Minutes - September 8, 2010

Professional Affairs Committee
September 8, 2010

Present:  Althaus, Christensen, Lauder, Lee-DiStefano, McCollum, Olsen, Wang,

Chair Report :  Chair Althaus reported on recent occurrences regarding items within the Committee’s charge.  He reported that, as far as he knew, the College Level Professional Development Policy Bill, 10-A-06, was approved by the Board of Regents at its June meeting.  He reported hearing that the President declined to approve the Senate Bill containing the Committee-recommended revisions to the Handbook Tenure and Promotion Policy.  Apparently, his concerns were that the recommendations had not been circulated sufficiently before being approved by the Senate.  The Chair also explained what he knew about the creation and charge of the Ad Hoc Committee that will be working on reconciling the 2003 Board memo regarding Program Review and the existing, but partially contradictory sections of the Handbook about Program Approval and Program Discontinuance.  The Professional Affairs Committee draft proposal to bring about that reconciliation is supposed to inform the Ad Hoc Committee deliberations, and the Ad Hoc Committee recommendations are supposed to come before the Senate as well as other campus bodies.  The Chair asked members of the Professional Affairs Committee to discuss this matter with colleagues and forward suggestions and concerns to him.  In addition, he will share with Committee members information and e-mails regarding the work of the Ad Hoc Committee.

Compensation Committee Bill:   The Chair had forwarded to Committee members the Compensation Committee draft Bill regarding the calculation and reporting of faculty salary information by the Budget Review Committee.  Chair Sebby of the Compensation Committee was seeking the support of the Professional Affairs Committee because the Bill would revise a small portion of the Tenure and Promotion Policy.  During the late Fall of 2009, the Professional Affairs Committee had endorsed the bill, and it was approved by the Senate, but the President did not agree to the Bill.  He is generally supportive of the concept, but again, had some procedural concerns.  On a motion by Christensen, with a second by McCollum, the Committee again endorsed the Bill without opposition.

Emeritus:  By unanimous consent, the Committee agreed to recommend to the Senate that Emeritus status be conferred upon Dr. Bruce Hathaway, whose retirement was effective August 9th.

General Discussion:  The Committee discussed its goals and charge for the upcoming academic year.  As reported above, the Program Discontinuance issue has been given to the Ad Hoc Committee, but the Professional Affairs Committee will keep itself informed about the matter and provide input as appropriate.  The second Committee charge reported by Faculty Senate Chair Scott relates to maintaining departmental compliance with the Student Evaluation of Instruction Policy regarding promotion and tenure criteria.  Chair Althaus suggested that a discussion with the Provost on this matter might prove helpful.

During a Committee discussion of the nature of the professoriate and the rights and responsibilities of faculty, Prof. Olson noted that the outcome of the course design issue and the program review issue could have significant impact on the Southeast professoriate.

During a discussion of the current summer school policy, Chair Althaus reported his understanding that this year, the institution made a profit of about $2.5 million and that those funds went to general revenue.   He personally  feels that the financial risk of a low-enrolled summer class is being borne by the individual faculty member, but that the financial reward of the faculty member’s work does not go to that faculty member, his/her department, or even the College.

During a discussion of the Missouri Governor’s apparent interest in measuring academic programs by their number of graduates, Sen. Christensen noted that an academic department that recruits an incoming student would be disadvantaged by such a measure if that student eventually decides to declare a different major.  Several Committee members feared that the emphasis on graduates rather than credit hours would increase competition between departments, would create pressures to turn out graduates regardless of quality, and continues to increase emphasis on receiving a diploma rather than on a student’s learning experience.

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