REGULAR MEETING OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE FACULTY SENATE

Meeting Minutes

December 3, 2007

104 Gore Hall                                                                                                  4:00 pm

 

I.             Adoption of the Agenda

Approved
 

II.          Approval of the Minutes: November 5, 2007

Approved 

III.       Remarks: Provost Dan Rich. The University of Delaware mission statement is located at the Faculty Handbook website (http://www.udel.edu/provost/fachb/foreword.html).  A new mission statement is being developed and will be brought to the Faculty Senate for comments. The Board of Trustees approves the mission statement with recommendation from the faculty.

Historical Overview of Strategic Financial University Indicators. The University is a state-assisted private governing institution.  In fiscal year (FY) 2007, the operating budget was $654 million, up from $617 million in FY 2006.  The dollar amounts are actual dollars not adjusted for inflation.  The revenue from tuition and fees was $282 million in FY 2007 and $271 million in FY 2006.  The state appropriation to the University in FY 2007 was $123 million and $116 million in FY 2006.  The state appropriation represents a small, but still critically important, percentage of the operating budget, about 19% in FY 2007.  The percentage was about 30% several decades ago.  Contracts and grants contributed $130 million in FY 2007 and $124 million in FY 2006 to the operating budget.  The endowment balance in 2007 was $1.4 billion; the return on investments and gifts were $78 million in FY2007. During FY 2007, $333 million was spent on instruction, compared to $316 million in FY 2006.  There is a growing difference between tuition paid by nonresidents compared to residents, currently about $10,000. Approximately 61% of the financial aid awarded is from William Ford direct loans.

IV.        Announcements: Senate President Alan Fox.  A Residence Life council is being formed and will produce a report that will be sent to the Faculty Senate Student Life Committee, chaired by Matt Robinson. The report will go to the Executive Committee then to the entire Faculty Senate.  Resident Life programs will never be mandatory, and resident assistants will not conduct private interviews. Copies of the interviews conducted earlier are to be locked up until a time that they can be destroyed.  Until a new complete program is developed, the Student Life Committee will run the program.  It will be informal and focus on citizenship.  It is important for faculty to “step up” to participate in the program.

The February meeting of the Faculty Senate will be
February 11, 2008.

V.           Items For Information

A.   Revision of School of Nursing Graduate Policy (checklist attachment)

B.   Request to add a specialization in Disability Services Leadership and Management (attachment) (attachment1) (attachment2)

VI.           Consent Agenda

A.   Announcements for Challenge

1.         Recommendation from the Committee on Graduate Studies (Charles Mason, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Amy Johnson, Chair) and the Executive Committee (Alan Fox, Chair) for the revision of Clinical Nurse Specialist Concentration for MS in Nursing (checklist attachment) (policy)

Approved.

B.   Resolutions

1.      Recommendation from the Committee on Graduate Studies (Charles Mason, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Amy Johnson, Chair) and the Executive Committee (Alan Fox, Chair) for the request to add a new Master of Science in Bioresources Engineering (attachment) (attachment) (attachment)

Whereas,          in 2001, the Bioresources Engineering Department underwent an academic program review.  In preparing the self study report there was discussion at several department meetings on graduate education. The academic program review team cited the lack of a graduate program as one of the weaknesses of the Department, and 

Whereas,          several of the faculty members have joint appointments in the College of Engineering and the Department participates in the interdisciplinary Operations Research graduate program, however, this approach has not been entirely successful. In particular it has been difficult for new faculty to utilize and advise graduate students in their research under the current arrangements, and

Whereas,          it was decided that the Department needed to create opportunities for the new faculty members that have been hired since 2001 to advise and utilize graduate students in their research.  The only satisfactory way to do this is to develop an MS program in Bioresources Engineering.  A new water resources engineering faculty member has been hired and there will be three additional faculty members retiring within the next four to seven years. The MS program will help in recruiting new faculty, be it therefore

Resolved,         that the Faculty Senate recommends that this degree be established in the Department of Bioresources Engineering provisionally for five years.

Approved

2.      Recommendation from the Committee on Graduate Studies (Charles Mason, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Amy Johnson, Chair) and the Executive Committee (Alan Fox, Chair) for the request to grant permanent approval of the Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology Management from the College of Business and Economics (attachment 1)  (attachment 2)

Whereas,          on March 3, 2002 the Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology Management was granted provisional status, and

Whereas,          there were no significant concerns expressed in the self study and by the individual reviewers, and

Whereas,          there are currently 30 students in various stages of completing the MS plus another 10 students who are working on dual degrees,                    and,

Whereas,          students are obtaining jobs in public accounting firms, and with consulting firms in management and administrative positions, and

Whereas,          resources are not a problem as they have gained 4 tenure-track faculty members during this time which has put the program in excellent shape to handle the MS in IS&TM, be it therefore

Resolved,         that the Faculty Senate recommends that the Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology Management be granted permanent status. 

Approved

     VI.   Regular Agenda 

A.     Old Business:  None

B.     New Business: Confirmation of Appointments

1.      Pat Barber, member of the Faculty Senate Committee on Retired, Retiring and Emeriti Faculty

2.       James Swasey, member of the Faculty Senate Committee on Retired, Retiring and Emeriti Faculty

3.      Robert Taggart, chair of the Faculty Senate Committee on Retired, Retiring and Emeriti Faculty

Approved

VII.      Introduction of New Business

Such items as may come before the Senate.  (No motion introduced under new business, except a motion to refer to committee, shall be acted upon until the next meeting of the Senate.)

Academic calendar question, what imput can faculty have? Determined by administraton. Dan Rich

 

Adjourned 4:35.

Submitted by Donald Lehman