The
Regular session – May 7, 2007 – 3:30 p.m. – Jacobson Faculty Hall 102
office: Jacobson Faculty Hall 206
phone: 325-6789
e-mail: facsen@ou.edu web site:
http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/
The Faculty Senate was called
to order by Professor Roger Frech, Chair.
PRESENT: Albert
(3), Basic (2), Benson (1), Blank (0), Bradford (0), Brown (0), Brule (2),
Civan (2), Croft (0), Draheim (2),
Elisens (2), Eodice (0), Fincke (1), Forman (1), Frech (0), Gade (0), Ge
(1), Greene (1), Gutierrez (1), Houser (1), Keppel (3), Kolar (2), Kutner (1),
Lester (0), Livesey (2), Magnusson (0), Miranda (1), Rambo (3), Roche (2),
Scamehorn (0), Strawn (0), Tan (3), Trytten (1), Vitt (1), Warnken (0), Weaver
(3), Wyckoff (1)
ISA representatives:
Cook
ABSENT: Badhwar (3), D. Bemben (3), M. Bemben
(1), Biggerstaff (4), Cramer (3),
[Note:
During the period from June 2006 to May 2007, the Senate held 9 regular
sessions and no special sessions. The
figures in parentheses above indicate the number of absences.]
________________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
Schedule of Senate meetings for fall 2007
Summary of Speakers Service program
Faculty retirees
Faculty development award recipients
Remarks by OU Regents’ Chair Tom Clark
Remarks by Athletics Director Joe Castiglione
Senate Chair's Report:
Faculty tribute
Discussion with Vice President for Research Lee
Williams
UOSA Student Congress resolution on climate change
Faculty ballot: grading scale, reapportionment
City election on curbside recycling
Certificates of appreciation
Resolution, use of Social Security numbers in User Name/I.D.
Resolution of sympathy to Virginia Tech Faculty Senate
Election, councils/committees/boards and Senate standing committees
Election, Senate Executive Committee, Secretary and Chair-Elect
Resolution of Appreciation to Prof. Roger Frech
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of April 9, 2007 was approved.
The regular meetings of the
Faculty Senate for fall 2007 will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Jacobson Faculty
Hall 102 on the following Mondays:
September 10, October 8, November 12, and December 10.
Summary of the activities of
the Faculty Senate Speakers Service for the past year: From May 2006 to April 2007, the Faculty
Senate office arranged for 51 faculty and staff to give 144 presentations to 97
organizations in 32 communities throughout the state. The Faculty Senate and the University
sincerely appreciate the members of the Speakers Service who share their
expertise and knowledge with the people of
A list of the faculty who
retired during the past academic year is below.
The Faculty Senate thanks these faculty members for their dedication and
contribution to our community.
|
NAME |
DEPARTMENT |
RETIREMENT
DATE |
CAME TO OU |
|
Caldwell, P. Mack |
Architecture |
8/1/07 |
1990 |
|
Carnevale, David |
Arts & Sciences |
5/16/07 |
1989 |
|
Dryhurst, Glenn |
Chemistry &
Biochemistry |
3/1/07 |
1967 |
|
Gilbert, M. Charles |
Geology &
Geophysics |
6/1/07 |
1990 |
|
Grasmick, Harold |
Sociology |
5/16/07 |
1977 |
|
Hix, Harry |
Journalism & Mass
Comm. |
5/16/06 |
1996 |
|
Kidwell, Clara Sue |
History/Native
American Studies |
7/1/07 |
1995 |
|
Myers, Cheryl |
Interior Design |
5/16/07 |
2001 |
|
O’Meara, Daniel |
|
8/20/06 |
1992 |
|
Perkins, Edward |
Political Science/Internatl. Prog. Ctr. |
7/1/07 |
1996 |
|
Porter, W. Arthur |
Elec. & Comp. Engr./Tech. Transfer |
7/1/07 |
1998 |
|
Roberts, Theodore |
Law |
5/16/06 |
1969 |
|
Scamehorn, John F. |
Chem., Biol. &
Mat. Engr. |
8/1/07 |
1981 |
|
Shalhope, Robert |
History |
5/16/07 |
1967 |
|
Spaeth, Hans-Joachim |
Geography |
5/16/07 |
1983 |
|
Tersine, Richard |
Management |
8/1/06 |
1980 |
The Faculty
Senate is pleased to present the faculty development awards for the spring 2007
semester to Marjorie Callahan (Architecture), Johanna Cox (Music), Neil Houser (Instructional
Leadership & Academic Curriculum), Patrick Livingood (Anthropology), Ingo
Schlupp (Zoology), James Shaffer (Physics & Astronomy), and Grady Wray
(Modern Languages, Liberatures & Linguistics).
Prof. Frech introduced Mr.
Tom Clark, chair of the OU Board of Regents.
Regent Clark was appointed to the board by Governor Frank Keating in
2001 for a seven-year term. He received
a Bachelor of Business degree from OU and is president of Tulsair.
Mr. Clark said it was a great
pleasure and honor to speak to the Faculty Senate. He said he thought it was important for the
Senate to understand how the regents operate.
The Board of Regents was formed by the state constitution, so it is not
under the cloak of the legislature except it must comply with the open meetings
act, ethics rules, and so forth.
Committees for each campus are composed of three members, who discuss
the various items on the agenda. The
board has an oversight function, but it does not tell President Boren how to
operate. Sometimes, the members ask
questions on controversial issues. Mr.
Clark said he was proud of what the university is today and what President
Boren has accomplished. Many surveys
rank OU in the top 10 universities in the nation. He said the faculty should be proud of where
they have taken this university, and he hoped the faculty appreciated the role
the regents play in helping professors achieve what they are trying to accomplish. He said he thought all of the items the
regents had voted on had been positive for the faculty, and he would like the
faculty to think they had been treated well.
Last year, the regents approved a $2.8 million grant from the OU
Foundation to help increase faculty salaries.
Mr. Clark worked with the OU Aviation Department to get new planes for
training students two years ago. Other
regents help out in other areas. He said
he thought the provost had done an outstanding job working with the president,
deans, chairs and faculty. It has been a
pleasant experience for him to visit with the faculty.
Mr. Castiglione acknowledged
the opportunity he had to serve the university and to be at this meeting. He said he never misses an occasion to recognize
the honor and privilege he has in serving the OU Athletics Department and to do
what he can to make the department reflect positively on the mission of the
university. He appreciates the
opportunity to visit with the Faculty Senate each year. He said he believes in life-long learning,
and this week is special to him because he is graduating with a Master’s degree
from OU.
He said he would discuss the
following areas: mission,
scholar-athlete retention and academic performance, financial perspective, and
other programs, most notably rules compliance and integrity and a plan to
celebrate our diversity. Mr. Castiglione
said the department had a video titled, “There’s Only One Oklahoma,” which
identifies the things that distinguish us from our competitors. The department’s mission is to inspire
champions today and prepare leaders for tomorrow. The annual report, which he distributed at
the meeting, reflects upon that mission.
He said “champions” was not just about championships. Some of our best champions do not finish
first or have a trophy. Jackie Dubois
was diagnosed at an early age with cystic fibrosis, overcame that, and became a
member of the track team. She graduated
at the top of her class in Meteorology.
The Athletics Department has
twenty sports, recruits all over the world, and the program is very
diverse. Student-athletes come from a
variety of backgrounds, with varying levels of preparedness for higher
education. The Athletics Department has
a strong student life program that supports student-athletes in their academic
endeavors and development as full individuals.
We are the first university in the country to hire a full-time
psychologist. The program has two
nutritionists, advisors for each sport, a life-skills director, and a career
planning and placement program. Part of
Mr. Castiglione’s experiences in his own degree program allowed him to focus on
the first year for students. It caused
him to strengthen the department’s commitment to making the student’s first
year as successful as it can be. Four
years ago, the department established an academic review committee, made up
exclusively of faculty, to review student-athletes at risk and those who are
admitted through the special academic process.
The committee recommends student-athletes for admission, but the
Admissions office makes the final decision.
All student-athletes must face a background check. A class attendance policy was started two years
ago. Class checkers go to the classroom
to make sure the student-athlete went to class on time and was there the whole
time. It is geared toward eliminating
unexcused absences, but those who miss more than three classes are punished by
being held out of practice or competition.
It has made a remarkable difference.
The department is in the first year of a retention and graduation
strategy. If the department can retain
student-athletes through their years of eligibility, 84 percent of them
graduate. The vast majority leave for
reasons not related to academic performance.
The cumulative GPA of student-athletes is almost 3.0. In fact, 11 of the 20 teams have a 3.0 or
better.
Financially, the Athletics
Department has to exist on its own. This
is the eighth straight year that the Athletics Department will balance its
budget. Only 15 percent of athletic
programs in this country finish in the black.
Ours is one of the few programs that does not receive any subsidies from
appropriations, the university or student fees and, actually, subsidizes the
academic budget. The $2 surcharge on
football tickets is for academic enhancement.
Several years ago, the department established a $1 million endowment for
the library, which is funded through a portion of the royalties from licensed
merchandise. The department is trying to
be a good partner financially. It also
is reaching out to other programs on campus.
For instance, discussions are being held with the
In closing, Mr. Castiglione said
it was no secret that the Athletics Department had two significant challenges
to its mission to uphold rules compliance.
While the department has rules and training in place and ongoing for
staff and students, there have been a few challenges. He said he wished there was a fool-proof
mechanism to keep people from making mistakes.
The Athletics Department is doing everything it can to prevent
situations from happening, it faces any situations head on, has zero tolerance
of any kind of rules violations, and takes punitive measures. He said, “No one on this campus will put us
in the position to compromise our integrity.”
Several years ago, an athletic diversity council was put in place. The coaching and administrative staff had not
fully reflected the strongest commitment to diversity. Now, the staff more closely resembles the
student-athletes.
Prof. Livesey asked about the
standards for hiring coaches and whether their backgrounds were
investigated. Mr. Castiglione said for
every candidate, he does an education, criminal, NCAA, and credit background
check, he contacts colleagues, uses a private firm, and has a dialog about
expectations and level of accountability.
Prof. Keppel asked, “What is
the one thing you’ve learned about student retention that you think faculty
members should know … and what we can do about it?” Mr. Castiglione said the success or
confidence developed in the first year translates into success and retention
down the road. It is about putting
students in courses that help them build their confidence, operate on their
own, and succeed. He said he thought the
Gateway program was very positive for students transitioning into higher
education.
Prof. Kolar asked about the
evaluation process for a coach that does well on the academic side but is not
winning games. Mr. Castiglione answered
that both sides matter because of the public attention to and expectations of
our program. Every student-athlete should
have the same opportunity to succeed at the highest level as members of the
more visible sports. The most important
thing is that all student-athletes have the best experience. A coach that is having a rough stretch on the
athletic performance side may be given some leeway if they have been doing a
good job in every other area. Likewise,
a coach that is winning, but at all costs, is moved on. Prof. Frech commented that our university may
be close to unique in having this sort of annual presentation by its Athletics
director.
“1. Senators who received
awards at the recent Tribute to the Faculty ceremony include Debra Bemben and
Michael Bemben, who received UOSA Outstanding Faculty awards, Rozmeri Basic,
who received an OU Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, and Michael Biggerstaff,
who was recognized with a Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching. A complete list of recipients is on the
table. Please join me in acknowledging
our colleagues.
“2. On April 30, Vice President
for Research Lee Williams met with the Executive Committee. Topics that were discussed included:
a. Funding level to support proposals submitted
to the Research Council
b. Fringe benefits
on summer research fellowships
c. Full tuition
and fee waivers for graduate students
d. Grandfathering
indirect cost rates when these are changed in the middle of a grant.
Vice President Williams
explained the current policies on these topics and agreed to re-examine the
policies. The Executive Committee and
Vice President Williams explored several mechanisms of addressing the first two
issues: the total funding pool for Research Council proposals and fringe
benefits on summer research fellowships for faculty. Vice President Williams mentioned that in certain
exceptional circumstances, it was possible to grandfather in IDC rates on a
case-by-case basis.
“3. The Executive Committee
received a copy of the undergraduate Student Congress resolution on climate
change, which was discussed at our April 30 meeting. Since the resolution was received too late
for action by the Senate this year, the Senate may wish to take this up next
year.
“4. May 11 is the last day to
vote on the expanded scale grading system and Senate reapportionment. At press
time, there have been 230 votes cast out of 931 FTE faculty.
“5. There is a city-wide
election May 8 on curbside recycling.”
Certificates of Appreciation
were presented to the following outgoing senators who completed full three-year
terms (2004-07): Michael Biggerstaff,
LeRoy Blank, Faruk Civan, Lyn Cramer, Steven Draheim, Wayne Elisens, Ola
Fincke, Phillip Gutierrez, Neil Houser, Fengchyuan Lai, Roberta Magnusson, Jos
Raadschelders, Al Schwarzkopf, and Don Wyckoff.
Certificates also were presented to other senators whose terms expired
and to the outgoing members of the Senate Executive Committee. Prof. Frech thanked the Executive Committee
for an extraordinary job, coordinator Sonya Fallgatter and student clerk Tabitha
Brown.
At last month’s meeting (see
4/07 Senate Journal), a resolution was introduced concerning the use of Social
Security numbers in the 4+4 User Name/I.D.:
“The remaining four digits of the Social Security number shall be
permanently removed from all faculty and staff identification numbers,
including legacy systems, as soon as possible, but not later than July
2008.” With no further discussion, the
Senate approved the resolution on a voice vote.
Prof. Frech presented a
resolution of sympathy to the Virginia Tech Faculty Senate: “Resolved, that the
The Senate approved the
Committee on Committees' nominations for end-of-the-year vacancies on
university and campus councils/committees/boards and Faculty Senate standing
committees (attached). The names of the remaining volunteers will be
forwarded to the administration to consider for the appointments they
make.
The Senate elected the following faculty to the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee for 2007-08:
EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE AT-LARGE MEMBERS:
Aimee
Steven Livesey (Professor of History of Science, Ph.D.
California at Los Angeles, at OU since 1982)
Deborah Trytten (Associate Professor of Computer
Science, Ph.D. Michigan State, at OU since 1992)
SECRETARY:
Roberta Magnusson (Associate Professor of History, Ph.D. California at
Berkeley, at OU since 1995)
CHAIR-ELECT:
Cecelia Brown (Professor of Library & Information
Studies, Ph.D. Illinois, at OU since 1996)
Before reading the following
resolution of appreciation to Prof. Roger Frech, outgoing Senate chair, Prof. Brown
reminded the Senate that Prof. Frech is a chemist.
Whereas Roger has skillfully
and gracefully balanced the chemical equation between the faculty and the
university administration,
Whereas Roger, during this
year of an unprecedented salary increase, has tirelessly yet subtly continued
to charge the president with honoring faculty, whether it be with chairs,
watches, or retirement plaques,
Whereas Roger, with finesse
and dexterity, has polymerized the Library and Textbook Task Forces,
Whereas Roger, on our behalf,
has provided the fuel to ignite a change in OU’s health care benefits system,
Whereas Roger has traveled the
lonely stretch of the Turner Turnpike to seek an understanding of the dynamics
of the faculty members at OU Tulsa,
Whereas Roger has patiently
acted as the membrane between the faculty and IT for concerns about email SPAM,
security of our 4x4s, rogue Internet hubs, and backdoor server portals,
Whereas Roger has diligently
taken the temperature and measured the enthalpy of the Faculty Senate’s
statement on science, resulting in an elegant and sturdy structure,
Whereas Roger has maintained a
thermodynamically stable relationship with students by providing an open forum
for the UOSA Honor Council, the Big Event Organizing Committee, and the
Undergraduate Student Congress,
Whereas Roger has thoroughly
studied the cation-anion interactions of the grading scale,
Be
it resolved that the Faculty Senate expresses its appreciation to Roger Frech
for his battery of outstanding leadership for the academic year 2006-07.
The resolution was
unanimously approved by the Senate.
Prof. Bradford presented Prof. Frech with a certificate of appreciation
and an engraved clock. Prof. Bradford
then assumed the office of 2007-08 Senate chair and wished everyone a good
summer.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, September 10, 2007, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Cecelia Brown, Secretary