The first Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 2000-2001 was held in room 4.03.08, John Peace Library Building, on September 12, 2000 at 3:30 p.m. with Dr. Patricia Harris, Chair, presiding.
Present: Raul Aranovich, Deborah Armstrong, Ron Alexander, Ron Ayers, Guy Bailey, Mark Blizard, John Bretting, Russell Briner, Ruben Cordova, Mansour El-Kikhia, Keith Fairchild, Patricia Harris, Wanda Hedrick, Kellye Jones, Michael Kelly, James McDonald, George Negrete, Jeanne Reesman, Thomas Ricento, Walter Richardson, Jr., Deborah Schwartz-Kates, Raydel Tullous, Arturo Vega, Diane Walz
Absent: Sos Agaian, Robert Hiromoto (excused), Louis Mendoza, Sandy Norman, Kent Rush, R. K. Smith, Anthony Van Reusen (excused
Total members present: 24
Total members absent: 7
Dr. Raul Aranovich asked if anything had been done to handle foreign faculty visas and green card applications at UTSA rather than continuing the agreement with the UT Health Science Center.
Dr. Bailey replied that they are considering hiring and training a part-time person to handle the faculty visas.
Dr. Aranovich asked why the Office of International Programs was disbanded, since there would now be a staff person to work with visas.
Dr. Bailey responded that they felt the various responsibilities of that office could be handled more efficiently in other areas.
Dr. Walter Richardson, Jr. asked Dr. Bailey to repeat the deadlines for the faculty salary compression adjustments.
Dr. Bailey replied that, if the adjustments were to be reflected in the October paychecks, the salary compression study would have to be implemented very quickly. If the adjustments did not become effective until November, there would not be any loss of money since the salary increases would be retroactive.
Dr. Ron Alexander asked what would be the advantage or disadvantage of proceeding with the implementation of the recommendations now and, at a later time, studying the report closely for adjustment in the future.
Dr. Bailey agreed that, whatever the decision about implementation of the recommendations, the report would need to be discussed further because it raised larger issues that need to be dealt with. He stated that the main effect of implementing recommendation seven would be that the payouts would be a bit lower at the upper end and a few more people would be affected.
Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia asked for the amount of money that was involved.
Dr. Bailey replied that the allocation for compression adjustments for the current fiscal year was $275,000. This would be in addition to any funds available for merit increases.
Dr. John Bretting stated his concern that looking at the number of years with an institution versus the number of years within a discipline across peer institutions could result in very different calculations. If someone is hired as an assistant that is technically 10 years into their career, they would inflate salaries upwards relative to people coming right from graduate school. Yet in comparison where they should be rated with their peers within the discipline versus the institution, they might fall short of a comparable salary.
Dr. Bailey responded that the compression study would not address those problems.
Dr. Raydel Tullous made a motion to accept the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Salary Compression Model.
Dr. Arturo Vega stated that that report should have first been presented to the Faculty Senate since the committee is an ad hoc committee of the Senate.
Dr. Keith Fairchild, Chair of the Committee, stated that the committee did not make radical changes to the Compression Model because the committee had to complete its work during the summer and was, therefore, unable to obtain faculty input. He agreed that additional improvements need to be made and that the work of this year's committee should begin immediately.
The motion to accept the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Salary Compression Model passed.
Dr. Harris requested nominees for appointment to the committee. The following Senators were nominated and appointed to the Special Committee on the Selection of Members of the Campus Core Committee on the Advancement of Women: Dr. Kellye Jones, Dr. Betty Travis, Dr. Arturo Vega, and Dr. Diane Walz.
Dr. Harris provided additional information regarding matters the Senate will consider in upcoming meetings:
Dr. El-Kikha asked what would happen to the Faculty Senate relationship to the University Assembly.
Dr. Harris responded that the Academic Policy and Requirements Committee would review that issue.
Dr. Vega noted that the revised Faculty Senate Bylaws currently awaiting approval would be a good starting point for the Committee.
Nominating Committee - Dr. Ron Alexander
Dr. Alexander requested nominations from the floor for
all positions. Dr. Tullous withdrew her nomination for
Chair of the Graduate Council and nominated Dr. Deborah
Armstrong. Dr. Keith Fairchild also withdrew his
nomination for Chair of the Graduate Council.
POST-MEETING ELECTION RESULTS
Officers and Executive Committee:
Patricia Harris, CRJ - Chair
*Ron Ayers, ECO - Chair-Elect
*Raul Aranovich, FL - Secretary
*Art Vega, SPS - Parliamentarian
Keith Fairchild, ECO - CoB
*Wanda Hedrick, EDU - CoEHD
*Sos Agaian, EGR - CoE
*Louis Mendoza, ECPC - CoLFA
*George Negrete, EPS - CoS
*John Bretting, PAD - CoUPP
*Deborah Armstrong, LS - Chair, Graduate Council
Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee:
Ron Alexander, CoEHD
*Robert Hiromoto, CoS
*Amy Jasperson, CoLFA
Kellye Jones, CoB
Tom Ricento, CoEHD
*Raydel Tullous, CoB
Bennie Wilson, CoB
Academic Policy and Requirements Committee:
Juan Gonzalez, CoB
*Sandy Norman, CoS
Rivta Nummikoski, CoLFA
*Deborah Schwartz-Kates, CoLFA
Raydel Tullous, CoB
Anthony Van Reusen, CoEHD
Esther Wheeler, CoS
Nominating and Elections Committee:
*Sos Agaian, CoE
*Ron Alexander, CoEHD
*John Bretting, CoUPP
Keith Fairchild, CoB
*Wanda Hedrick, CoEHD
Steve Levitt, CoLFA
Walter Richardson, Jr., CoS
Teaching Effectiveness and Development Committee:
*Deborah Armstrong, CoS
Aaron Cassill, CoS
Eugene Dowdy, CoLFA
*James McDonald, CoLFA
Sandy Norman, CoS
*Betty Travis, CoS
Raydel Tullous, CoB
University Curriculum Committee:
Raul Aranovich, CoLFA
Ron Ayers, CoB
Russell Briner, CoB
Eugene Dowdy, CoLFA
Connie Lowe, CoLFA
*Louis Mendoza, CoLFA
Rebecca Petersen, CoUPP
Tony Van Reusen, CoEHD
*Art Vega, CoLFA
Sandy Welch, CoB
Kathy Wohlert, CoB
*Newly elected members
None
None
Dr. Travis noted that there are copyright laws that force Information Technology to install the software.
Dr. Harris requested that Dr. Aranovich send her information about this office so it could be determined if there was a need for an ad hoc committee to be put together by the Senate.
Comments or questions to spottorff@utsa.edu