Executive Committee Report given at the Nov 26, 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 November 26 University Senate meeting)

• Since the October 29, 2007 meeting of the 2007-08 University Senate, ECUS held two elected faculty workshops (Nov 1, Nov 8), and one joint meeting with the Standing Committee Chairs (Nov 15). 
• Our standing weekly meeting time is Thursday from 9:30-10:45 for Fall 2007, and to be determined for Spring 2008.
• Informational
  • Faculty Governance Coordination
    • North Georgia College and State University faculty governance leaders hosted a meeting on Friday November 9, 2007 from 10 am to 3 pm  This meeting was intended for faculty governance leaders at the twelve senior colleges in the University System of Georgia that have about the same size and did focus on the exchange of information on best practices.  Five of these twelve institutions were represented at the meeting and discussions centered on governance issues. Craig Turner was the representative for GCSU at this meeting.  His notes for talking points at the meeting and his notes taken at the meeting are accessible on the University Senate webpage.
    • Faculty governance leaders at Clayton State University are hosting a shared governance coordination meeting for faculty governance leaders at all university system schools during Spring 2008.  Although the agenda for this meeting is still in the planning stages, the date has now been finalized as Friday March 14, 2008.  Additional information regarding this meeting will be shared as it becomes available.
  • Governance Retreat Planning Committee (GRPC)
    • the invitation to University Senators to join the GRPC extended at the Oct 2007 meeting did not enlarge the committee (no volunteers were identified)
    • the membership is Bill Richards (chair), Craig Turner, Todd Shiver, Carol Ormond, and Karen Higgs and
    • the GRPC will have its organizational meeting on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. in Arts & Sciences 1-16.
• In the Books (work which is complete)
  • finalized the agenda for the November 26, 2007 University Senate meeting
  • exercised our oversight responsibility for elected faculty senator positions, each elected faculty member on the Executive Committee has met with his/her respective dean to share information and University Senate Bylaws requirements pertaining to elected faculty positions.  The letter to the Deans including supporting documents are accessible on the elections web page.
  • met with Standing Committee Chairs on November 15 to share information and coordinate agendas for November 30, 2007 and January 11, 2008 standing committee meetings.
  • oversaw the transition of the online motion database to support the new committee structure, which was completed on Monday November 12.  I would like to acknowledge in particular the efforts of Jay Lancaster of Web Enabled Resources, for completing this work, primarily on his own time.  Jay Lancaster has been involved in the programming of this archival tool since its inception as a project for a one hour graduate course he completed with Dr. Harry Glover.
  • shifted the organizational meeting time of 2008-2009 University Senate committees from Monday April 28 to Wednesday April 30 (a READING DAY on the academic calendar).  The primary reason for this shift is to allow more time to alert standing committee members of this meeting, noting that these committee memberships are not final until endorsed by the 2008-09 University Senate at its organizational meeting on Friday Apr 25, 2008.
  • drafted a set of meeting etiquette guidelines for University Senate consideration.  This set of guidelines was developed in six drafts, endorsed by the attendees of the joint meeting of standing committee chairs and executive committee on Nov 15, is linked to the University Senate meeting agenda for today's (Nov 26, 2007) meeting, and will be presented to you by Bill Richards at the conclusion of this Executive Committee report.
• In Progress (work which is ongoing)
  • drafting a governance calendar for the 2008-2009 academic year. The governance calendar assigns five meeting types (department, school, school committee, University Senate and University Senate standing committee) to a common meeting time (12:30-1:45 Monday or Friday) for each month.  Draft four of the calendar was reviewed at the Nov 15 joint meeting of ECUS and standing committee chairs.  This calendar has undergone reviews at four recent meetings, two elected faculty workshops (Sep 27, Oct 4) and two with Standing Committee Chairs (Oct 25, Nov 15).
  • drafting both format and contents of a myCATS University Senate tab.  For a brief history on this matter see the October 2007 ECUS report.  Still in development is providing support of this tab to the student user group within myCATS.
  • exercising our oversight responsibility for
    • elected faculty senators (election procedures from schools and library due December 1)
    • elected staff senators (seeking guidance from Staff Council regarding bylaws language for staff positions on University Senate and election procedure due by December 1),
    • selected student senators (received feedback from Student Government Association leaders proposing University Senate Bylaws revisions to the timeline for the naming of student representatives to the University Senate to align better with the election calendar of SGA officers.  The proposed change allows SGA officers to determine and implement the selection process for the individual students holding student positions on the University Senate and SAPC and RPIPC that would serve the same academic year that these SGA officers hold their positions.)
  • reviewing proposed University Senate Bylaws revisions including
    • aligning the calendar of selected students on University Senate with SGA calendar
    • informing the calendar 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
    • introducing a formal resignation procedure for University Senators and committee members
    • revising the structure of the University Senate with respect to the six Presidential Appointees.  At present, the proposed revision is that (a) the number of Presidential Appointees to the University Senate be reduced from six to five (b) these five appointees be the Presidential appointees to the five standing committees (APC, CAPC, FAPC, RPIPC, and SAPC) and (c) the sixth Presidential appointee become instead a thirty-seventh elected faculty senator and be realized as a third university at-large elected faculty senator.
    • still under consideration is a proposal to remove the section on administrative committees from the bylaws and submit for University Senate consideration a resolution proposing the creation of a university-wide committee registry that would provide information such as membership rosters, charge, and meeting minutes of committees to those affected by the work of the respective committee.  The primary goal is to continue to support the ideals of transparency in decision-making as well as access to the information relevant to the deliberations within the decision-making process.
• Steering:  (No steering items were considered during November 2007)
• The next meeting of the Executive Committee is an elected faculty workshop scheduled for Thursday, November 29, 2007 from 9:30-10:45 in the President’s Conference Room.
• It is now my pleasure to invite Mr. Bill Richards to come to the front of the room and provide you a report on meeting etiquette guidelines.

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

1. Since the October 29, 2007 meeting of the 2007-08 University Senate, ECUS held two elected faculty workshops (Nov 1, Nov 8), and one joint meeting with the Standing Committee Chairs (Nov 15). 
2. Throughout this report, the following acronyms may be used.
   • Academic Policy Committee (APC)
   • Curriculum and Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC)
   • Executive Committee of the University Senate (ECUS)
   • Faculty Affairs Policy Committee (FAPC)
   • Governance Retreat Planning Committee (GRPC)
   • 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 November 1, 2007, the elected faculty members of the Executive Committee (ECUS) met and
   • prepared information to support the tentative agenda items for the best practices workshop.  Faculty governance leaders at North Georgia College and State University are hosting a meeting on Fri Nov 9 for coordination (sharing information and best practices) among faculty governance organizations at twelve universities (senior colleges of approximately the same size) within the University System of Georgia.  Craig and Bill are planning to attend this workshop to represent GCSU.  Craig agreed to prepare a draft of notes to summarize this discussion for review at the Nov 8 meeting.  Also given was a reminder that senate leaders at Clayton State University are proposing a meeting in Spring 2008 for coordination among the faculty governance organizations at all institutions within the University System of Georgia.
   • discussed proposed University Senate bylaws changes, specifically

                                                         i.      a draft resignation procedure for individuals to resign from University Senate or one of its committees.  Kendra agreed to prepare another draft for review at the Nov 8 meeting.

                                                       ii.      the Presidential Appointees issue (five Presidential appointee positions on committees but six Presidential Appointees to the University Senate).  This discussion led to a proposal that (a) the number of Presidential Appointees to the University Senate be reduced from six to five (b) these five appointees be the Presidential appointees to the five standing committees (APC, CAPC, FAPC, RPIPC, and SAPC) and (c) the sixth Presidential appointee become instead a thirty-seventh elected faculty senator and be realized as a third university at-large elected faculty senator.  Craig agreed to prepare a draft of this for review at the Nov 8 meeting.

4. On November 8, 2007, the elected faculty of the Executive Committee met and
   • reviewed the progress of the executive committee on the academic year noting that all items are in progress and on schedule.  A reminder of the point persons for annually recurring committee tasks was distributed including the timeline during which the task should be completed.  Noted that the at-large election work (preparing a process and an election implementation plan) should begin soon and that the organizational meeting of the Governance Retreat Planning Committee should be held (if possible) during the Fall 2007 semester.
   • reviewed the draft of the summary information for the shared governance coordination workshop at North Georgia College and State University on Fri Nov 9.  Craig and Bill were still planning to make the trip.  Craig agreed to incorporate the proposed revisions into the version he would take to the meeting.
   • finalized the tentative agenda for the joint meeting of executive committee and standing committee chairs scheduled for November 15.
   • discussed proposed University Senate Bylaws revisions including

                                                         i.      the second draft of a resignation procedure formalizing the process for an individual University Senator to resign his/her position on the University Senate including the committee on which he/she serves or for a non-Senator to resign his/her position from a University Senate Committee.  Several suggestions were made including

a.       notification of resignation should (1) be in writing (2) ideally originate from the individual resigning and (3) be sent directly to the Chair of the SubCommittee on Nominations (SCoN)

b.      theChair of SCoN would (1) inform the SCoN membership of the resignation and (2) arrange for a replacement to be named in the same manner of the original election, selection or appointment. 

c.       Kendra agreed to incorporate the suggestions to the draft and prepare a new version for review at a future elected faculty workshop.

                                                       ii.      noted that adjustments to the Elected Staff Senators section would be postponed pending the results of the ongoing discussion regarding this matter within Staff Council.

                                                      iii.      noted that the adjustments to Selected Student Senators section are informed by the Student Government Association (SGA) and involve

a.       adjusting the calendar for submission of the procedure and selection results to support the preferences of SGA as well as align better with the SGA officer election calendar.  The selection process, eligibility criteria, and results are proposed to be due on March 31 rather than the current deadlines of Dec 1 for procedure and Feb 1 for results.

b.      broadening the term “bylaws” to “governance documents” as some of the details are housed in the SGA constitution rather than SGA bylaws.

                                                     iv.      began discussion of the Administrative Committee issue, and agreed that the Executive Committee should get out of the business of registering administrative committees.  Tentatively proposed the deletion of the administrative committee section of the bylaws and that a companion resolution promoting a university-wide committee registry to promote transparency and access be simultaneously submitted as a resolution for University Senate consideration.  Craig agreed to attempt to capture the discussion in a draft that would be reviewed at a future elected faculty workshop.

5. On November 15, 2007, the Executive Committee met jointly with Standing Committee Chairs and
   • Received informational updates from President Leland on the following topics:
     • Budget for 2008-09 Academic Year:
       1. USG guidance has been available for about three weeks,
       2. institutional budget hearings were held (last week of October),
       3. strong ties between funding and the six part strategic plan of the University System of Georgia,
       4. our shadow budget (budget developed in the USG office) is very encouraging, and
       5. the final version of our budget proposal to the USG is due in a few days.
   • Received informational updates from Craig Turner on the following
     • University Senate tab in myCATS: where there is no change (still in development is supporting access to this tab for the student user group within myCATS).
     • online motion database: has now been updated to support the new committee structure (APC, CAPC, FAPC, RPIPC, SAPC).  The five motions for the upcoming University Senate meeting have been entered into this archival tool.
     •  faculty governance coordination within the University System:
       • North Georgia College and State University faculty governance leaders hosted a meeting on Friday November 9 from 10 am to 3 pm  This meeting was intended for faculty governance leaders at the twelve senior colleges in the University System of Georgia that have about the same size and did focus on the exchange of information on best practices.  Five of these twelve institutions were represented at the meeting and discussions centered on governance issues. Craig Turner was the representative for GCSU at this meeting.  His notes for talking points at the meeting and his notes taken at the meeting are accessible on the University Senate webpage.
       • Faculty governance leaders at Clayton State University are hosting a coordination meeting of faculty governance organizations at all institutions in the University System of Georgia during the Spring 2008 semester.  At this point, the date of the meeting is now set for Friday March 14, 2008.  Additional information will be shared as it becomes available.
     • Spring 2008 ECUS meeting scheduling including the joint meetings of ECUS with Standing Committee Chairs (SCC).  Each SCC and elected faculty ECUS member was requested to provide their Spring 2008 schedule to Craig by email to inform the scheduling of these meeting times.
   • received an update on the Governance Retreat Planning Committee (GRPC) from Bill Richards, noting that (a) the invitation to University Senators to join the GRPC extended at the Oct 2007 meeting did not enlarge the committee (no volunteers were identified) (b) the membership is Bill Richards (chair), Craig Turner, Todd Shiver, Carol Ormond, and Karen Higgs and (c) the GRPC will have an organizational meeting in 2007.
   • finalized the agenda for the University Senate meeting scheduled for November 26, 2007, There was consensus that the University Senate should attend to the disposition of business in favor of receiving informational reports.  To support this agreement, reports of committees that have submitted motions for consideration will be delivered to the University Senate prior to reports of the committees that have not submitted motions.  Also given was a reminder that a report with motions should culminate with the motions, and that consideration by the University Senate of each such motion should be prefaced by a summary of committee deliberation that led to that motion provided by the relevant committee chair.
   • Each of the chairs present shared information about his/her respective committee; the details of which are provided in the other committee reports given at the November 26, 2007 University Senate meeting.
   • reviewed the most current draft of the 2008-2009 Governance Calendar.  Chris Greer will incorporate the clarifications offered into what will likely be the final draft of the calendar, which may be reviewed by department chairs and deans before being finalized.
   • the Governance Calendar for 2007-08 was discussed noting that the 2008-09 University Senate Organizational Meeting (at which committee memberships for 2008-09 will be finalized) and the 2008-09 Committees Organizational Meetings (at which officers of 2008-2009 committees will likely be elected) are separated by only three days (a weekend).  There was consensus that there needs to be more time between these two meetings.  This resulted in agreement to shift the committee organizational meeting time from Monday April 28, 2008 to Wednesday April 30, 2008.  Craig will make this change to the governance calendar.
   • discussed the Meeting Etiquette Guidelines which included (primarily for humor) the addition of Marquess of Queensbury rules to the existing guidelines.  There was consensus that this draft of the meeting etiquette guidelines should be brought to the University Senate for consideration at its November 2007 meeting if possible.  This item will be considered as a sub-report of the ECUS report and delivered by Bill Richards.
   • discussion that standing committees consider reviewing their respective committee scope and composition in the University Senate Bylaws to determine if there is need for any revision to either.  It was mentioned that there has been a great deal of change in the university governance structure over the past five years and that committees should consider carefully any proposed changes.  It might be desirable to have stability in the governance structure.
   • requested feedback regarding the Presidential Appointees issue (six on University Senate but only five positions of this kind in the committee structure). A proposal by the elected faculty of ECUS to redistribute the six Presidential Appointees positions was provided for review.  The proposal reallocates these positions as follows:  (a) five of the six Presidential Appointee Senator positions will be identified with the five Presidential Appointees to committees, one to each standing committee (APC, CAPC, FAPC, RPIPC, SAPC) and (b) the sixth Presidential Appointee Senator position will be redirected and become a 37th elected faculty senator (and be the third at-large elected faculty senator position).  After some clarification and discussion, there was general consensus to support the proposal as presented.

6. The next meeting of the Executive Committee is an elected faculty workshop scheduled for Thursday, November 29, 2007 from 9:30-10:45 in the President’s Conference Room.