FACULTY SENATE PRÉCIS

December 12 and 14, 2006

12:15 p.m.-1:50 p.m., Auerbach 426

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Present: Senators Ball, Borucinska, Carey, Comiskey, Canedy, Davis, Decker, Desplaces, Diehl, Eppes, E.Gray, Fang, J.Gray, Katrichis, Larson, Mayer, McMiller, Mori, Oliver, Osama, Padberg, Petry, Shepela, Siegel, Sumukadas, Weinholtz and Williamson. Attendance 80% (26 out of 31).

Absent: Senators Beaulieu, Davis, Nolan, Russell, Westfall

Call to Order – Chair Katrichis called the fourth meeting of the ’06-’07 Senate to order and the following items were discussed.

§ Military Commissions Act (ENHP Resolution) – At the last Senate meeting, Senators agreed to poll their schools for feedback on the ENHP drafted resolution. The Hartford Art School reported they have not yet met; A&S reported faculty approval, and ENHP changed the word “foreigners” to “non-residents.” Vice Chair Weinholtz informed the Senate of a meeting being held this Friday with the President, Faculty Senate Officers, and Regent Thomas Groark, among others to discuss the options open to the University.

§ Independent Studies – The possibility of overburdening faculty by having independent study requirements for students was discussed. It was mentioned that A&S has a policy in place to give faculty credit for teaching independent studies, and that HARTT also has a system, although different.

§ Spellings Commission Report – Chair Katrichis shared new information about the Spellings Commission Report. This topic was previously discussed at October’s Faculty Senate Meeting.

Committee reports were as follows:

• Curriculum Committee – Senator J.Gray reviewed the recommendations made by the Curriculum Committee on materials that came before the Committee for review on December 5. He introduced Professor Sharon Pope to speak about the University Studies courses being presented for review. This new addition to University Studies is an in-depth examination of American adversarial legal system using mock trial format. The 100, 200 and 300 courses have been previously offered without credit. Senator Civil and criminal mock trials will alternate each year; each can be taken once for credit (for a total of three (3) credits). Professor Pope also spoke of planned fundraising. At present there are six “coaches” and 30 students that meet three times a week. J.Gray told the Senate that the Curriculum Committee suggested that the content of these courses be revisited to be sure the award of one credit reflects student time commitment. She said that cases are tried by a jury of local judges. Additionally, she shared with the Senate the competition the students have participated in, and what positive experiences they have been.

The curriculum report was approved by the Senate. http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/facsenate/CC/DEC-06-cur.htm

§ Computer and Technology. Senator Sumukadas announced the Enterprise version of Blackboard was approved. It will be installed over the summer. He explained that it has “extra” features that the present version does not. Senator Gray advised the Senate that a new operating system for Microsoft (Vista) has also been unveiled. It is unknown if or when the University will be upgrading, campus-wide. Vista will come in various versions, with options tailored to specific needs.

§ International Studies – Chair Katrichis speaking for Senator Davis announced Katherine Stevenson will be speaking to the Senate regarding international programs, on February 8, 2007.

§ Part-Time & Adjunct Faculty – The following discussions ensued:

o Barney School adjunct have reportedly not received pay raises, even though other schools’ pay scales were adjusted and faculty pay brought up to the new minimums.

o Senator Carey, as a member of the Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty Committee, spoke of the policies that are in place for part-time and adjunct faculty, and whether they still served their purpose. She requested input from the Senators and suggestions on how to make it better. She wondered out loud if the Regents realized what an adjunct was being paid to teach a particular course. Senators agreed that this is not just a University of Hartford problem.

o Discussion also included on-line courses and where the University stood on the issue. It was noted that the new Dean for Graduate Studies is “pushing” for on-line graduate courses.

o A Senator from Hartt asked for an update on the plan that was put into effect last year where the floor was raised for Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty. At that time Hartt was not part of the plan due to its different structure, and was to be addressed later. As far as the Senator knows, the issue has yet to be addressed. He would like the Part-Time & Adjunct Committee to advise on the status.

§ University Scholars – Senator Eppes reported that he has received one proposal that includes three participants. The Committee is meeting tomorrow, and will make a recommendation. Last year’s Committee had hoped that requesting a 1-page summary as an initial application, instead of the 5-page detailed submission, would stimulate more entries. That did not seem to make a difference. Senator Eppes reinforced the importance of faculty support. He believed that is the key to getting students to participate. The idea of having a University Scholar student speak to the Senate was seen as a good way to spark faculty involvement.

§ Professional Standards – Senator Weinholtz updated Senate on the Committee’s review of the HRD appendix for the FPM inconsistencies. The Committee is working reviewing specific wording. Also, a “Code of Ethics” for faculty is being discussed.

Orders of the Day – meeting was adjourned until Thursday, December 14.

Thursday, December 14

Present: Senators Ball, Borucinska, Carey, Comiskey, Canedy, Davis, Decker, Desplaces, Diehl, Eppes, E.Gray, Fang, J.Gray, Katrichis, Larson, Mayer, McMiller, Mori, Oliver, Osama, Padberg, Petry, Russell, Shepela, Siegel, Sumukadas, Weinholtz, Westfall, and Williamson. Attendance: 71% (23 out of 31).

Absent: Senators Beaulieu, Canedy, Carey, Davis, Decker, Mayer, Mohamed, and Nolan.

Faculty Chair Katrichis reconvened the meeting.

University High School – Professor Jane Horvath came to speak to the Senators on the status of the University High School. She provided an update of the academic issues relating to the University High School of Science and Engineering.  The update included a report on her appointment as University Academic Director for Early College High School and a summary of university activities in two areas: providing college credit earning opportunities for students at UHSSE and measures to improve college readiness for the students.  The former involves the implementation of policies developed by last year's task force while the latter involves the use of same-discipline teams to align high school and college course content and expectations.  Professor Horvath reported significant involvement of the University of Hartford faculty in these efforts and that “we are making good progress as we enter year three of the high school.” When questioned about possible "promises" made to high school students for 60 college credits, she indicated that the university made no such promise and that the often cited 60 credits was a goal established by the Gates Foundation.  Professor Horvath indicted that recently even Bill Gates seems to be moving away from a specific number.  As evidence, she noted that at the last Woodrow Wilson Foundation conference, the focus shifted from a credit number goal to college preparedness.  “In that regard, our emphasis on course alignment and college preparedness is in line with what seems to be the national trend.”

Conversation with President Harrison and Provost Randall:

Provost Randall informed the Senators of a “SPAM” problem at the University. Students (and possibly staff and faculty) who forward their University e-mail to Yahoo, Hotmail, or other e-mail provider, are in many instances marking University mail, such as UNotes, Media Watch, etc., as SPAM. The service then designates the University as a SPAM organization and blocks e-mails coming from the University. This has a major consequence in our recruiting, and other day to day business. She advised that ITS is looking into ways to solve this problem.

President Harrison reported on his recent trip to Dubai and Bahrain. The possibility of creating a private university in Bahrain was discussed. He spoke of the University of Hartford alumni with whom he met, and credited the University for what he observed as “critical thinking individuals”. He agreed with the students that “there is a market for quality education,” but added that have a long way to go.

One of his observation is that the University accepts students from everywhere in the globe. Yet, when we send students out, we are very restrictive. This creates an imbalance. Fortunately, this is not the case with faculty. The University has a good record in hiring the best person for the job, and that has created a good representation of the world. We do not want to change that.

President Harrison asked the Senate to stimulate discussion with other faculty. What is the risk vs. the reward? He said the Travel Policy Committee, chaired by Catherine Stevenson of the International Center and Associate Provost Chuck Colarulli is discussing these topics.

President Harrison gave as an example the program where presently a total 46 students from Saudi Arabia, are going through a program where the first year is spent at the English Language Institute (ELI) leaning English. He said that due to the late arrival of these students and the shortage of housing on campus, they were housed elsewhere. A Senator stressed the importance of having foreign students live on campus for the experience and the opportunity to practice the English language. It is expected that next year with 256 new beds, it will be possible to house those that want to live on campus.

President Harrison told the Senators that he feels there are more places to visit to evaluate the possibilities, i.e., India. He cited that in 1999 there were over 1,000 Malaysia alumni, for example.

A Senator brought up the need to be careful and quoted past history where initiatives overseas did not create revenue. It was suggested that a group of faculty come together to create an interdisciplinary approach to work on longer-range plans. Demographic projections after 2013 flatten or go down, President Harrison feels that the University needs to place itself ready for changes.

With Deans agreeing on the importance of the overseas experience, President Harrison said suggestions on getting faculty involvement would be welcomed. Senate discussion agreed that faculty interests were the motivating factors. Up until now faculty have been following their own initiative. Such a model where the faculty determine the areas to go to seems to be the most promising. Matching a language curriculum with a country was also suggested. A formal survey of countries that would be of interest to faculty was suggested. A Senator announced that the International Center has a survey already in the process to be released to faculty. President Harrison believes that faculty are not as willing to teach a semester overseas, but are willing to travel and teach 3-week periods.

The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. The next Faculty Senate Meeting will be held January 23, and 25, 12:15 p.m. to 1:50 p.m., A426.

Respectfully submitted,

Maria Marques

Recorder