Faculty Senate Minutes: 10-10-2008

Attendance:

Faculty Senate Representatives	Name		College	Attendance
1.	Davis	D.	Arts & Sciences	Present
2.	Fowler	T.	Education	Absent
3.	Garick	S.	Health & Behavioral Sciences	Present
4.	Hamilton	J.	Education	Present
5.	Haque	M.	Business	Present
6.	Harris	M.	Education	Present
7.	Jordan	T.	Health & Behavioral Sciences	Present
8.	Kincaid	K.	Health & Behavioral Sciences	Present
9.	Linstrum	K	Health & Behavioral Sciences	Present
10.	McCallum	M.	Arts & Sciences	Absent
11.	Owen	R.	Business	Present
12.	Reavis	D.	Business	Present
13.	Walker	L.	Arts & Sciences	Present

     Others in Attendance:   R. Cruz-Cano, T. Gandy, V. Govindaswamy, J. Overlock, & R. Stripling.

Report from Ad Hoc Committee: Green Card Committee

Discussed their research and recommendations addressing the development of A&M-Texarkana procedures for the Employment of Foreign Nationals. See attached report.

Discussion:

Dr. Stripling reviewed the history of A&M Texarkana’s experience in dealing with the legal and system procedures for hiring Foreign Nationals in the past few years. One complexity is the federal requirement that the second posting of a position must be in print, not just on-line [in the process, after a person has been hired, the federal timeline requirements may result in the need for a second search to certify that the person hired is the best qualified and no other US citizen can fill this position]. The Administration Council’s rationale for the current draft proposal is that the timeline is insufficient to evaluate the quality of the candidate’s performance.

Other points discussed:

1. Administration Council is charged with developing a diverse faculty to meet the needs of a diverse student population and is committed to that charge.

2. The university must pay the fees ($10,000) which involve attorney fees and federal government fees. The candidate cannot pay these fees or reimburse the university, or hire his/her own attorney. These fee procedures are a federal rule.

3. Other system universities and Texas Universities do an immediate residency sponsorship, when the candidate is hired. Two exceptions are Texas A&M Kingsville and Texas A&M Texarkana.

4. Dr. Stripling explained that one of the reasons our university administration is hesitant to automatically sponsor a candidate is that our university has had minimal experience with this process and wants to be confident that they are sponsoring an effective professor. She further stated that it takes time for the candidate to adjust to the new environment and learn the demands of the job.

5. Dr. Stripling stated that she would recommend to the Administrative Council that the current draft proposal be revised to include that residency sponsorship could be recommended by a Dean within the eighteen month period, if the performance evaluation was at an above average level, and that a semiannual evaluation for the candidate be considered.

6. Policy, procedures, and expectations must be made clear to the candidate during the hiring process and written in the letter which offers the position to a candidate.  Administration and Human Resources are responsible for that communication and ensuring that federal procedures and timelines are met, as well as system and A&M Texarkana procedures and timelines are met.

Further Discussion:

After Dr. Stripling left for the Dean’s meeting, the Faculty Senate noted that they are appreciative of the response of our Provost to the discussion and her willingness to incorporate some of the Faculty Senate’s suggestions. Secondly, The Faculty Senate commended the thoughtful and thorough work of the ad hoc committee in addressing this issue.

· Motion:  FS will take no further action on the proposed A&M Texarkana procedures for employment of foreign nationals at this time.

o Motion made by Reaves; seconded by Davis. Motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Minutes:

· Motion to approve 9-12-2008 minutes by Jordan; seconded by Davis.

· Motion passed unanimously.

· Additionally, it was decided that after the minutes are approved, they would be posted on the Faculty Senate Website.

Old Business:

1. Executive Committee:

a. The timeline for the Evaluation questions to be used for the Chancellor’s excellence award was moved up; therefore, Owen, Hamilton, & Garick met and developed the following questions, which were submitted to the Chancellor:

· The course was organized and effective in helping me to learn.

· The instructor displayed a thorough knowledge of subject matter, principles, and techniques in relation to the subject area.

· The delivery of the instructional material was appropriate for this course.

· Students were treated fairly and with respect.

· The level and timeliness of feedback was appropriate for this course.

a. Meeting with President Rathburn

· Owen and Hamilton met with the President.

· Funding for the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence award will be from system, not from each university.

· Discussed the purpose of the Enrollment Management Council and the subcommittees

o President Rathburn has budgeted funding to bring in resources to assist the university in this endeavor.

o President Rathburn wants faculty and staff to work closely together to ensure the university meets goals for enrollment, which will dramatically impact state funding.

2. Faculty Welfare Committee

a. Needs to meet and elect a chair.

3. Faculty Affairs Committee

a. Needs to meet and elect a chair.

b. The Faculty Senate Discussion Board (webct) is up and running. Note that according to the Faculty Senate Constitution, members of the FS include full-time, tenure track positions,  and clinical instructors.

c. The Curriculum Review Discussion Board (webct) has been temporarily removed until Harris can solve some technical problems and discuss the assignment of procedural tasks with the Deans at their November meeting.

4. Undergraduate Committee & Graduate Council

a. Harris reported for Fowler, the FS representative. UCC met last week.

b. Graduate Council will meet next week.

c. There is some concern that colleges need to scrutinize course syllabus more closely.

5. Faculty Evaluation Instrument

a. Discussion

· History of when the current evaluation was brought to FS for review and recommendations.

· Issue of using it for the first time during the semester scores will count double, due to changing evaluations timeline to include the calendar year.

b. Motion:  FS will table review of the Faculty Evaluation Instrument until March, 2009.

· Motion made by Kincaid; seconded by Jordan. Motion passed unanimously.

New Business

1. Conducting meetings

a. Motion: FS meetings will end, two hours after our start time.

b. Motion made by Jordan; Seconded by Hamilton. Motion passed unanimously.

2. Faculty Research Awards

a. Executive Committee will work on this immediately so that awards can be made this semester.

b. Dr. Stripling will check on the amount of funding budgeted for these awards. (Stated before she left the FS meeting for another meeting.

3. Travel Issues

a. Discussion

· Actual expense of trips to conferences vs. actual reimbursement (Brought forward through FS discussion board)

· Time spent traveling to long distance sites and possibility of time credit given to faculty member (Brought forward through FS discussion board)

· Application of state rules for expenditures to grant funding.

b. Action: Assigned to Faculty Welfare Committee

Unfinished Business for next meeting:

1. Technology issues

a. Email reliability

b. Testing Center cameras

2. Program Coordinator Job Descriptions

Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by Linstrum; seconded by Reeves; passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at noon.

Submitted 10-11-2008 by M. Harris, FS Secretary/Parliamentarian