Manoa Faculty Senate Minutes of September 19, 2007
Minutes of the Faculty Senate, September 19, 2007
1.
Minutes of the May 2, 2007 UHM Faculty Senate Meeting: hearing no
requests for corrections or changes, the minutes was adopted.
2.
Report on SEC actions and activities during the summer:
a.
Chair Chin, representing the Faculty Senate, has been asked to join
the MET.
b.
The OVCAA and SEC have spent a considerable amount of time
discussing assessment and the upcoming WASC Special Visit. The SEC forwarded
report of the Senate Task Force on Assessment and recommended names of Senators
to work as part of an assessment team.
c.
The SEC and the OVCAA have evaluated the process of program reviews
as well as the purpose and constitution of the Council on Program Review (COPR).
Based on the meetings, the SEC felt that program review teams are the most
effective mechanism and that it is not necessary to have COPR perform a
secondary evaluation. SEC recommended that program review teams consist of local
members in addition to the external reviewers. In addition, the
findings/recommendations of the review team should be returned to the program
being reviewed.
d.
Status of the Library: As the Library was not funded by the
Legislature during the budget process, the SEC pressed for the Library to be the
highest priority item in Manoa’s Supplemental Budget Request. The Chancellor has
submitted this as a Tier 1 item in the Supplemental Budget Request.
3.
Senate priorities for AY 2008:
a.
Assessment: Participation in the weekend workshop with consultant
Mary Allen resulted in the completion of student learning outcomes for the
General Education Hallmarks.
b.
Intercollegiate Athletics: Several events that have appeared in the
press, namely a Title IX lawsuit filed by the Women’s Track Coach against the
Athletics Department as well as an expose written by a former UH athlete, have
raised concerns about the Athletics Department.
c.
Retirement/Retention of Faculty: UHPA has conducted a number of
surveys of the membership and found that 45% of the respondents plan to leave UH
within 5 years. As the numbers do not only reflect the members who plan to
retire, but include those who simply plan to leave, there is growing concern
that the attrition will devastate many departments and programs across the
system.
4.
GEC motion for changes in General Education Policy: Jane Schoonmaker,
GEC Chair, presented a document governing the actions of the General Education
Committee. This document was modified to keep the written policies aligned with
current practices. Changes include the process of awarding back credits for
Hawaiian and Second Languages courses, the addition of an undergraduate student
to the GEC, the removal of the school/college-level waiver option, remove the
provision for faculty mentoring, and a clarification that college and major
requirements are not under the purview of the GEC.
J. Engle moved to accept the motion.
One Senator opposed the motion. All others were in favor.
5.
Address by Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw: The Chancellor
expressed her appreciation of shared governance. She is looking forward to
starting the Second Century of this University, calling it the second dynamic
century of greatness. She would like to see UHM excel in being a destination of
choice by faculty, staff, and students, be a leading global resource, be an
inclusive community that welcomes diversity, and be an American Association of
Universities (AAU) quality institution (top 60 in the nation). Her priorities
for this campus are:
a.
The repair and maintenance of our facilities
b.
Be competitive globally
c.
Recruit and retain first-time freshmen and transfer students
d.
Graduate our undergraduate students at a higher rate
e.
Implement our academic priorities
f.
Organize ourselves academically
g.
Be a fully accredited institution
The most important action items are to create a successful
6.
Call for Feedback on the Draft Policy on Classified & Proprietary
Research: Roy Wilkens, Chair of the Committee on Research, reported on the
wiki site that was developed after the May 2007 meeting to invite Senators to
submit their comments on the draft policy. The URL for the site is
http://cp-research-policy.wikispaces.com/
7.
SEC resolution on Open Records:
The Chair shared the concerns of the SEC about the Supplemental Budget
presentation that took place at the August 2007 Board of Regents meeting. As the
discussion began, the presentation referred to tables that were not made
available to those in attendance. Based on the concerns about the availability
of information, the SEC drafted a resolution to reinforce the open records.
Senator Bev Keever (Journalism), proposed an amendment to the original
resolution in order to refer this concern to the Sunshine Law as drafted below.
Whereas BOR meetings are subject to the
State of
Whereas no comments can be made on an
item to be discussed if the public is denied access to the item
Therefore the faculty of the University
of Hawaii at Manoa request that the Regents respect not merely the letter but
also the spirit of the sunshine law and make available documents necessary to be
able to understand and offer comment on items to be discussed in public
meetings.
The resolution was unanimously adopted.
8.. New Business
9..
WASC special visit:
Assistant VCAA Peter Quigley made a presentation about the special visit that is
scheduled for October 2007. He explained that a special visit occurs because of
“identified issues of concern.” The largest concerns for Manoa are outstanding
issues from 1999:
1)
Leadership and governance. Specifically, Manoa’s relationship to
the UH System. In the System reorganization, the delegation and devolution have
been key turning points for this campus. As well, the movement to staff the
reorganization has been important steps toward autonomy.
2)
Financial planning
and management. The President has established a clear process of stocktaking by
the UH campuses. The Manoa Budget Advisory Group, formed in 2003, forwarded
recommendations about the budgeting process. The recommendations are currently
being implemented.
3)
Educational effectiveness. Assessment is the largest outstanding
issue. The completion of the General Education student learning outcomes is a
big step toward our addressing this issue. In addition, the departments and
programs have submitted their program reviews and we are currently at a 90%
compliance rate.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30p.
Respectfully submitted,
Lei
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