The Faculty Senate of Murray State University met in regular session on Tuesday, January 23, 2001. Thirty-two senators were in attendance. Jeff Frame was proxy for Senator Broughton, wellness & therapeutic sciences. Senators Canning, biological sciences, and Gutwirth, art, were absent. President Call introduced the new senator from the Department of English and Philosophy, Kevin Binfield. The minutes of December 5, 2000, were approved as written.

Insurance and Benefits--Senator Jacobs reported that the committee met on December 6 and set an agenda for the spring. The committee will continue focusing on increases in the university's contribution to health insurance.

The committee continues to explore its role in changes in benefits. The committee has asked how information will be shared with employees on future changes. All requests are routed through the Vice President of Administrative Services. The committee will meet on January 31 to discuss a survey of employees on healthcare and benefits issues.

Board of Regents--Regent Rudolph reported on the December 8 board meeting. The university received an unqualified report from the auditors. The board approved December degree applicants and leaves were approved. The Racer Foundation forwarded funds to the athletic budget. Jim Vaughn was appointed special assistant to the president on enrollment management and former senator Bob Pervine was appointed assistant dean to the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. The board approved deferred maintenance to be matched by the state. Course fees were raised 3.7 percent and IDs for family members of faculty and staff were increased by $5 to $15. Betty Driver and Judy Payne were appointed by the board to the University Student Appeals Board.

The next meeting of the board is scheduled for February 16. Regent Rudolph will seek a meeting with the president to discuss the nine-month faculty contract proposal and try to get it on the agenda for the May Board meeting.

Executive--President Call reported on the informational meeting held on the residential college pay proposal. Dr. Brockway reported that residential college service will continue to be voluntarily but that certain service to the colleges may be included for tenure and promotion consideration and could be counted as a significant part of expected service. He had received a statement from President Alexander. President Call shared concerns from the senate. He encouraged faculty who were unable to attend to be at the other one tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. He expects the program to be adopted but these forums offer additional opportunity for faculty to raise questions.

President Call has written to President Alexander asking how he obtained faculty concurrence in awarding the presidential medallion awarded at December graduation. There has been no reply to the senate's November resolution asking for more involvement of the Faculty and Staff Insurance and Benefits Committee in decisions pertaining to healthcare and benefits.

He and Vice President Morgan met with Provost Brockway on January 12. Dr. Brockway will work on several items remaining on the senate's agenda. Handbook revision will continue.

Academic Policies--Vice President Morgan reported on quality control guidelines for web based courses. The executive committee asked that she follow up with the administration on the status of state discussions. A state meeting is being held today to discuss issues. She wrote the chief academic officer of KVU and received a reply to several areas of concern. Many issues have to be decided by the individual institutions. The academic policies committee will consider these items. The provost's office has indicated that the Library and Academic Support Committee of the Academic Council will work on establishing campus guidelines. This will ensure faculty input into the maintenance of quality of this method of course delivery. Senator Culpepper will seek information through Academic Council.

Governmental Affairs--Chair Wattier reported that a review of the higher education budget process by the CPE could be accessed on the web. The university presidents and the CPE have agreed to a preliminary agreement. The CPE will meet on February 5. The universities may now change up to five of their benchmarks.

He also noted how enrollment and retention targets impact the internal reallocation of monies for healthcare. A progress report on key indicators of assessment of education has been forwarded to COSFL members. A copy can be obtained from the Faculty Senate Office.

Handbook & Personnel--President Call reported that the committee had not met since November, but during the meeting with Dr. Brockway talked about Handbook issues.

Rules, Elections, & Bylaws--Vice Chair Strieter reported that the committee met yesterday and approved guidelines for this year's administrative assessment. The committee will forward changes in the rules for the election of faculty regent. If accepted by the senate, changes to the bylaws will be considered. The committee has noted discrepancies within the Handbook with definitions of faculty. The committee will review the process for the teaching excellence awards. The committee will also study the required quorums of senate committees. The committee will look at amending bylaws to allow for the senate vice president choosing to actively chair a committee other than the REB Committee.

Finance--Chair Mulligan will schedule a meeting with Vice President Denton to get budget information. The committee will monitor the proposal for nine-month faculty contracts. He solicited any concerns with merit pay, especially the residential college proposal. The committee will seek data on sources of funds for this initiative.

Senator Crofton, physics, asked about the distribution of funds for indirect costs assessed on grants. Since the reorganization, no distribution has been made to appropriate units. The committee will investigate.

Undergraduate Studies--Senator Pilgrim, senate representative, reported that the committee has reviewed numerous programs.

Graduate Studies--No report.

Library & Academic Support--Chair Driskill reported that the committee has investigated any impact on academic freedom by the university's web policies. The committee and ITAC representative John McClaren met with the university's web manager, Tony Powell on November 16. He shared his vision of the MSU Web site. The president would like to primarily use the web as a student recruitment tool. All top-level pages will be unified and controlled by the administration. He and the president will make decisions based on advertising, usability, and service. They also make aesthetic choices. Racernet pages are controlled at the department level. Consistency among the pages is encouraged. Personal pages should not be directly linked to a MSU official page.

The university is working constantly to eliminate problems. Some would require additional funds. This has been discussed in academic council. Chair Driskill invited anyone to come before the committee with questions or suggestions.

President Call noted that ITAC approved the policy document. Academic Council should be consulted for impact to academics.

Problems with the university's search engine were noted. Dr. Driskill will explore this with

Mr. Powell.

New business--President Call announced the appointment of Senator Dressler, music, as senate representative to the International Studies Advisory Committee. Senator Dressler reported that the committee would meet Thursday, January 25.

The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.