Mānoa Faculty Senate Executive Committee
Minutes of August 31, 2009
Present: David Ross, Susan Hippensteele, Halina Zaleski, Martha Crosby, Shirley Daniel, Tom Hilgers, Martin Rayner
The meeting started at 2:35 p.m.
Chair’s report
There was no MET meeting last Tuesday.
BOR
The BOR met last Thursday.
The UHM faculty senate had asked that the C-More program be formally approved by the BOR. This is a new program within SOEST headed by Prof. David Karl. The center will address biomedical, biology and zoology research. It will contain wetlab facilities that can be used by a number of research projects, and is being constructed at the Biomed building at the upper UHM campus. The project is partially funded by $100 million in bond funding, and by a $10 million grant from NSF. The project has been operating for quite some time but was officially approved last week.
Much of the BOR meeting was taken up by VP Todo’s budget presentation. VP Todo explained at the ACCFSC meeting that the proposed budget cuts for UHM were proportional to the G-funded salaries. There was also a discussion of the supplemental budget. To secure the 30 meter telescope, the UH must pay $2 million per year for management costs (at UHH), so this is in the supplemental budget. The $300 million in supplemental CIP requests are for safety and health, and projects that are leveraged by bonds or other funding. The BOR also discussed the Council of Revenues forecast.
Ross asked the VP about other revenue sources, including tuition increases. The VP explained that the administration doesn’t want to raise tuition to increase the burden on the students.
One of the Regents (Eric Martinson) asked about the impact of the cuts in the longer term, particularly on the work force of the state. Pres. Greenwood indicated that she has instructed the campuses to consider this, but she has no report or information on this. Another Regent asked a question about linking the impact of budget cuts to outcomes. It seems the administration has not been able to provide such information.
The BOR has not declared fiscal exigency.
The SEC discussed the executive salaries of the administration. There is much concern about the high level of administrative salaries, especially at the Dean’s level. There have also been instances of hiring and/or replacing administrative personnel at different levels while terminating instructional personnel. This is of great concern.
Combined Budget and Prioritization Group
The group met on Friday, and the Chancellor provided a memo summarizing her view of what changes the committee had discussed and supported. There appeared to be a number of items that had been discussed, but not necessarily agreed to, which the Chancellor was portraying as having been supported by the committee in her memo. The SEC is quite concerned that the administration is not really taking the faculty’s concerns seriously. The committee discussed what recourse the faculty have with regard to administration actions that bypass shared governance.
The committee also discussed other proposals for mergers and rdundancy elimination that are circulating.
ACCFSC
ACCFSC co-chairs are David Ross and Harry Davies. The ACCFSC met last week for the first time with new Pres. Greenwood. The ACCFSC does not really represent the appropriate body for consultation for most items. Such consultation should be done with the underlying senate bodies.
Committee Reports
Most of the MFS committees are meeting and organized. Reports by the liaisons were provided for CAB, CAPP, CoR, Committee on Athletics, MAC.
Committee chairs elected to date are:
Committee on Administration and Budget: David Chin Committee on Athletics: Rosanne Harrigan Committee on Academic Planning and Policy: co-chairs Sarita Rai and Dick Chadwick Committee on Research: Jason Maddock Manoa Assessment Committee: Paul Brandon GenEd Committee: Scott Rowland, chair; Ernestine Enomoto, Vice chair
The Assessment Committee is meeting with Dr. Bresciani on Sept 9. Former VC Quigley had set up a task force to look at student learning outcomes. Any proposals need to be properly routed through the Manoa Faculty Senate. To finalize the memo establishing the MAC, changes will be made as previously discussed by the SEC and sent back to the administration. The SEC remains concerned about possible confusion resulting from placing the Assessment Office with the Institutional Research Office (IRO), and the need not to let the WASC process drive the Assessment process. Coordination is needed, and the IRO staff can support the Assessment Office. However, it is essential that Assessment remain the prerogative of the faculty, not the administration, and to inform but not be driven by the WASC process. The PCC in Arts and Sciences was also discussed with regard to their role in curriculum development. The MAC needs the SEC to provide more clarification on their area of responsibility, and whether it should encompass co-curricular activities. The focus of Assessment should be programs, not courses.
Old Business
The VCAA has asked for faculty senate representation for the enrollment management committee. Chair Ross suggested that Susan Hippensteele and Lei Wakayama serve this role, providing both instructional and enrollment management systems perspectives. While Lei is no longer on the SEC, the SEC can appoint her to represent us in this capacity.
New Business
Susan Hippensteele indicated that VC Dasenbrock has requested to address the faculty senate at a meeting to discuss larger issues relating to the academic mission and WASC accreditation. He may want to set up some administrative committees or tie in to the Committee on Professional Matters.
The committee discussed the format and content for the general faculty meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
The SEC is hoping to update and inform the faculty about developments to date, and to gather input from the general faculty to provide to the CAB and CAPP. CAB and CAPP can then work on some viable alternatives to address the budget cuts.
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