The regular monthly meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order by President Jeff Hale on March 10, 2005 at 3:01 PM in the Withycombe Hall Main Theatre. The February 10 minutes were approved as distributed.
Approval of February 2005 Minutes
Motion was made and seconded to approve the February 2005 minutes as distributed; motion passed with no dissenting votes.
PARKING
Vincent Martorello, Campus Planning Manager, provided an overview of parking functions and long-term plans. His report included the following:
Senator Dempsey, Associated Faculty, questioned opportunities for student involvement when redesigning policies and practices. Martorello responded that the policies will be reviewed by the Campus Parking Committee, which includes student members. He also indicated that the drafts could go back to the ASOSU and Faculty Senate's - whatever seems appropriate. He stated that review time would be built into the process.
Senator Roberts, Liberal Arts, questioned whether parents of day care children had been given permission to park in staff spaces adjacent to Bates Hall when picking up children. She also asked whether construction workers pay to park on campus. Martorello responded that he is reviewing the issue of construction workers parking on campus, but did state that some do pay $160 for permits and some permits are included in the construction bid. He feels that construction workers should be paying some pro-rated amount since they take away available parking from staff and students. Regarding Bates Hall, he wasn't aware of a problem with parents parking in staff spaces and will follow-up with this issue.
Senator Selker, Agricultural Sciences, suggested that incentives be considered for those who are frequent cyclists, such as providing a ten-sheet parking pass for one year in lieu of a parking permit, and questioned what is being done to encourage people not to drive cars on campus. Martorello indicated they are looking at several options: the feasibility of working with Corvallis Transit to provide a substation on campus connected to shuttles; a regional park and ride on Hwy. 34; and developing a bicycle improvement program. They recognize the need for alternative transportation measures and are open to suggestions or strategies.
Senator Evans, Science, questioned the number of spaces vs. the number of permits issued. Martorello didn't know the exact numbers, but stated that there is a 1:1.5 overall ratio of permits issued for about 7,700 spaces, while the industry standard is 1:2.
Senator Wilcox, Health and Human Sciences, commended the emphasis on customer service. He noted that his sense of justice has been offended since those who purchased permits are being fined due to a poor design of the parking hang tag. He recommended that the fines be refunded. Martorello didn't think that refunds would be made prior to January 1. He agreed that there have been design problems. He noted that when one buys the permit, one agrees to display it properly, which means that the numbers are visibly displayed. Wilcox questioned how much revenue has been generated through fines. Martorello stated that the permit design was not designed to generate revenue, nor was The Barometer article correct when it reported that there was a $500,000 windfall resulting from fines, although he did not know the exact amount collected from fines. Martorello encouraged faculty to email him at vincent.martorello@orst.edu for the exact numbers or to meet with the Controller for an explanation of the issue.
Senator Bird, Veterinary Medicine, urged that the needs of an operating hospital be taken into consideration when evaluating the Reser Stadium parking lots for game day parking. Martorello indicated that the area between 26th and 30th will be reviewed to try to determine the needs of the users. They are hoping to develop policies for the users to address parking management issues.
OSU UPDATE AND DISCUSSION WITH PRESIDENT RAY
President Ray's update included the following:
Senator Dempsey questioned whether the institution would issue a response regarding the Clemens Foundation decision to discontinue scholarships to OSU students. Ray indicated they need to get a sense of the students affected and what, if anything, the institution can do to assist the students. Ray noted that the legislature mandated a fee remission cap of 8% that must be met by the end of the biennium. OSU administration has recommended that the cap, ultimately, be eliminated. However, for the coming biennium, they have recommended that the cap be raised to 10% for undergraduates and eliminated for graduate students.
Senator Coblentz, Agricultural Sciences, questioned whether OSU can make a statement regarding the Clemens Foundation issue. Ray responded that it is difficult to know what to say that would be effective. He finds it sad that students are being held captive and are at risk of being able to continue their education. It has not been determined how helpful it would be to weigh in on the public side.
Senator Thompson, Agricultural Sciences, questioned whether the Clemens Foundation Board had closed the door on discussion. Ray felt they had and added that there was no conversation before OSU was notified that the decision had been made to discontinue scholarships to OSU students and that a press release had already been prepared to that effect.
Senator Wilcox, referring to the Provost's Search, felt that faculty were struggling with evaluating the candidates since a significant number have witnessed the ability of Interim Provost Randhawa and used him as a 'yardstick' for comparison. Many faculty would have liked to have had Randhawa as a candidate. Ray stated that he would not dismiss Randhawa as a candidate. Ray wished that people who had strong observations had contacted the search committee regarding Randhawa's performance and encouraged those comments to still be submitted to Mark Abbott.
President Hale's report contained the following items:
Hale felt it brings to mind the role and importance that the P&T process places on service by saying that faculty service is essential to the success of the University in serving its central mission and is a responsibility of all faculty. Service is one leg of a three-legged proverbial stool (teaching, research and service) and some feel it doesn't receive the respect that it deserves.
Hale has been asked questions regarding the value of service to the institution, what is the expectation for service by faculty, how does the service expectation reach the institution's strategic goals, etc.
Hale felt that now may be the time to clarify expectations and the reward system used for service. OSU has a Strategic Plan, institutional goals that will affect all units at all levels, specific objectives, etc., all of which require faculty service. He expressed the belief that faculty service may need to be defined and reprioritized in light of OSU's strategic directions - service that advances these goals may need to take precedence over unit service agendas at least for the short term. He suggested that now is the time to examine these issues, in view of organizational change. What are the interests and concerns of faculty related to service? Is the strategic use of service important? Should it be thought of not as an individual activity related to P&T, but as an interlocking set of activities? Should reward structures for service be reviewed, particularly in P&T? Should appropriate Faculty Senate committees examine the types of service and their value to the institution so that faculty make the best choices about where to apply limited resources? Is it time to make service a strategy for obtaining university goals by making it an equal leg of the proverbial stool? Hale asked whether Senators believe that service at OSU is not given the level of recognition deserved.
Senator Brewer, Agricultural Sciences, interested in knowing how many professional and fixed-term faculty are expected to provide service and do not have it included in their job description. Hale responded that tenure-track faculty are required to have it in their job description. Hale questioned whether this was an issue for faculty or not. He has heard that service often falls on women, people of color, junior faculty and professional faculty. If this is the case, the institution needs to find a better way to more equitably share the load.
Senator Selker, Agricultural Sciences, observed that the same names seem to appear on committees and service related activities - some are more susceptible to volunteering than others. If service is valued and expected, we need to move beyond the volunteerism level. Expectations of adequate and inadequate service need to be clearly stated and be included in the promotion and tenure annual review process. He noted that a lot of people are doing more than they should. Hale shared comments from junior faculty who know they must have a service component, but don't know whether departmental or discipline related service is more important than university or Faculty Senate service.
Senator Gillies, Associated Faculty, felt it would be interesting to look at informal service, such as providing advising to students when they show up at your door when you are not their advisor of record.
Senator Oriard, Liberal Arts, would find it unfortunate to find the service leg lengthened for academic faculty. At some point in one's career, service becomes a matter of citizenship. However, if service for junior faculty is elevated at the expense of teaching or research, that is disciplinary suicide.
Senator Carson, Liberal Arts, agreed with Oriard since she has seen dossiers fail with not enough service and some because there was too much service to the detriment of their scholarship. Faculty need to be internationally competitive as scholars.
Senator Dempsey asked Senators to imagine the university without service. Part of the dilemma is that we don't know how to measure service to the university.
Juan Trujillo, Executive Committee, feels there is still not an understanding by the faculty of the obligations that come from being a member of the underrepresented community.
Senator Roberts, Liberal Arts, felt that service enriches her life at OSU. Communities don't exist without people pitching in and doing service and being forced to provide service is problematic. Hale teaches that is an opportunity of citizenship rather than an obligation.
Senator Tsunyeoshi, Student Affairs, noted that faculty of color serve as advisors, and students seek them out. They are also frequently called upon to serve because the committee needs people who are diverse.
Senator Iltis, Liberal Arts, has been surprised at the amount of service listed while reviewing dossiers. However, when that starts infringing on other aspects of ones career, they may not be aware of the time being spent. It is the responsibility of the unit head to bring the issue into perspective. Service is absolutely essential from all faculty and must be balanced.
Stella Coakley, Executive Committee, felt that the new faculty hiring initiative addresses the amount and type of service that faculty are involved in and senior faculty would be expected to have a different position description than junior faculty. She also observed that department heads, as well as colleagues, may not know until the end of the year the extent of service in which one is engaging. She noted that, particularly for Faculty Senate committees, not all faculty are equally committed or engaged since some appear to be only names on rosters. Until faculty can be held accountable for what service is and when it counts, it's tough to say that more service is needed. She also noted that committee chairs can request that non-functioning members be replaced after talking with the faculty member.
Jon Dorbolo, Information Services, stated there is an effort for every employee and student to have their own Blog which is a website run by a content management system and can allow for multiple author sites. There will be a pilot study during spring 2005 and Dorbolo asked for participants. The group will work with the Computing Resources Committee to create an advisory board to assist in specifications that will help guide the development of technology for this purpose. Faculty who are interested in creating blogs for a course, research site, professional development, etc., should contact Jon Dorbolo at 737-3811.
Roll Call
Members Present:
Agricultural Sciences: Anderson, Brewer, Coblentz, Edge, Engel, Freeman, Herring, Huddleston, Jepson, L. Hoyser for Penner, Selker, and Thompson.
Associated Faculty: Arthenayake, Barr, Beach, Brown, Corbett, Dempsey, Dorbolo, Eklund, Elmshauser, Gillies, Hughes, Miles, Ratchford, Rosenberg, S. Williams for Ross, and Templeton.
Business: LeMay, Wong, Wu and P. Mathew for Yang.
Education: Pehrsson and White.
Engineering: Bose, Hunter-Zaworski, McVicker, Mosley, Quinn and Sillars.
Extension: Bondi.
Forestry: Admiral, C. Patterson for Doescher, Erickson, and Reuter.
Health & Human Sciences: Asbell, Bowman, Cluskey, Grobe, Harter, Ho, Widrick and Wilcox.
Liberal Arts: Anderson, Barker, E. Gottlieb for Brayman Hackel, Carson, D. Beunett for Ede, Farber, Folts, Gross, Iltis, Kingston, Krause, Melton, Oriard, Roberts, and R. Thompson for Shaw.
Library: McMillen.
Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences: Benoit-Bird, Levine, Prahl and Wheatcroft.
Pharmacy: Mahmud.
ROTC: Klink.
Science: Giebultowicz, Ho, Lee, McCune, Parks, Remcho, and Smythe.
Student Affairs: Bentley-Townlin, Etherton, Hoogesteger, Schwab, Tsuneyoshi and Winter.
Veterinary Medicine: Bird and Jennings.
Members Absent:
Agricultural Sciences: Bolte, Cassidy, Ciuffetti, Duncan, Gregory, Jepson, Mallory-Smith, Savage and Weber.
Associated Faculty: Balz, Christie, Landis, and Perrone.
Business: Coakley and Hsieh.
Education: none.
Engineering: Lee, Levine, Lundy and Pence.
Extension: Butler, Carr, Filley and Hathaway.
Forestry: Clauson, Puettmann and Tynon.
Health & Human Sciences: none.
Liberal Arts: Henderson and Lunch.
Library: none.
Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences: Duncan and Torres.
Pharmacy: Ishmael.
ROTC: none.
Science: Barofsky, Brown, Evans, Grunder, Horne, Jansen, Jones, Kimerling, Mason, Matzke, McLeod, Ruben, Spatafora, and Taylor.
Student Affairs: Empey.
Veterinary Medicine: none.
Guests Present:
G. Bruce, V. Martorello, M. McCambridge, and E. Yahnke.
Faculty Senate Officers, Ex-officios and Staff:
J. Hale, Senate President; B. Boggess, President-Elect; S. Coakley, Immediate Past Senate President; M. Beachley, Parliamentarian; Ex-officios: K. Downey, E. Ray and J. Trujillo; and V. Nunnemaker, Senate Staff.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:27 PM.
Respectfully submitted:
Vickie Nunnemaker
Faculty Senate Staff
