The second regular meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 2007-2008 was held October 11, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room (BSE 1.102) with Dr. Chia Shih, ViceChair, presiding.
Present: Diane Abdo, Thad Bartlett, Karan Bhanot, Ron Binks, Rajendra Boppana, Lorenzo Brancaleon, Aaron Cassill, Sara Deturk, Margaret Flores, Timothy Goles, Julius Gribou, Eduardo Jimenez, Eugene John, Craig Jordan, William McCrary, Patricia McGee, Jolyn Mikow, Debajyoti Paul, Dianne Rahm, Robert Renthal, Cheryl on Robinson, Michael Ryan, Rocky Shih, John Simonis
Absent: Marian Aitches, Mark Allen (excused), Rena Bizios (excused), David Bruenger, John Byrd, Fengxin Chen, Mansour El-Kikhia (excused), Juanita Firestone, MaryEllen Garcia (excused), Kirsten Gardner (excused), Amy Jasperson (excused), Melvin Laracey, Melody Lo, John McCray (excused), Sandy Norman (excused), Nestor Sanchez, Alan Shoho (excused), Larry Shrum (excused), Ted Skekel, John Thompson, Raydel Tullous (excused), Judith Walmsley (excused), Karen Williams (excused),Wan Yao (excused), Mary Zey
Total members present: 24
Total members absent: 25
There was no report from the Senate chair because he was attending a System Faculty meeting in Austin.
Dr. Sandy Norman was not present. Dr. Chia Shih provided a brief report on the University Assembly meeting. There was discussion on the recent referendum, and Dr. David Johnson reported on the library's electronic revamping.
Mr. Julius Gribou announced the major tasks and initiatives for the coming year. He stated that the SACS accreditation is an ongoing process which takes many years of preparation. Dr. Sandy Welch is in charge ofUTSA's upcoming accreditation in 2010.
The provost stated that the strategic plan is now being implemented and made operational through all of the units on campus. Everyone's participation is critical in the success of the strategic plan. There is also a Team 2016, which is a crosssection of all the units in the university.
The Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) is currently being rewritten, and sections of it will be brought before the Faculty Senate as they are completed. The most critical elements are those related to faculty appointments, the tenure promotion process, and faculty titles.
The provost stated that each of the academic units is dealing with enrollment management issues. New admission standards must be addressed.
A Blue Ribbon Committee is addressing the issue of the undergraduate curriculum. Dr. Larry Williams is overseeing efforts to look at what changes need to be made to update the undergraduate curriculum.
In reference to the faculty searches, the provost is going to work with the chairs and the deans to ensure that the new faculty get enough support to succeed in their roles.
The Faculty Senate is working on developing a course summary/teaching evaluation instrument.
The provost is assembling a task force to focus on handling the issue of minority programs at UTSA.
The provost also announced that he will push to raise the non tenure track salaries.
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M.S. in Construction Science and Management-Bill McCrary
The graduate council voted to approve the degree in M.S. in Construction Science and Management. The Faculty Senate moved to approve consent of the degree. Motion made. Seconded. Approved.
Ms. Stefanie Wittenbach, Dean for Collections at the Library, provided a powerpoint presentation with information regarding the national objection assessment tools including the association of college and research libraries, standards, SACS, and LibQual, which is a national survey instrument.
Ms. Wittenbach has analyzed the UTSA library collection vis-a-vis the new programs coming online in the various colleges. She has been making sure that the new budget allocations are aligned with the growing programs and the largest colleges.
She participated in the university strategic plan on behalf of the library. She explained that the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) publishes standards for libraries in higher education, and it suggests points of comparison that line up with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The ACRL looks at volume, number of staff, expenditures on collections, and the ratio ofFTE students and faculty. According to this report, the UTSA collections are behind those of other institutions, which also have better staff-to-faculty student ratios. Because of the student library fee, UTSA is doing well in terms of the per FTE budget.
The resource manual for the principles of accreditation has a section on the libraries both in the core requirement and the comprehensive standards. She listed the various standards (instruction, facilities, services, collections, and number of qualified staff) that libraries are measured by in the SACS review. The university needs to supplement the library's budget, which is currently at 75% from the library student fee.
David Johnson has proposed obtaining a carbuncle, an automated storage and retrieval system for the library, which would cost between four and six million dollars. The high density storage facility could be attached directly to the library, and books could be retrieved for patrons in a very short time. If funds can be obtained for this resource, then the lower use materials will be stored there, and more room would be available on the prime floors of the library for current and higher use materials.
The library will continue funding the materials budget in order to build book collections and electronic resources. The library has also budgeted for new reference librarians, and wants to look at continuous improvement. There is now more of an emphasis on learning assessment and on providing quality instruction and quality service.
The Lib Qual Survey was conducted last October and November. A blanket survey was made available to 30,000 potential participants (faculty, staff, and students) on the web. However, there was a low response rate of only a little over 2,300 people. The survey measured three areas: effective service, library as place, and information control. Respondents were also given an opportunity to add comments. More than 900 comments were received.
In terms of effective service, most people see the staff as very helpful. In terms of library as place, there was more of a mixed response. People noted dissatisfaction with too many people sleeping in the library; the library being too noisy; and the library needing chairs, lighting, and more study rooms for students. The downtown library receivedbetter comments in this area. In terms of information control, meaning availability of web resources and computers and collections, people noted inadequate print collections and inadequate resources. The faculty are most unhappy with the collections.
The library has already begun to address the deficiencies identified through these objective measures. Four professional positions were added last year, and the library has budgeted for five new professional and three and a half new classified positions for this fiscal year. The library drafted a strategic plan and hopes to have it out for wider campus input next month. The library is also working with an architecture design firm on a four million dollar project for significant renovations of the John Peace Library. Shelving has also been added to the third floor of the JPL to increase stack space without sacrificing student seating. Part of the renovation will include new chairs, new lighting, and a learning common space.
Mr. David Kapalko reported on the parking availability at UTSA. His department did not anticipate a change in student demographics. Many students continue to stay on campus all day causing a higher demand for parking. Therefore, a remote park and ride shuttle is now offered. Parking and Transportation has also signed a contract with North Side Independent School District to pay $1,000 dollars a month for the use of their athletic facility lot. UTSA is also paying more than . 13,000 dollars a month for bus service.
UTSA is working on several parking projects. The south campus garage, which has 479 spaces, will open in April 2008. Bids were opened last week on a 500 car surface parking lot addition on the west campus near the baseball field. Bids for a separate project in the same vicinity with 300 spaces will open next week.
A four-way intersection will be built at Oak Space and George Brackenridge Road. The city recently installed a traffic light at George Brackenridge and UTSA Blvd, which should be operational by the end of the month.
In lots 3 and 4, "A" parking spaces were converted to "Reserved," and "B" parking spaces were converted to "A" spaces.
Lot 7, consisting entirely of faculty and staff spaces, was created directly south of the SSE building.
Parking and Transportation has also met with Tex Dot officials to discuss the room for expansion under 1604 and 1·10.
Parking and Transportation is hoping that, by providing more shuttle service, more students will be more likely to use it, and fewer people will be competing for the same number of parking spaces.