The
Regular session – September 10, 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 Steve Bradford, Chair.
PRESENT: Albert,
Apanasov, Basic, Bass, D. Bemben, M. Bemben, Benson, Bradford, Brown, Brule, Callard,
Clark, Conlon, Croft, Edy, Eodice, Forman, Franklin, Ge, Grasse, Greene, Halterman,
Horn, Kent, Kershen, Knapp, Livesey, Magnusson, Marcus-Mendoza, McDonald, Miranda,
Morrissey, Moses, Nelson, Radhakrishnan, Rambo, Reeder, Riggs, Roche, Rogers,
Sadler, Schmidt, Skeeters, Striz, Tan, Trytten, Verma, Vitt, Warnken, Weaver
Provost's office representative: Mergler
ISA representatives: Cook
ABSENT: James,
Russell, Trafalis
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
State of the University Address by President Boren
Announcements:
Senate members for 2007-08 and schedule of meetings
Faculty Senate and Regular Faculty parliamentarian
2006-07 annual council reports
Faculty appointments to committees
Disposition by administration of Senate actions for
2006-07
Resources in Faculty Senate office
Faculty retirees
Grading scale and Faculty Senate reapportionment
Senate Chair's Report:
Senate orientation/issues
Retirement education conference
Health care report
Classroom technology
Election, Research Council
Issues for 2007-08
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Prof. Bradford said, “I think
all of us have profited from President Boren’s presidency.” He provided the impetus for the bond fund, which
matches the contributions for endowed positions. He created the Sooner Heritage Scholarship,
which provides scholarships for children of OU employees. OU students are getting a quality educational
experience, thanks largely to President Boren.
President Boren distributed
several charts and a list of goals (available from the Senate office). He said he would give a brief review of where
we stand and go through some questions that the Executive Committee asked him
to address. The total Norman campus
operating budget is now about $1.3 billion.
In 1985, 38.6 percent of the budget came from state appropriations; for
FY08 it has dropped to 21.5 percent.
Tuition and fees have gone from 9.9 percent to 22.7 percent. Other E&G, primarily private gifts, have
helped to cushion the shift in funding.
Grants and contracts have gone from 16.8 percent to 18.5 percent of the
operating revenue budget. Some of our
auxiliary units earn revenue, and their fraction of the budget has been roughly
flat. We are one of only about ten
athletics departments in the country that is self-supporting. In other words, the athletics department
receives no funds from the central university.
In fact, we are one of only two or three whose Athletics Department actually
provides some subsidy to the academic side.
We receive $1-2 million a year. About
$1 million goes into the library. The academic
excellence fee on football tickets goes to the academic budget. There has been a dramatic shift from state appropriations
to the payers of tuition and fees. While
we are still in the bottom five percent or so of public comprehensive
universities in the country in combined mandatory tuition and fees, it still
puts a burden on our students. That is
why we have emphasized the drive for scholarships. The Sooner Heritage scholarship for middle
income students is a way we have been able to help our faculty and staff and to
thank them for a great job. For the last
two years, 100 percent of the children of faculty and staff who have applied for
the scholarships have received them. Originally,
our goal was to raise $50 million in scholarships in five years. We reached the goal in a little over a year,
so the committee doubled the goal. With
two years left, we have raised a little above $96 million. About $82 million is endowment; the rest is
annual donation. The campaign will
continue until the endowed portion is above $100 million.
This year we had the largest
freshman class ever, by about 25 or 30. The
student quality has remained high. We
had 136 national merit scholars last year and 174 this year. Private giving has helped us substantially. Last year, we broke all records, with $125.8
million in private giving. The total contributor
base continues to go up, having reached 112,818. We work not only on the large gifts, but to
bring in smaller gifts, particularly from recent graduates. Last year, we became the 20th public
university in the country to have a private endowment in excess of $1 billion. President Boren said he appreciates the hard
work of our development officers.
From 1995 to 2008, the growth
in faculty was over 300 FTE, which has outstripped our growth in student enrollment. U.S.
News ratings are not based on personal observations. Twenty-five percent of the ratings is a poll
of 1800 college presidents around the country.
Almost one-fourth of the ratings is the graduation rate, which we need
to work on. The student-faculty ratio is
19. We were very close to being in the
top 100 for the first time ever. We are
the only public university in
Reviewing his five-year
goals, President Boren asked the senators to suggest other things the
university should be doing. Some of his
goals are to get to a student-faculty ratio of at least 18-1, stabilize
freshman enrollment at 3500-3700, continue to improve the recruitment of graduate
students, continue to grow research, and rank firmly in the top three in the
Big 12 in faculty compensation. We still
are very able to hold our own in recruitment of students. The president is trying to find donors to
provide naming endowment gifts for all colleges not already named. One of his goals is a Center for the Study of
the American Heritage. Recent studies
have shown a lack of knowledge of American history among high school and
college students.
President Boren invited
faculty to participate in the pilot textbook program this year. He set aside $200,000 to assist students with
textbook costs. Provost Mergler formed a
textbook task force, which has recommended ways to lower costs. Suggestions include substituting electronic
readings and allowing previous editions.
The university purchased additional copies of textbooks for the major
courses with the largest enrollments and put them on reserve at the library. Preliminary reports indicate that the
textbooks are being used. This is just a
trial. About $82,000 was spent this
semester. He will put together a
committee, including representatives from the Senate, to see if there are ways
to improve the program for the second semester.
It may be appropriate to add large upper division courses with expensive
books.
Going over the university’s environmental
efforts, President Boren said he had signed the Presidents Climate Commitment,
and OU has joined the Chicago Climate Exchange.
What that means is we do an environmental inventory, particularly in
terms of our CO2 emissions, and undertake to make progress each
year. A few of the things we are doing
include asking OG&E to sell us as much wind power electricity as possible,
increasing our recycling program each year, planting trees, and making
improvements in lighting in various buildings.
We recycled 320 tons of paper last year, planted about 2000 trees in the
last five years, and in a number of buildings, we have installed automatic
lights, changed window treatments and improved insulation. We are constructing new buildings in terms of
environmental standards to try to conserve energy. Our goal is to transform our entire fleet of
vehicles to the latest technologies to conserve energy, particularly gas. We now have 42 electric, 23 ethanol, and 24 compressed
natural gas vehicles. As we reduce our
emissions, we get a credit, which will have a marketable value on the Chicago Climate
Exchange. As the federal government
lowers emission standards, our credits will have actual cash value.
On the topic of security,
President Boren distributed pamphlets from the OU Police Department concerning
armed subjects and disruptive individuals.
In the near future, the university will offer some open forums for
faculty and staff and also try to have some online training about classroom
security. We have purchased a system,
which was tried out at the end of last semester, that can send immediate phone
calls and text messages in case of a threat.
At the stadium, we have 120 cameras, electronic equipment, and bomb
dogs, and we seal the area off for a period of time before games. Some time ago, we set up a system of
reporting and evaluation to identify any problem people on campus. A committee composed of general counsel,
provost, student affairs, counseling, police, housing, and human resources meets
on a regular basis and is on call. We do
not want to overstep individual rights, become an institution where fear is
pervasive, or lose the free nature of our institution. At the same time, we want a system to
evaluate any real risks. We have
interpreted the law to say if a student is an immediate threat, we can contact
parents and others who might provide intervention and care. We have had cooperation in every
situation. The president and the provost
are made aware right away of any situation.
The committee goes into immediate session and works well. All information is confidential. It is important that situations are reported
to the Student Affairs office or the police.
The OU and Norman police have good cooperation. Very soon, everyone on campus will receive messages
providing the number to call if there is a threat and reminding them to update
their contact information. Situations will
be handled in a way to minimize embarrassment.
He asked Dennis Aebersold, Vice President for Information Technology, to
describe how the technology works. Mr. Aebersold
said IT would send reminders to individuals asking them to update their phone
numbers at account.ou.edu. The system
calls all numbers provided until it reaches a person or voice mail. Individuals have to opt in to text messaging since
there is a cost for that service. Prof. Rambo
asked whether the classroom phones could be rung. Mr. Aebersold said that would be implemented
within a few weeks. President Boren said
the system would be a good way to keep people updated on where a potential
threat is. The administration is looking
into some things we could do to make doors more secure but not violate fire regulations
or impair our ability in more likely threats like fire and weather. Another idea is to have students and faculty
turn their cell phones on silent when in class so they can still get a message. Suggestions are welcome. We do not want to go overboard, and we do not
want to create an atmosphere of fear or suggestion.
President Boren said he appreciates
the work that the faculty and staff do, the quality of students we are
attracting, and the quality of peers we are attracting when we have searches. He said, “I feel very privileged to be able to
work with you as a colleague, and I appreciate the help and encouragement that
I sense from you, and I always appreciate the suggestions that you bring to me
and to all of our team at the university.”
Prof. Verma said he applauds the
goal of continuing growth in research, which can lead to economic growth. President Boren said the public is beginning
to understand the value of intellectual property. Ten years ago, we had 8000 good paying jobs
in biosciences; now we have over 40,000.
Hopefully, our state leaders will invest in a diversified research base. He thanked the faculty for its research
success and noted that many interdisciplinary research clusters are being
formed on campus.
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of May 7, 2007 was approved.
A
list of the Faculty Senate members is attached. The new members were introduced at the
meeting.
The
regular meetings of the Faculty Senate for 2007-08 will be held at 3:30 p.m. on
the following Mondays in Jacobson Faculty Hall 102: September 10, October 8,
November 12, December 10, January 14, February 11, March 10, April 14, and May
5.
The
Senate Executive Committee elected Prof. Hugh Benson (Philosophy) as
parliamentarian of the Faculty Senate and Regular Faculty.
The
compilation of the 2006-07 annual reports of university councils was e-mailed
July 11 to the Faculty Senate members and to chairs, directors and deans to
make available to the general faculty.
The reports are available online at http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/cnclrep07.htm.
The
2007-08 list of faculty appointments to committees is available on the Faculty
Senate web site at http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/commem07.htm. Prof. Bradford said committees were a way to
serve the academic community and make a real impact.
The summary record of the disposition by the
administration of Faculty Senate actions for September 2006 to August 2007 is attached.
The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Academe
and the Norman campus budget are available in the Senate office.
The
following faculty retired during the summer and as a result, were not included
in last May’s list of 2006-07 retirees (see 5/07 Senate Journal): David Carnevale, Arts & Sciences, retired
5/16/07, came to OU in 1989; Clara Sue Kidwell, History/Native American
Studies, retired 7/1/07, came to OU in 1995; Skip Porter, Electrical &
Computer Engr./Tech. Transfer, retired 7/1/07, came to OU in 1998.
Last spring, the Faculty
Senate voted on a plus/minus grading system and Senate reapportionment (see
2/07 and 3/07 Senate Journals), and then the matters were sent out for a vote
of the regular faculty. The results of
the regular faculty vote were: A
plus/minus grading system was approved 252 to 92, with 3 abstentions. The reapportionment of the Senate was
approved 315 to 11, with 21 abstentions.
An
orientation for new senators was held on September 5. Senators have been asked to suggest issues
that should be discussed. Not every
issue has to be an action item. For
example, last year, the Senate talked about ways to prevent plagiarism. The Senate addresses issues of concern to
all, and individuals are invited to speak to the Senate regarding those concerns. Julius Hilburn and Nick Kelly from the Human
Resources office probably will attend the next meeting to discuss the new
health care proposal.
Prof.
Bradford asked senators to give their names before speaking. He reminded them that what is said is public
and on the record, and only senators and liaison may speak without getting
prior permission.
The
Human Resources office is sponsoring a retirement education conference on September
25 to answer questions about retirement and help anyone who is getting close to
retirement.
The
health care report has been distributed, and the Employment Benefits Committee
voted in favor of the new proposals. The
report is available at http://www.ou.edu/healthcareoptions/.
The Information Technology office
wants to make sure that classroom technology is working well for the faculty. Prof. Bradford asked the senators to let him
know if they are having any problems.
The Faculty Senate approved
the Committee on Committees’ nomination of Melissa Stockdale (History) to
complete the 2007-10 term of Ben Keppel (History) on the Research Council.
Prof. Bradford said the orientation
of new senators was fruitful with suggestions and issues. A list will be compiled of the issues that senators
submit. One issue is security—how to get
our names into the directory so we will be called in case of an emergency. Task forces have been formed on health care,
the library, and textbooks. Parking is
always an issue. Another concern is the
process for approving a new course. It
is worth revisiting because, particularly in the sciences, by the time a course
is approved, it is obsolete. The Senate
will look at the process to see if it can be speeded up. Prof. Radhakrishnan said he had raised the
issue of athletics. Prof. Bradford replied
that it was on the list.
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, October 8, 2007, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Roberta Magnusson, Secretary