in preparation while others are posted to the respective committee website, were drafted by

                                                         i.      APC (Kendra), CAPC (Chris), FAPC (Craig), RPIPC (Doug), SAPC (Bill)

• identified 9:30-10:45 on Th Sep 20 and Th Oct 25 as times for meetings of SCC and ECUS
• noted that the Scholarly Misconduct Policy and Procedure proposal is being steered to RPIPC for review and consideration.  The primary reason it is going to RPIPC is because of the broad interpretation of the term scholar to include students and staff in addition to faculty.  Had the policy applied the term scholar to only faculty, it would have been steered to FAPC for consideration.
• Each committee chair shared the anticipated agenda of the September 7 meeting of his/her committee -- details of these reports are available in the ECUS minutes for this Aug 30 meeting.
3. On September 6, 2007, the elected faculty of the Executive Committee met and
   • discussed and planned the Standing Committee Officer Orientation (SCOO) noting

                                                         i.      The SCOO is scheduled for Fri Sep 14, 2007 from 12:30 to 1:45 in Atkinson 110

                                                       ii.      Kendra Russell is the point person for the SCOO

                                                      iii.      individual sessions of the SCOO are assigned to each elected faculty member as follows

·        Secretary Workshop - Chris and Doug

·        Chair/Vice-Chair Workshop - Kendra and Bill

·        Welcome, Motion Logistics, and Final Words - Craig

·        myCATS tab, committee web presence, and guidance documents - Bill

·        registration, mistress of ceremonies, and logistics of all else - Kendra

·        duplication of handouts and registration support - Donna Fuller

• discussed the faculty elections oversight responsibility of the Executive Committee noting

                                                         i.      Doug Goings is the point person for this matter and is also the Chair of the SubCommittee on Nominations (SCoN) for the 2007-2008 academic year

                                                       ii.      Doug will prepare drafts of supporting documents including a cover letter for the dean of each school and the library

                                                      iii.      each of the elected faculty will meet with his/her respective dean to share this information

SoHS (Kendra), SoE (Chris), SoLAS (Craig), SoB(Doug), Library (Bill)

                                                     iv.      deadlines are: filing election procedures by Dec 1 and election implementation by Feb 1

                                                       v.      the corps of instruction list is anticipated on September 15 and that the apportionment of thirty-four of the thirty-six elected faculty positions to the schools/library is based on this list

                                                     vi.      a plan to make the transition from two to three year terms of service for elected faculty senators.  At present, eighteen elected faculty senators are elected each academic year.  The transition would be as follows

·        for the eighteen elected faculty positions with term of service ending April 2008, assign three year terms (Apr 2008 to Apr 2011) to six positions, and two year terms (Apr 2008 to Apr 2010) to the remaining twelve positions

·        for the eighteen elected faculty positions with term of service ending April 2009, assign three year terms (Apr 2009 to Apr 2012) to twelve positions and two year terms (Apr 2009 to Apr 2011) to the remaining six positions

·        This would result in twelve of the thirty-six elected faculty positions requiring replacement each year effective April 2010, the successors of whom would be elected for three year terms of service during the preceding academic year (the 2009-2010 academic year for those with terms ending April 2010, the 2010-2011 academic year for those with terms ending April 2011, etc.)

• discussed the process and progress on naming a replacement to APC to fill the non-Senator position vacated with the resignation of Lynn Waits from GCSU.
• reviewed the second draft of the meeting etiquette guidelines for University Senate.  Bill and Doug agreed to prepare a third draft in response to the committee consensus that in its current form the list was too detailed and lengthy to be operational.
• reviewed available drafts of committee guidance documents (menu of policy for committee review including references to relevant polices at university and BoR levels) offering the preparer constructive suggestions for refinement and improvement of the drafts

                                                         i.      APC (Kendra), CAPC (Chris), FAPC (Craig), RPIPC (Doug), SAPC (Bill)

• reviewed the content of the University Senate Bylaws Parking Lots (list of issues for which bylaws revisions should be considered) clarifying the items on the list and agreeing to the following plan by which to consider these matters.  Craig Turner and Ken Farr will serve as a drafting committee and the elected faculty members of ECUS (Bill Richards, Doug Goings, Chris Greer, Kendra Russell, and Craig Turner) will be the initial consulting committee to discuss the issue and jointly determine whether the issue necessitates any bylaws revisions.  Consultation outside this consulting group was authorized to obtain a broader perspective as appropriate, including but not limited to:

                                                         i.       the Student Government Association officers are being consulted on the logistics and calendar of naming student members of the University Senate,

                                                       ii.      Staff Council officers are being consulted on the logistics and calendar of naming staff senators, and

                                                      iii.      standing committee officers will be consulted regarding the issue of whether the current practice of two organizational committee meetings (April/May (elect chair) and August (elect vice-chair, secretary)) should be reduced to a single organizational meeting in April/May at which all officers would be elected.

5. On September 13, 2007, the elected faculty of the Executive Committee met and
   • finalized the agenda for the University Senate meeting scheduled for September 24, 2007 noting that Doug Goings will provide a report as Chair of the SubCommittee on Nominations (SCoN) with a motion for a replacement member of APC, and that this report will immediately follow the ECUS report.
   • attended to final details for the Standing Committee Officer Orientation (SCOO) led by Kendra Russell scheduled for Friday Sep 14 from 12:30 -1:45 in Atkinson 110 noting that the supporting documents for this meeting including the agenda and invitation are available at the SCOO webpage.
   • discussed the faculty elections oversight responsibility of ECUS noting

                                                         i.      Doug Goings is the point person for this responsibility and is Chair of the SCoN

                                                       ii.      the letter and supporting documents for school deans are still in preparation

                                                      iii.      the corps of instruction list is anticipated on September 15 and that the apportionment of the thirty-four elected faculty positions to schools and the library is based on this list

                                                     iv.      there are a total of thirty six elected faculty positions and two are at-large

• reviewed the third draft of the meeting etiquette guidelines for University Senate.  Bill and Doug agreed to prepare a fourth draft in response to the committee consensus that the list could be further streamlined and that some of the existing items on the list that were not etiquette matters might be preserved as informational items
• set the tentative agenda for the September 20 joint meeting of ECUS and standing committee chairs
• Kendra Russell agreed to draft a resignation procedure for committee review
• reviewed two of the proposed bylaws changes from the University Senate Bylaws Parking Lot

                                                         i.      endorsed the recommendation from the Student Government Association (SGA) to align the calendar for selected student senators with the SGA elections by changing the deadline for  the procedure and eligibility and results for selected student senators to "no later than March 31" rather than the deadlines of Dec 1 (eligibility and procedure) and Feb 1 (results) in the current University  Senate Bylaws.  The SGA President and Executive Board are typically named (elected) by the end of February and the interest is that the SGA Officers have influence on the process by which the student representatives are nominated to the University Senate during their terms of service. (i.e. officers for 2008-2009 would have influence over the selection of students serving during 2008-2009, officers for 2009-2010 would have influence over the selection of students serving  during 2009-2010, etc.)

                                                       ii.      in favor of combining standing committee organizational meetings (electing all officers in April/May rather than electing chair in April/May and secretary/vice-chair in August) yet agreed to seek a broader perspective and consult with standing committee officers at the Standing Committee Officer Orientation on September 14 regarding this matter

6. On September 20, 2007, the Executive Committee met jointly with Standing Committee Chairs and
   • Received information from President Leland regarding the budget calendar for 2008-2009, construction updates, as well as perspectives on system-wide proposals on advising and retention that are under development.  For additional details see the minutes of the Sept 20 ECUS meeting.
   • Each of the chairs shared information about his/her respective committee; details in the ECUS meeting minutes for Sep 20.
   • Craig Turner invited feedback on the standing committee officer orientation and acknowledged the excellent work of Kendra Russell in planning and implementing the orientation.
   • A couple of clarification suggestions were offered to draft 4 of the meeting etiquette guidelines and after incorporating these suggestions, Doug Goings will share this draft with the University Senate.
   • Apportionment of thirty-four of the thirty-six (the remaining two are at-large) elected faculty positions to the schools and library is on hold pending the availability of the final draft of the Corps of Instruction list, expected now on Wed Sep 26.  This should allow the apportionment to be completed and shared with the University Senate (likely by email) in compliance with the Oct 1 deadline in the University Senate Bylaws.
   • An update on the preparation of handouts to facilitate faculty elections oversight was provided by Doug Goings.  Each meeting participant was given a handout that showed the elected faculty that are members of the 2007-2008 University Senate including details on their term of service.  A plan to transition from two to three year terms of service for elected faculty senators was provided.  The short of it is that at present eighteen of the thirty six (one-half) elected faculty are replaced annually, whereas beginning in 2009-2010 twelve of the thirty-six (one-third) elected faculty will be replaced annually.
7. The next meeting of the Executive Committee is an elected faculty workshop scheduled for Thursday, September 27, 2007 from 9:30-10:45 in Arts & Sciences 1-16.