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Home > Faculty Senate > Meeting Documentation > Faculty Senate Minutes > October 15, 1998

October 15, 1998

Chairman	Vice Chairman	Executive Secretary	Parliamentarian
President H. C. Bailey	Vice-Pres. L. Benjamin	Dr. David Boyd	Dr. Robert Hull

Minutes of October 15, 1998 Faculty Senate Meeting
(NO-ATTACHMENT VERSION)*

The Valdosta State University Faculty Senate meeting convened at 3:30 p.m. in Powell Hall Auditorium. Members present were: President and Chair - Hugh C. Bailey; Vice President, Academic Affairs - L. Benjamin ; Executive Secretary - D. Boyd; Parliamentarian - R. Hull ; Ex-officio Senators - J. Brignati, K. Ferrell (absent) , L. Milbrandt, T. Dasher, K. Stanley (proxy W. Moore) ,F.D. Toth (absent) , M.A. Reichenbach , E. Clark , G. Gaumond (proxy S.Crawford), P. Cleveland ; College of the Arts: V. Pennington, C. Edwards, M. Harbin, T.Harding, D. Farwell, J. Wheeler ; College of Arts and Sciences; S. Goel, J. Hiers, D. Bogyo, S. Childs , B. Derrick, L. Hanes, M. Hardin, A. Lazari , B. Bergstrom, D. Boyd, B. Brown, J. Elza, B. Evans , T. Meyers, V. Soady , B. Adler, H. Harper(absent), S. Seyfarth; College of Business Administration: A. Reddy (proxy F. Ware) , H. Ray (absent) , F. Ware, M. Holland (absent) ; College of Education: C. Backes, J. D. Thomerson, R. McClung (proxy C. Backes) , M. Garber , B. Gerber, J. Hummel (absent) , P. Anderson, S. Andrews (proxy M. Garber), J. Dorminey, T. Root-Sirmans (proxy K. Wells) , A. Gibbs (absent) , E. Gillis, K. Wells, R. Hull, M. Venn (proxy R. Hull) ; College of Nursing: D. Ebron, D. Roush (proxy D. Ebron) ; Division of Social Work: R. Vodde ; Division of Learning Support :J. Wilkinson (absent) ; Odum Library: S. Crawford; Pres. Of SGA: J. Golden (absent)

1. B. Bergstrom introduced Tip Hon , Regional Supervisor, Department of Natural Resources who spoke in regards to the Georgia Heritage Fund which will be placed on the November 3, 1998 ballot for Georgia voters. The Senate viewed a video explaining the fund which supports the preservation of historic and natural resources in Georgia through a real estate transfer tax.

2. The meeting was called to order by President Bailey and proxies were identified by D. Boyd.

3. The minutes of the Sept. 17, 1998 Faculty Senate meeting were approved with corrections to the Interim Policy and Procedures on Scholarly Misconduct suggested by B. Derrick, R. McClung, R. Hull, and F. Smith. (The approved corrections to the Interim Policy and Procedures on Scholarly Misconduct are furnished herein as Attachment #1.)

4. Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

5. New Business

a. Report of Academic Committee - L. Benjamin postponed the approval of the minutes of the August 24, 1998 meeting of the Academic Committee until the November 19, 1998 meeting of the Faculty Senate.

b. Report of Committee on Committees - S. Crawford reported on the September 21, 1998 meeting of the Committee on Committees and presented the Faculty Senate Apportionment Calculations for 1999-2000. S. Crawford indicated that the Revision Committee's recommendations may change the Senate Seat Allocation Formula may change due to the fact that in order to retain the required 48 seat limit, the Library's seat allocation is being rounded down rather than up. S. Crawford also reported that Dr. Deborah Robinson was elected the Chair of the Technology Issues Committee. She encouraged members of the Senate to submit committee meeting dates and times to her for posting on the web pages. ( The Senate Seat Allocation Formula is furnished herein as Attachment #2.)

c. Report of Institutional Planning Committee - V. Pennington reported that the Sub-Committees of the Institutional Planning Committee continue to meet weekly concerning revisions to the Goldsman Action Plan Process. Their next meeting will be held October 21, 1998 and they will furnish a report at the November 19, 1998 meeting of the Senate.

Dr. Bailey reminded the Senate at this time of the reception for former academic Dean Durrenberger October 21, 1998 at 4:00 pm at the reception center of the University Center.

d. Report of Faculty Affairs Committee - B. Brown made a motion to accept the Recommendations on Summer Pay from Faculty Affairs. The motion was opened for discussion and J. Brignati stated he felt this recommendation was somewhat discriminatory in that it only helped one class of employees at Valdosta State. He would not hold complete opposition to the recommendation if a statement was added that if a faculty member worked 75% of the summers they were eligible to work, then they were eligible to increase their pension. However, J. Brignati felt that not working summers until the last three years before retirement and then doing so to increase one's pension is morally wrong. He suggested adding a statement to the recommendation that required faculty members to have worked summers prior to those preceding their retirement. J. Brignati questioned the opportunity for some employees to increase their pensions while others would be unable to do so.

B. Brown responded that this practice had been implemented on campus for at least a decade and the committee did not institute a new policy on summer pay but instead articulated the existing policy.

J. Brignati stated that although this policy had been used in previous years, it may not be the correct policy, and to make it correct the statement requiring previous years of summer instruction should be added. He stated he felt the recommendation as it stood would be a misuse of funds and an incorrect method of raising salaries when faculty members had not contributed in previous summers.

L. Milbrandt responded that many senior faculty members near retirement had set aside their summer employment for younger faculty members in order to teach summers just prior to retirement, and this was highly appropriate behavior on their part.

B. Derrick responded that faculty members are not hired on twelve month contracts and are therefore not paid three months of the year, nor are they guaranteed a salary during that time. She indicated that at many times in her department there have not been opportunities to teach during the summers. She stated that the Senate was dealing with a different situation for teaching faculty on nine month contracts than anyone else employed at the University. She concluded her statement by reiterating that this was not unfair treatment of faculty.

J. Elza stated that summer pay was one of the few benefits faculty members received for working at the University, considering the fact the Regents offered rather meager wages and the pay decrease required for sick leave.

F. Smith state that faculty members may only teach six hours but they are actually working full time.

L. Milbrandt asked if the proposed policy precluded a department head from hiring a part-time instructor if after exhausting most of the budget in hiring full- time faculty members there was not enough remaining in the budget to hire more full-time faculty members.

Dr. Bailey requested at this point that it be understood that this recommendation from the Faculty Senate is not University policy. He pointed out that "where feasible, retiring faculty" (part 3 of Proposed Recommendations) would mean if funds were available. He reminded senators that he would like to pay faculty as much as possible but students need to be educated. L. Milbrandt questioned if this policy would cover Maymester as well. B. Brown stated that the intent of the committee was that "Summer term" included all academic terms falling outside of the Fall and Spring terms.

J. Brignati reiterated that although he is not opposed to summer pay for faculty members he believes a statement should be added which prevents faculty from building up pension the last three years prior to retirement if they have been offered summer teaching positions previously and have not taken them.

B. Derrick stated that many faculty members taught summers for extra pay when the opportunity was there. Other faculty who choose not to teach during the summer may use that time to do research, travel, or other job-related activities. Because faculty members chose not to teach summers does not mean they are not working on things the University expects them to do with no pay.

J. Elza clarified the statement that if the recommendation was passed by the Senate, it would become a policy of the University and could be vetoed by Dr. Bailey within thirty days. Dr. Bailey stated that he would have to find out what other schools were doing in the University System concerning this matter. He reminded the Senate that the University had a $400,000 deficit this past summer due to that the cut back on student hours. He stated he wanted to pay the faculty as much as possible, but the University could run into a crisis.

Dr. Bailey questioned why the Proposed Recommendations were so labeled. J. Elza stated that when the Senate adopts anything that is proposed to it, it becomes policy. Dr. Bailey reminded the Senate that they do not adopt the salaries for the faculty. The Senate was also reminded by J. Elza that according to the Statutes of the Faculty Senate, the Senate is "a legislative body for Valdosta State and that it adopts policies relating to the educational environment." Dr. Bailey stated that funds that are not available cannot be allocated. J. Elza reminded the Senate that this policy had been in place at Valdosta State for the last twenty four years and this approval would formalize the policy. Dr. Bailey referred again to the policy of guaranteeing three summers of teaching when feasible and stated if the funds were not available, this was not feasible. He restated his concern that faculty members would think that the three summers of teaching were guaranteed to them in the wording of the recommendation because t the Senate had passed it.

C. Backus moved to divide the recommendation due to the fact that parts of the recommendation could be approved at this meeting and others could be remanded. This motion was seconded by P. Anderson. The motion to divide the recommendation failed by a vote of 17-21. The motion to accept the proposed Recommendation on Summer Pay carried. (The approved Recommendation on Summer Pay is furnished herein as Attachment #3.)

e. Report on Grievance Committee - B. Derrick stated there was no report at this time.

f. Report of Executive Secretary

1. D. Boyd referred to the Educational Policies Committee the request that the Faculty Workload policy be revisited, and to check to see if it is currently being followed, and to study the reasons it is not being followed if that is the case.

2. D. Boyd reported that a request for policies regarding electronic classroom development had been remanded to the Educational Policies Committee.

3. T. Meyers from the Academic Scheduling Committee was called upon to report on the Summer schedule for 1999. She reported that she, L. Benjamin, L. Levy, G. Wright, and W. Peacock met to discuss the Maymester and Summer schedules. At this meeting L. Benjamin proposed that the Committee look over the recommendations for adjustments to the schedule. (Furnished herein as Attachment #4). The Academic Scheduling Committee met October 13, 1998 and decided to put forth these changes to the Faculty Senate. For the Maymester term, two days were added to the schedule in order to comply with SACS requirements of fifteen days per term or five days per credit hour per term. Concerning the full term, the starting date was changed to June 10th. This was done upon a recommendation from F.D. Toth because many teachers would be unable to attend the Summer session at Valdosta State because of the early starting date as most schools in this area do not end their school year until after June 1. The committee also requested the option of having classes Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than Monday -Thursday. As a result of these changes, the July 5th holiday would be lost due to registration being held that day. M. Garber reported that another reason for moving the later date of classes was W. Peacock's concern over senior high school students not being able to attend classes at VSU due to the early starting date of the first summer term. P. Anderson moved to strike the statement "& classes begin" beside registration June 11 under the Proposed Full Term Summer Session 1999. She suggested this in order to end confusion for students as to when classes would begin and registration would be held. After this discussion a vote was taken and the motion carried.

4. Report from Council on Staff Affairs - Holly Decker, chair of COSA reported that the council wished to develop a retiree walkway on the VSU campus to recognize retirees. Ms. Decker asked for input and participation from the Faculty Senate with this project. She stated that tentatively the funding would be coming from COSA conference funds, fundraising and retiree family donations. J. Elza recommended that the Beautification Committee meet with the Council on Staff Affairs concerning the retiree walkway. The motion carried.

D. Marks questioned why the list of retirees had not been included in the most recent Bulletin after being included in previous years. Dr. Bailey reported that he agreed the retirees should be included in the Bulletin, but that it would not be printed again for another two years.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:45pm.