Communicate Effectively and Clearly
The University of Toledo Board of Trustees
Academic and Student Affairs Committee Meeting
February 14, 2011
Committee Chair Mr.Joseph H. Zerbey, IV was present along withCommittee membersMr. Carroll L. Ashley,Ms. Susan Palmer, Faculty Representative Dr.Mary Powers, and Community Representative Dr. Jerome Pecko. Student Trustee members Mr. Treyken M. Addison and Ms. Heather M. Griffinwere absent. Other Trustees attending included Mr. C. William Fall, Ms. Susan E. Gilmore, Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, Mr. William C. Koester,Ms. Linda N. Mansour, and Ms. Sharon Speyer.
Committee Administrative Liaisons Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Mr. William Logie,Dr. William McMillen, and Dr. Kaye Patten Wallacewere in attendance. Other attendees included Dr. Lawrence Anderson, Dr. Jamie Barlowe, Mr. Barry Cohen, Mr. David Cutri, Dr. Michael Dowd,Dr. Johnnie Early, Ms. Diane Eisel, Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, Ms. Marcia King-Blandford, Dr. Patsy Komuniecki, Mr. Tom Kosek, Dr. Patrick Lawrence,Ms. Cheryl Liebich, Dr. Steve LeBlanc,Mr. Chuck Lehnert, Mr. Jordan Maddocks, Dr. Geoffrey Martin, Dr. Nina McClelland, Dr. Nagi Naganathan, Mr. Jeff Newton, Mr. Peter Papadimos, Dr. Ben Pryor, Ms. Connie Rubin, Mr. Matt Rubin, Dr. Alice Skeens, Mr. Vern Snyder, Ms. Joan Stasa, Mr. Jon Strunk, Mr. Kevin West, and Dr. Harvey Wolff. / ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order at 3:00p.m. by Committee Chair Zerbeyin the Driscoll Alumni Center Board Room. / CALL TO ORDER
Committee Chair Zerbey requested a motion to waive the reading of the minutes from the December 6, 2010 Committee meeting and approve them as written. A motion was receivedby Trustee Palmer, seconded by Trustee Ashley, followed by approval of the minutes by the Committee. / APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Zerbey invited Dr. McMillen, Interim Provost and Executive VP for Academic Affairs, to present the applicants for sabbaticals for academic year 2012. Dr. McMillen explained the reasons for sabbaticals, discussed each applicant on the list along with each applicant’s project description on behalf of himself and Dr. Gold. The list comprised approximately one-half of sabbatical applicants than what are usually recommended. Mr. Zerbey requested a motion to forward the recommended applicants to the Consent Agenda at the March 21 Board meeting. A motion was received by Trustee Ashley, seconded by Trustee Palmer, and approved by the Committee. / APPLICANTS FOR SABBATICALS
2011-2012
Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Chancellor and Executive VP for Biosciences and Health Affairs/Dean of the College of Medicine, provided detailed information to the Committee about two Honorary Degree nominations, Dr. Howard C. Ansel and Dr. Ferid Murad. Dr. Gold presented academic background, academic research background, and academic achievements and honors information on both candidates. With Board approval, Dr. Ansel will receive his honorary degree at the College of Medicine Commencement ceremony on June 3, and Dr. Murad will receive his honorary degree at the College of Medicine Research Day on March 26. After Committee discussion, Committee Chair Zerbey requested a motion to forward both candidates names to the Consent Agenda at the March 21 Board meeting. A motion was received from Trustee Palmer, seconded by Trustee Ashley, and approved by the Committee. / HONORARY DEGREEE NOMINATIONS
Mr. William Logie, Interim Chief Transition Officer/VP Human Resources and Campus Safety, presented the Personnel Action Reports for February 14, 2011. Mr. Logie noted that there is nothing of major significance to report. Chair Zerbey requested a motionto forward the Personnel Action Reports to the Consent Agenda for full Board approval at the March 21 Board meeting. A motion was received by Trustee Palmer, seconded by Trustee Ashley and approved by the Committee.
Mr. Logie also provided the Committee with information about outsourcing the Food and Nutrition Services and the Gift Shop on the Health Science Campus. He indicated that this outsourcing will affect 70 permanent employees, 61 of which are represented by AFSCME. Mr. Logie reported that due to statewide financial concerns for the FY 2012 budget, President Jacobs has asked that the University engage the unions in exploratory bargaining. Mr. Logie cited replies to letters sent to all theunits indicating their willingness to explore options including the Professional Staff Association. Mr. Logie highlighted the tentative UT Police Patrolman’s Association Collective Bargaining Contract extension agreement that was just completed earlier in the day. He reviewed the terms of the agreement and indicated that the UTPPA were very willing to cooperate. The extension was approved by a 27-1 vote of the union membership. The Committee voiced their appreciation and thanks to all those involved with helping the University. / PERSONNEL ACTION REPORTS
Provost McMillenthanked the Core Curriculum Committee andintroduced one of the membersVice Provost and Dean of the College of Innovative Learning, Dr. Ben Pryor, who provided a progress report to the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.
Dr. Pryor reported that upon graduation, every UT student will be able to:
- Communicate effectively and clearly
- Understand scientific and mathematical reasoning
- Make informed ethical decisions in a diverse community
- Turn information and data into useful knowledge
- Think critically
- General Education Courses
- Courses in the Program Major
- Experiential Learning
- Learning Communities
- Co-curriculum
- Prior Learning
All UT General Education courses will contribute intentionally to core competencies.
- Course descriptions and syllabuses will addresses one or more of the core competencies
- Courses will contain assignments that assess the competencies that then can be included in students’ electronic portfolios
- Courses will align with Ohio General Education and transfer Module guidelines
- Courses will be selected in a limited number on the basis of their special contribution to the core
CIP CODES
President Jacobs introduced faculty workload policy discussions. He indicated that this topic is a very important area of discussion. Hestressed that it is only the beginning of discussionsand wants to have absolute transparency as it is discussed. Board Chairman Fall and Vice Chairman Ashley framed the beginning conversation. Mr. Fall stated that we cannot wait until the State budget is finished to get feedback about this issue and that the Board hopes for active interaction in the upcoming months about this topic. Mr. Ashley indicated that there have been a lot of concerns about the impending impact of the state budget. The timing of all this is such that the Board might not have much opportunity to have any discussion on this topic until May. Mr. Ashley distributed draft Resolution No. 11-02-02: “Faculty Workload Policy” for Committee discussion. He indicated that if faculty workload can be stretched to increase productivity, it may fill part of the whole that exists. Dr. Jacobs stated that the resolution probably won’t affect the majority of faculty as they are already putting in as many or more than 15 credit hours every semester. This is only one of many issues that the Board will discuss in the upcoming months regarding the budget. Discussion ensued among the Committee members about the resolution and all agreed that the administration, the Faculty Senate and Faculty begin discussions on this topic as soon as possible. / FACULTY WORKLOAD POLICY DISCUSSIONS
Student Government President Matt Rubin’s report – Attachment 1. / STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT
Chair Zerbey invited Faculty Senate PresidentDr. Mary Powers to provide the Committee with the Faculty Senate report – Attachment 2. / FACULTY SENATE REPORT
With no further business to discuss, Chair Zerbeyadjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m. / ADJOURNMENT
Student Government Report to the Board of Trustees Attachment 1
Academic and Student Affairs Committee – February 14, 2011
Matt Rubin, President
Mr. Rubin wished everyone at the meeting a Happy Valentine’s Day!
With the meeting’s discussions thus far, he stated that it is good to see that everyone is working so hard and how much people care.
Student Government Bike Initiative Coordinator Karen Gallagher will present her survey tool andCampus Survey Focus Group researchdata at the Society for Behavioral Medicine Seminar in Washington, D.C. April 20, 2011.
UT Student Government will present How to Reinvent and Re-Brand Your Student Government at the Conference on Student Government Associations February 27-28, 2011 at Texas A&M.
A recent trip to Columbus was made to visit with State Senator Edna Brown regarding the high price of text books
Student Government elections are fast approaching and SG officers want to ensure that UT Student Government is sustainable.A big campaign is planned for students this year.
At the Student Leadership Conference here at UT on February 18-19, the importance on developing and investing in student leadership programs was stressed.
Student Government has been working to assemble a Student Sub-committee for the President’s Council on Diversity. They are developing a campaign for "Dignity and Respect," as well as a diversity certificate program that will combine online modules with attending multi-cultural student organization events.
Faculty Senate Report to the Board of Trustees Attachment 2
Academic and Student Affairs Committee – February 14, 2011
Mary Powers, Faculty Senate President
Thank you, Chairman Zerbey. The Faculty Senate has met twice since the last meeting of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee. Transcript minutes that have been approved by the Senate are posted on the Faculty Senate website I will provide a brief report on the activities of the past two meetings.
In addition to regular reports from the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the following reports were provided:
- Mr. Vern Snyder, Capital Campaign Overview
- Dr. Dennis Lettman, Beth Gerasimiak, Dr. Mark Longley, Proposed Revised Prior Learning Assessment Policy
- Dr. Penny Poplin Gosetti, Program Reviews
- Dr. Thea Sawicki, Dr. Tom Sharkey, Higher Learning Commission Self Study
- Dr. Ron Opp, Assessment Update
- Dr. Steve Leblanc, Core Curriculum Committee Report
- Dr. Steve Peseckis, Faculty Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Report
- Dr. Frank Calzonetti and Diane Miller, New Congress and Implications for UT Funding
- Provost William McMillen, Provost/Chancellor Forum
- Information was provided to Senators about Undergraduate Research Opportunities
In my last report to this committee, I reported on plans for the creation of the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Department Reorganizationto be involved in the review of academic departments within the University. The committee is chaired by Professor Barbara Floyd and has been at work for a few weeks. They are looking at the number of departments to identify redundancies, to determine a more efficient number of departments and to achieve cost savings for the University. The Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee gave a presentation at the all-day Senior Leadership retreat last Monday outlining relevant issues, ideas about the potential for cost savings, potential hurdles, and the relevant data necessary to conduct its study. I observed a spirited discussion on this topic at the leadership meeting. Upon conclusion of its work, the committee will make recommendations to the Faculty Senate and later President Jacobs. I intend to provide you with an update when the committee has completed its work.
That concludes my report. Thank you very much.
I will be happy to take any questions.
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