Meeting: Fall 2013 CAC Meeting

Meeting: Fall 2013 CAC Meeting

Date: October 18, 2013

Location: Graham Center 243

Chair : David Chatfield

Breakfast from 8:30-9:00 AM.

1. Review of Agenda by CAC Chair David Chatfield

Dr. Chatfield called the meeting to order at 9:00 am and expressed opinion that themajor purposes of the meeting are to benefit from a Dialogue with the provost and to network with each other and share ideasother chairs and directors. He said that he thought, though, that historically the Body has lacked clarity with respect to its advisory capacity. The CAC has no formal decision-making authority; however, its input can have impact if it is constructive. The body should embrace the “advisory” function.Dr. Chatfield announced upcoming important events:

• November 1st will meet with president tentatively 10:30-12:30 at Reagan House
• Last year Jamie Sutton introduced new activities; lunches for chairs withadministrators. Lunch with Larry Lunsford, Vice President for Student Affairs will take place Nov. 19, 12:00-2:00, Faculty Club Blue Room.
• Webinar on topic of collegiality in academic departments organized by Tonja Moore. This will take place on Nov. 12, 1:00-3:00, in ECS 451. Recordings of all webinars are also made available at the chairs’ resources website.

2. Provost Wartzok proceeded to give his remarks:

The usual ten-year strategic plan was changed in 2010 to a five-year strategic plan to be implemented right away, allowing the possibility of changing course in the following five years. We are beginning the conversation about the next strategic plan now, even though we are only about 60% through the current strategic plan, so that we are ready with a new strategic plan when the time frame for the current one is over.

On another topic, the Provost noted that funding used to be allocated on the basis on FTE’s but is no longer. We still keep track of fundable FTE’s compared to regular non-fundable FTE’s. Since 2007, FTE’s have grown but received less funding. The BOG now wants to control the funding more closely and has awardedperformance funding.

The provost advised that FIU received 2.1 million in performance-based funding this year and that the BOG is asking for that for the 2014/2015 budget,$50M go into performance based funding and that all 10 indicators be used.

Regarding particular indicators, the Provost noted: Thanks to the work of Dean Robertson and others in undergraduate education, FIU’s graduate rateby 3%, from41% to 44 %, resulting in 3 funding points for FIU. Our academic progress rate (moving into 2nd-year with GPA above 2.0) is fairly stable at 75%; we will glean no progress points. Regarding access, although we have the second largest percentage students withPell Grantsin the state, we will not receive excellence recognition because our rate decreased from 49% to 47%. Each institution is allowed to choose two criteria specific to it, and the BOG approved FIU’s choice. One was bachelor’s degree awarded to minoritieshighest in state and country). However the BOGhas not determined the targets for this metric yet. Regarding maintenance and repairs, there wasneed for $1.2B across SUS institutions for repairs and maintenance last year;$20M was allocated to be spread across institutions.

The Provost stressed that he presented these data so that chairs can exercise good judgment, andso thatwe recognize that FIU has been successful through hard work. We are one of twofinalists for the APLU award for “Most Visible Progress” for improvement for graduation rates. Additionally, Dean Reddy had informed the Provost that FIU received the “Chancellor’s Graduate School Award” for innovation leading to graduate completion based onPhD research.

Additionally, The Provost mentioned a survey completed by 8200 students with more than 100 credits todetermine why they were not taking sufficient courses to finish their degree: 62% of respondents indicated that major reason was that the courses they needed were not available, usually because all sections were full. The next-highest finances. As more students enroll in identified majors as freshman wewill be able to provide more data for planning ahead.

The floor was opened for questions. It was asked whether the number of Doctoral graduates was taken into accounts in the metrics. Answer: doctorates are a separate initiative. The CAV has decided not to make to makerecommendationsregarding approval of new program or closure of old ones; they simplyhighlight areas of their concern. Any new programs proposed that have concerns are unlikely to be approved by the BOG. The BOG oversees the productivity of PhD programs. Established PhD programs are expected to have 10 graduates in last 5 years. For masters programs, 20 in graduates in the last 5 years, and for bachelors programs, 30graduates in the last 5 years are expected.

The Provost shed light on state-level changes to general education requirements.The Provost stated that we are better off than before because the 36-credits UCC requirement was restored, so we will not have to cut back. We do still need to have five categories instead of the earlierseven. Some concessions made in respect to math. The final report containsmore latitude and does not specify exactly 5, but courses have to be common across SUS institutions. Approval will be taken up in the senate on October 29th.

Dr. Chatfield raised a question on the impact of the performance state funding:

The EG budget is currently less than $400 million, as only 45% of FIU’s budget comes from state. Performance-based funds are only part of the E&E funding and thus not a major part of FIU’s budget, but in future it ismay be the only new money we will get, and thus will allow us to innovate new activities.

3. Dean Furton presented the iREAL initiative:

Dean Furton is overseeing this initiative. His PowerPoint presentation can be found at the CAC (Chairs’ Resources) website. There will be 10 working groups of 10 people each; Dean Furton invited all chairs to nominate themselves or someone from their unit to serve in a working group. Dean Furton presented the results of a faculty survey. He welcomed chairs to e-mail him with suggestions regarding alternative or reworded questions for a future survey.

4. Breakout sessions

Dr. Kathleen Wilson explained the intended outcome of the breakout sessions. She asked the attendees who would like to participate in the different working groups. Working groups were assigned and worked on for roughly an hour and fifteen minutes.

5. Governance Issues

Ombuds report. Kathleen Wilson, Faculty Fellow and Chairs Ombuds, presented an Ombuds report.Dr. Wilson explained that, in principle, an ombudsis an independent, neutral,and impartialperson available for informal discussions who will hold everything in confidence. The role of the ombuds is to propose possible resources and solutions. Further description of the role of the chairs ombuds can be found at the CAC (Chairs’ Resources) website. Dr. Wilson provided her contact information in the event anyone would like to speak to her privately:, ext 1999, cell phone 305-323-1114.

Chair-elect election. Dr. Chatfield then proceeded to discuss the chair-elect election. He explained that per the CAC bylaws, the election should be held in the fall. It was suggested that a nominating committee be established. It was moved, and seconded that a nominating committee be established. A voice vote was taken and was unanimously in favor. Jamie Sutton, outgoing CAC Chair, agreed to chair the committee. Tim Collins, Jennifer Restrepo, and Dale Williams also volunteered to serve on the committee. It was suggested thattheir work can be done largely by e-mail, and that the chair-elect election can be carried out by the end of December by an electronic vote facilitated by the Provost’s office.

Webinars. Dr. Chatfield raised the question whether webinars on topics concerning the job of chair, which have been offered in the past, should be continued, as attendance has been low. The consensus was that such webinars should continue. For the upcoming webinar on collegiality in academic departments, to be offered Nov. 12, 1-3 pm, in ECS 451, 10 people expressed interest were interested in the webinar the Provost offered to sponsor.For those who cannot participate in person, the webinars will be placed on the Chairs website. This year, guests will be invited to the webinars to explain FIU policies and procedures on the topic of the webinar.

Purchasing. Dr. Chatfield explained that many chairs had expressed frustration with the purchasing process at FIU, and that he had solicited email descriptions of their difficulties. The Provost’s office has already been in consultation with Purchasing to mitigate the problems. The chairs’ particular issues will be conveyed to the Provost’s office so they can be addressed in the process.Tonja Moore mentionedthat having a one stop shop for new faculty would be . The Dean tasked with providing one person to create a support for the new faculty.

Scheduling. The issues of class scheduling was raised. Many chairs expressed frustration with the process. Dr. Chatfield was tasked with forming a working group of chairs and directors to take up the concerns with Space & Scheduling.

CAC Constitution. Dr. Chatfield stated that the revision of the CAC constitution, considered but not adopted last year, should be concluded this year if possible. When asked why he thought the new constitution did not pass last spring, Dr. Chatfield saidthat he believed the major objection preventing approval was to the proposed change to the length of term from one to two years. CemKarayalchinsuggested that that change be removed from the proposed new constitution. This met with general support from chairs present, and Dr. Chatfield agreed to do make suggested change and proceed with the electronic vote.

Spring CAC Meeting. Finally, suggestions were made for topics to address at the spring meeting. It was requested that we have follow-ups on the purchasing issues, possibly inviting the head of purchasing to attend, and on the scheduling issue.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Jackelyn Marcos.