Manoa Faculty Senate Minutes of March 19, 2008

Minutes of the Faculty Senate

March 19, 2008

Faculty Senate Members Present:
Anna Ah Sam, Chizuko Allen, Mary Ann Antonelli, David Bangert, Andrea Bartlett, Steven Brown, Lonny Carlile, Catherine Chan-Halbrendt, Bei-Huan Chao, Meda Chesney-Lind, David Chin, Ross Christensen, Linda Cox, Martha Crosby, Shirley Daniel, Sandy Davis, Eric De Carlo, Sheri Fong, Donna Fukuda, Susan Hppensteele, Alan Katz, Beverly Keever, Klaus Keil, Chin Lee, Peter Leong, Julienne Maeda, Courtnay Matsu, John Mayer, Matt McGranaghan, Paula Morelli, Thanh Truc Nguyen, Katsuhiro Ota, Maryann Overstreet, Karol Richardson, David Ross, Scott Rowland, Magi Sarvimaki, Jane Schoonmaker, Gay Sibley, David Stegenga, Grieg Steward, Nancy Stockert, Eric Thau, Mary Tiles, Russel Uyeno, Lei Wakayama, Kelley Withy, Tricia Wright

Excused:
John Casken, Jerome Comcowich, Robert Cooney, Rosanne Harrigan, Judith Inazu, Jean Johnson, Carol Kellett, Lurana O’Malley, Ilia Roussev, Elizabeth Wichmann, Jean Young, Sylvia Yuen, Ivica Zalud

Absent:
Kimberly Binsted, Shana Brown, Nathan Chang, Bryan Cook, James Cowen, Graham Crookes, Milton Diamond, Jimmy Efird, Patrick Henry, Wendy Kawabata, Karl Kim, Spencer Kimura, Mike Kirk-Kuwaye, Marcelo Kobayashi, Jeffrey Kuhn, Justin Levinson, John Madey, Richard Manshardt, Robert McHenry, Marian Melish, Katrina-Ann Oliveira, Aspy Palia, Robert Paull, Todd Reed, Kelly Roberts, Dave Sanders, Roy Wilkens

1.               Approval of February 20, 2008 Meeting Minutes: The item is tabled until the April meeting as quorum was not met at this meeting.

2.               Chair’s Report

a.   VCAA Search: After the initial phase of the search process, the search committee did not forward any of the three finalists’ names to the Chancellor. The Chancellor then considered making an interim appointment, however, Gary Ostrander stepped forward and added his name as an applicant to the search. The selection committee has deliberated and has forwarded their positive recommendation to the Chancellor. Questions raised from the floor included a clarification of the formal process in forming search committees at UHM and the standard process to guide search committees in their procedures.

b.   Arts & Sciences Reorganization: A transition team is being formed to solicit wider input from the University community about the organization of the college.  Noel Kent, Chair of the A&S Faculty Senate raised the Senate’s concern about this process proceeding without proper consultation.

c.   Memorandum to Chancellor Hinshaw on International Programs: The Committee on Administration and Budget and the Faculty Executive Committee have sent memos to the Chancellor raising the concerns of the Faculty Senate about the recent devolution of System’s Office of International Education to UHM. The process lacked the proper consultation with stakeholders.

d.   Call for Participation in the WASC Capacity & Preparatory Review: The Chair invited senators to contribute to the essays being prepared for the upcoming review. The essays will update our progress as a campus since the initial proposal submission.

3.               Resolution on Tenure/Promotion Dossier Simplification: Andrea Bartlett, Chair of the Committee on Professional Matters, introduced the resolution, which supports the simplification of the guidelines and forms of the tenure and promotion process. Discussion items from the floor included having suggested lengths for the sections of the dossier (most peer and benchmark institutions have set limits) and the importance of present and future value sections for various fields. As the discussion involved matters of substantial importance, the vote on the resolution was tabled.

4.               Report on Budget Priority Survey: Ross Christensen, Convener of the Committee on Administration and Budget, thanked Senators for their input on the budget priority survey. The priorities, as nominated by the senate are: repairs & maintenance, faculty retention and recruitment (also includes faculty housing and salary compression), new facilities, libraries, student recruitment and retention.

5.               Report on Senate Elections: David Chin reported on behalf of Carol Kellett, Chair of the Committee on Faculty Service. The elections for the AY 2009 Senate has been completed. The School of Law will not have representation next year as there were no faculty members willing to serve this constituency. For next year’s elections, it is recommended that we have twice the eligible candidates for each constituency to assure a smoother election process. A recommendation was raised from the floor that a paper-based notification of the elections be widely distributed in addition to the electronic notification.

6.               Sustainability at UHM: Mary Tiles, representing the Sustainability Council, made a call to Senators for courses related to sustainability. As there is a growing demand by students for classes in this area, Dr. Tiles is spearheading a movement to allow for simple identification of these classes via the sustainability website (www.sustainability.hawaii.edu). Makena Coffman, Vice-Chair of the Mänoa Climate Change Commission introduced the effort of the commission to make UHM climate neutral. Although this is a long-term process, we must be committed to this goal in order to be successful. There was also a call for volunteers to serve as UHM sustainability coordinators by the Kuleana Program. The volunteers are those who will be leading the effort to adopt sustainable ways to work in their buildings.

7.               New Business: Beverly Keever presented a resolution that addressed irregularities in the recent VCAA Search, including its timetable, search committee membership, and lack of transparency in the selection process. As the issue initiated a wide discussion amongst the Senators, the resolution was tabled until the April meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00p. 

Respectfully submitted,
Lei Wakayama

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