MEETING MINUTES

 

REGULAR MEETING OF THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE

 

9 MARCH 2009 – 104 GORE HALL

 

 

 

 

I.                   Adoption of the Agenda  - Faculty Senate President Amy Johnson called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.  One change was noted in the agenda prior to acceptance.  Originally the first resolution was posted incorrectly; the recent version was correct as published.  The agenda was accepted unanimously.

 

II.                Approval of Meeting Minutes from 9 February 2009 – The meeting minutes were accepted unanimously.

 

III.             Remarks by Provost Dan Rich -

            Dr. Rich announced his retirement as UD Provost.  He will become a full-time faculty member at UD when his resignation is official on 30 June 2009, but will first take a brief leave before returning to the faculty.  Dan recommended his successor to President Harker.  Dan was given a standing ovation by the faculty.

            President Harker then thanked Dan and described Dan’s many accomplishments relative to improvements and developments at UD during his tenure as Provost.  Dan will continue to lead some projects at UD, such as the Southern Delaware initiative.  Tom Apple has been designated as Dan’s successor.  Continuity in the Provost’s office was emphasized.  George Watson will serve as Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences until a national search identifies a new dean.  Tom Apple also made some remarks thanking both Dan and Pat.  Tom acknowledged Dan’s strengths and contributions.  He noted the Provost’s office as a key facilitator.  Tom shared his UD experiences while a Ph.D. student in chemistry here.

                                                                             

IV.                Announcements: Senate President Amy Johnson – 1.  Recommended requirements from the Ad hoc Breath Committee will be presented and voted upon at the April meeting of the Faculty Senate.  A plea was made for Senators to read these recommendations before that meeting.  2.  The spring UD General Faculty Meeting will precede the April Faculty Senate meeting.  3.  The April Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for later in the month,   20 April 2009.  4.  An earlier issue from Senator Jim Morrison concerning handicap access in Memorial Hall is currently being addressed.  5.  An earlier issue from Senator John Morgan concerning teaching credit hours and workload is being addressed.  John Morgan will meet with the Faculty Senate Executive Meeting later in March to discuss his concerns.  6.  The Faculty Senate Undergraduate Studies Committee is currently reviewing all UD Certificate programs for consistency.

 

V.                  Items For Information:  A update on the UD DLE was presented by John Madsen, Chair of the Faculty Senate Undergraduate Studies Committee.  His Power Point presentation is available online at the UD Faculty Senate website.  John explained the DLEs.  He noted an early April deadline for approval of last wave of proposed courses.  Currently 148 courses have been approved; however, 28 subject areas are lacking DLE courses, and six subject areas have no DLEs pending.  The DLE evaluation process was described with regard to reasons for rejection.  Presently, most UD students complete their DLE requirement as a senior, and 42% of UD undergrads do Study Abroad.  John explained the next step for development of the DLE process. 

 

VI.                Consent Agenda: Announcements for Challenge – None of the 33 items on the consent agenda were challenged; all were approved.

 

VII.              Regular Agenda: Resolutions – All five resolutions were voted upon and accepted by the Faculty Senate.

 

        The resolutions were:

1.      Permanent Status to the MS in OEDC combined program with revisions

2.      Permanent Status to the MBA in OEDC combined program with revisions

3.      New Accounting MS/MBA duel degree program

4.      New MS in Evaluation

5.      New Major in BS Neuroscience

 

VIII.            Introduction of New Business

 

Discussion – A question was asked of President Harker regarding the University’s current budget situation. President Harker replied that our budget is still in flux.  The State budget won’t be decided until the end of the fiscal year; however, the State budget is not life-threatening to UD.  The UD endowment went down, but not as much as seen at other institutions.  UD is not dependent on its endowment for its operating budget.  An increase in in-state applications as well as in-state transfers is anticipated; this will be a resource-strain.  There is a real potential for a tuition increase at UD, but not as much as compared to UD’s peer institutions.  UD’s first obligation is to Delawareans.  A tuition increase has not been discussed by the Board of Trustees.  UD continues to selectively hire faculty, and will control costs in other ways, but the economic climate is a great opportunity to recruit top faculty when other institutions are not hiring.  He said that the faculty union contract will be fulfilled and plans have been made to deal with various economic scenarios.

 

In adjourning the meeting, Amy Johnson noted that Executive Vice President Scott Douglas will speak at the May Faculty Senate meeting.

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:46 PM.