Chair Weinholtz welcomed all Senators back, and especially Carol Padberg who had been off the Senate during the Fall, and Nola Campbell who would be filling in for Akane Mori during this semester

UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD

FACULTY SENATE PRÉCIS

February 12 and 14, 2008

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

Tuesday, February 12

Attendance:

P	Ball, Kevin A.	A	Gray, Edward	P	Padberg, Carol
P	Beaulieu, Mark	P	Gray, John	P	Petry, Elizabeth
A	Borucinska, Joanna	P	Hill, Jonathan	P	Russell, Ingrid
A	Brown, Jennifer	P	Lei, Yu	A	Shepela, Sharon
P	Canedy, Charles	P	Machuga, Susan	P	Siegel, Paul
A	Carey, Elen	A	Mayer, Howard	A	Sumukadas, Narender
P	Comiskey, Anne	A	McMiller, Darryl	P	Weinholtz, Donn
P	Davis, Robert	P	Mohamed, Osama	P	Westfall, David
P	Decker, Robert	P	Campbell, Nola	P	Williamson, Daniel
A	Diehl, Susan	A	Nolan, Dennis	P	Zimmerman, Christopher
P	Fang, Clara	P	Oliver, Peter	=	Present/Absent Attendance: 83% (26 out of 32)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Chair Weinholtz called the meeting to order and welcomed the Senate to the 6th meeting of the 2007-2008 academic year.

Chair Weinholtz reported on progress of ENHP Counseling Program’s request to suspend admissions since the last Faculty Senate meeting. He reported that the Curriculum Committee heard a special presentation by the ENHP Counseling Program Chair, Professor Rick King, the program director, Professor Kim Pingel, the Dean of the College, Dorothy Zeiser, and the Interim Provost, Joe Voelker. He reported the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee voted to support the recommendation brought to the Senate to:

1. re-open admissions to the program, and

2. give the Department one year to study alternatives to closing the program.

A vote was not taken at this time, as the item had been introduced only 14 days earlier at the January Faculty Senate Meeting. Further discussion will be held in March. ENHP Dean and the Interim Provost have asked to address the Senate again for further discussion. The Senators discussed why new programs are started and why they end. Senators agreed that faculty should be consulted before ending programs.

Chair Weinholtz also brought to the attention of the Senate the Mid-Year Update on Progress toward Senate Goals for 2007-2008, included in the package of materials handed to the Senators.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Academic Standards -- Senator Petry and the committee continue to review the Proposed Policy regarding attendance that was submitted to the Provost’s Office for changes in the MAPP. The faculty’s perception and the history of the present policy will be looked into further.

BLT – Senator Russell reported that the deadline for the Bent and Trachtenberg awards was extended to February 22 due to there being no nomination for the two awards by the deadline of February 1. The Committee is already reviewing nominations for the Larsen Award. A discussion ensued on “how much work” is required to submit these awards. It was agreed that the Deans are the most appropriate nominators since they are the most aware of the faculty’s accomplishments. It was also discussed to keep nominations in the pool for two years.

Curriculum Committee – Chair Weinholtz reviewed the Curriculum Committee report given to the Senators.

Part-time Faculty Committee – Senator Siegel reported that the discussion of having part-time faculty senate representation was well received in the Part-Time Faculty Committee. He also said that a survey the Committee has been working on for some time is close to ready to be issued to the University’s part-time faculty. See President Harrison’s notes for more on the P/T Committee.

Student Affairs – Senator Oliver reported on the meeting his Committee had with Jane Horvath, Associate Dean of Curriculum and Academic Planning. His conclusion was the Committee she is heading on community values does not conflict with the Senate’s Committee; the Senate’s is on Academic Values; the other is on Community values in the University as a whole. Senator Mohamed is on the University’s committee. A discussion followed on plagiarizing. A central place for reporting was suggested again. Maybe reporting to the Dean... A Senator inquired if the rules apply to faculty as well as to students. Another Senator suggested that the University be pro-active, there should be someone a student can talk to.

Orders of the Day.

Thursday, February 14

Attendance:

P	Ball, Kevin A.	A	Gray, Edward	P	Padberg, Carol
A	Beaulieu, Mark	P	Gray, John	P	Petry, Elizabeth
A	Borucinska, Joanna	P	Hill, Jonathan	P	Russell, Ingrid
A	Brown, Jennifer	P	Lei, Yu	P	Shepela, Sharon
P	Canedy, Charles	A	Machuga, Susan	A	Siegel, Paul
A	Carey, Elen	A	Mayer, Howard	P	Sumukadas, Narender
P	Comiskey, Anne	P	McMiller, Darryl	P	Weinholtz, Donn
A	Davis, Robert	A	Mohamed, Osama	A	Westfall, David
P	Decker, Robert	A	Campbell, Nola	A	Williamson, Daniel
P	Diehl, Susan	A	Nolan, Dennis	P	Zimmerman, Christopher
P	Fang, Clara	P	Oliver, Peter	=	Present/Absent Attendance: 58 % (18 of 32)

Reconvened:

PRESENTERS:

President Harrison addressed the Senate with information on the Provost’s Search. He said that after receiving 90 applications and nominations, 13 applicants were chosen by the committee to be interviewed outside campus. Four have been selected for campus interviews. Faculty, staff, and students will have opportunities to meet them in open sessions and provide the Search Committee with their comments on each candidate.

The four finalists are:

· Jay Harper, dean and professor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Rowan University

· Lynn Pasquerella, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the graduate school, University of Rhode Island

· Joseph Voelker, interim provost, University of Hartford

· David Woods, dean, School of Fine Arts, University of Connecticut

Faculty, staff, and students can see the curricula vitae of all four candidates at https://uhaweb.hartford.edu/www/provost. (Note: you will be asked to enter your email user name and password.) Members of the University community will be able to meet the candidates in open sessions being held on campus. Faculty, staff, and students will be given the opportunity to provide the Search Committee with their comments on each candidate.

President Harrison commented on the Resolution submitted to him via the Part-Time Committee. He assured the Senate that he is paying “a lot” of attention to the issue. It is among his “top priority.” He explained that one barrier is the way the Budget is set up: The first part is presented to the Board in November and includes 1) Faculty 2) Staff 3) Tuition Increase, which equal 65% of the budget. The remaining is then distributed through all other needs. He suggested that the part-time faculty line be moved to the first part of the budget.

The President updated the Senate on the Alumni House. At a meeting of the Physical Plant on February 1, it was discussed that Institutional Advancement would need to be moved by the Fall 2009, as well as the Construction Institute. Three campus sites were presented, two at the Handel Arts Center, and the Hartford Medical Society Building. The Committee was in favor of the Handel facility or the Hartford Medical Society Building. The consideration of adding more cars to the campus was not received positively.

Norman Young, Executive Director of Facilities – Sustainability Efforts. He addressed the following topics:

Energy

Decommissioning of the Central Heating Plant - 2000

Reduced fossil fuel consumption by almost 10% resulting in a reduced of carbon emissions.

Generators

Allows us to come off of the CL&P grid
Uses Bio Diesel fuel
Provides back-up power to ¾ of the campus – Including the academic buildings, Sports Center and about ½ of the residence halls

Renewable Energy

Solar Array at Lincoln and panels provide about 18% of Lincoln’s electrical need
Partnership on extensive solar energy production with a group called Soltage is being explored.

Greening

New wetlands created at Mark Twain Drive
12 acres of conservation zone established in the last few years
200 trees and other indigenous species planted in Wetlands
130 new trees planted on the Bloomfield Ave campus in the past three years

“One for one” policy is in place when ever a tree is taken down. We are currently well above that ratio.

30% of fertilizer is organic – need additional irrigation to use more

Recycling

Currently, about 37% of trash is recycled
CUPS Program – A student organized program Cleaning Up Public Spaces

Sustainability

Constantly testing new products (cleaning)
Carpeting used is fully recyclable
Working on design and building standards – Regents Park will be the first project

Potential Next Steps

Develop a comprehensive sustainability plan

Energy and Emissions (especially HVAC)
Waste management
Water use
Transportation
Food Service
Purchasing practices
Organization (committees)
Academics (course content)
Culture
Marketing & Public Relations

The Roosevelt Institution

Students Jackie Roche, Michelle Tafur, and Jena Zona presented the Roosevelt Institution to the Senators via a powerpoint presentation and an explanation of the Group’s mission and focus.

“The Roosevelt Institution is the first non-partisan national student think tank that acts as a conduit for ideas to reach the policy discourse. We are here to make the leaders of tomorrow and to teach them about policy and leadership.”

With 85 national active chapters, this organization started at the University of Hartford in 2005. It is run by college students, they create the policies for public discourse and they implement the changes. Although membership is less than 10 students at the University of Hartford, they are committed to spreading the word about the Roosevelt Institution and building a campus-community base. Their advisor is Professor Christopher Anderson.

On September 18, 2006 the National Liftoff Event was held on campus. The event included guest speakers Congressman John Larson, Mayor Scott Slifka of West Hartford, and Mayor Eddie Perez of the city of Hartford. Following the event on September 19, 2006 the Institution officially became recognized as an organization by the Student Government

This group’s focus is on writing policy papers. For the Spring 2008 semester, they are working on a policy paper on an aspect of National's Community Development Challenge. They included these topics as examples of papers that have been (or will be) submitted:

Plastic Bag Externalities
The Case for Decoupling: A Policy to Promote Energy Efficiency
A Policy to Promote Energy Efficiency
Toward Inclusion: Realizing the Civic Potential of the EITC
Reducing Juvenile Recidivism
Finding an Alternative Solution: Comparative Drug Policies
A New Mandate for UN Reform
Bringing Dawn to Darfur

The Group has attended such policy events as: the Tulane-National Disaster Studies Symposium, the University Honors Colloquium, the UNC – Chapel Hill- College Student’s Ideas to Renew New Orleans and Improve US Disaster Policy, Darfur Event 2007, Hyde Park, and Project Vote Smart 2007 (poster follows).

Some of their fundraising has included: Dorm Storming, Candy Grams & Valentine’s Dinner, and “Pie a Professor.” Funds are used for travel and other expenses.

This group’s passion runs for local, national and world issues. The Senate was impressed with this group’s endeavors and offered their assistance collectively.

Respectfully submitted,

Maria Marques, Recorder

Office of the Faculty Senate