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Faculty Senate
Idaho State University
921 S. 8th Ave.
Stop 8070
Pocatello, ID 83209
(208) 282-4956
fsenate@isu.edu

November 19, 2009

Greetings, Colleagues!
This past Monday, the Faculty Senate Advisory Council met and discussed several items of importance to the faculty. First was an update from the Research Council on how that Council and its sub-committees will operate this year while processes become clarified (please see http://www.isu.edu/fsen/Senate_Action_Items.shtml for details).

Next, Vice President Fletcher shared the welcome news that you read about in a letter from Provost Olson and me earlier today. In short President Vailas has authorized a) a mini-budget cycle to take place between now and the end of January 2010; b) the timeline for the restructuring task forces to complete their work will be extended through January, 2010; and c) no notifications will be sent out to tenure-track faculty in December, 2009. This is all good news.

Third, we discussed the membership of Senate Councils and committees, and how we need to improve the process of communicating openings to faculty—especially those who are interested in adding university level service to their portfolios. We also discussed a desire to standardize the mechanism by which we select and appoint faculty to the various types of committees. Finally, it was noted that we are not yet at full strength on all Councils and committees. In some cases we need Senators to serve on a Council, and in more cases there are openings for faculty. This is a tough time to carve out time for additional service, but I will soon send out a note with all the openings I know about, and if one sparks an interest, please notify your Senator or the Senate Office (fsenate@isu.edu).

Separate from the Advisory Council meeting is a new draft from the SBOE regarding the proposed amendments to policy regarding times of “financial challenge.” The draft arrived today and is available on the Senate website http://www.isu.edu/fsen/Senate_Action_Items.shtml. The document is long, and the wording changes start on the first page, which is page 3 in the document. Other changes are on pages 4, 7, 13, 23-35, and 29-30 (bottom right corner). It appears that the parameters advocated by the ISU Faculty Senate and administration will have to be worked out at the institutional level; please see 2d on page 3. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Provost Olson sent an update yesterday to faculty regarding the task forces on restructuring. He encouraged everyone to become involved in the process, and faculty and staff are indeed becoming involved. I have received a flurry of communications containing various views, and one very positive view is that faculty from across the unversity are engaged in earnest discussion. I am also pleased that individual groups of faculty are submitting ideas for cost savings. I read a proposal from a group of Arts & Sciences faculty who are putting actual numbers to their ideas. I am confident that faculty and staff have valuable ideas that can contribute to and result in a healthier ISU.

Faculty should also be thinking about methods to influence our governor and legislators in the upcoming months to protect the funding of higher education in Idaho. A good old fashioned letter writing campaign can be effective—we have done this before with some measure of positive results. My Senate chair counterparts from around the state plan to meet with legislators in Boise during the January higher education week. I am suggesting we also set up a meeting with the governor, as has been done in the past. Other ideas and activities are welcome.

That is all for today. I hope everyone enjoys a very pleasant and safe holiday next week!

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

Good morning, Colleagues:

Two weeks ago, Faculty Senate passed a resolution calling for the president to concur with the findings of the grievance appeals board in the case of Dr. Habib Sadid. Last week, Senate held a special meeting to discuss the ramifications of that resolution, and a motion was made to rescind the resolution of the prior week. After discussion, that motion was tabled. At yesterday's Senate meeting, I included a statement about the resolution in my announcements. After concluding all of its regular business and a discussion on the budget and on integrating the restructuring task forces into faculty governance, Senate voted not to take the motion from the table. A reporter was present during the meeting. You may have read a story in this morning's Idaho State Journal as a result. Portions of my statement were quoted. I will share the entire statement with you below so you can read it in context.

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

Senators:

After hearing from a few Senators earlier today regarding the resolution tabled at last week’s Senate meeting, I decided I ought to prepare a few remarks on it for today’s meeting. The resolution is tabled and may be taken from the table during this or a subsequent meeting this semester. My preference is to let it remain on the table for now in order to allow media attention to die down. I have been asked by a news reporter to share my personal view, and I have been reluctant to do so, because I do not think it would be appropriate--I could not truly represent the view of the faculty, yet as chair of Senate, anything I say can be viewed as representing the faculty. And this issue is divisive—I have been contacted by many faculty whose views are on both sides of the issue, including past Senate chairs and emeriti faculty. Thus my view cannot represent faculty at large.

Yet I do have a personal view. When I received a draft of the proposed resolution, I replied that “it is not proper for the Senate to pass a resolution such as this.” I stated the same at the start of the discussion on the resolution. My reasons were not the same as some we have been debating since that time, but the question that now rises to the top for me is whether the Senate ought to weigh in on personnel issues, and my belief is that we ought not to do so. In response to an inquiry by President Vailas, I wrote that “the Senate considered this to be an important issue and a pivotal decision regarding a faculty member and what is perceived as a threat to academic freedom and tenure.” I believe the Senate wanted to show support for the grievance process. That process concluded with a decision to dismiss Dr. Sadid. Whether the Senate or individual faculty agree with the decision or not, it did conclude the process. Subsequent media attention has seemed to me to turn the original Senate concern into a question of being for or against Dr. Sadid personally.

I believe we have many important and pressing issues facing this institution—restructuring, a budget crisis, policy development, a changing campus culture, and more—all added to our regular full-time work of teaching, scholarship, and service. We are in a unique position now for faculty governance to impact the future of this university significantly, and we need to make positive change become the focus of our energies.

 

October 27, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

Today’s letter will be much shorter than the prior one. The Senate approved the posting of the Special Budget Consultation Committee Recommendations from last spring. The SBCC Recommendations were released to the Budget Council, which forwarded them to the Senate. Senate has worked with our administration to remove any sensitive and personally identifiable information from the list. Those recommendations are already posted to the Budget Council’s website (http://isu.edu/fsen/budgetcouncil/GeneralInformation.shtml), which is password protected.

Many faculty have asked if the results of the Senate’s straw poll will be available soon, and the answer is yes—at least the quantitative results. There were many comments, which we have not finished compiling and sorting into categories to maintain anonymity. You may have read an article in this morning’s Idaho State Journal about the straw poll, and despite some inaccuracies in the story, it is accurate that the results were not released to the Journal. The senate approved a motion stating: “The Faculty Senate considers the Straw Poll to serve as a tool to assist with internal policy formulation and does not authorize data to be released outside the institution.” There is a little reformatting to finish before the results can be posted, and I am working on that. The results will appear soon on the Budget Council website listed above, because it is password-protected (simply use your regular ISU login and password). We will find a better place for such items in the future, but will utilize it for now.

Unfortunately, Senate was unable to address two other important agenda topics at yesterday’s meeting—the SBOE amendments proposal and the draft P&T policy. I have recently received additional comments on the P&T policy from Senators and from faculty, and remain hopeful that we can make progress on this at the next meeting.

Announcements:
1) ASISU is interested in subscribing to www.koofers.com which is an online service (apparently founded at Virginia Tech and subscribed to by the U of Idaho and other universities), for students to share information about instructors and courses at their institution. If faculty have comments, you may contact the ASISU president, Ross Knight, at knigherb@isu.edu.
2) A new MAPP will soon undergo review: the Code of Conduct/Ethics policy, which basically codifies in one place and amplifies existing policy statements touching on this subject, and currently scattered in many places. The Technical Working Group will consist of six members: two faculty, two staff, and two students, plus advisory support from HR and General Counsel. I asked Senators to recommend faculty to serve on the TWG, with an idea to include at least one member who works professionally in the area of ethics. I have received a couple of names already, and I plan to contact those faculty. Others who may be interested, please contact me at senatechair@isu.edu.

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

October 20, 2009

Good Afternoon, Colleagues:

This will be a lengthy message--there are a couple of important topics today plus announcements.

First, last Wednesday evening and Thursday noon, the four Senate chairs met in Lewiston during the SBOE meeting. We mostly discussed the proposed amendments to SBOE policy – Sections II.B.2., II.F.2., II.G.2., II.N. (see http://www.isu.edu/fsen/currentissues.shtml). As you know, the SBOE pulled the proposal from the agenda after all four Senates raised concerns. The four chairs believe that the SBOE is open to receiving a new draft from us (working with general counsel) that includes language faculty can accept, and that the Board plans to include the first reading of the original proposal or a revised proposal on the next meeting's agenda (December 10). The four chairs are not unanimous in a belief that we ought to endorse a revised proposal--each of us is discussing this point with our respective Senates. The outcome of those discussions will determine how we proceed.

The issue is this: faculty across the state can oppose the policies altogether and request that the SBOE not make any changes to those policies. We chairs believe that the SBOE is in favor of amending the current policies in some fashion, and could pass the original one absent a revised proposal. If faculty across the state want an improved proposal, we have the opportunity to submit one. My view is that we should submit a unified revision from all four institutions. Because not everyone agrees with this view, it is important to voice yours to your Senators, so they will be guided in their votes next Monday. Last Monday, the ISU Senate drafted a response that includes some of the points the Senate chairs discussed for a revised proposal. Here is the ISU Senate response:

The Idaho State University Faculty Senate expresses opposition to all proposed changes to Idaho State Board of Education Human Resource Policies II.B. II.G., and II.N. Senators expressed the following concerns with the proposed changes:

1) With the ability to alter faculty contracts mid-year, the ability to recruit and retain highly qualified faculty is impaired. This impacts students. Contracts are agreements between the Board and faculty members that assure protection for students who rely on classes and services, on an annual basis, determined in advance, to allow them to complete their higher education requirements.

2) This same ability to alter contracts diminishes the meaning and utility of tenure, which as a protection of academic freedom, is a safeguard for students who rely on their faculty to be free to pursue their research, teaching, and service, based on their expertise and profession-based authority.

3) Outside funding may be at risk as research grants and contracts depend upon a stable faculty to carry out the terms of the research grants and contracts.

4) The grievance process under the proposed changes is unclear regarding when an individual has the right to grieve changes in her or his contract and other substantial changes that affect the faculty member.

5) Parameters need to be developed to set limitations on the CEO’s special authority, including definitions of when financial challenges justify the special authority to be invoked and the duration of that special authority. When the financial challenges are over and institutions resume their normal budgeting processes, special authority should cease.

Two additional ideas the chairs discussed in Lewiston are to include language that adds a recovery plan (when funding becomes available, reinstate salary reductions, etc.) and that stipulates each institution's faculty and administration develop its own mutually agreed-upon policy on how the emergency measures may be utilized during the defined "financial challenges" (quoted phrase borrowed from the SBOE language).

The Senate chairs also discussed two topics that are of interest to all of us. I brought up the tuition fee waivers for faculty families (again, staff are likely to be interested as well, but the Senates do not represent them--we are certainly willing to collaborate with staff), and advocated that we develop a statewide proposal that allows the waivers to be valid at any of our state instituions. The other chairs all agreed this is a timely topic to pursue.

The second item of interest was brought up by the U of I chair and regards the state contribution to PERSI that equals around 1.5% of salary of non-PERSI faculty and staff members. This is a somewhat little-known and confusing situation with history going back to 1990. The main point is that the legislature has the ability to reduce the contribution and redirect it to ORP faculty and staff retirement accounts. This could be a tough sell, but one that we should explore. If any faculty are interested in working on either of these two issues, please let your Senator know, and we can begin to coordinate our efforts across the state. ISU Senator Dennis Krumwiede (Business) has already expressed interest in working on the tuition waivers for families. I will work on both of them, too.


The second topic of importance is the draft Promotion & Tenure policy (see http://www.isu.edu/fsen/currentissues.shtml). Faculty Senate needs to finalize our draft and send it to Provost Olson. I have received one further comment on it that points out a redundancy in part C - quinquennial review section: combine sub-sections d and g. If you have further comments or suggestions, please send them to your Senator or fsenate@isu.edu right away, so we may finish this policy draft.

Announcements of upcoming dates:

1) Dr. Nicholas F. Gier will be at ISU on Thursday, October 22, 2009 to address the faculty and public on “The Crisis in Idaho Higher Education.” His address will be delivered at 7:30 p.m. in the Canoe Room (or Quad Lodge) of the Pond Student Union. Dr. Gier is the President, Higher Education Council, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Idaho and has been active in the Idaho Federation of Teachers since 1973. Dr. Gier’s visit is co-sponsored by the ISU Faculty Senate and the Idaho Federation of Teachers.

2) Provost Olson's first Town Hall Forum for faculty will be held next Tuesday, Oct. 27th from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Wood River Room of the Pond Student Union, Meridian Rm 502, and CHE 208.

3) Two NWCCU visitors will be on campus November 5th and 6th. The interim report is posted on the Academic Affairs website (http://www.isu.edu/acadaff/InterimAccreditation/).

4) Coming soon will be some mock registrations by students for the Banner registration module. There is a need for a few faculty from each college to participate in the mock registrations, and a bit of training on the system will be necessary beforehand. You should be getting more information about this from your colleges soon, as the Banner implementation team will need the names of volunteers by November 16th.

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

October 14, 2009

Good morning, Colleagues:

I am getting ready to head to Lewiston for the SBOE meeting, and I want to give you a quick update before I leave. News came from the SBOE office yesterday that "Items pulled from the agenda include: Tab 2 on the Business & Human Resource, HR Committee; Proposed Amendments to Board Policy – Sections II.B.2., II.F.2., II.G.2., II.N., 1st Reading." This is the set of policy changes that I wrote about last Friday. My counterparts at BSU, LCSC, and U of I held a phone conference with me Friday afternoon to discuss the proposal and our respective approaches. You saw the resolution from LCSC already. The ISU Senate met Monday and worked on our response, but it is not needed at this point. I am unsure how this will proceed now, but there is some talk among the senate chairs that we may be invited to assist with a future draft of the proposal. I will of course keep you informed.

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

October 9, 2009

Greetings Colleagues,

This is a short note today, with one announcement at the end. On Monday, the Faculty Senate will look at a draft resolution from ISU faculty that addresses the SBOE proposed policy changes. You likely know already that the proposal essentially takes financial exigency authority and extends it to the institutional level, but without the need to declare financial exigency and without restraints. We all know that the state's budget situation is serious, however, these changes would outlive the present budget crisis, and be in force for future administrations at our state universities to utilize for any level of budgetary problems. That is one of the main reasons that faculty across Idaho's state institutions are opposed to the proposals. The Senate Executive Committee met today to discuss the issue and formulate our approach. We will recommend on Monday to the Senate that ISU endorse and adopt the Lewis-Clark State College resolution (a draft is posted on the ISU Senate website, http://www.isu.edu/fsen/currentissues.shtml with permission from the LCSC Senate Chair, and a note that the LCSC Senate approved it yesterday) and add a statement of our own. At present, I expect to present our statement to the SBOE at the meeting next Thursday in Lewiston, so there is not much time. If this issue interests you, I ask you to read the LCSC resolution, let your Senator know whether you concur with an endorsement/adoption of it, and if you have additional ideas to include in our own statement, that you communicate those to your Senator as well. The official version of the LCSC resolution should be posted on their website soon (http://www.lcsc.edu/faculty/).

Several points I want to work into our statement are that these policy changes will impair an institution's ability to recruit and retain faculty, because it renders contracts meaningless. This will affect students, communities, indeed the whole state negatively. It abandons an emergency response system (declaration of financial exigency) during a time of emergency and replaces it with a policy that is fundamentally un-American--Americans have a long history of respect for contracts. Those are some of the ideas the Executive Committee and I generated today. We will need to draft them into a cohesive statement. Please feel free to assist! Of course, if you do not oppose the SBOE proposals, we need to know that, too. Please send your view to your Senator so we can look at both sides on Monday.

An announcement today is:
The College of Education's Visiting Author for the Bellon Visiting Author Series this academic year will be Yangsook Choi, an author and illustrator. Ms. Choi is from Seoul, South Korea, and now resides in New York. She will be in Pocatello March 15-17, 2010. Her schedule of presentations will be publicized closer to her arrival. Please contact Dr. Beverly Klug for more information.

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

September 30, 2009

Greetings Colleagues:

By now you have heard the news that Governor Otter has announced a 6% holdback for higher education, with a plan to address it due in 3 weeks. You can read his announcement at http://gov.idaho.gov/mediacenter/press/pr2009/prsep09/pr_066.html, plus there is a link to a chart that shows the agencies, amounts, and percentages. President Vailas has reconstituted the Special Budget Consultation Committee, which includes me as senate chair and Jim Bigelow as Budget Council Chair. David Beard is another faculty member who is serving on the committee.

Even more important than the holdback news, though, is a set of proposed changes in SBOE policy regarding the authority of Idaho's presidents of public college and three public universities. You can access two documents on the Senate's "General Information & Current Issues" website under Feedback Requested: 

Proposed SBOE Policy Changes and Synopsis.

The first document is not of good quality, but is all we have at the moment. A copy is supposed to be posted today on the SBOE website. I have searched, but not found it thus far. These changes are viewed by the SBOE as already inherent in the policies, and that they are being made explicit. Faculty may want to look carefully at the current policies under Financial Exigency and the proposed changes, and send your opinions of them and suggestions of what, if anything, Faculty Senate ought to do. I have heard already from Senate chairs at BSU and LCSC, where these policies are viewed with major concern, and I personally and many ISU senators share those concerns. I plan to work with the other Senate chairs to develop some kind of position statement to represent all of us. Another approach is for each institution's faculty (via the senate) to develop a position to deliver to the SBOE. The next meeting is in Lewiston on October 15 & 16, so there is not a lot of time. The first reading of the proposed changes is scheduled for that meeting. Please do let your senators know your thoughts on this issue.

The Faculty and Staff Diversity Center along with the Student Diversity Center are organizing a fall diversity calendar (October through December). If you have activities planned and would like to have them posted on the calendar, please send the information this week to diversity@isu.edu. There are several openings for faculty members to serve on various councils and committees. To volunteer or nominate someone (please check first with the person), please contact the Senate at fsenate@isu.edu. In some cases, nominations are supposed to be routed through your faculty senator.

There are several openings for faculty members to serve on various councils and committees. To volunteer or nominate someone (please check first with the person), please contact the Senate at fsenate@isu.edu. In some cases, nominations are supposed to be routed through your faculty senator.

• Faculty Senate needs to appoint two faculty members to serve on the Athletics Advisory Board for the 2009-2010 academic year. There are two terms available: a one year term (could be a Faculty Senator) and a four year term. The AAB generally meets once a month for the academic year, usually on a Thursday, from 2:30 - 4:00, except for a couple of months when meetings take longer. If you would like to learn more about the AAB, please contact the chair, Dr. Scott Benson at bensscot@isu.edu or x2860.
• Faculty Professional Policies Council needs faculty to represent the following:
  Arts & Sciences Humanities & Fine Arts (1 year term)
  Arts & Sciences Social Sciences (3 year term)
  Kasiska College of Health Professions (2 year term)
• Campus Planning Council needs faculty to represent the following:
  Arts & Sciences: Biology/Physical Science (3 year term)
  Humanities/Social Sciences (1 year term)
  College of Education (3 year term)
  Outreach Representative (1 year term)
• Research Council's subcommittees:
  Humanities & Social Science Research Committee (HSSRC)
          (need a representative from each department: Art, Communication & Rhetorical Studies, History, Political Science)
  Graduate Student Research & Scholarship Committee may need new graduate student representation,
          please contact Dr. Deb Easterly in the Research Office for more information.
• Council for Teaching & Learning needs one graduate student representative
• Academic Standards Council needs one Arts & Science rep, 2 year term, no particular department
• Budget Council needs one representative from the College of Education, a 2 year term
• Curriculum Council needs a representative from the Kasiska College of Health Professions, a 1 year term
• The BAS/BAT Committee needs four faculty representatives:
     Arts & Sciences representative (3 year term)
     Kasiska College of Health Professions (3 year term)
     College of Technology (3 year term)
     A member-at-large (3 year term) and one from any college
     The BAS/BAT Committee's bylaws state "Faculty members are nominated via their Faculty Senator to represent their College."

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

Greetings Colleagues:

Budget news first—last week ISU submitted possible holdback scenarios of 4% and 6% to the state, utilizing unspecified reductions. President Vailas expects that Governor Otter will notify state agencies of his holdback target this week. ISU will have two or three weeks to respond with a plan, therefore a special budget committee will be called again. That said, the president intends to be as general as possible to allow the regular budget process to take place. I am concerned that we may finish one holdback scenario, and then face another later. When that happens, we spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with budget cuts and cannot make progress in other important areas.

Faculty have requested that Faculty Senate monitor the budget process carefully and also learn more about how funding is utilized. Senate has charged the Budget Council “to go through the most recent available financial documents on a Cash Basis to determine how much money was actually brought in to the university and how much money was actually spent, itemizing the amounts spent on each expense.”

Faculty have also suggested that Senate poll the faculty to learn their views in three areas: the workload policy, the role of graduate students in teaching undergraduate courses, and the budget. The senate executive committee has therefore constructed a straw poll. We do not have usage yet of electronic polling, which we hope to gain soon, so we are sending the poll to faculty via campus mail. Please fill it out and place it in campus mail by September 30^th. Outreach faculty without campus mail will need to send it via regular mail. We appreciate you sharing your views.

I have several announcements:

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

September 10, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

Last week, President Vailas held his fall General Assembly for faculty and staff. Vice President Crowell spoke about research, Vice President Fletcher spoke about finances, and President Vailas spoke about several topics, and gave credit to faculty and staff for the institution’s turnaround. If you were unable to attend and are interested in viewing it, you may do so at http://www.isu.edu/president/.  

In my introduction to President Vailas, I stated in public a request he made of me, that when faculty inform him and his administration about our concerns, that we be specific, and that we also share our suggestions on how best to address those concerns. In his address, the president also stated that policies can always be improved; faculty and staff just need to take their suggestions through the process. These statements are very encouraging to me as Senate Chair, for they form the basis for the progress we can make this year in important areas. Let me share an example.

Yesterday, the Senate Executive Committee met with Provost Olson and VP Crowell. Our main topic of discussion was the workload policy. I am pleased to report we had a very positive discussion, which should result in some meaningful revisions. The Executive Committee will draft the changes, present them to the Senate, and ask Senate to forward them to the Faculty Professional Policies Council and entire faculty for review. I will concurrently discuss our proposed revisions with Provost Olson to ensure they reflect his understanding of yesterday’s meeting, as well. Once Senate approves the revised policy, we will forward it to Provost Olson. When he places the policy on the Council of Deans agenda, I will attend the meeting to represent faculty, which will constitute the Academic Council as listed in the flow chart for changing the Faculty/Staff Handbook.

We do not have good news in the area of finances. Last Wednesday, Vice President Fletcher told faculty and staff about a possible upcoming holdback. In an email to me, former Senate and Budget Council chair Karl De Jesus shared his own views of the economic situation after analyzing state tax receipts—he also projects possible significant budget reductions. We should know more today and tomorrow.

I have two announcements:

Best wishes,
Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

 

August 31, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

With nearly a full week of classes behind us already, I think it time to send everyone a few lines of announcements and thoughts. Welcome to campus, if you are a new faculty member, and welcome back to the rest! As you likely already know, this fall is starting off with a lot of change in the air. In order to learn as much as we can about faculty views, the Senate’s Executive Committee (vice chair Phil Cole, Physics; past chair Dave Delehanty, Biology; Cindy Wilson, Pharmacy; and Thom Hasenpflug, Music) scheduled a series of meetings:

Those are the special meetings scheduled by the executive committee. Vice chair Phil Cole and I are scheduling visits with individual departments and colleges. We’ve made a good start and will be seeing many of you in the next few weeks.

At 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 24 th, the Senate held its first meeting of the academic year. After only a short time for introductory business, the Senate launched right into a discussion about the workload policy. Provost Olson participated fully. My view is that we held the kind of exchange that needs to take place at a university—one that demonstrated divergent opinions yet was polite and collegial.

The Senate accepted the 2008-09 report submitted by University Ombudsman John Gribas and thanked him for his continuing service in that office. The report is posted on the Ombuds Office website under http://www.isu.edu/ombud/reports.shtml so faculty may access it.

During a meeting on the Banner implementation this morning, I learned that the admissions module will be the first of the student programs to be installed. Some faculty have asked about workshops on how to use Banner. The Banner implementation team will schedule workshops when the university gets close to installing the modules that faculty will use.

At a meeting last Thursday, I learned from Joseph Han, Assoc. Vice Pres. of Facilities Services, that he is looking for ways to reduce the costs associated with the parking operation, plus improve parking lots and services in the future. The single most important point in the policy that hits home to me is his statement about there being no free parking—anyone who currently parks for free is essentially being subsidized by those of us who buy annual permits. If this interests you, a draft policy is posted on the Senate website at (http://www.isu.edu/fsen/currentissues.shtm). If you have good ideas and suggestions or concerns about parking and/or the draft policy, please contact Mr. Han by September 25th at hanjose@isu.edu, or you may send comments via your faculty senator and the Senate will forward them to Mr. Han.

Please remember the provost’s Fall Academic Assembly on Monday, September 14th at 3:30 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Theatre, CHE 314, Meridian 502, and Twin Falls C89.

For faculty who are interested in reading Provost Olson’s recent Chronicle of Higher Education column, it is available at

http://chronicle.com/article/Growing-Pains/48088/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Let me end with a piece of good news. President Vailas told the cabinet last week that the State Board of Education made the official determination that faculty on nine-month contracts are considered to be full time, and the state’s plan to require part-time state employees to pay an increased share of the health insurance premiums will not apply to nine-month faculty.

Best wishes,

Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D.
Chair, Faculty Senate

 

 

August 6, 2009

Dear Colleagues,

Hopefully your summer is going well—we know it is going too quickly! There are several items of importance you need to know as we approach the start of the new academic year. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee views the coming year as another important one for shaping policy that impacts the university’s long term interests. We expect that returning and new Senators will agree that frequent and open communication among faculty, the Senate, and the administration will be vital throughout the year. We will attempt to keep you up to date via emails and the Senate website. We encourage everyone to send ideas and concerns to your Senators who represent you. We also encourage Senators to keep their constituencies posted on Senate activities.

Several items of importance are:

Faculty Senate Executive Committee is scheduling a university-wide Town Hall meeting on Monday, August 24^th from noon to 1:30 p.m. In Pocatello, we’ll meet in VA 117 (College of Technology, Bldg. #46). Please be aware that the room seats 70, but there is standing room. Outreach locations are Meridian 501; Idaho Falls, CHE 314; and Twin Falls C89.

The Senate Executive Committee will place the workload policy on the agenda for the first Senate meeting on August 24, but it will likely be an initial discussion only. We’ll need time to hear from you. The draft that Senate approved on April 6 is posted at
http://www.isu.edu/fsen/currentissues.shtml
and the policy as approved by the provost and president is posted at
http://www.isu.edu/acadaff/academicpolicies.shtml.

The Senate Executive Committee will invite various groups of faculty and administration to meet with them prior to or early in the semester: academic department chairs and directors; deans; past chairs of Faculty Senate; and current chairs of Faculty Senate Councils.

Some faculty we've spoken with have been very interested in reading the Chronicle columns that Provost Olson writes. We all gain a better understanding of his views through them. If you are interested in reading his recent one on shared governance, it is accessible at
  <http://chronicle.com/article/Exactly-What-Is-Shared/47065/>. We do not know how long such links remain “live”—some older columns are available, too, yet earlier ones are archived and require an account to access.

Senate Chair Alan Frantz and Vice-Chair Phil Cole will schedule meetings early in the semester with each department/college. They want to introduce themselves and ask your views on issues and goals for the Senate this coming year.

No disenrollment—yet. Student fees are due Monday, August 24 at 6:00 p.m. An announcement was made that students will be disenrolled if their fees are not paid. That decision has recently been changed, and disenrollment is scheduled to be implemented in Spring 2010.

Because of opportunities offered by the implementation of the new Student Information System, three deadlines will be set for the 2010-2011 catalogs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. First, all minor changes to the 2009-10 undergraduate catalog must be identified and provided to the Registrar's Office by September 14, 2009. Second, any catalog changes for the 2010-2011 catalog that affect other courses such as prerequisites, corequisites, student status (i.e. admitted to major), or new degrees must be submitted to the Curriculum Council or the Graduate Council by October 12, 2009.  Finally, any “stand alone” courses for the 2010-2011 catalog that do not affect other courses, such as electives and experimental courses, must be submitted to the Curriculum Council or the Graduate Council by November 9, 2009.  Colleges are encouraged to submit all changes prior to their respective deadlines.  This is all driven by the goal of creating a Fall 2010 class schedule needed for on-line registration using the new system in early April, 2010.

Another item on the Banner Student Information System implementation—are there reports you need as faculty advisors and instructors regarding your advisees or your classes that you a) have received in the past that are critical to your role and must be available when the student system goes live? b) have not ever received but would find helpful to you? or c) have received in the past, but would find more useful with some modifications? If so, please contact Juli Hafen at x2578 or hafenjul@isu.edu.

Please give feedback to your Senators this year on the various issues we’ll be addressing. Faculty were asked quite often last year to comment, and we made progress only because so many faculty became involved. Please be involved this year, too! We will also be announcing many openings for university level service throughout the year, including new openings on the Faculty Senate as well as its Councils and Committees. We recognize that there is an abundance of service opportunities available, fewer people available to serve, and less allotment of workload designated for service. Yet much of our service is necessary for simple operation of the university. We need to address as faculty how we might reduce the amount of service—are there things we do that we ought not to do? Or that we can do more efficiently? Faculty are in the best position to generate good answers to those questions. If you have ideas, please send them to your Senator(s)!

Thank you, and see you soon,

Alan Frantz, Education, Chair
Phil Cole, Physics, Vice-chair
Dave Delehanty, Biological Sciences, Past-chair
Cindy Wilson, Pharmacy, Executive Committee member
Thom Hasenpflug, Music, Executive Committee member
Beth Guryan, CSED, ISU-Meridian, Executive Committee member