Final Approved 4-30-09

Meet and Confer

April 9, 2009

Administration:  Provost Spitzer, Earl Potter, Larry Chambers, Mitch Rubinstein, Judith Siminoe, Kristi Tornquist, Diana Lawson, Steven Ludwig

Faculty:  John Palmer, Mark Jaede, JoAnn Gasparino, Bill Hudson, Frances Kayona, Debra Leigh, Michael Connaughton, Judith Kilborn, Balsy Kasi, Michael Tripp, Note-taker Joan Wingert

Approval of Minutes

1. March 19^th, 2009

FA: There are some changes and in fact they may already be posted.

Unfinished Business

1. Email as a Means of Disseminating Information to Employees (Admin) (03/13/08) Senate Sent to TPR

FA: Emails still sits in our TPR committee. Your actions relative to what to do when a student has a religious conflict with class activity has not jarred the Senate’s attention enough to realize that you can move forward and set policy after a dignified period of time that’s defined in our agreement. We have two more Senates. It is at TPR. I don’t know if TPR took it up, will take it up. That is the status of that item from our side.

ADM: Judith, do you want to comment on that?

FA: I think that we sort of unofficially set a goal at the end of term that if we don’t hear any feedback, then it’s unrealistic to do anything too dramatic.

FA: Thank you.

New Business

1. Opening and Securing Classrooms (FA) (04/09/09)

FA: The first item of new business, the Opening and Securing of Classrooms, comes as a result of what appears to be an increase in the scheduling of classes in rooms that departments did not schedule. What’s occurring is that as we attempt to schedule an ever-increasing number of classes, people are finding themselves being in buildings where either they don’t have an office or it’s a classroom that the department itself doesn’t seem to have primary say on the room. It is simply a matter of asking who opens the room, where is the room, what are the expectations. I learned something at our pre-Meet & Confer about the Miller Center that I did not know relative to being able to gain access to a room for teaching that if I got scheduled in the Miller Center I would want to know. I’m not trying to question whether or not that practice is appropriate or not, but it does raise the question of who is responsible for opening and securing classrooms.

ADM: This is an item that I was expecting Steve to respond to, so if we would either postpone this or get back to you at the next Meet & Confer. (Steve arrived; report continues)

ADM: Right.

FA: It can be difficult to kind of finesse. Let me just give you two examples from last Summer. Since I’ve worked in the Miller Center before, I kind of know who to contact over there, but the practice over there was—and Kristie could verify this—that Faculty couldn’t get into the classrooms until that day. If you need to go over and check out the equipment or something like that, that could be problematic. Even with my knowing people over there, if took me half a day to figure out what I needed to do to get access to the room beforehand. And it actually was very lucky that I did, because the projector wasn’t working in that room, and I was able to find that out.  We’ve heard stories from other parts of the campus that people are assigned to rooms which are locked and they don’t know who opens them. They get there and they think it’s going to be open, it may be locked, they may be waiting in line with students and lost instructional time happens. We’re just concerned about having some sort of uniform process, some way for Faculty to know what they’re supposed to do if they’re assigned to a building they don’t usually teach in.

ADM: We should probably do an inventory of various buildings that indicates how to gain access if they are assigned to that building and have that for all buildings where we hold classes.

ADM: I’d just offer that staff and Facilities open the buildings--open exterior doors, and there are some buildings where there are some requests for locking and unlocking of classrooms, but there is not staff available to lock and unlock rooms. There are generally keys issued, sometimes to the faculty member, sometimes to the department, office managers usually. There are practices in the Miller Center around scheduling at the Miller Center’s discretion which is similar to other buildings but they don’t have electronic access the Miller Center has. One other thing that we did a few years ago because of the inability or undesirability to have the classrooms generally locked was to add theft prevention systems to the electronics in the classroom, so it they’re disturbed, a message goes to Public Safety that indicates in Room 120 in Stuart Hall, someone has tried to take the projector or computer. So we added that to protect that equipment.

ADM: Just the projector.

ADM: The computer’s in the cabinet, that’s right. So we added that because we don’t know the reliability of locking the classrooms.

FA: The challenges are different depending on where it is. In Miller Center, once they know you are going to be a Faculty, they can put you on a list for electronic splice, but for places that need for keys, sometimes the building managers or department secretaries have use of the keys and won’t release those. It’s not like it used to be where you’d have a blackboard and the door could be open in the morning and everybody could go in and just be worried about people stealing chalk. We need to be concerned. If we have all these smart classrooms, we, of course, need to be careful about all that, but also people need to know what they need to do to get in to teach.

ADM: Let’s examine the processes, and have the conversations we need to determine whether we can make it easier for Faculty to access classrooms.

FA: Thank you.

2. D2L Recommendation (FA) (04/09/09)

Motion that SCSU representatives to MnSCU discussions on switching from D2L to another instructional software be cautioned:
* Since the cost at stake isn’t the total price of D2L but the difference in price between D2L and new software to subtract “opportunity costs”, a common business accounting principle, from the price difference.

Explanation: Enormous investments of faculty and staff hours have been made into D2L thus far, from extensive de-bugging labor to the process of teaching and learning how to operate D2L. These costs would likely be repeated with any transition to new software, taking away faculty and staff time and ability to conduct research, creative activities, and professional development, to teach and advise their classes of students, and to serve people in other ways. Even doing serious research into new software is a time investment. The process of launching new software appears to be so labor-intensive, furthermore, that it should be considered taking extraordinary measures. Faculty should not be asked to take on these responsibilities all over again, so soon after the lengthy process of debugging D2L.

* To consult with LR&TS faculty and staff regarding the viability of alternatives.
* To consider that problems with D2L at the beginning of the present year resulted from the MnSCU mandate of a common start date, which overloaded the system.
* To consider that faculty seeking alternatives currently can make use of existing “freeware.”
FA: We did have a rather lengthy motion that was passed with bullets that deal with the upcoming challenge associated with the renewal of an Instructional Media System contract that we provided to you as an information item. This is something that our TPR Committee brought to Senate and the Senate acted on, and we’re passing this information on to you as an information item. I do remind you that we have a faculty member from St. Cloud State that is well positioned to be an advocate for Faculty and for our institution. So if you have any questions about what the motion says, we’d be happy to respond.

ADM: I appreciate that you looked at and sent forward this information. It helps me when I am dealing on the administrative side with administration and faculty. And I think we have a fairly long history of trying to have good communication back and forth about what’s going on with this particular component of our environment.

3. Meeting Calendar 2009-10 (FA) (04/09/09)--WITHDRAWN

FA: Item #3 we’ve withdrawn.

4. Academic Calendar 2010-11  (Admin) (04/09/09)

FA: Mitch, I know you sent an electronic version of this to me, and I did share it with my Executive Committee, but do you have a hard copy of it with you today? This is the calendar for 2010-11.

ADM: Correct. We have calendar through 2010. This is going out one more year. This reflects the discussions and efforts on the part of the Task Force on Academic Calendar, our membership according to the dictates of the University. Our task was to look at 2010-2011 calendar plus other calendars that seem to be going on a year by year basis because there are some questions about the acceptability of some of the features in this calendar, first of which is this year in St. Cloud State University, starting with common start dates for Fall and Spring Semesters. Also we have, starting with this year, a couple of new features. One is a two-day Fall Break in October, the observance of Veteran’s Day in November and the elimination of the Faculty Forum Day and adding that to a convocation of the Conference Workshop Week prior to the start of Spring Semester. I think that a lot of folks wanted to see how things went this year, and determine if there might be more feedback on the features of these calendars. As we probably will assemble new task force next year, I think we should be coming to Meet & Confer, to the Faculty Association with request to have another task force at the beginning of 2009-2010.

FA: It would be helpful to us in evaluating this if we could simultaneously have list of duty days.

ADM: I could probably figure that out. Basically the duty days are all the workshop days and days of instruction. It would be all weekdays during the semester except those designated as holidays or breaks, and ending in final exams and commencement days.

FA: So do I hear you say that there are no duty days for grading days in this calendar?

FA: That’s correct. There are no duty days right now for grading.

FA: Can I give you my papers then to grade? I’m sorry, that just came out!

ADM: We work through Friday, the 17^th. December 18^th is a duty day at which Commencement is going on. Deadline for reporting is December 23. Those exams and assignments that are turned in on December 17.

FA: There is a concern, and we discussed the concern about the deadline for grades being considerably after the work day at a previous Meet & Confer. There is the concern that in all likelihood with our new hires we’re not sure how we’re going to determine what their duty day calendars look like. They are not tied to the Academic Calendar—they could be—but they don’t have to be tied to the Academic Calendar. The concern is the spreading out of the work that occurs during a semester and an unwritten expectation that work would be occurring all the way up until grades are due.

FA: I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that prior to the shift to the common start date that we always had some duty days as grading days, and that what has de facto happened is that the term’s instruction has been extended by taking away duty days for grading days and making them instructional days, and that does not eliminate the work that needs to be done at end of term. There is work that we must do after finals end in order to grade finals and submit grades. That’s why we don’t set the deadline at Commencement Day. I’m not arguing about when the deadline for submitting grades should be. I am concerned about the absence of any paid days to accomplish one of the tasks that we have to do.

ADM: A problem with this issue that has come up when the Task Force on the Academic Calendar met a year ago or two years ago when we first looked at this. I thought it was clear that we talked about coping with the new system start dates in earlier calendar. That gave us an opportunity to increase the number of instructional days, and that had been an expressed concern of many faculty. I think I recall hearing that here as well that we did not have enough instructional days during the semester. One of the reasons for that was the semester ended just at the holidays and we had no room between Labor Day and holidays for additional instruction days, so with the new semester start dates, the earlier start dates, we do have those days that are now available for instruction.

FA: I think that when I talked to the Provost at one of our Monday meetings, we’re at a disadvantage because our representatives have not made a report to us. You have a document that came from the Task Force, and our committee, our representatives have not made a report, so the calendar has not been to the Senate. What we’ll do is take this back to Senate. We’re expressing a concern without having a solution. There are compromises. An example I could offer is that if we didn’t have Fall Break, you could have finals end on a Wednesday, and then you’d have two grading days before commencement on Saturday, if it’s two days for two days. The other thing that people could think about is if grading days are important, you reduce the convocation and workshop days. I only offer them as examples to say that if our Senators have a concern like we’re sharing with you, there may be alternatives offered.

ADM: I want to point out that there’s a sense of urgency about one portion of this calendar that some of us just learned about, and it has to do with payroll. It has to do with the fact that those folks who are on a 12-month pay, that HR needs to put in the date of the first day of the semester in the Fall in order to calculate the payroll checks for the next 12 months. She needs to know what the last day is for when people are paid this year so that the next year can begin. I don’t know if I explained that clearly enough. That has to happen on Tuesday. I think it’s possible to make changes in the calendar but please don’t change the first date.

FA: I didn’t think we could change the first day.

ADM: We can’t change the first day of the semester, but we could perhaps change the first duty day which is before then, which I’m asking that we not do.

FA: I did want to come back to this idea of a calendar of duty days. I think that historically the calendar aligned with the duty days, and I think that’s not true anymore. I think that if there are no longer grading days in there, it is an assumption that those are out duty days, and I think it’s important for us to have a list of duty days, especially for people who are IFO but not teaching, they have obligations on days and they need to know when those are. And we could be off as Faculty grading and you wouldn’t see that happening, but if our assignment is something different that we need to technically be here to do, it’s important for us to know and for Faculty to be aware of what those duty days technically are.

FA: Anything else?

FA: I just want to say that what you suggested, John, I’m afraid doesn’t work mathematically, because it doesn’t free up any duty days.

FA: That is true.

FA: If you use Fall Break, it would use two additional duties days there, but it would move back the instructional calendar but it would not free any duty days to be transferred to grading purposes. The only way to get a net freeing-up of duty days is to eliminate an instructional day or a day during convocation week.

FA: Thank you for the correction. Pretty soon we’ll be run by the bus schedules. That’s how high schools build their schedule is that they set the bus schedules.

5. Technology Related Motions (FA) (04/09/09)

FA: TPR Committee has been authorized as the FA’s voice in planning and implementing Technology Day. Decisions about moving specific curriculum-related labs to Vista must be made in consultation with the department or program, taking into account limitations of software and peripherals.  Users of software or peripherals that are not compatible with Vista will have the option not to migrate to Vista for specific machines.  Faculty and staff computers will continue to be moved to Vista only after consultation with their computer technical support person.  Funding for technology will be committed to support legacy systems as necessary and to defray costs of required changes to computers, software and peripherals that are typically funded by departments.  Training for Windows Vista will be offered by the Center for Information Systems training area and the Learning Resources & Technology Services area of Infomedia Services.

FA: On the first page we have a motion that we share with you to inform you that the FA’s voice when it comes to planning and implementing Technology Day is our Technology Pedagogy Resources Committee, so you know all that right up front. The second motion, which is longer, I summarized this saying basically: Don’t put Vista on computers without talking to the people who use those specific computer labs. Some faculty report that the machine they have on their desk couldn’t run Vista, and the machines in the lab that they work with might, and if they got converted to Vista there could be a problem. And so the language there is trying to ensure that the instruction is kept in mind as conversion to the specific technology occurs.

FA: Part of the concern had to do, too, with software that is used in a disciplinary kind of function that is incompatible with Vista. You’re aware of that, it looks like.

ADM: The proposal that went to TPR was that we would like to move the open labs and electronic classrooms to Vista machines over the summer. I think absolutely we need to be checking with departments on those departmental labs. The electronic classrooms are the ones that I don’t know if the TPR committee reacted to that; I didn’t see that in here, so that’s the other piece of it. The recommendations that we put forward have to do with what our students are coming in with. 50% of the students that came in at the Fall and to register at the Fall came in with Vista, and so the students would like the labs to move to something that is more similar to what the majority of those people are using. But that puts us into conflict then with what the faculty are having, primarily, on their desk. So we’re trying to find a graceful middle ground.

FA: But the proposal did all that with consulting with the departments.

ADM: It’s great, I think that’s very appropriate.

FA: I’m just curious if you have any Idea how about that might work with software that is important to the disciplines that won’t run on Vista. Was PSS one of them?

ADM: I have it here. They do talk about which ones. “Software not compatible: SAS(?) Version 9.1, test scoring and aviation software” are the three products that are problematic. Absolutely, you wouldn’t want to move an aviation lab over if your software doesn’t work.

FA: Thank you.

6.  Online Council (FA) (04/09/09)

FA: Item #6 comes about as a result of discussion at the Strategic Planning Committee of an action plan associated with online activities here at St. Cloud State. Included in the plan was a reference to the creation of a council that would deal with and provide advice concerning the delivery, preparation of, and the operation of online teaching. So we bring to you a request that a council be formed. We have no preconceived notion of the size, the methodology by which they would be organized except to say that we do believe the co-chair of the council should be selected by FA and be a faculty member and one by an administrator. I did talk to John Burgeson today, and John said that we, he and I, were in agreement about this. He had it listed as #6 on the list of things to do, and at Strategic Planning I said that it seemed to me that it was #1 which would relate to some of the work which remains to be done on the online action plan that was under development.

ADM: As to the action plan, we did talk about establishing a council. We haven’t spent any real time discussing the actual composition of it, but we certainly want to work to establish that in a workable way.

FA: Also, we brought to Meet & Confer a document that was kind of a position statement that some had voted on about online education that it was my understanding that that document was going to be included in the work of that group putting together the plan, and that document kind of got lost. Some of the concerns that were raised from the Faculty perspective at Strategic Planning were also raised in that document. I’d like to ask that, assuming that we agree it’s a good idea, that that the council also take a look at that document as part of its work.

7. Automated Operating Systems/Hardware Inventory (Admin) (04/09/09)

FA: Lots of technology stuff today. I sat at TLTR—I finally was able to get there, Kristi, without the meeting being cancelled—that’s not your fault—and there was a lively discussion of some software which is available in the marketplace that could be used to conduct an inventory of our hardware and operating systems with computers connected to our network. And I see there’s a handout.

ADM: I would say it’s more than just available; we actually have it already. Our helpdesk management systems come with one tool of a larger product. We would like to begin implementing phases of them. There are three modules that we are notifying you about. They are all separate and one doesn’t require the other. One provides us with a hardware inventory, the other with a software inventory, and the third allows us to push out software that upgrades automatically. So you can see at least what we think are the benefits of that and a timeline we would be interested in following. But, some of you maybe know, right now our hardware inventory is done by and large by asking your departmental secretaries what hardware people have on their desks. For example, we could ask how many Vista machines are there on campus, how many are compatible. We don’t know always.

FA: With respect to the software inventory, some of us have downloaded our own software. Our technology people actually do that for us. Is that going to be okay?

ADM: Yes. I guess I should speak the truth here. If you downloaded illegal software and put it on your machines, that will show up, too, so I’m not going to pretend that that won’t. But if you’re doing everything legit and legal, it should not be any problem at all. What it would allow us to do: If you purchased some software and loaded it on your machine, and Judy has, and somebody else does, and we find out there are 15 people, we could buy a campus license for the same amount that each of you are paying separately. It would be beneficial to campus because we could drive down the cost.

FA: This raises some issues for me, though. I’m concerned about the software. We don’t have a budget for software, and so if I need something to tech, I will buy it myself. Are you saying that if 15 of us buy this software ourselves, all of a sudden we won’t have to pay for it?

ADM: Maybe, I don’t know. It might be.

FA: Another thing: There is a level of oversight here that…do you need to know what software is on our computers if you haven’t purchased it, if the school hasn’t purchased it?

ADM: On the university computers we have to be clear. It’s not your personal machine that we’re looking at, it’s the university computers.

FA: But I need that software to teach what I’m teaching.

ADM: I understand the feelings, but we are liable, I am liable for the use of State property and, even if it’s your own stuff, we are still accountable for how the State resources are being used. We have to be able to certify the versions we do program, etc. so we have to know what’s on there.

FA: I’m not objecting. I understand the liability, but what I’m hearing you say is that you’ll have an inventory of all the software on all the machines then, is that correct?

ADM: If we implement that module, that would be true.

FA: So would there be some sort of accounting of…I guess the blurring for me is confusing in terms of budgetary kinds of things.

ADM: The other side is we should not be putting up with the fact that faculty to buy their own software to teach. I know there are situations where…and I know there are more people around the table who have taken money out of own pockets that the University should pay. It is a moral principle that we should acknowledge the need for that software and buy it and support it. Before we deal with that, sort of accomplish that in one fell swoop, I don’t know how much additional software that’s been purchased. I think we’re going to have to learn as we go. Kristie, as we implement this, we must honor folks who have spent their own money and not been…Given the situation here, we create some silly rule, like “If we didn’t pay for it, you can’t have it on your machine.”

ADM: We wouldn’t…Unless there are different guidelines, we’ve never said you can’t have your own purchases.

FA: Whether you’ve said it or not, that might cause someone to worry, and so getting all this out front... I mean, I would love it if this would give us a means of knowing what sorts of licenses we could buy very cheaply across a large number of people, if this would give us advantages in teaching or doing research, but I do think we need to be clear on how it’s going to be used so people aren’t worried about this kind of oversight, like saying, “You have to take that off the machine because it’s not St. Cloud State software.”

FA: It would be helpful to communicate clearly in advance to Faculty if there’s going to be an expectation that we are to maintain or provide documentation of legitimacy or licenses that we have for any piece of software or whatever else. I know there are places like, “My brother gave me a PDA he didn’t need anymore and I got the box and the software and I took the paperwork and the license. Well, the PDA died, I got rid of the software as well.” But there was a period of time I couldn’t have proved that I wasn’t hijacking. It would just be nice to know in advance what is going to be covered.

ADM: If you would turn to the second page. We knew this was going to be…we thought it would be the most problematic, the most controversial. We talked about that we would want to review the plans for that software and work with you on that before we even did it. Let’s talk about the issue ahead of time so we’re on the same page. It’s exactly what you’re talking about. So we put that into the timeline so we could have those conversations beforehand.

FA: It says, “We are requesting feedback regarding the proposal.” We’ve given a little bit; we’ll take back to our committee structure for comment. The second part was your requesting approval for Phase I so that it can begin to be implemented this summer. Phase I is implementation of the Hardware Inventory Client and Hardware Reporting System. We see that as something that is wise to do.

ADM: So that recommendation will go to the president.

FA: Well, what we’re saying is that you’ve asked us there, and we’re going to take for the broader questions of the 2nd and 3rd and 4^th phases to give you feedback, but for Phase I, it certainly looks like a much more efficient use of our resources than having people go into Faculty offices and have to look for identifying information.

FA: Now it is not consistent across colleges, even departments. I have a lot of my own software that I’ve bought myself, and I upgraded it.  Even I with a Faculty specialty, a cheaper one, still it’s my own software. And, like you say, I am using it for class purposes. So either you have to buy through the department or the college, so that it’s created a problem, depending on which college or which department, that a technician did not upgrade. They cannot do private ones. For example, if I want to upgrade browsers, for example, I cannot do that myself.

ADM: What I tell them is to check to see if they are mandating that.

FA: Some faculty have run into that problem. The only chance is through the department. That is one issue. The other issue is how software keeps changing all the time, so if you are buying a Works Inventory Management System it is very expensive, I’m not sure what the price is.

ADM: It’s already purchased. We just pay maintenance on them.

FA: OK.

ADM: I don’t know offhand what the price is, we haven’t paid it in awhile.

FA: The Provost and I are visiting. I think what we’ll do is work on the progress reports from the bottom up, hoping that by the time we reach the progress report concerning budget and the remaining new business items on parking rates, Steve Ludwig will be here.

8. Parking Rates (Admin) (04/09/09)

FA: Parking.

ADM: I sent you a copy, and you have distributed it to your associates.

FA: I didn’t. I did not get it distributed. It does have one piece that’s missing, and that is the projection of the revenue to be raised is. It says what the rates are, but I didn’t see anything that says what you expect to generate in revenue. That then relates to the proposed expenditures on the parking facilities.

ADM: The revenue is for pay lots in which Faculty/Staff permits are shown in the revenue and among the revenue lines of this budget, and there’s a separate budget for the parking ramp.

FA: It did not present on my computer screen the way it presents on the printed document. When I looked at the documents, there were two that were Excel spread sheets. One showed expenditures over three years. The other document as I looked at it had the proposed changes in the amount to be charged. What I didn’t see, as I said, was a projection of what revenue would be in each of those years with these rates. What you’re telling me is on the printed document, I have something that tells me what was generated Fiscal Year ’08 from each of the sources. It says “FY ’08 Rates” and then it’s got a column of revenue that came to a total of $1.556 million. What we’re suggesting is to examine the reasonableness of what your proposal’s rate increases would require a simpler financial presentation. That’s all.

ADM: OK.

FA: There’s a substantial increase in the rates.

ADM: There’s a different increase in here for rates, so I didn’t bring my copy along. I should have. I didn’t see it. This is the FY ’10 Parking Budget, and that statement that I see there now is based on FY ’08 rates. If we could meet and talk about it.

FA: From my information standpoint, the rates are increased across the board. There isn’t a category that you don’t propose the increase. Some have a smaller percentage increase because of the smaller base from which they were billed. Some, I’m assuming, you’re trying to create a greater sense of equity by raising come categories more than others. For example, you’re doubling the costs of paying for an hour of parking in some lots.

ADM: We’re making that consistent with the pay lot at Miller Center, so there’s a single rate. We’re making it the same rate as other pay lots and consistent with the parking. We have an extreme waiting list for parking ramp permits that we can provide for students based on the desirability for those that we are proposing a one-third increase in those. We also propose a substantial increase in vendor permits, because they really are quite valuable and are not a service to people directly on campus. For the lots below the K-Q Lots, we propose a smaller increase. We also realize that this year compared to last year for the first time that there was a decrease in the number of permits in Q Lot by about 15%. We don’t know if that is attributable to $4-per-gallon gas, not only when students came to school last Fall, or if that’s a trend or whatever, but there were materially less permits sold for Q Lot. K Lot daily parking is pretty stable, and the other lots are stable. We also added some charges for some areas that weren’t paying for some of the parking. Those included dorm director’s stalls that were provided adjacent or nearby their housing, some charges for recreational sports, the Atwood Center and also for concerts, if you will. That’s also an additional revenue stream. We have had fees for athletics for some time to represent the parking they use on weekends.

FA: I’d like to ask your forbearance if we move sideways between Budget and Parking and global warming. I heard rumors that the buses will not be running during finals, is that right?

ADM: I just heard that yesterday. That hasn’t been the case in the past, and it will not be the case this year. They stop running after finals, but we run them during finals week because there are class sessions. I just got back yesterday and have not yet got back to confirm with Dave.

FA: So you’ll be looking at that and making sure.

ADM: Yes.

FA: Thank you.

ADM: And thanks for the heads-up. It was supposed to happen, and I just want to make certain.

Progress Reports on Long-term Concerns

1. Report on Budget (Admin) (10/18/07)

ADM: Not so much on the budget per se. But the President has authorized, and I’ve communicated that we’ll fill an additional 16 positions, so those searches will begin shortly. The total price-tag for that will be approximately $1.1 million.

FA: May we have a list of positions. I have never seen the listed positions that were released in the first round.

ADM: I can put that together.

FA: Thank you so much.

FA: There is other information on the budget.

ADM: Let me share a few things. I will meet with Steve and Diana next Wednesday to identify targets in terms of budget cuts to be used for budget planning. We’re working to identify cuts that would go up to 7.5% reduction across the board. That work is going well, which means it thoughtfully gives us the opportunity to choose. We met earlier today to talk about the target, and it was recommended that we set the target at $5-6 million per year. That assumes our ability to use the stimulus money as a backfill against base cuts and I’m not clear that the Chancellor has authorized to do that, so I’ll ask Steve to clarify that. We are in a better income position this year preparing for that income reality into next year, so we know that actual cuts are going to be substantially less than the 11 a year that we have prepared to deal with. I don’t think it can be as well as 5-6. Within the next week we’ll come to that __/__ plans which we’ll very quickly share with campus community for feedback on the pattern of choices, and all the options on the table.

FA: The Senate Omnibus Higher Ed Bill has been reported out of the Policy Committee and is moving to Finance. Unlike their initial budget tracking that uses stimulus money to backfill, which would take the third of the three scenarios. If the stimulus money CAN be used in the way you described, it would mean that the magnitude of the reduction is being reduced.

ADM: Right.

FA: We did get that the Budget Advisory Group has reviewed the document that  includes scenarios through the next biennium, and provides information about the exact financial status as of 19^th of March. It does report that we are in a very nice position financially for this year. That makes it a lot easier than what some of our sister institutions are looking at. There was a commitment made at the President’s Council a week ago about the release of the list, and I trust that we’ll get that list about the same time we get the decision of the…

ADM: When you say the list…

FA: The list of things that were being proposed to meet the 7.5% target.

ADM: Right.

FA: And the Budget Advisory Task force is being strongly attended and information is being exchanged. Let us hope that when we reach the point of final decision, we as a community will be comfortable with what we know will be bad news. We know we’re not going to have the same levels of funding that we had of late, and we know that no matter which scenarios are looked at, there is a significant drop in base that occurs in the next biennium.

ADM: I don’t know how much you want to hear. The projections for next biennium are vague and uncertain. They suggest that there will be a $5 billion shortfall in the next biennium, which would mean that we that we go to the next biennium having to accommodate the base cut and then deal with anything additional. Depending on your degree of confidence in those estimates and what you think about the future, that’s not going to be as bad as they say. Let’s say that, in fact, that we do need to cut $11 million in each of the next two years. Whether you believe the following biennium is not going to be as bad, to defer some of those cuts to the next biennium, we should be in a stronger revenue position. We know that the Governor’s base cut is real. We know the stimulus money is only temporary, but let’s take $6 million a year and defer that $5—that’s not a bad thing to do if the following biennium is in fact recovering and moving up, but should it not be, it puts you at risk then. One of the things we’ll do is we’ll share the thinking behind the choice and ask the Budget Advisory Group to sort of validate the thinking, because there aren’t going to be certainties. We’re going to be making bets on the 12-13 biennium, on the eventual outcome of the conversation among the Senate, House and Governor’s Office, and on the flexibility we have with the stimulus money. We will not take the most draconian cuts that we might take in the next biennium. But how much to defer, how much risk to take, that’s the decision we’ve got to make in the next couple of weeks.

FA: We appreciate your candor. We recognized the difficulty in charting a financial course with as many variables unknown as we have.

ADM: I will take some days to put into format, God willing and the creeks don’t rise, perhaps by next Friday it will be in shape to share.

FA: But remember the President is conservative. It’s always better to set a later deadline and come in early.

ADM: I know, mine’s ready.

ADM: April 11 is Saturday.

FA: Some of the departments are not taking them seriously.

FA: The list that had been generated and reviewed by the Budget Advisory Committee …The Budget Advisory Committee has suggested that that be shared with the affected units, and that the affected units then would take those things into consideration as potential budget cuts will occur.

FA: This is sort of a related question. We’ve had a series of units, especially in their actions relating to things like dropping courses for low enrollment. Have those deadlines been moved up at all? Say for Summer or for Fall? We had heard Mid-April for dropping for low enrollment for Summer, and I’ve been hearing that will be happening in the next few days. Have any of those deadlines been rolled back?
ADM: I didn’t know there were those deadlines.

FA: Several faculty members have heard impending deadlines for cancelling summer classes.

ADM: Let me get some more information and I’ll follow up.

FA: Well, look who’s right on time.

FA: We’re talking about Budget.

ADM: I don’t think I have more specific information. We did put some scenarios together and published them. I’m sure you’ve reviewed. We’re still working through some uncertainty that we have. My goal is succeeding in adding some additional faculty lines. That’s a good thing. The enrollment remains strong for all appearances for this year and I think next year. Some have asked me about Financial Aid, particularly for financial consideration that is in addition to our budget that reflects our students. We’ve been encouraged by the availability of financial aid, Pell Grants and other grants and Work Study. For the coming year, the allocation for Work Study will stay the same. They’ve decreased it federally, but distributed it to more schools than they did in the past. Private schools are affected more adversely by the decline in the market because of the endowment that they tend to use for scholarships. Students should be able to maintain a financial wherewithal to continue to go to school. Summer jobs might be tough, so they may fall a couple of thousand dollars short of what they might normally have. Those are the biggest considerations.

FA: We skipped by the very first item of new business, the question of opening and securing classrooms. With an increase of folks who are being assigned to classrooms outside of the department’s schedule, and outside of the buildings in which they have their offices, questions have been raised as to responsibilities of opening and securing classrooms. There are varying practices in buildings across campus. When we got to this point the last time, we said we’d wait for Steve. (refer to above)

2. Status of Administrative Searches: Provost, AVP (05/15/08), AVP Research & Faculty Development, Dean COFAH, Associate Dean, COSE (renewed by FA) (10/2/08) Associate Dean COSS, LR&TS Associate Dean, VP University Advancement

ADM: I just want to say for some reason Director of Affirmative Action is left off of this list and I thank you for sending me your representative. I still have a couple of spaces, so I’ll be nagging those groups so we can fill them.

FA: That was my oversight. I took one off and didn’t put that one back on, or put it on for the first time.

FA: Did you say that name again, please? Director of Affirmative Action?

ADM: Yes.

FA: The information I have on the Provost search is that schedules are being established for visits of finalists during the week of the 20^th of April.

FA: That’s correct. We’re finalizing dates.

ADM: The COFAH Dean search: I think the committee has finished its phone interviews and will be selecting a group of finalists on campus. The Associate Dean in COSE: There are candidates being interviewed for that. The LR&TS Associate Dean interviews are about to occur. The VP University Advancement: I think that’s just slightly behind the Provost search.

FA: That would leave the AVP for Research and AVP for Faculty Relations.  

ADM: I think that committee is about to do phone interviews as well.

FA: If we could go back to Provost Search momentarily. It’s my understanding that there are slots for the Executive Committee in those interviews?

ADM: Yes.

FA: I would appreciate, as soon as you know what that schedule is, that it gets out to us so that we can build it in so that, as we move towards the final part of the semester.

FA: I realize it’s a tight turnaround, getting people locked in.

ADM: I just wanted to say that there are some other members of Provost Search Committee that are here, and I think that the working relationship with the Task Force has been extraordinarily positive, that the process has really been moving as well, as democratically, as cordially, and as professionally as a group like that can, and Wanda is certainly to be commended for her leadership.

FA: I’d like to add that that the Search firm that we are working with has done a tremendous job, and been terrific to work with.

FA: So we can expect some announcements coming out to advise the community of when there are open forums?

ADM: I’m expecting to hear from people no later than Monday. The plan is: three working days before a candidate arrives, we will announce who that candidate is.  So it will be a rollout who the candidates are. I hope you all know we have a website, and the process is on that too. So we will update as soon as we know the final schedule. We’ll put all of that there. Each receives an email with room location, dates, times, etc. I think tentatively, if I recall right, that the Executive Committee put out a call to some candidates today. The candidates will be here for a day and a half. We’ve made some nuances with juggling schedule, but that’s the timeline now.

FA: 9-10 in the morning of the second day of the week.

FA: I’m sure as it gets finalized, you’ll hear the next day. I appreciate your patience.

ADM: Regarding Associate Dean, COSE, the second one,…Paula King….

FA: She’s chair.

FA: I think it her publicly telling what’s going on.

ADM: I haven’t had a very recent conversation with any on that Search Committee. I’ll find that out.

FA: And the Provost Search: I know there’s a Website, which is nice, but not everybody will go online, so it would be nice to have reminders to the campus community.

ADM: We’ll do a campus-wide announcement, reminding people of days. And there’ll be individual emails.

FA: Is there any news regarding the status of plans for the AVP of Faculty Relations position?

ADM: There will be a new search for that position in the Fall.

FA: And is there any plan to be filling that position on an interim basis?

ADM: I think you’re looking at a pattern of activity that would normally be happening in that office, and that’s been distributed. I don’t think we’re ignoring the issues, I don’t think anyone’s missing the proactive and developmental aspects. I think we’re being responsible.

FA: I wasn’t trying to suggest you were ignoring anything. I just want to know the status.

ADM: Activities are being covered.

FA: If there are no other questions about the status of administrative searches, from the Provost’s information I know you have something to report on the budget (refer to #1 above).

3. Foundations of Excellence (Admin) (04/17/08)—not discussed.

4. Task Force on 9-month Appointments (Admin/FA) (04/17/08)

FA: I’ve been told that the draft of that report is to be completed by tomorrow, and that the hope is that the timeframe would allow for us to discuss it at the next Meet & Confer. And you’re nodding your head.

ADM: I wasn’t sure that it was going to be completed by tomorrow. I know the writing team is working on a draft, but how close they are to being done I’m not quite certain. We should have it possibly to look at at the next Meet & Confer.

FA: Thank you.

5. University Scholars and Endowed Chairs (FA) (05/01/08)
FA: My memory is such that I thought, Diana, you had decided that that committee had finished.

ADM: We should have a report to Michael by the end of next week.

FA: So you expect to have a report to him by the end of next week. I do know the Task Force has a preliminary report that is out for its members to take a look at. I got a copy of the document, but was not clear to me whether I should circulate it, because I wasn’t sure that the Task Force had put it in its final form.

ADM: I don’t know which copy you have, but I could check that. I feel pretty comfortable that it is the one that we did.

ADM: The committee’s intent was to have a copy of that to the Faculty Association at this meeting. We would welcome any input or feedback before we finalize the report that goes to the President. That would happen at the end of the semester.

FA: Thank you for clearing that up.

6. College of Education Climate Task Force

FA: Mark has been forewarned about providing an update on the College of Education Climate Task Force.

FA: The consultant with whom we contracted to do the planet-surf study was on campus with a colleague conducting face-to-face interviews two weeks ago. He is now in the process of drafting up a report summarizing the findings. That report will consist of statistics and some crosstabs on close-ended questions where the answers were a check-box or “Say yes or no.” The open-ended questions we wanted to do our utmost to guarantee the security of the people who were providing answers. What we are going to receive is a summary but not exact words of the individual testimony. The Task Force received and approved an outline of the format of that report just this past week, the report itself I’m expecting probably next week sometime. That report will be going through the Task Force for comment and approval before it’s released to the University as a whole. The report will become a public document, and it will ultimately also include recommendations for acceptance. It will be done by the end of the term.

FA: Thank you.

Meeting Adjourned at 4:18 PM