University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
College of Letters and Science
2001-2002
Letters and Science Faculty
Meeting: November 1, 2001, 3:30 p.m.
BUS N140
Minutes No. 1
- Call to Order - Interim Dean Richard Meadows called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. in BUS N140.
- Announcements - Dean Meadows made the following announcements:
- Governor McCallum announced earlier today that he is implementing a State hiring freeze on November 12. We do not know yet what this freeze will mean for UWM or the College. t is possible that we will have to curtail current faculty/staff recruitment; we will keep you posted as we learn more.
- In the matter of faculty recruitment, Form As have been approved for 45 faculty positions, of which 40 are replacement and/or carry forward recruitments. We have submitted action plans for another 25 faculty lines, and may get a few more than that. We have been told that we are likely to get approval for the action plan positions sometime next week. Even absent the current State budget uncertainty, we will not be able to open all of these 25 additional positions; start up and space are special problems in the natural sciences.
- Concerning graduate student stipends, help is on the way. The Provost will announce a general plan at the November Faculty Senate meeting. Current thinking is to assess a 1% base reallocation across campus that will fund a Graduate Fellowship Account. Over two years, $2,000,000 will be reallocated to this fund. The funds will be distributed to academic units on an "as needed" basis.
- The Dean has been asked to encourage everyone to respond to the NCA survey instrument. The Provost has offered his assurance that there will be a full hearing of the survey results and the way in which they would be used in an accreditation process. The full governance process will be engaged at every level before any final decision is made.
- Question Period (10 minutes maximum)
- Margo Anderson noted that she has sent out a resolution concerning the AQIP survey and that a sizeable number of people already have signed on.
- Bill Holahan asked why we embark on expensive ventures, such as AQIP, without having them discussed by various campus groups such as the Academic Deans Council, the University Committee, and the Academic Staff Committee. The dean responded that he believes the Provost would say it was discussed in various venues; the dean believes that the AQIP process will get a full hearing.
- Genni McBride said that the number of people hours already invested into the AQIP matter makes her think that the issue already has been decided. She wondered why we don't do a pretest with a few areas. The dean noted that NCA has a grant (possibly from PEW) that required a campus to sign on by November 1 in order to have the cost covered by the grant.
- Automatic Consent Business - There were no objections to any of the following Automatic Consent items; they stand approved.
| A. |
Approval of the Minutes of the April 12, 2000 Faculty meeting
(on web at www.uwm.edu/letsci/committees/)
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| B. |
Recommendation for Consideration of Candidates for Degrees and Honors for December, 2001
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592 |
| C. |
Annual Reports
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Academic Planning Committee, 2000-2001
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593 |
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Academic Policies and Appeals Committee, 2000-2001
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594 |
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Committee on Committees, 2000-2001
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595 |
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Course and Curriculum Committee, 2000-2001
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596 |
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Graduate Program Committee, 2000-2001
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597 |
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Honors Program Committee, 2000-2001
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598 |
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Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Advisory Committee, 2000-2001
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599 |
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Certificate Program in French and Francophone Studies Advisory Committee, 2000-2001
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600 |
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Certificate Program in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Advisory Committee, 2000-2001
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601 |
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Women's Studies Certificate Program Committee, 2000-2001
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602 |
- Old Business - There was no old business
- New Business
| A. |
It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 603, Request for an Entitlement to Plan a Major in Actuarial Science (Department of Mathematical Sciences). Jay Beder explained the need for a separate major in actuarial science. The motion was approved unanimously. |
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603 |
| B. |
It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 604, Request for Authorization to Implement a Ph.D. Program in History. Jeff Merrick gave a brief statement concerning the background of this proposal. The motion was approved unanimously. |
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604 |
| C. |
It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 605, a Recommendation to Eliminate the Writing-Intensive Requirement of the L&S Degree. Genni McBride asked if the change could be applied retroactively. Dean Meadows stated that students have the option of selecting the later set of degree requirements. Tom O'Bryan expressed concern about the seminar requirement and noted that the "new" requirements were scheduled for review next year. He encouraged the Course and Curriculum Committee to start the review sooner. Genni asked if the form of the document commits the faculty to support greater funding for writing efforts if the motion is approved. Chuck Schuster said that will not happen. Jeff Merrick stated that the Committee would like to see it; the comment in the document is a statement of the Committee's view of the matter. The motion was approved unanimously. |
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605 |
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It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 606, a Recommendation for a Policy on Appeal for Waivers of Degree Requirements. Erl Olfe explained the need to codify the policy that has been in effect for some time. It was moved and seconded to amend the document by moving the list of actions into the "Recommendation" section and to add a statement clarifying that these are the actions that will be taken in response to appeals. The amendment was approved unanimously. The motion as amended was approved unanimously. |
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606 |
| E. |
It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 607, a Recommendation to Establish an Urban Studies Certificate. Margo Anderson briefly explained the reason for the proposal. The motion was approved unanimously. |
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607 |
| F. |
It was moved and seconded to recommend approval of Fac. Doc. No. 608, a Recommendation to Change the Name of the Master's in Liberal Studies. The motion was approved unanimously. |
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608 |
It was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously to go into a Committee of the Whole discussion.
- Committee of the Whole Discussion - In order to accommodate a guest, Phil Smith, the faculty changed the order of the agenda items.
| B. |
L&S Dean Search - Phil Smith gave an update of the search process. The search committee has met three times. The position announcement has been finalized and published, and applications are beginning to arrive. The committee is developing a list of critical issues/challenges facing the College. It anticipates starting to review applications about December 15; off- and on-campus interviews will begin in late February or early March.
- Genni McBride expressed concern that the interviews not take place during spring break. She hopes the committee will make an effort to provide as much opportunity as possible for faculty members to meet the candidates.
- Ed Mabry asked how many applications had been received. Phil responded that there are more than one, but he was not certain of the exact number.
- Tom O'Bryan expressed concern that the candidates in the last search were not received as warmly as they might have been. He would like to ensure that the committee members focus on selling the candidates on the benefits of accepting the position.
- Margo Anderson asked if the University will offer an appropriate compensation packet. Phil responded that the rules associated with administrative salaries in the State are about to change in a positive direction, so this issue can be addressed. Margo suggested that Phil or another committee member become an expert on this issue. Wisconsin has a reputation for low pay, and this affects the pool of candidates. Phil indicated that the Provost is preparing a document to inform candidates of the change. Margo said that she believed the committee should "own" this issue, not wait for administration to address it.
- Ed Mabry asked if the final hiring decision goes off-campus. Phil indicated that he was not sure; a short list goes to the Provost and Chancellor. He knows that System has been brought into the process in past searches, but he is not certain if there was formal approval by System of the selections. Margo stated that the final decision is a campus matter.
- Genni stated that the Kearney search firm should have a role in presenting the campus to the candidates in a positive light. She asked if the faculty could review how UWM is being presented. Phil said that Kearney has a very good package of materials. The Kearney person assigned to this task has been involved in other UWM searches, and she speaks highly of UWM. Genni asked if the materials sent to the candidates could be made available to the faculty. Phil indicated that would be done.
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| A. |
Class Scheduling Policy - Tom O'Bryan gave some background on the history of this issue. There was an old class-scheduling proposal that was not adopted; this proposal is different from the previous one. It was generated by the Provost's office, discussed by the Associate Deans Council, and circulated to department chairs at least twice. It has two purposes: to avoid conflicts for students due to odd starting times and to solve classroom problems created because so many faculty members want to teach at the same time. We have become a TR campus for faculty members; the proposal creates a parallel MW option. It also creates a TRF option. The real problem may be a lack of mediated classrooms. The proposal will go to the University Academic Policy Committee with a request for a two-year trial, starting in Fall, 2002. Departments can do anything with graduate classes that are held in department-owned rooms. In addition, a department can offer a 3-hour class on a Monday (or Tuesday) if this classes is "balanced" with a 3-hour class during the same hours on Wednesday (or Thursday).
- Eric Key asked if the plan was sensitive to 4-5 credit courses. Tom responded that he was not sure about 5-redit classes, but it is very sensitive to 4-credit classes.
- Mary Lynne Collins stated that the original version of this proposal was extremely problematic for lab courses; she hasn't seen the latest version. She asked if departments could do lab scheduling whenever they wanted if they own the labs. Mark Harris replied that the new schedule is much more flexible.
- Cam Tatham asked if Allen Meier, who does room scheduling for the campus, approved of this plan. Tom indicated he was part of the planning group. Cam asked if the Faculty Senate has to approve the plan; Fall schedules will be due soon so we need to know if this plan will be in effect. Tom stated that he though the APC could authorize the two-year trial.
- Genni McBride indicated she thought the plan is a good idea, and she urged that someone in the College be charged with cracking down on departments that do now comply. Students are forced to miss portions of one class because others schedule start times at odd, overlapping times. Tom stated that the campus-level classrooms will not be given to any course that does not adhere to the schedule; we still may have a problem with department-owned rooms.
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As there was no further discussion, it was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously to rise from the Committee of the Whole discussion.
- The meeting was adjourned at 4:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Connie Jo
Special Assistant to the Dean
Secretary to the L&S Faculty
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