The
Regular session – April 12, 2004 - 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 Mike McInerney, Chair.
PRESENT: Abraham,
Baldwin, Barker, Biggerstaff, Bradford, Brady, Brown, Burns, Caldwell, Catlin,
Cintrón, Devenport, Dewers, Driver, Forman, Frech, Hartel, Havlicek, Houser,
Huseman, C. Knapp, R. Knapp, McInerney, Megginson, Mendoza, Milton, Pender,
Penrose, Raadschelders, Rai, Ransom, Rupp-Serrano, Russell, Schramm, Sharp, Striz,
Watts, Wheeler, Wyckoff, Yuan
Provost's office representative: Mergler
ABSENT: Bozorgi,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcement: Faculty tribute
Remarks by OU Regent Larry Wade
Remarks by Athletic Director Joe Castiglione
Health insurance RFP, OTRS
Health care survey
Good practice for courses and programs
Faculty Senate reapportionment for 2004-07
Faculty Senate charter
University email notification policy
Preliminary nominations for committees
Senate Chair's Report:
Parking fines
Bicycle policy
Exercise facility
NEH awards (scholarship/fellowship leaves)
Honor Code, student
Joint meeting with OSU and HSC
OTRS
Faculty meeting
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of March 8, 2004 was approved.
The faculty tribute will be
held Tuesday, April 13, at 3:00 p.m. in the
Mr. Larry Wade, OU’s newest
regent, said he came to
Mr. Castiglione gave an
update on the student-athletes and what is going on in the athletic
department. He said this had become an
annual invitation and one that he appreciated.
Just recently, some faculty members on campuses across the country have
recognized the opportunity to share and discuss issues related to
intercollegiate athletics. He believes
intercollegiate athletics is one of the most scrutinized areas of any college
or university today. There are more
controls over athletic business than in any time in history. The Athletic Department wants to foster a
spirit of openness. Its mission is
geared to support the university’s mission.
To a large extent, the Athletic Department is involved in teaching. The Athletic Department mission is inspiring
champions today, preparing leaders for tomorrow. A champion by the department’s definition fulfills
academic goals and grows as a person. Athletic
staff and students are held to certain standards, and disciplinary action is
taken if there are violations. Myriad
services are provided to help student-athletes meet challenges. The Athletic Department does a number of
things to be proactive and has a great deal of success utilizing the right
philosophy. Academic services are
provided to about 450 student-athletes. This
year’s overall graduation rate is 74 percent, which leads the Big 12 conference
and set a record at OU. The department received
the NCAA USA Today academic
achievement award, which is given to Division I universities. This past year there were 30 academic
all-Americans. Student-athletes’ grade
point average was 2.94 this past semester.
Last year, 294 out of 453 student-athletes finished with a 3.0 GPA or
better, and 50 of those had a 4.0. Not
only are student-athletes having success in the classroom, it leads to greater
retention.
Mr. Castiglione said he
thought it was important to know that the Athletic Department embraces its fiduciary
responsibility. The department will
balance its annual operating budget again for the fifth year. The Athletic Department does not operate
beyond its means. When possible, the
department partners with various academic areas of campus. Two years ago, athletics established a $1
million endowment for the university libraries.
The academic enhancement fee of $2 per football ticket per game went to the
university to help offset the budget shortfall, and the fee will be continued
this year. The fee created almost $1
million in support to the academic side of campus. Quite a few of the Athletic Department staff
members have committed substantial resources of their own to the library
endowment.
Another important part of the
department’s goal is athletic performance and continuing to build the athletic
tradition, not just in football, but other sports. All students who come to this university
should feel like they have the best possible chance to be successful. Many Athletic Department staff members stay
in touch on a national level. The number
one priority is to improve the experiences and environment for
student-athletes. “In our quest to be
the best, I can commit to you that we will achieve [our mission] by strict
adherence to the appropriate values, principles, and rules of our game and do
that with utmost class and dignity.”
Prof. Schramm said she was
appalled at the lack of sportsmanship by fans at most athletic events. Mr. Castiglione said it was a national
problem. OU has taken steps, and people are
removed from games if their behavior is inappropriate. We can have a spirited environment without
crossing the line. Prof. Burns asked about
any plans to open the new track to the university community for workouts. Mr. Castiglione said the track was designed
to take advantage of the new Olympic rules and also have one lane dedicated to the
campus community to use for a few hours per day. Dr. Ken Cooper, a former member of the OU
track team and well-known doctor in the area of fitness, made a personal
contribution. The department is trying
to open up some of its facilities for community use. Mr. Castiglione distributed copies of the
annual report and invited the group to contact him if they had questions.
Human Resources director
Julius Hilburn discussed the status of the request for proposal (RFP) for
medical and dental insurance that was issued in January. He explained that the university had changed
to the state’s HealthChoice plan in July 2003 because of significant cost
problems with the self-funded plan. At
the time, the administration made a commitment to consider other options for
January 2005. The university received
responses from four medical and seven dental providers. The Employment Benefits Committee (EBC) is
working with the Human Resources staff and our benefits consultant, Mercer, in
evaluating the responses. The evaluation
committee, a subcommittee of the EBC, recommended a short list of vendors. The EBC concurred. Meetings have taken place with several vendors,
and some site visits will be made with vendors that come the closest to meeting
our needs. Mr. Hilburn pointed out that
he could not give details yet because of the competitive bid process. After the EBC meets April 22, he can talk
about the vendors under consideration and the rationale for eliminating others. Vendors are being asked how they would address
some of the major concerns, such as out-of-state coverage. There is nothing in the bids that would
suggest that anyone will have significantly better benefits at a significantly lower
cost than the state plan. The idea is to
identify an alternative plan to compare with the state’s plan when it comes out
in August. Mr. Hilburn said he would
have the opportunity at the all-faculty meeting on April 29 to talk in more
detail about the recommendation and address specific questions.
House Bill 2226 is being
considered in the state legislature. One
provision would allow OU and OSU to get out of mandatory participation in OTRS. New employees would not be required to join
OTRS and would participate in a new defined contribution plan. Current participants would have a one-time
irrevocable election to stay in OTRS or go to the new plan. The legislation provides one year for current
participants to make their election. New
employees view defined contribution plans as more portable. A defined
benefit plan like OTRS builds a lot of wealth but over a long term. The second provision, the equity fix, has to
do with the salary caps and a change in the retirement benefit formula in 1995. The result is a lower benefit for OU and OSU
employees than for others in education who have made the same
contribution. The equity fix is not currently
in the bill, but OU and OSU are trying to include legislation that is
acceptable to all parties. One of the
issues is identifying a fair cost for the withdrawal. Mr. Hilburn said he would get input and
feedback from the various groups and keep the Faculty Senate Executive
Committee updated. The alternative plan
for new employees and current people who opt out of OTRS has not been designed
yet. He will seek input and feedback
before anything is finalized.
Prof. Megginson asked whether
the state health plan was still an option and whether it was possible to do a
multi-year plan. Mr. Hilburn said the
state plan was kind of the base plan.
When the state sets its rates and plan design in August, the university
will compare the best alternative to the state plan. The RFP asked for a three-year rate guarantee
from all the vendors so that we would not have a low cost the first year and
then escalating costs in subsequent years.
Prof. Forman asked whether the university was looking at the health
savings accounts, which are more practical with the new legislation. Mr. Hilburn said the university asked the
vendors to include proposals for what is called a consumer-driven health plan. Typically, health savings accounts fund 100
percent coverage up to a certain amount, then the employee pays 100 percent up to
a certain amount, and then the cost is shared.
The state plan has a similar model, called the basic option. Less than 10 percent of OU’s employees are
participating in it. The Human Resources
office also plans to promote the flexible spending accounts for the next
enrollment, in which people can pay out-of-pocket expenses with pre-tax dollars.
Prof. Weaver-Meyers
(University Libraries), chair of the EBC, commented that the OTRS equity issue was
huge and significantly affects the retirement benefit for many people. Mr. Hilburn said the issue involves people
who were OTRS participants before 1995. We
want to fix the problem but make sure we do not pay an inappropriate amount to do
that. Prof. Hartel asked whether the
flexible spending account was still set up so that it could not be rolled over from
year to year. Mr. Hilburn said that kind
of account could not be rolled from one year to the next. Prof. Biggerstaff wanted to know whether
Human Resources would provide guidance in terms of who would benefit from
opting out of OTRS. Mr. Hilburn replied,
“Absolutely.” There will be an extensive
education program and lots of communication.
Prof. Bob Dauffenbach
(Management Information Systems), a member of the Faculty Senate’s Faculty
Welfare Committee (FWC), said an open-ended survey was sent to faculty, staff
and retirees in January. The survey
asked for experiences with HealthChoice.
Out of about 4700 faculty and staff, 143 responded, which is about a 3%
response. The relatively low response
rate could be because the system had only been in place about six months and
most people had not had much experience, but it also could indicate that, except
for concerns about rising costs, there is a fair degree of satisfaction. A lot of individuals complained about the
cost, particularly for insuring dependents.
With our health care system in crisis nationally, it is no surprise that
we are experiencing increasing costs.
Retirees are very satisfied with HealthChoice because it pays what
Medicare does not. One of the largest
concerns is out of state coverage and finding in-network providers. Even at Norman Regional hospital, faculty and
staff have discovered that a particular physician may not be in network. One of the positive comments was that
HealthChoice has no lifetime cap. Other concerns
had to do with late payments, billing errors, and emergency care. Some were concerned about the lack of information
about just what the benefits are. The FWC
thinks there is a real need for an ombudsperson who could call HealthChoice
when a problem arises and provide information to faculty and staff. Out-of-state coverage is a very prominent
issue. Also, the FWC thinks the university
needs to be concerned about preventive care and wellness. This is an issue that the FWC plans to investigate
more thoroughly next year. Prof. Dauffenbach
said his opinion was there seemed to be a fair degree of satisfaction with
HealthChoice.
Prof. Barker complimented the
FWC on a very well-written report that had a number of excellent
suggestions. He said the low rate of
response could be due to the lack of familiarity with HealthChoice or because some
people did not hear about the survey. He
said he was pleased the FWC was taking the out-of-state issue seriously but
thought supplemental coverage should be part of our health plan. Prof. Dauffenbach responded that the idea was
that a supplemental coverage benefit might be achieved at a lower price. Prof. Burns commented that it would be a
mistake to assume a low response rate reflected a satisfaction with coverage. Prof. Huseman asked whether it was possible
for an out-of-state physician or hospital to sign up as a member of the program. Prof. Dauffenbach said almost all
Prof. Caldwell said she
thought the statement about preventive care and wellness was important. She encouraged the FWC to try to get an
exercise facility as a free service for faculty and staff. Following some comments about the implications
of the low response rate, Prof. Dauffenbach pointed out that the survey was
open-ended, not a sample. Prof. McInerney
said the FWC had wanted to get some data to give to the EBC as it made a
decision about insurers for next year.
Prof. McInerney said the
recommendation on good practice for courses and program was brought to the
senate last month (see 3/04 journal).
The document (attached)
was developed by an ad hoc committee and was reviewed by the Academic Programs
Council. The main point is that online
courses and regular courses would be treated the same. The motion to approve the document was
approved by the senate on a voice vote.
Prof. McInerney explained
that senate had to be reapportioned every three years and that the recommendation
(attached -- http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/fsapporrep04.htm
and http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/fsappor04.htm)
had been presented last month (see 3/04 journal). Every college would remain the same except
Fine Arts would lose one seat and that seat would go to a joint representation
of the
As Prof. McInerney explained
last month (see 3/04 journal), the main reason for the revisions in the faculty
charter (attached) was
to include renewable term faculty in the definition of regular faculty. One sentence was struck out because the senate
voted in 2001 that the secretary could be a member of the senate. Some other wording needed to be updated. The senate approved the motion to approve the
revisions on a voice vote. The revisions
will have to be voted on by the general faculty on April 29.
The proposed email
notification policy (below) will be discussed and voted on at the May
meeting. Prof. McInerney pointed out
that he had received some comments about the proposed policy, which he
forwarded to the Information Technology Council policy subcommittee, the
committee that developed the policy. The
policy basically states that email can be an official means of communication,
i.e., one means, not the only means. This is important when communicating with
students. Also, it states that it is the
student’s responsibility to make sure that OU email is forwarded to their email
account.
In
order to assure timely and efficient communication, the University establishes
email as an acceptable means of official communication.
All
University students, faculty, and staff will be assigned an official University
email account.
Faculty
and staff may assume that a student’s official University email is a valid
mechanism for communicating with that student. Faculty who rely upon electronic
communication with or between students in their classes will specify their
requirements in the course syllabus.
Disclaimer: Account holders who choose to have email forwarded to
another email address do so at their own risk.
An account holder’s failure to receive or read, in a timely manner,
official University communications sent to an official email account does not
absolve the account holder from knowing and complying with the content of the
official communication.
The Senate Committee on
Committees’ preliminary nominations for end-of-the-year vacancies on university
and campus councils, committees, and boards (attached) were presented
at the meeting and will be voted on at the May meeting. Prof. McInerney announced that two volunteers
were needed for the Faculty Appeals Board.
Professors Russell and Barker agreed to serve on the board. Prof. Watts pointed out that the committee
was still working on a couple of vacancies but would have the list finalized in
a week or two.
“Theta Dempsey sent the
Executive Committee the proposed increases in parking fines (attached). The proposed
increases were consistent with the discussions that she had with the Executive
Committee in March. The two fines that will increase the most are displaying a
lost or stolen permit, which will increase from $65 to $125, and parking in a
fire lane, which will increase from $20 to $50. There are a number of other
fines that are less egregious that will increase about $5. An appeal fee of $5
will be assessed if the appeals board does not sustain the appeal. The time to
make an appeal will be shortened from 30 days to 14 days. This will also
shortened the time on impounding a vehicle for excessive citations (more than three
unpaid tickets) from 30 days to 14 days.
“Associate Vice President for
Administrative Affairs Burr Millsap is working on a policy for abandoned
bicycles and for appropriate bicycle use on campus. He sent drafts of these
policies to the Executive Committee. The bicycle use policy would require
registration of bicycles that are used on campus and stipulates the appropriate
places to park bicycles, e.g., in racks by buildings. The Executive Committee
understands the need for registration so that the owner can be contacted if
there is a problem. However, we think the process should be a convenient one
and that the cost of registration be minimal. Also, we feel that it is
appropriate for faculty to bring their bicycles into their offices. I sent Mr.
Millsap an email that summarizes our comments. If there are other
comments/suggestions, please let me know.
“I have had several questions
about the proposed exercise facility in the southwest portion of the stadium. I
talked to Vice President Nick Hathaway about this. He has had discussions with
Prof. Mike Bemben, who is an expert in exercise science. Mr. Hathaway has also
been corresponding with about 10 to 15 faculty about this. I am happy to say
that the facility is near completion. It will have some equipment for use by
faculty as well as showers and locker facilities for both men and women.
“On March 31, 2004, Prof.
Bradford, Prof. Keppel, Prof. Ransom and I met with Cindy Cash of the Provost
Office, Dean Lee Williams (Graduate College) and Nick Kelly (Benefits Office) about
leaves with scholarships and fellowships. We discussed the mechanics of leaves
when a faculty member receives a scholarship/fellowship that is paid directly
to the faculty member rather than to the University. The suggested practice
would be to have the faculty member sign over the award to the University. The
faculty member would then receive full salary and benefits from the University.
The University would provide the faculty member documentation of the
contribution to be used when the faculty member files his/her taxes. This route
would probably require the submission of Schedule C on business expenses by the
faculty member so that the faculty member does not pay additional taxes. There
was some discussion about a minimum dollar award needed to receive full
compensation from the University. It was recommended to include wording to have
approval by the respective department. The concern is to ensure that the
teaching needs of the department are met. Cindy Cash just sent the revisions to
me today. Given that the semester is winding down, I believe that it would be
best to have next year’s Executive Committee review this and bring it to the
Senate for discussion and vote in the fall. I think that we can use this as a
provisional policy in the meantime.
“UOSA has constituted their
Honor Council, which will advocate and advertise the Student Honor Code that
was passed by UOSA in the fall. I feel that we encourage this action by our
students by including the Honor Code on copies of examinations and finals this
semester. You will be able to download the wording from the Provost web site.
“Last week, the Executive
Committee met with representatives of the Faculty Council at
“The senate leadership met
with Mr. Julius Hilburn and Mr. Nick Kelly last week about House Bill 2226 (see
above discussion). We recommend that the staff and faculty senates be involved
in the development of the retirement plan along with the Employment Benefits Committee.
The discussions and planning will probably start this summer.
“The general faculty meeting will
be April 29 at 4:00 p.m. in Dale Hall 211.
The faculty will vote on the charter revisions and hear more information
about the health and dental RFP.”
The meeting adjourned at 5:00
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
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Karen Rupp-Serrano, Secretary