FACULTYCOUNCIL
August 25, 2016
MINUTES
Present:
Naser Z. Alsharif, Samuel C. Augustine, Michael A. Belshan, Thomas P. Berry, Charles B. Braymen,A. Barron Breland, Laura C. Bruce, D. Roselyn Cerutis, Hardeep K. Chehal, Bartholomew E. Clark, Thomas F. Coffey, Elizabeth F. Cooke, Lydia R. Cooper, C. Timothy Dickel, Kristen Drescher, William M. Duckworth, Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, Kimberly A. Galt, Erika L. Kirby, Gary K. Leak, Brian W. Loggie, Sandor Lovas, George W. McNary, Edward A. Morse, Kelly K. Nystrom, Barbara J. O’Kane, Victor A. Padrón, Thomas E. Pisarri, M. Ross Romero, S.J., Jeanne A. Schuler, Janet E. Seger, Stephen Sieberson, Kristina A. Simeone, Ronald A. Simkins, Cindy S. Slone, D. David Smith, Michel Wagner, Michaela M. White, Vivian Zhuang
Excused:
Thomas R. Baechle (proxy, Joan M. Eckerson), Murray J. Casey (proxy, Karen L. Bremer), William R. Hamilton (proxy, Bartholomew E. Clark), Kalyana C. Nandipati (proxy, Marlene K. Wilken), Lori B. Rubarth (proxy, Meghan R. Potthoff)
Absent:
Juan Asensio, Casey D. Beran, Annie E. Knierim, Larry Siref, Deniz Yilmazer-Hanke
Call to Order:
Prof. Edward A. Morse called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
Introduction of Members:
Prof. Morse asked that the members introduce themselves to the body and identify their College or School, research and teaching interests and Department, as they saw fit.
Approval of the Agenda for the Present Meeting:
Prof. Morsesaid that the need has arisen to seek recommendations for two faculty members to serve on the Provost Search Committee with the actual election to take place at the Academic Council meeting. He also said that Dr. Cliff Robertson, the Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) would be present at the Academic Council meeting and that it might be helpful to have a discussion on items relative to CHI at the Faculty Council to organize thoughts for him at the Academic Council. He said that if there were no objection, the agenda would be modified to add an item on the Recommendation of Faculty Members for the Provost Search Committee to follow the present item number 12; he also asked that item number 15 (CHI Update) be moved up to follow the newly inserted item. He asked if there were any objection to so amending the agenda; there being no objection, the agenda was adopted as amended by general consent. Dr. Coffey said that a similar motion would need to be made at the Academic Council meeting and he would do so.
Election of the Secretary of the Faculty Council:
Prof. Morse asked for nominations for Secretary of the Faculty Council. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Thomas F. Coffey to serve as Secretary of the Faculty. Prof. Morse noted that Dr. Coffey is scheduled for a sabbatical in the spring and that there would need to be an election to replace him for the spring semester. There being no other nominations and no objection, Dr. Coffey was elected by general consent.
Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of the Faculty Council of April 14, 2016:
Prof. Morse asked if there were any changes to the minutes. There being none, they were approved as distributed by general consent.
Election of Members to the Executive Committee of the Academic Council:
It was noted that as Secretary of the Faculty Council, Dr. Coffey would serve ex officio as the representative to the Executive Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. William M. Duckworth to serve as representative from the HeiderCollege of Business;there being no other nominations and no objection, the motion passed by general consent, and Dr. Duckworth was elected.It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Stephen Sieberson to serve as representative from the School of Law; there being no other nominations and no objection, the motion passed by general consent and Dr. Sieberson was elected. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Samuel C. Augustine to serve as representative from the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions;there being no other nominations and no objection, the motion passed by general consent, and Dr. Augustine was elected. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. D. Roselyn Cerutis to serve as representative from the School of Dentistry; there being no other nominations and no objection, the motion passed by general consent, and Dr. Cerutis was elected. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Brian W. Loggie to serve as representative from the School of Medicine;there being no other nominations and no objection, the motion passed by general consent, and Dr. Loggie was elected. The Faculty Council representatives from the College of Nursing asked that the election of their representative to the Executive Committee of the Academic Council be postponed until there could be an election of a third member from that School. It was moved and seconded to postpone the election of the representative from the College of Nursing until an additional member from that College could be elected;the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
Election of Two Members of the Committee on Computing and Academic Technology:
Prof. Morse said that there was a need to elect two members for a one-year term on the Committee on Computing and Academic Technology; he asked Dr. Charles B. Braymen, who has served on that Committee to explain the Committee’s function; Dr. Braymen explained that the Committee, in harmony with its name, gives advice on technological and computer issue that have an impact on the academic endeavor at the University; it has covered issues related to the functioning of the network, email, adoption of some computing programs; surveys of the needs of faculty and students, and any issues that might arise that impact the faculty’s use of the computing facilities on campus; he said there is no absolute requirement for a deep understanding of computing, this would be helpful in discussions at the Committee; there are three meetings a semester that last for two hours and are usually lunch meetings; one of the two representatives from the Academic Council must serve as Secretary to the Committee. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Charles B. Braymen and Dr. Michel Wagner to serve as members of the Committee on Computing and Academic Technology; there were no other nominations; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote, and Drs. Braymen and Wagner were elected.
Recommendation for Election of the Secretary of the Academic Council:
Prof. Morse said that while the election is held at the meeting of the Academic Council, it is customary for the Faculty Council to make a recommendation. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Academic Council that Prof. George W. McNary be elected Secretary of that body. There were no other nominations; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
Review of the Minutes of the Meeting of the Academic Council ofApril 21, 2016:
Prof. Morse asked if there were any changes to the minutes that should be proposed at the next meeting of the Academic Council. There were none presented.
Recommendation for Appointment of Parliamentarian of the Academic Council:
Prof. Morse noted that the Parliamentarian would be appointed by the Chair of the Academic Council for the year; however, it is customary for the Faculty Council to make a recommendation. It was moved and seconded to recommend that Dr. Victor A. Padrón be recommended to serve as Parliamentarian. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
Report of the President's Council:
Dr. Sieberson reported that he hadno report and that the President of the University had appointed the President of the University Faculty, Prof. Edward A. Morse, to succeed him. Prof. Morse said that he had not attended any meetings but that he had attended a retreat of the Council that took place on August 24. During the retreat, the focus was on the Examen Process that had taken place in the spring semester. The retreat was facilitated by Mary Lee Brock, and it included specific discussions of results of the Examen process from Dr. Erika L. Kirby and Dr. Thomas L. Lenz. Some of the topics that emerged were economic issues facing education here and elsewhere in the country, the need for innovative ideas and shared governance. More conversations will ensue later. Prof. Morse said that, at the request of Fr. Hendrickson, he would like to arrange a small group of faculty members to meet with a committee of the Board of Trustees in mid-September to discuss the motions that were passed last year, some of which deal directly with the Board. Prof. Morse also said he hopes that this group will be able to lay a foundation for further discussion of governance based on spheres of expertise and access to information, which includes faculty, staff and students. He said he would like to move forward in a positive way. It was noted that there has been a discussion in the Faculty Council in the past about the use of the term “shared governance”; it was suggested that the term “shared governance” is not that helpful and that the terms used are very important; one suggestion to describe the central focus of the Council is “academic governance” of the academic endeavor.
Meeting Schedule of the Faculty and Academic Councils:
Prof. George W. McNary noted that the attachment provided reflects the motion passed at the March meeting. Changes in rooms have occurred and more may yet occur. Prof. Morse said that there have been a fair number of issues that have arisen due to the meeting of the Faculty and Academic Councils on separate days; this is especially true for those who have clinical obligations.
Recommendation of Faculty Members for the Provost Search Committee:
Prof. Morse noted that while the election of the faculty members for the Provost Search Committee would be held at the Academic Council meeting, it is in harmony with past practice for the Faculty Council to make a recommendation; he suggested that one recommendation be from the Health Sciences area and one from the former Academic Affairs area. It was moved and seconded to nominate Fr. M. Ross Romero, S.J. to serve on the Provost Search Committee. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. J. Patrick Murray to serve on the Provost Search Committee; after discussion, his nomination was withdrawn. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Thomas E. Pisarri to serve on the Provost Search Committee. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Thomas R. Baechle to serve on the Provost Search Committee. It was moved and seconded to nominate Dr. Victor A. Padrón to serve on the Provost Search Committee. There were no further nominations. There being four candidates and two positions, Prof. Morse suggested that an election be held by ballot, with the consideration for representation coming from both the Health Sciences and the former Academic Affairs area; there being no objection, the election was carried out by ballot. The ballots were distributed by Dr. Coffey, and Prof. McNary. The ballots were collected and counted by Prof. McNary and Dr. Sieberson. After the votes were tallied, it was announced that Dr. Thomas E. Pisarri and Fr. M. Ross Romero were elected. These names will be entered in recommendation at the election during the meeting of the Academic Council.
CHI Update:
Prof. Morse said that he had spoken with Dr. Robert W. Dunlay, Dean of the School of Medicine (SOM) and with Dr. Thomas F. Murray, Interim Provost; he said that they were optimistic about developments with CHI and that they have worked on changes in the structure and the importance of teaching and research in addition to clinical responsibilities; he said that in a recent report, it was noted that 65% of the incoming class of students had an interest to go on to professional work after graduation in a health sciences area. Prof. Morse opened discussion in preparation for the discussion with Dr. Robertson, CEO of CHI, at the Academic Council meeting. It was suggested that an important issue is that generally the faculty in the SOM are in the dark about how things are moving; this is not just once or twice but over and over. The faculty members in the SOM are essentially told that things will soon be better. There is an increasing sense of distance between the clinicians and the rest of the University; this began with the Creighton-Alegent merger and continues with CHI. It was noted that there have been issues with using the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Creighton, with CHI wishing the University to use CHI’s IRB rather than its own and doing so comes at a very high cost as well as delays well in excess with expected maximum approval times for proposals; it was reported that this has now largely been worked out. It was further noted that there have been issues with student access to patient records. It was noted that CHI has two other hospitals—Baylor and Louisville—that have had issues with CHI. It was suggested that both of these endeavors have retained a greater degree of connection between the University and the clinical faculty; it was further suggested that there is a greater degree of academic autonomy than currently is in place between Creighton and CHI, and greater autonomy is needed for this area at Creighton. It is rumored that a sort of academic Relative Value Unit (RVU) will be imposed on clinicians at Creighton; the details are not yet known. It was reported that credit for academics is no longer in place in the Creighton clinical structure. It was noted that the various advisory groups that have been put in place do not represent the areas of health sciences beyond the SOM. Faculty expressed concern about a lack of communication on important issues. Faculty reiterated support for the concept of establishing a clearing house to receive concerns and to track progress on resolving them, as proposed at the April meeting. To date, there has been no response on this from Medical School or others in the administration; there needs to be accountability for various areas of the enterprise and one must be able to understand where the accountability lies. It was reported that there are still difficulties in placing students, especially in nursing. It was suggested that academic autonomy must be regained as well as identification of the issues that are impeding the success of the academic endeavor.
Report of General Counsel in re Title IX:
Prof. Morse said that the General Counsel would come to the next meeting to present information bringing the Faculty Handbook into conformity with Title IX.
Need to Adjourn:
It was noted that it was time for adjournment and that the remaining issues on the agenda would need to be rolled over to the September meeting of the Council. Prof. Morse said he would like to have a discussion with the Creighton Students Union to discuss the state of student evaluations of faculty. It was noted from the floor that there is a serious issue raised in the report of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility in regard to the large number of members of protected classes who have brought issues forth to that Committee. This will need to be addressed at the next meeting of the Council. The following item(s) will be rolled to the September meeting as unfinished business:
Committee Reports:
a. Committee on Committees
b. Committee on Academic Freedom
c. Faculty Grievance Committee
Announcements:
There were no announcements.
Old Business:
There was no old business.
New Business:
There was no new business.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas F. Coffey, Ph.D., Secretary
Faculty Council
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