The
Regular session – February 11, 2008 – 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: Apanasov,
Basic, D. Bemben, M. Bemben, Benson, Bradford, Brown, Brule, Callard, Clark, Conlon,
Croft, Edy, Eodice, Franklin, Ge, Grasse, Greene, Horn, Kershen, Livesey, Magnusson,
Marcus-Mendoza, C. Miller, Milton, Miranda, Moses, Riggs, Roche, Rogers,
Russell, Schmidt, Skeeters, Striz, Tan, Trafalis, Trytten, Veil, Verma, Warnken,
Weaver
ISA
representative: Cook
ABSENT: Albert,
Bass, Clark, Forman, Halterman, Knapp, McDonald, Morrissey, Radhakrishnan, Rambo,
Reeder, Sadler, Vitt
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcements:
New senators
Faculty development proposals
Committee nominations
Retirement policies
Big Event
Senate Chair's Report:
Endowed positions
Budget
Scholarship drive
Retiree medical benefit, health insurance plans
Security
Bicycle lanes
Textbook reserve, library, student system, parking
Recreational Services Advisory Committee charge
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The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of January 14, 2008 was approved.
The following faculty members
were elected to the Faculty Senate as of February 2008:
Claude Miller (Communication), completing the 2005-08
term of Tom James (Political Science), representing the College of Arts &
Sciences
Kim Milton (Physics & Astronomy), completing the
2007-10 term of Donna Nelson (Chemistry & Biochemistry), representing the
College of Arts & Sciences
Shari Veil, completing the 2007-10 term of Michael
Kent, representing the College of Journalism & Mass Communication
The call for the faculty
development proposals is available at http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/facdev.htm. Proposals are due March 4.
The call for volunteers for
councils, committees and boards was sent to faculty, chairs/directors and deans
on February 1. Nominations are due to
the Faculty Senate office by March 6.
President Boren responded to
the resolution approved by the Faculty Senate at its January 14 meeting that he
will encourage the Healthcare Task Force to review the retirement issues as
suggested.
Mr. Michael Purcell, chair of the Big Event, explained that on April 5 about 4000 students, faculty and
administrators will do community service projects around the metro. He asked senators to help him find volunteers
to sign up for this year’s event. Registration
forms will be emailed to the senators. Individuals
or groups may sign up to volunteer. Most
projects last 2-3 hours. Numerous
organizations benefit from the services provided.
Prof. Bradford reviewed the senate executive committee
procedures. The week before the senate
meeting the executive committee meets and discusses the issues raised by
senators and other individuals, the committee formulates an agenda for the
senate and in the week before the senate meeting, meets with the President to
discuss the issues. Prof. Bradford also
meets before the executive meeting with the Provost and discusses issues of
concern to the faculty.
At the meeting with President Boren on February 7, the
President reported that we are now $88 million behind on matching endowed
positions. We are expecting more and
substantial gifts for endowed positions in the future, which will add to the
backlog. The President is trying various
avenues. He is hopeful for a bond, which
might perhaps take care of as much as $60 million. It is possible sometime in the future that
the legislature will revisit its commitment to match endowment donations dollar
for dollar.
The budget, to quote President Boren, “is just
horrible.” Our fixed costs and a three
percent raise costs about $22 million. The
Governor proposed a $13 million increase for all of higher education in his
budget. That would mean $8 million would
be divided among all the colleges and universities. The Norman campus share would be $1-3
million. The President is committed to
some sort of faculty salary increase, but even an increase as low as two
percent would require a substantial tuition and fee increase. There is some good news. The scholarship drive is up to $110 million,
which allows us to give more Sooner Heritage scholarships and larger amounts. The endowed portion is slightly over $90
million; the President hopes to get it to $100 million.
The executive committee talked with Nick Kelly and
Julius Hilburn (Human Resources) about retiree medical coverage. They have just started to consider different
options, but they reaffirmed that the changes would not affect those too close
to retirement to make other plans. President
Boren reiterated that we have a moral commitment to stand by those near
retirement. Nick and Julius will come to
a future senate meeting to discuss the retiree medical issue and the health
plan for 2009. With the change in
insurance premiums for families, we have stopped losing dependent coverage to
outside carriers, and there has been about a seven percent rise in dependent coverage.
The executive committee brought up some concerns with
the President about security at night in the parking garages. President Boren said he would ask the OU Police
Department to increase night patrols in the parking garages. The committee also brought up the subject of
bicycle lanes and learned that Nick Hathaway is working with the city to increase
the number of designated bike lanes, particularly to the south campus.
A taskforce on the textbook reserve initiative is
being established and will try to reach some conclusions by March. The senate will be
discussing a report on the university library in the near future. The executive committee is continuing to
discuss features of the new student system.
Prof. Bradford will be visiting with the Parking director in the near
future.
Prof. Bemben said he did not
think there were any bike lanes on campus besides the ones on the south
oval. He said this institution should
have appropriate bike lanes and a fitness program for its staff and faculty. Prof. Bradford said everyone agrees. A wellness committee has been formed to
consider bike lanes, fitness programs, smoking cessation programs, etc. The committee is trying to put everything together
as one package to present to the President for action. President Boren said faculty could email him
if they needed more bike racks.
Prof. Miller commented that
employees can get better dependent health insurance from outside carriers. He asked why it was a good thing that we are
losing fewer dependents to outside health insurers. Prof. Bradford responded that Human Resources
had not broken the figures down. They only
know generally that there has been a seven percent increase in employees
covering their families. It is a good
thing because they can be dropped from an outside company if they develop any health
conditions. Also, outside companies will
not cover pre-existing conditions. There
will be another change on January 1. Mr.
Hilburn is hopeful that our numbers will be such that we will get a better deal.
Any savings will go toward reducing what
employees pay.
Prof. Edy asked about the
significance of the backlog in the endowed chair match. Prof. Bradford said the positions cannot be
filled until the money is matched. Also,
donors see that when they make contributions toward endowed positions, it could
be years before the position is filled.
In one case, a donor refused to contribute unless the position started
immediately. Prof. Kershen asked whether
the $88 million was statewide or just for OU.
[Note: The $88 million backlog is
for the state system.]
Prof. Bradford explained that
the purpose of the proposed revision in the charge of the University
Recreational Services Advisory Committee (attached) was to bring it up to date. As discussed at the last meeting, the
description had some obsolete provisions.
The revised charge is essentially what the committee does. Nothing else has changed. The senate approved the revision on a voice
vote.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 10, 2008, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
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Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
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Roberta Magnusson, Secretary