Faculty Senate Meeting Today - USM Forum -- Message Board

Reporter · Status: Offline

Faculty Senate Meeting Today

Reporter · Status: Offline

From Faculty Senate Listserv:

BRIEF HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE JANUARY 19, 2007 MEETING OF THE USM FACULTY SENATE

A Resolution of Recognition and Remembrance for Dr. Elliott Pood. The Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution of recognition and remembrance for Dean Elliott Pood who passed away unexpectedly on January 17, 2007.
Faculty Senate/Academic Council Ad Hoc Committee on Advising. In response to a request from Provost Grimes, volunteers were sought to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee on Advising, presumably in collaboration with the Academic Council.
A Letter from the Chair of the School of Polymer Science and High Performance Materials. A letter from the chair of the School was distributed. In the letter, the chair addressed the issue of regularly scheduled class dislocations from the Polymer Science auditorium during fall semester due to conflicts with events scheduled by the School.
"Get Well Cards" to Senate Executive Officers. Senate Officers shared copies of the "get well cards" they received in response to their December 10, 2006 letter to the editor of the Hattiesburg American expressing concern about presidential compensation and retroactive raises.
The Most Recent Meeting of the Executive Officers with Dr. Thames. The Senate officers described the most recent meeting with Dr. Thames. Discussion included the positive images emanating from the GMAC Bowl weekend, Coast update, enrollments for spring 2007, spring challenges and opportunities, program duplication among universities, and email and on-line access. The meeting was cut short by the need of Dr. Thames to meet with the parents. Officers of the Senate mentioned the concerns from the December 2006 meeting about salary increases for some administrators, and that this discussion would likely continue. However, time ran out before this topic could be discussed more completely with Dr. Thames.
Transition Topics and Issues. The entire Senate discussed transition issues and topics for the spring semester. These topics included possible evaluations of the academic reorganization, input into the natural of the planning and budgeting process for spring semester 2007 (it was noted that the current CFO had declined an invitation to have a conversation on the budgeting process at the January 19, 2007 Senate meeting because he felt that such a discussion should follow his meeting with the "budget office ... to finalize the plan for the budget process" and that he then needed to meet "with the cabinet and the deans to present the plan."), continuation of respectful and meaningful conversation with the current administration, restoration of the Gulf Park campus, and transparency of the USM foundations.
Early Topics for a New Administration. The entire Senate discussed issues and topics that might make up an early conversation with a new president after she or he is selected. These topics included Faculty Senate input into the planning and budgeting process , interim officers for the university, national searches for officers of the university, restoration of the Gulf Park campus, the role of FAR, and possible reorganization of departments and colleges.
Technology. Concerns continued to be expressed about email and web access failures.
Elections. By far more than a two thirds vote, the Senate adopted new By-Laws that will result in just two rounds of elections except in cases of ties in the second round.
President's Council. Volunteers are still being sought for membership on the President's Council.
Faculty Handbook. Dr. David Beckett, chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee, and Dr. Myron Henry described actions dealing with Pre-tenure Review (Third-year review) and categories and processes for full time non-tenure track faculty. The Senate was comfortable with the new form for Pre-tenure Review from the Provost's Office, but encouraged the Provost to send a letter to deans indicating that the CAC must be involved in Pre-tenure Review evaluation even if some CACs merely endorse department recommendations. The Senate formally endorsed the document on categories and processes for full time non-tenure track faculty that was presented by Dr. Beckett. This document combined material from two previous documents dealing with this topic.
Selected Salary Increases. Members of the Senate discussed salary increases from the 2005-2006 budget book to the 2006-2007 budget book for selected administrative officers. Although no motions were passed, the discussion was sometimes animated.

Alias · Status: Offline

"added to the FS report"

And on yes....we believe wholeheartly that our commish will deliver us a savior. We need to do nothing to rock the boat.

alias says: It is not the time to stand by and readily accept what we are being told. MSU did not get the prez they expected in the search process they had. Can we expect USM will fare any better?

Take the New Hampshire motto and implement it...."Live Free or Die."

LVN · Status: Offline

Alias, you keep voicing your concerns on this issue. When you advise people to not stand idly by, I'm not sure what that means. What do you suggest be done, and by whom?

History · Status: Offline

It is not the time to stand by and readily accept what we are being told. MSU did not get the prez they expected in the search process they had. Can we expect USM will fare any better?

Several times the results of MSU presidentail search has had innuendo attached that implies a bad choice. However, when asked was the choice good or bad? the jury is out , or I'm not there so I don't know is the answer. Getting a president that you don't expect cannot compare to incomptence. Nowhere have I read or heard of the presidents' incompetence being true at MSU. I expect a choice for USM closely matching the personality, temperment and experience of the MSU selection.

Alias · Status: Offline

History wrote:
It is not the time to stand by and readily accept what we are being told. MSU did not get the prez they expected in the search process they had. Can we expect USM will fare any better?

Several times the results of MSU presidentail search has had innuendo attached that implies a bad choice. However, when asked was the choice good or bad? the jury is out , or I'm not there so I don't know is the answer. Getting a president that you don't expect cannot compare to incomptence. Nowhere have I read or heard of the presidents' incompetence being true at MSU. I expect a choice for USM closely matching the personality, temperment and experience of the MSU selection.

I did not say that MSU got an incompetent president. My point was that someone was cherry picked for the job and that input from the faculty was not considered. As you may remember, faculty input was not a factor in 2002 when the Board gave USM its current president.

Have times changed since 2002? I certainly hope so. A new process has been implemented. So, we sit, we wait, and take what we get.

stephen judd · Status: Offline

I'm on the way to class so can't do a lengthly comment here. I'm not sure we know to what degree the faculty were considered in the MSU search any more than any of the other constituents (also, to their fury -- think athletics alums --) were locked out.

On the other hand, our search is vastly different. We have, I believe, 9 people on the SAB from the faculty, all of whom were agreed upon jointly by the faculty senate and the deans. I think if you look at those names, it should be fairy clear that the faculty will have put in the sense that most of these folks are close to the pulse of faculty opinion both boadly and in their colleges.

This search is very unlike the MSU search in that sense.

Curmudgeon · Status: Offline

The situations at MSU and USM strike me as quite different. MSU was a healthy university with experienced deans and administrators. USM is much less healthy, and the commissioner and the IHL know that. There are rookie deans who are not well thought of by substantial proportions of their faculties. Faculty attrition has been dramatic. Many of the top administrators are held in low esteem, and a few are regarded as self serving incompetents. Enrollment in Hattiesburg has been drifting downward.

In the case of MSU a good manager was needed. His lack of experience in higher education was not a deal breaker because the university was sound. Given the raft of problems at USM, experience in higher education will be essential for the next president. The search committee faculty representatives fully understand that.