MINUTES
Boulder Faculty Assembly Meeting
Minutes
November 4, 2004
Attending:
Barbara Bintliff, Chair
Stein Sture, Vice Chair
Deane Bowers, Secretary
Jerry Peterson, At-Large Representative
Uriel Nauenberg, Former BFA Chair
Anne Bliss
Mel Branch
Francis Beer
Pamela Diggle, At-Large Representative
Greg Carey
Kim Dickey
David Fagerstrom
Hardy Fredricksmeyer
Philip Graves
Martha Hanna
Bruce Henderson
Leslie Irvine
Samuel Junod
Roger King
Bill McGinley
John McIver
Peter Molnar
Chidi Nwaubani
Rolf Norgaard
Rick Perdue
Tad Pfeffer
Andrew Pleszkun
Gail Ramsberger
Bob Regoli
Ted Snow
Deward Walker
John Cooper, Retired Faculty
Chuck Howe, Retired Faculty
Joe Neguse, UCSU President
Elizabeth Clark, Boulder Daily Camera
Jeff Dodge, Silver and Gold Record
Guests:
Provost Phil DiStefano
David Cook
University Perspective Guests:
Lee Silbert
Yama Ahmadullah
Not Attending:
Martin Bickman
Frances Charteris
Cathy Comstock
Rob Guralnick
Bob Hohlfelder
David Kassoy
Robert Kuchta
Rich Laver
Terry Sawchuk
Paul Kroll
Kai Larsen
Bob Schulzinger
Rodney Taylor
R L Widmann
A meeting of the Boulder Faculty Assembly was held on Thursday, November 4, 2004 in the Fleming Law School, Room 156. Chair Barbara Bintliff presided. The meeting convened at 4:00 p.m. and adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
A. Approval of Minutes
MOVED and seconded that the minutes of October 7, 2004 be approved as amended. There being no further comments, corrections or changes to the minutes, the motion to approve the minutes carried.
B. Chair’s Announcements
Chair Bintliff welcomed everyone to the meeting, introduced Jeff Dodge with the Silver & Gold Record and Elizabeth Clark from the Boulder Daily Camera, and made the following announcements:
· The Bylaws are currently being reviewed and to make efficient use of committee meeting time, drafts of the proposed changes will be prepared and working meetings will be scheduled.
· Faculty are encouraged to participate in this year’s December Commencement Ceremony, December 17, considered to be the most significant academic function of the fall semester.
· The Student Expectations document prepared by the Ad Hoc Committee was passed in February of 2004 and has now cleared the legal process. We are now ready to distribute it and place it on the BFA website. The Chair and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump have discussed including the document with student orientation materials.
The Chair explained that the Student Expectations document fits well with current discussions on academic rigor and that there is a new feeling of purposefulness on campus. Chancellor Byyny has been hearing positive comments from parents and students. Bintliff conveyed her thanks to all faculty for increasing academic rigor at CU Boulder and especially to Dean Todd Gleeson of Arts & Sciences for creating the Colorado Challenge, which asks whether we are challenging our students and challenges faculty to make adjustments to our expectations to match student academic merit.
Bintliff proposed the BFA begin a campus-wide discussion on students and alcohol, and toward that end has invited Dr. Elizabeth Dunn of the Boulder County Board of Health, Dr. Scoggins, a prominent local physician, and Vice Chancellor for Administration Paul Tabolt to the next Executive Committee meeting November 15.
C. Committee Reports
Academic Affairs Committee member Gail Ramsberger described the Course Repetition Policy changes for the benefit of faculty. Tri-Executive Joe Neguse stated that the UCSU is not in support of the new proposal and in particular the 29 credit hour provision, and asked the faculty to reject the policy before them. Snow said that this proposal was in response to the initial pilot project and is an improvement and he recommended that students be asked to declare within the first two weeks of classes their intention to repeat a course. Discussion on this point followed. The Chair reminded the Assembly that the Notice of Motion before them comes from committee, needs no second, and can be voted on in December. Snow proposed amendments to the Notice of Motion:
More discussion followed. Snow reminded the Assembly that the faculty role was to fine-tune the proposal and that there will be a campus-wide discussion to follow. Bintliff added that a straw vote will be taken in every department on campus so that by the next meeting December 2 the BFA will have a clear understanding as to the sentiment among faculty towards course forgiveness/repetition. She asked for a show of support to remove Item #1 from the revised policy and Snow’s amendment passed. Snow moved that his second amendment requiring students to declare their intent to repeat a course during the drop/add period of the semester be considered by the Assembly. Walker seconded the motion and discussion followed. Perdue asked if anyone had advocated elimination of course repetition altogether. The Chair asked for a show of hands in support of Snow’s second amendment, and there were 19 in support and 9 opposed to the change. Bintliff restated that the policy would be edited and a straw poll would go out with the assistance of the Arts and Sciences Council soon in order to gain a clear understanding of faculty sentiment towards course repetition by December 2.
The Chair reported that the second Notice of Motion on the Admissions Policy as developed last spring was in front of the Assembly. No edits or amendments were made, and the BFA has been asked to read and approve the Motion at the meeting on December 2.
D. Special Reports
Provost Phil DiStefano told the faculty that last spring during the reorganization of athletics he was asked by the Chancellor to create an Academic Policy Board for Athletics to find ways to integrate athletics with the rest of the campus. The Academic Policy Board is viewed as an advisory group, comprised of faculty and students, which reports to him and offers advice on the following concerns:
He requested a list of names from the BFA and currently Scott Adler serves as chair of the board, and its members are Elizabeth Bradley, Ted Snow, Mel Branch, Patty Limerick, Karen Morrison, David Clough, Cal Duncan, Pamela Diggle, Vice Chancellor Ron Stump, Vice Provost Bill Kaempfer, two students, and Piimauna Aiu, Head Volleyball Coach. Cooper asked if the Retired Faculty Association was represented on the Board, and DiStefano promised to look into that possibility.
The Board has heard from Barb Schneider, Jon Burianek, Ric Porreca, Mark Nelson and others this fall semester in an effort to gather facts and information before making recommendations to DiStefano, and four subcommittees have been created:
These subcommittees will work throughout the semester to bring recommendations to the committee and subsequently to DiStefano. The Provost reported that the Board has been well received by the Athletics Department and has welcomed recommendations to bring athletics into campus life. He then asked for questions. Hill asked if DiStefano could give an example of how to integrate athletics into campus life. DiStefano said that one way is to involve the athletic department, director and staff more involved in what the campus is doing. The Athletic Director has been invited to attend the Chancellor’s Executive Committee meetings. The CEC consists of representatives from Dean’s Council, Getches from Law, Avery from the Graduate School, Gleeson from A&S, Staff Council, the Foundation, all vice chancellors, and UCSU students, and now athletics. The AD has also been asked to attend Dean’s Council meetings. The student athletes also formed a group called the Student Athlete Advisory Council and have been meeting with students from UCSU with good results.
Snow added that the Board is looking at admissions policies and the hiring of personnel which is something new. Bliss asked if there was a recognition of economic class in admissions, and DiStefano said that we look at all the students and some of them go through automatic admissions based on their scores and rank. At that point we ask what besides GPA the potential student might bring to the campus in terms of representing a specific geographic location or is the student a first generation college candidate, or does the student bring a special talent such as musical or athletic ability. We cannot focus exclusively on ethnicity but instead on a variety of characteristics for all students coming in to create a more diverse campus. Beer said that Barnett has stated that the new regulations have limited his ability to recruit and that revenue is being lost as a result. DiStefano replied that Cal-Berkeley is ranked number 4 but they probably haven’t sacrificed their academic quality in recruitment of student athletes. We have to expand the pool rather than target specific areas of the country when recruiting. When we look at what other institutions are doing around the country we find students who can compete in the classroom and on the playing field. There are also new NCAA rules that will make it very difficult for a student to stay in school and compete if they are not progressing towards their degrees. These reforms were put in place two years ago and we are now seeing that students must have completed 40% of their coursework towards a degree by junior year or else risk ineligibility. The challenge for coaches now is to expand the pool of athletes and look at bringing in athletes who can compete on the playing field as well as complete their coursework. Whether or not the Buffs are playing badly this year has nothing to do with the new recruiting rules.
Regoli asked if CU is now the exception among universities, and DiStefano replied that UCB is the only campus where the Athletic Director reports to the Provost and as a result, we are being watched closely. The benefit to having the AD report to the provost is that faculty, vice chancellors and deans get involved.
The Provost then reported on progress made on sexual harassment protocols. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump heads the committees here and the final draft of the report on these protocols is under review by committee with plans to present on December 1 to the Chancellor’s Executive Committee. Part of the proposal is for Judicial Affairs will investigate the student-to-student harassment claims, and one issue in particular concerns needing information from a potential victim while protecting that individual’s confidentiality. The committee, he stated, has struggled with the privacy issue. DiStefano thanked the BFA and members of the Policy Board for their interest and participation.
E. Unfinished Business
David Cook from CU’s Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) presented the Proposal to revise campus policy on retiree parking permits and eco pass privileges. Current policy allows retirees a free parking permit but no Eco Pass privileges. The faculty/staff Eco Pass program was created to help reduce congestion on campus and PTS’s proposed policy change is designed to further enhance congestion reduction by extending Eco Pass eligibility to retirees with active appointments in PeopleSoft (~350 persons). For those retiring after 12/31/2004 the retiree parking permit would be modified to include four free lots instead of two, while retirees would be charged ½ price for parking in the Euclid AutoPark at the UMC. Those retiring before 1/1/2005 would be “grandfathered” under current policy but would be able to opt for the new retiree permit instead if they wish to have the four-lot access. Retired Faculty Association Chair-elect Chuck Howe endorsed the Policy and recommended both BFA approval and that it is taken to the administration for approval. Peterson asked if the word “active” had been sufficiently defined, and Cook said that the Human Resources PeopleSoft records (in the Central Information Warehouse) are used to define an “active appointment” and explained that establishing an active appointment for a retiree is a departmental decision. PTS uses the existence of an active CU appointment on the Boulder Campus combined with a CUR (retiree) appointment in PeopleSoft and a Colorado home address to establish retirees as “active” and therefore eligible under RTD’s employee Eco Pass program. Hanna asked what affect this new policy will have on handicapped faculty, and Cook said that disability parking is dealt with separately from retiree parking. McIver recommended that the word “retired” be taken out of the proposal if the policy was a general statement, and discussion of the word “active” continued. Perdue said there was an inconsistency across campus in terms of how departments establish active appointments; Cook acknowledged this but said he preferred to leave the definition of “active” up to the determination of each individual department – that this was not an appropriate role for PTS. Bliss moved that the BFA endorse the policy, her motion was seconded, and the policy was approved unanimously.
F. New Business
There was no new business.
H. Next Meeting
The next regular meeting of the Boulder Faculty Assembly Senate Meeting will be on Thursday, December 2, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Fleming Law Building, room 156. The guest speaker will be Chancellor Richard Byyny.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and the meeting was adjourned.