The University of Iowa
FACULTY COUNCIL
October 3, 2006
3:30-5:15 pm
MINUTES
Members Present: L. Boyle, G. Bulechek, C. Catney, M. Cohen, V. Dominguez, D. Drake, V. Grassian, P. Heidger, S. McGuire, F. Mitros, M. O’Hara, C. Ringen, L. Snetselaar, D. Thomas, B. Thompson, and J. Woodhead
Members Excused: D. D’Alessandro, J. Sa-Aadu, and J. Tomkovicz
Faculty Senate Officers in Attendance: J. Glass (Secretary), S. Kurtz (President), R. LeBlond (Past President), and V. Sharp (Vice President)
Guests: P. Cain (Vice Provost), S. Collins (Member, Committee on Faculty Policy and Compensation), D. Heldt (The Gazette), H. Dettmer (CLAS), C. Drum (UI Relations), R. Hurtig (Chair, CLAS Faculty Assembly), S. Johnson (Office of the Provost), M. Nelson (The Daily Iowan), C. Orgren (Emeritus Faculty), S. Raheim (Office of the President), and Evalyn Van Allen-Shalash (Faculty Senate Office)
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:33 pm.
II. Approvals
A. Meeting agenda
The meeting agenda was approved by consent.
B. Faculty Council minutes
The Council unanimously approved the minutes as submitted, following a motion by Professor Thomas, seconded by Professor Thompson.
C. Faculty agenda
- President Kurtz noted that many comments about the draft revised Violence Policy were made at the September 9th Council meeting. He felt Councilors should consider the final version before presenting it to the Senate. Therefore, the agenda item will be dropped from the October 17 Senate agenda to give them the opportunity to review it again.
- Kurtz reminded councilors that Interim President Fethke will address the Senate on November 28. Lynette Marshall, the new President of the UI Foundation will speak at the February 6 Senate meeting. Both will speak for approximately fifteen minutes; then open the floor to questions. Professor Cohen moved to accept the Senate agenda as revised; seconded by Professor Ringen. The motion carried unanimously.
- President Kurtz announced that Professor Rita Frantz will serve as Chair of the Honorary Degree Selection Committee. The committee has held its first meeting and will try to move the process along fairly quickly. He said this will create a new culture at the university.
III. Reports
A. Promotion Process for Adjunct Faculty Members
Dr. Susan Johnson, Associate Provost for Faculty, provided background to the adjunct status on campus. She asked for feedback on the proposed promotion process that follows the same procedure as tenure track, although less burdensome to the candidate and department. She sent the proposal to UI Colleges to encourage them to think about these faculty and to counteract the notion that they can just promote them without due process. Johnson said the proposal would have to go to the Regents, so it must be done in the right way with the right timing. Johnson said that operational criteria for promotion are defined in the colleges; she did not expect to have university level criteria.
Professor O’Hara asked that his Faculty Policy and Compensation Committee have the opportunity to consider this proposal.
Johnson called for procedures to be in place early next year, in time for the new promotion cycle.
She reiterated that she is proposing a parallel document to ones used in the various Colleges; a minimalist approach to a university-wide process that may be enhanced by College’s own requirements. She also commented that the policy must state clearly who is eligible to evaluate and vote for candidates.
B. Strategic Planning
President Kurtz introduced Professor Steve Collins, who had requested the opportunity to speak to Councilors about his concern over planning processes for defining where the faculty and University are headed in the future. He asked to present a proposed resolution. Kurtz said following brief discussion, they will go into Executive Session, at the end of which they will decide whether or not to send the resolution.
Professor Collins noted that there was heavy involvement by faculty and the Faculty Council in the first university strategic plan developed in 1990, as well as in the joint faculty and administration committee charged with devising processes for implementation of that plan and ongoing planning. However, he said we are currently in a very different situation. He distributed a packet of material including a draft resolution for the Council to consider, two newspaper stories, and a report by Professors Collins and John Westefeld on the meeting last April of the Committee on Selection of Central Academic Officials (CSAO) with Regent Wahlert about the presidential search (attached). The draft resolution stated that Regents Gartner, Wahlert and the three university presidents are in the process of creating a strategic blueprint for the future of the three universities and requests the Regents to suspend this process until the University of Iowa has a permanent president in place.
In an article that appeared in The Gazette (April 5, 2006) Interim President Fethke commented that part of his job was to define the job of the next president of the university. Regent Wahlert informed the CSAO on April 25th, 2006 that the Regents were getting close to an announcement of some kind of assessment and planning effort at the UI that would include an assessment of our current baseline and a definition of some sort of vision as to what we are trying to achieve. Collins noted that the Regents had made no such announcement to date. A recent story in the Press Citizen (September 25, 2006) said Regents Gartner and Wahlert had been meeting since July with the three presidents and were assessing scenarios for the state’s universities.
President Kurtz then asked anyone not currently serving as a faculty member at the University of Iowa to leave the room while the Council entered into executive session.
Following the Executive Session, guests were invited to rejoin the Council session. Kurtz explained that Professor Collins brought to their attention that there might be a regent-wide planning process underway that Councilors are concerned about. He wants officers of the Council to meet with Regents and with faculties of the other two institutions.
Secretary Glass wondered if Interim President Fethke should be brought into the process, to ask him to explain what is happening, or to meet with a small number of Regents. LeBlond said Councilors should draft a set of questions as citizens, if not faculty, as they should reasonably expect answers from public officials who hold our trust.
Kurtz reiterated that Fethke has been invited to speak at the November 28 Faculty Senate meeting. He suggested inviting him to address the Council.
Professor Hurtig invited Faculty Councilors to join the CLAS Faculty Assembly’s meeting with President Fethke on Wednesday, October 11, 4:00 p.m., in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol.
Professor McGuire called for a separate meeting, saying that the more the questions are asked, the more he has to deal with them. Professor O’Hara did not feel there was sufficient time to invite him. Glass appreciated the invitation to piggy-back on the Faculty Assembly’s meeting.
Salome Raheim, Senior Associate to the President, offered to help arrange a visit.
VI. New Business
Kurtz reminded Councilors to send names to Pat Cain of people who might like to serve on review committees.
LeBlond reminded Councilors of a letter he sent out last spring to various leadership groups requesting that those bodies include the Faculty Councilor from their college as ex-officio members, to help improve communication from the faculty organization up to the Council and Senate. He encouraged Councilors to invite themselves to their own collegiate executive committees
Professor Hurtig extended an invitation to Faculty Councilors or members of the Faculty Senate executive to speak to the CLAS Faculty Assembly
VII. Announcements
A. Faculty Council and CLAS Faculty Assembly meeting with President Fethke
Wednesday, October 11, 2006, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol
B. Next Faculty Senate meeting: Tuesday, October 17, 3:30 – 5:15 pm, Senate
Chamber, Old Capitol
C. Next Faculty Council meeting: Tuesday, October 31, 3:30 – 5:15 pm, Penn State
Room, 337 IMU
VIII. Adjournment
Professor Cohen moved to adjourn; seconded by Professor Thompson; motion carried unanimously.
The meeting closed at 4:43 p.m.