Members excused: Carolyn Thoroughgood, Sue
McGeary
I.Jay Hildebrant called the meeting to order.
II.A change in the agenda was noted.Item V.B. was moved to announcements because as stated in Section IX of the Faculty Senate Constitution, a written notice of intent to amend must be received by the faculty one week prior to the meeting in which the proposed amendment is to be considered.
III.Remarks were given by Provost Dan Rich updating the Faculty Senate on recent campus events.He noted that his presentation on academic activities, given at the previous Faculty Senate meeting, was now on the UD website.He stated that UD was ranked sixth in the nation regarding the number of students participating in study abroad programs and UD had the highest number among public institutions.He said that the Faculty Handbook will be updated and modified to make it more user friendly and accurate.The admissions pattern is very encouraging.The admissions totals are running higher as compared to last year at this time, when records were set for numbers of both undergraduate and graduate applicants (which were 20,300 and 6,300, respectively).
IV.David Hollowell, Executive Vice President, gave a presentation on the current state of the UD budget.On Sept. 15, 2002 the FY03 UD budget was in balance and the FY04 was assumed in balance.OnSept. 16, 2002, the state announced a $95 million shortfall in FY03 and a projected $134 million shortfall in FY04 with the deficit expected to get larger.The ongoing renovations on campus will continue, but the renovation of Brown Lab will be delayed.Private funds are being sought for the new Center for the Arts.Fiscal projections are somewhat uncertain at this time as low interest rates mean low investment income.Presently 4.5 to 5.5% of the endowment is spent annually.Insurance rates are expected to climb.Consequently, there was a mid-year tuition increase to generate an additioanl $1.5 million in FY03 and $3.5 million in FY04.Reductions in UD expenditures are anticipated to be long-term.Other states and state universities are in a similar situation, many are facing more difficult fiscal problems than UD.Discussion followed the presentation.
V.Announcements – Jay Hildebrandt.
Karren Helsel-Spry is expected to be out of the Faculty Senate office for another three weeks on medical leave.
Approval of the meeting minutes from November 4, 2002 will be delayed until the next meeting of the Faculty Senate.
The report from the Committee of Faculty Welfare and Privileges will be on the website as will be the response of the Executive Committee in January.
Currently there is a dearth of input for Faculty Senate business, but more work is anticipated in February.Ken Koford (Chair, Committee on Undergraduate Studies) interjected that the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources have submitted materials for Faculty Senate business.He also said that discussion on multicultural requirements should be entertained by the Faculty Senate as the Committee on Undergraduate Studies cannot reach on consensus on such matters as the number of required credits.
VI.Old business-none.
VII.New business-none.
VIII.The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Dallas Hoover, Secretary.