EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
Present: Bender, Bryant, Fuller, Humes, Jackson, Latta, Miller, Prochaska-Cue, Scheideler, Siekman, Zorn
Absent: Swoboda, Whitt
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2001
Location: 201 Canfield Administration Building
1.0 Call to Order
Scheideler called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm.
2.0 Announcements
2.1 ASUN Meeting
Scheideler reported that she contacted ASUN about attending one of their meetings to speak on the new grading systems implementation; they have yet to reply to her. She stated that she would contact them again to see if she could be placed on their next agenda.
2.2 Board of Regents Meeting
Scheideler announced that the Board of Regent would be meeting on March 2 and 3rd. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that UNL would be making a presentation on the undergraduate student recruitment plan. He noted that one of the plans objectives is to increase student enrollment to 25,000 students by 2006. He noted that the plan proposes a modest increase in recruitment of Nebraska high school students and aggressive recruiting for out-of-state students. He pointed out that the plan also calls for an increase in instructional costs associated with increased student numbers; he noted that new students would likely be most interested in currently popular majors, not necessarily those that are undersubscribed. Miller asked whether out-of-state tuition waivers would be granted to newly recruited students. Interim Chancellor Perlman noted that some students might receive full or partial out-of-state waivers. He noted that Regent Schroeder is working on a bill called the Legacy Scholarship that would give discounts to students who are alumni of the university. Zorn point out that the out-of-state tuition rate is too low. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that President Smith is planning on presenting a descriptive discussion on tuition rates at both the Board of Regents meeting and to the Academic Senate.
3.0 Interim Chancellor Perlman
3.1 Issues on the Horizon
Interim Chancellor Perlman reported that the Dean of Fine & Performing Arts position has been filled. He noted that they hope to name the new Dean of the Law College shortly. He stated that they have completed interviews with the candidates for the Vice Chancellor of Research and are actively considering the candidates.
Interim Chancellor Perlman reported that the Distance Education Report was discussed at the Presidents Advisory Committee. He noted that while UNL was not pleased with the report, the other three campuses were supportive. He stated that President Smith indicated that he does not want Central Administration to run the distance education program. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that he has been allowed to redraft the report in an effort to clarify the language. Latta stated that she was informed that the report implies that some reallocation would need to take place in order to implement the distance education plan. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that this is correct but it is not known how much of a reallocation would be needed.
Scheideler noted that a new revised draft of the Intellectual Property Policy is now available. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that this latest draft (January 2001) has some of the revisions that he suggested but that one section was eliminated and one section redrafted; he indicated he was concerned with both changes. He reported that he would be meeting with Donal Burns, Associate Executive Vice President and Provost, and Dick Wood, General Counsel to discuss the latest revision. He stated that the documents purpose is to clarify and categorize the ownership of intellectual efforts/works produced by its faculty and staff. He stated that the document recognizes the universitys financial involvement in certain research and scholarly activities. He stated that he would report back to the Executive Committee after his meeting with Burns and Wood.
Latta stated that she had concerns regarding the scholarships in the athletic department that were removed for budgetary reasons and not academic reasons. She pointed out that the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee stated that they had reviewed the situation and noted that the university was in compliance with NCAA requirements. She had concerns that students brought to campus on an athletic scholarship may not realize that their scholarship could be removed for budgetary reasons. Interim Chancellor Perlman pointed out that the situation has been taken care of for this year. He noted that UNL gives their cheerleaders more funding than any other campus, even after the budget cuts were made. He pointed out that the cheerleaders must try out for the team every year and that their scholarship and financial package is determined on whether they make the team. Latta questioned whether these students are aware that these scholarships were non-academic scholarships. Interim Chancellor Perlman stated that they are aware of this, the requirement that they must make their team(s), and that the scholarships are given on a yearly basis.
4.0 Approval of 2/21/01 Minutes
Miller moved and Humes seconded approval of the minutes as amended. Motion approved.
5.0 Unfinished Business
5.1 Faculty Roles Initiative (Latta)
Latta reported that the Faculty Roles Initiative conducted focus groups to explore issues of concerns for faculty. She stated that clear themes emerged from these focus groups. She noted they are now trying to determine whether a survey is the best instrument to gather information from the faculty as a whole, or whether they should conduct grassroots discussions. She reported that the goals of a survey would be to: a) clarify the issues affecting faculty vitality and quality of work life at UNL, b) identify the strategies for improving work environments to which faculty are receptive, c) shape a shared vision of the future of academic life at UNL, and d) focus primarily upon issues and strategies we can reasonably expect to do something about. Latta noted that faculty roles are changing both due to internal and external forces. The committee discussed various issues that should be considered in this study. Some of the concerns/topics discussed included whether the rank of a faculty member determines the work load he/she will have, what the enduring values of faculty work are and what is important to preserve, the impact technology is having on faculty work load, faculty stress levels, the impact of a faculty members work space/area, and the degree to which faculty members can impact changes in the promotion/tenure evaluation process. The committee agreed that faculty would need to have an incentive to participate in the study. Latta thanked the committee for their input and stated that she will provide them with an updated report at a later date.
6.0 New Business
No new business was discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:11 pm. The next meeting of the Executive Committee will be held on Wednesday, March 7th at 3:00 pm, in the Academic Senate Office, 420 University Terrace. Respectfully submitted, David S. Jackson, Secretary.
