Faculty Senate Agenda & Minutes

October 16, 2014 3:10 pm

Signal Mountain Room, University Center

Attendance

Division / Present / Absent
President / Susan Davidson
1st Vice President / Joanie Sompayrac
2nd Vice President / Claire McCullough
Secretary / Charlene Simmons
Past President / Deborah McAllister
At-Large / Brian Rogers
Alleene Pingenot
Kay Cowan
Gavin Townsend
Jim Hiestand / Manuel Santiago
Adjunct / Madonna Kemp
FT Non-Tenure Track / Kathy Winters
Behavioral Sciences / Nicholas Honerkamp
Helen Eigenberg
Terri LeMoyne / Irina Khmelko
Fine Arts / Steve Ray
Ron Buffington
Humanities / Thomas Balazs
Jonathan Yeager / Heather Palmer
Math & Sciences / Francesco Barioli
Andrew Ledoan
Jennifer Boyd
COB: / Diane Halstead
Randy Evans
Joanie Sompayrac
CECS: / Claire McCullough
Bryan Ennis
Charles Margraves
CHEPS: / Linda Hill
Barbara Norwood
Susan McDonald
Nicholas Boer
Jennifer Ellis
Library / Valarie Adams
Ex-Officio Members / Steven Angle
A. Jerald Ainsworth
David Rausch
Richard Brown
Theresa Liedtka

Others in Attendance:Karen Adsit, Terry Denniston, Yancy Freeman, Linda Orth.

Agenda / Discussion / Action/Responsibility / Status/Decision
Call to Order / Meeting called to order at 3:10 pm by President Susan Davidson
Approval of Minutes 10/2/14 / Motion to approve, 1st by Joanie Sompayrac, 2nd by Barbara Norwood. / Passed by voice vote.
Unfinished Business / Several ad hoc committees have recently been formed. Membership lists for these committees are now available on the full faculty Web site. / Closed
Administrative Reports / The Chancellor and Provost opened the floor to questions.
Question: Can you update us on campus facilities?
Answer: We are currently working out the details for the renovation of Holt Hall and the construction of a new residential hall at Vine & Houston. There has been a delay in obtaining the State Building because the probation officers are still looking for a home (new RFP in November). We are currently working on updating the PowerPoint describing future plans.We hope to have it ready for presentation in 2 - 3 weeks. The presentation will look at moves 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months out. / Chancellor’s Office to return with presentation regarding campus facilities. / Open
Committee Reports / Handbook Committee
  • The Provost mentioned that the UT system has asked all campuses to look at faculty grievance polices. The handbook committee needs to look at this issue.
  • Susan Davidson mentioned that Chapter 4 deals with the issue of faculty grievances but does not include a section on faculty-to-faculty grievances. We may want to add something on this.
  • The handbook committee is meeting regularly and is currently focused on Chapter 3. The committee will launch several surveys to gain faculty feedback about the rank & tenure process. The committee will also look at other issues, including the policy regarding faculty attendance at graduations.
/ Handbook Committee
  • Handbook committee needs to look at faculty grievance policies (Chapter 4).
  • The handbook committee will launch faculty surveys related to the rank & tenure process.
  • The handbook committee will propose a new faculty attendance policy for graduations.
/ Open
New Business / None
Faculty Concerns /
  • A senator brought forward a concern of a faculty member regarding students making up work because of emergencies. Is there an office that can take care of verifying the emergencies?
    Answer: The Dean of Students office can help faculty with this, simply refer the student to the DOS office.
  • A senator asked if spring and summer PINs would be available at the same time?
    Answer: No, spring PINs will be available on Oct 20. Summer PINS will not be available until February because several departments asked for more time to put together their summer teaching schedules. Summer PINs will become available when the summer teaching schedule becomes available.
/ Closed
Announcements / None
Adjournment / Meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm.

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