Chair’s Report for October 8, 2002

Senate update

1. Important links to agendas, minutes, Chair's Reports and other sites of interest are available
on the Senate web site: http://www.uwec.edu/Usenate. Senate Chair’s Report will be available on this site by noon on the day of the Senate meeting.

2. During debates, Senators may speak only twice to any motion or amendment. Each speaking term is limited to 10 minutes. The Chair will add names of those wishing to speak to a speaker's list upon recognition.

Open Forum Items from Senate Executive Committee Meeting minutes

1. Upcoming opportunities to discuss implications of new pay plan. Meeting with chairs of departments to discuss all aspects of new pay plan on October 3, 2002. New plan increased power to departments/units. Will show how four options in model work. Department chairs could then be source of information for DPC chairs or can always contact Andrew Soll, Ron Satz, or Robert Bolles with questions.

Faculty Reps Meeting

1. Introduction of Christine Flynn Saulnier – newest member of Academic Affairs – academic planner from Boston University; taught in Social Work; Ph.D. from Berkley. Will serve in the role of liaison to the Faculty Representatives.

2. Agenda Setting – brainstorming

- Engage Wisconsin

- Budget … campus flexibility; consider budget in two directions – how can we use the pressure on the budget to build trust among administrators, faculty, staff, and students; opportunities for administrators to explain why and how things are done, opportunity to demonstrate the way things are done; other direction – show how parents, students, others can be involved talking about the System.

The budget process and using budget crisis as an opportunity to develop trust – System Level and Campus Level. Would be useful for System to know how faculty are involved in campus budget decisions. One of the challenges is to get “one voice” from the faculty when working with the legislatures. They should hear that certain issues are more important to the faculty than any others.

Document for Citizens for Higher Education – a support group of citizens helping to promote the University System.

Major challenge is to articulate the need for the University to have control to set tuition. Touchy issue.

- Quality; tenure discussion for Regents – need to work on what the presentation should look like; On quality – will start with Oct. Board meeting; Frank and Ron giving presentation to Education committee – highlight quality issue in terms of various stakeholders: faculty, community, legislatures – would like to use Reps in future meeting to talk about this. How do Faculty look at quality in terms of their teaching, the students, the institution, the program. Clearly about outcomes. Looking at program review. Sharing best practices. Having assessments have an impact in terms of changes.

System will be planning a few campus visits – would like opportunity to talk to groups of faculty as well as students so at end of year could come up with indicators of quality (in terms of stakeholders and ways to communicate quality to different stakeholders).

- Regents love to hear from the Institutions and have the Chancellors participate. Haven’t been able to hear from the Reps as well. If you would like to bring some perspectives to the Regents, please share them with your Chancellor or with us after the Regents meeting.

- Tenure – Board is very interested in the basis for granting of tenure. Have begun conversations with the Provosts on this. Would like Reps input on how we should proceed with this. Comments: some concern about lack of clarity among departments on same campus on standards for tenure. Need clarity of standards – when one comes to the institution, one knows the expectations. What is considered ‘service’ – to the institution, to the community? In some departments, research weighs more heavily. Expectations vary greatly across departments.

Idea is to improve and enhance the tenure process.

Ron: during OPID meeting last week, in participation in small group on scholarship of teaching – question – What is the role of the various committees throughout the process? Committees that review the process – is the role to ensure department is appropriately applying the standard or to apply their own additional committee standard. Need to look at the role of the various committee roles.

- Changing role of the Chancellor – how the expectations of the Chancellor for a fundraiser is affecting the campus. Topic raised at Provost group as well. What is emerging is the sense of the Chancellor being the “outside” person – but yet the Chancellor is still expected to know a lot about the institution. When the Chancellors meet monthly, what is brought to the table often are problematic issues. What should the Regents expect the Chancellors to say at the Education Committee meeting? Do the Chancellors know the details? May look at ‘what are the expectations of faculty for the Chancellor’ then move to what are the Chancellors expectations - also, students’ view. Certain amount of faculty education needs to go on. When Chancellor hired, certain amount laid on shoulder that faculty may not know. Cora: what do you think would be effective mechanisms for educating the faculty? Response: if some special responsibilities have been given to Chancellors, if we could have some indication of what burdens they have been asked to pick up, that would be helpful. Cora: with more and more of the burden of fund raising on the Institutions and the Chancellor – does the Senate play more of a role in talking to the faculty/staff about the changing role of the Chancellor. Some institutions (not here yet) are going to those with strong business or military backgrounds.

3. PK-16 Task Force

- System is committed to trying to ensure quality education in the state. Cora: bringing this to the reps – a lot of the progress depends on what happens in areas outside the school/college of education. How do we inform ALL faculty of the expectations being placed on all faculty for mentoring, etc. Would appreciate bringing this to the attention of all faculty what they are being expected to do.

4. Engaging Faculty and Staff in “Engage Wisconsin” – David Miller, Asst. VP University Relations

- the on-going work of every institution is so “under the wire”

- things that the public is not aware

- try to make things more of a higher profile to the public

- Engage Wisconsin is also about listening as well – trying to educate the public in the fact that the decisions that the Regents make are based on many things – this should be information that is open to the public

- Need to continue to be affordable with a high level of access

- Lyall and Reg. Pres. trying to lay out the parameters for informing the public about the kinds of reallocations and decisions made over the last few years while trying to do more with less

- About attempting to renew in a very fundamental way the heart of the Wisconsin Idea

- An all out attempt to cement bond with new administration in legislature

- Regents, Chancellors, staff, lot of people will be traveling the state to talk about these things – trying to get it all down to a few points to say in a succinct way

Cora: David is open to ideas. This is what we are thinking about at this level. What do you see as themes that should be emphasized and who should be addressed? What kind of roles should faculty members play?

- Would like to use the occasions of the University Senate meetings to take share these ideas. If we can really think about what we do and articulate that to ourselves, that would be extremely important. Would welcome suggestions how the institutions can be involved.

- New version of PowerPoint should be available (hopefully) by Tuesday. Nothing is wrong in the previous version released, but it is too much. Meant to be customized to the locale of the audience.

- Understand if we have diminishing base, then it will be less for everyone. While we need to focus on the economic base to mean more for everyone, we do focus on the advantage of the liberal arts education and how it will help economic development.

- How best to make these kinds of arguments? What is the best evidence we can compile? We need help from the faculty to help shape the message.

Board of Regents Meeting – October 10-11 in Whitewater