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WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

Regular Meeting – February 7, 2005

Jim Stewart, 2004-2005 Senate President, called the [MSOffice1] Senate to order at 4:06 pm.  Twenty-eight (28) people were present including twenty-three (23) Senators, one (1) Legislative Liaison, one (1) recorder, one (1) guest and two (2) ex officio members.  (See attached roster).  

Approval of Minutes of January 29, 2005.

Senators approved the minutes of January 29, with a single word addition.  

Items from the Chair; Legislative Report from President Morse:

President Stewart invited President Karen Morse to present her legislative update.  Faculty legislative liaison Todd Donovan was present to answer questions: 

§    President Morse reported that Governor Gregoire plans to delay release of her first budget until after the March 17th revenue forecast.  In other matters, Gregoire has endorsed the creation of a committee to study Education Finance, and why I-884 failed.  Some members are persuaded that tax increases will help, but with consequences for the next election cycle.

§    Branch Campuses.  Morse reported on a House Higher Education focus on the branch campus recommendations from the HEC Board.  Community colleges are issuing potential plans seeking the authority to offer pilot upper division programs as a means of addressing the "capacity gap" in baccalaureate education.  Morse commented that this could mean expanded access to upper divisions at the University of Washington and lower division expansion at the community colleges.  UW at Tacoma talked about admitting only students on an Honors program.  Morse stated that we also want to compete for those good students.  Morse and faculty reps are going door to door at the Ways and Means Committee, asking why build a new campus, rather support the growth in the present institutions.  Few realize the high additional costs involved when you build a new campus.  You are not just hiring faculty, but also the support structure which includes all of the personnel in counseling, financial aid, career services, housing, infrastructure, maintenance, etc.

§    Strategic Plan.  Morse stressed the importance of reviewing the Strategic Plan in light of enrollment increases, a move to create more four-year schools in the state, and predictable tuition increases due to the State budget shortfall.  According to Morse, the Strategic Plan guides us in both good times and bad and must present the core values of the institution’s primary academic mission.

§    Performance Audits (PA’s), the State Executives appear to strongly support requiring performance audits of all state agencies and institutions, including universities.  The Council of Presidents and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges are working on amendments that will ease (if not eliminate) the impact on public colleges and universities,  and recognize the extensive accountability activities already underway (accreditation, fiscal audits by the state auditor, etc.).

§    SB 5022, which will change the length of terms for students serving as trustees or regents, will be heard in the Senate this week.  Students oppose changing the length of term from one to two years, as well as allowing other governing board members to decide how long an individual student's term should be.  Students will argue that the bill reduces student opportunity to serve, and empowers the board to end a student's appointment at their convenience. 

§    High performance buildings – HB1272  (Rep. Hans Dunshee, House Capital Budget chair) -  requires LEED silver certification of all major facility projects of public agencies, school districts and entities receiving capital funding.  The bill could impose increased costs for design and construction, as well as monitoring and maintenance, but costs could be balanced by increased energy savings.   Western estimates such increase could range between 1 and 3 percent.

§    I-200 and SB 5575/HB 1586 -- to clarify that I-200 does not prohibit public higher education institutions from considering race, color, ethnicity or national origin in admission or transfer policies for purposes of promoting diversity.  Western has not been impacted by I-200. 

§    Higher Education Day, February 15, 2005.  Morse will return to Olympia Tuesday, where she has 18 appointments with legislators from both houses, both parties.  Todd Donovan, Legislative Liaison, will also attend, accompanied by faculty and alums.  All plan to visit legislators and attend a Governor’s reception to lobby for higher education goals.

Morse responded to Senators’ questions on the status of the Performance Compact.  Morse’s point of view is that Western has a draft compact prepared, and if the legislature starts the conversation we want to be part of it.  One Senator expressed the hope that the faculty will be widely consulted when the issues comes to the forefront.  Morse also clarified that Performance Audits (PAs) are assessment tools already in place, and the term is not to be confused with the Performance Compact.

Senators asked on the progress of including a faculty member on the Board of Trustees.  Morse noted that the topic had not been discussed.

Additional Items

Associated Students’ Green Power Initiative

President Stewart reported on an impressive plan that the Associated Students have agreed upon to assess themselves a quarterly fee in order to buy Green Power from Puget Energy, enabling Western to become the leader nationally among public institutions in this effort.

ACTION ITEMS

Reading of Standing Committee Minutes:

Stewart reported that the Executive Council had discussed an approach that called attention to Standing Committee action items listed on the agenda prior to approving Standing Committee minutes where those actions took place. 

Senators accepted the minutes, with the exception of the item in University Planning Council regarding the winter quarter straw vote election of the Chair, since the committee has partial new membership in Spring quarter.  Since the chair receives .333 release time, she/he must submit a schedule for the following year during winter quarter.

Bertil Van Boer, Senate representative to the committee, asked for recommendations on how to make this work better.  The Executive council will bring a motion to the floor for a vote next meeting.

MOTION:  Academic Technology Committee Charge

In a second discussion on the topic, the Senate considered rewording the charge to the Academic Technology Committee in order to increase faculty voice in decision-making processes of technology committees throughout the campus. 

David Bover had made the motion, seconded by Ira Hyman, by which:

“the Faculty Senate directs the Academic Technology Committee to review the

Committee¹s charge (ByLaw 7.8) and current campus decision making procedures

related to technology. The Committee is directed to provide a report of its

review and recommendations for changes in the decision making process to the

Senate by the end of Spring Quarter 2005.”

Senators passed the motion unanimously.

A.      

Appointments and Elections – Jeff Newcomer, Officer

Senators reviewed and approved Voter Eligibility totals and an Apportionment of Senate Seats for the 2005-07 election.  College of Business and Economics did not quite qualify for a fourth representative, but the apportionment calculations most nearly approached 3.5.  Senators decided to apportion the 30^th seat “At-Large”. 

¨     Bertil Van Boer made a MOTION, seconded by Kristi Lemm,  that the 30^th position be an “At-Large” position to represent faculty on a University-Wide basis, which the Senate passed..

Senators then appointed the following faculty to committees:

¨       To Faculty Development Grants Committee:  Janet Finlay, Psychology

¨       To Parking Appeals Board – Laura Laffrado, English

Newcomer announced the following:

Vacancies: 

University Planning Council, term ending Spring 2006

Constituent Concerns

Senators brought concerns regarding the following:

a)  a need to establish bike lanes,

b) questions about the new ticketing system for jaywalkers,

c) concerns regarding the timing of the lights, need for a left-turn lane, and hazardous roadway conditions at the crossings near the Recreation Center.

Western Library Brings in Live Satellite Feed From Europe

Senators learned that the Western Library will soon be the only university in the West to bring in live satellite feed from several European countries.

Adjournment

Senators moved to adjourn at 5:25 pm. 

An Executive Council meeting took place immediately following the Senate meeting.  The Executive voted to cancel the Feb. 14^th meeting in order to meet with the President and Provost to continue revisions of the Faculty Grievance Procedure.  Executive Council adjourned at 5:35 pm.

Written by Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, 2/7/05

                                                                                                            _____________________

                                                                                                            Lorraine Kasprisin, Secretary

Faculty Senate Roster 2004-2005