The Faculty Senate of Murray State University met in regular session on Tuesday, March 7, 2000, in the Barkley Room of the Curris Center. Twenty-seven senators were in attendance. Dr. Tracey Bernard was proxy for Senator Begley, occupational safety & health, and Dr. Gary Jones as Senator At-large. Absent were Senators Beasley, history, Gutwirth, art, Muscio, chemistry, Wall, journalism and mass communication, and Watts, special education. Regent Rudolph was absent, as was Senator At-large Landini. President Call introduced Dr. Renae Duncan as the new senator from psychology and announced Dr. William Schell’s resignation from the senate due to health concerns. The senate confirmed the appointment of Dr. Wayne Bell as senator at-large.

The minutes of February 1, 2000, were approved as written.

Board of Regents—Regent Rudolph was out of town but left a written report read by President Call. The Board met on February 11. The Board approved the hiring of the new football coach and received a report on the capital campaign. In-state tuition rates were extended to five counties in Tennessee.

The minutes of the January 27 meeting of the Faculty & Staff Affairs Committee were passed out and approved without discussion at the meeting. Three issues were included in the report as reported at the last senate meeting: evaluations, a definition of shared governance, and the role of the Faculty Handbook.

Academic Policies—Chair Janice Morgan reported that the committee had supported an interactive presentation by Senator Brewer of the University Libraries and ACTS of on-demand resources of the Library. The Provost’s Office is sponsoring 35 faculty to a teaching and learning symposium and an interdisciplinary program on the value of the humanities in April. The Provost’s Office is also providing on going money to provide web technology assistance to faculty through interns.

The senate unanimously approved a committee resolution recommending a faculty senate representative and a representative from the Academic Council’s Library and Support Committee to ITAC and an ITAC representative to the Library and Support Committee.

Bob Pilgrim is working on a summary of the committee’s survey on KVU courses.

Finance—Newly elected chair, Dr. Bob Pervine, announced that Dr. Brockway would attend the next meeting of the committee on March 21 to discuss budgeting within the reorganization process.

Governmental Affairs—Chair Wattier reported that COSFL will meet on March 11 and asked for feedback from handbook & personnel on the position paper on faculty participation in shared governance. Budget and program review information from the CPE will also be discussed. A CPE representative will be on campus soon to discuss alternatives for various programs. Dr. Brockway discussed various scenarios with the executive committee last week. Vice President

Elwell reported that he had received a notice just this afternoon that faculty can meet with the CPE representative this Friday after 1:30 in the Board Room. He will forward this information to senators.

Chair Wattier noted that the move to optional retirement plans for all faculty has been stopped. Senator Jackson reports that KTRS issued estimates of budget implications.

Chair Wattier also noted a report of possible increased appropriations tied to incentive funds. He also noted questions from colleagues at the other institutions in reference to the practice of evaluating administrators.

Handbook & Personnel—Chair Elwell reported that his committee did not have a quorum at its February meeting; therefore actions are advisory only. Revisions to the Handbook will be presented to the Board in May. The Provost’s Office has developed a routing form for handbook amendments and is researching board minutes in distinguishing policy from administrative procedures. They used the senate’s on-line version as the most up-to-date information available.

A salary policy developed by handbook & personnel was taken to the executive committee for endorsement but was referred back to the committee for further review. At the executive meeting Regent Rudolph shared board guidelines for salary distribution this year, which included a charge to change handbook language. The Provost now has a link to the Handbook on his homepage.

Rules, Elections, & Bylaws—Vice Chair Powell reported that the committee had met three times since the last senate meeting to deal with the issue of reconfigured departments in terms of representation on the senate and standing committees.

At its regular meeting the committee determined that email is not a viable way to conduct committee meetings and recommends no changes to current rules of senate committee meetings. The committee also voted to recommend that all administrators, including interims, be evaluated in the spring 2000 using the instrument that has been used in the past. Data from four of the existing questions would be released to departments. Senator Culpepper, university libraries, noted some confusion among library faculty on exactly who they evaluate. The senate unanimously supported the refined procedure.

The senate unanimously accepted the committee’s recommendation that, for this year only, elections of collegiate representation to the following university standing committees and at-large representation to the University Judicial Board be held in the fall 2000. The committee accepted a friendly amendment to request individuals currently serving on these committees continue until fall elections take place.

The senate also unanimously voted that election of faculty senators is conducted as planned in the spring using existing academic departments. Reconfigured departments may choose to re-elect in the fall.

Dr. Powell noted a timeline for the administrative assessments. A call for nominations for at-large senate representatives was distributed.

Insurance & Benefits—Senator Jacobs reported that the committee met on February 25. Judy Brookhiser discussed wellness services and will encourage supportive arrangements during work hours.

The senate unanimously endorsed a unanimous recommendation of the committee that urges the university to increase its annual contribution to healthcare costs at a rate at least equal to the annual increase in state appropriations. The Faculty Senate has voiced concerns with the $3.2 million freeze on the university’s contribution for several years. This endorsement will be forwarded to Vice President Denton.

Undergraduate Studies—Senator Jay Morgan reported that the committee is reviewing proposed changes to the academic probation policy.

Executive—President Call reported no action on the post tenure review proposal and that the laptop campus committee has not met since January, but discussion continues.

Dr. Brockway has worked with the executive committee on a salary policy and has kept them apprised on program reviews. The President’s Cabinet is scheduled to meet March 9; other meetings have not been possible due to Dr. Alexander being in Frankfort.

President Call reported problems with the proposal for a nine-month faculty employment contract. Presentations have been favorably received by faculty, the administration, and board, but costly implementation by accounting has been noted.

President Call reported that the search committee for provost met on Saturday, March 4. Members of the senate include Janice Morgan and President Call representing the senate and Betty Powell, Oliver Muscio, and Janet Brewer. The committee has been charged to rank three applicants to the president. The committee intends to complete an interview process before the end of this semester. The committee meets again April 3 and is currently reviewing 58 application folders.

President Call also reported that there have been no meetings on shared governance with the administration as directed by the Board. Neither has there been a meeting to resolve the evaluation issue, also, as directed by the Board.

President Call asked for nominations to replace Dr. Schell as senate representative to Academic Council and noted that the April 4 senate meeting will be in the Freed Curd Auditorium of the I & T Building. The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.