NORTHEASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, February 1, 2002
Members in attendance: Kenny Paris, Alicia Casas, Julie Sawyer, Mimi Bentley, Vanessa
Hardbarger, Jackie Schumaker, Carol Choate, Rick Matzen, Michele Bither, Gary Wickham, John
Milbauer, Lallie Scott, Kin Thompson.
Substitute delegates: Robert Bailey for Bruce Kotowich, Linda West for Charles Veith, Anne
Davey for Grant Alexander.
Other faculty in attendance: Chris Owen, James Alexander.
A. Committees and Standing Reports
1. Minutes of December 7, 2001 meeting
The minutes of the December 7, 2001 meeting were approved without amendment.
Motion: Scott, Second: Matzen
2. Treasurer's Report
Secretary-Treasurer Julie Sawyer reported that rollover funds from the 2000/2001
academic year of $2,717 had been deposited in the current account. An error in billing for
the telephones in the Faculty Council office has been corrected, and $1,000 has been
transferred to Academic Affairs for the Noel-Levitz workshop. The current balance is just
over $4,000.
3. Welfare Committee Report
Vice President Alicia Casas reported that the form for the Faculty Welfare Committee
survey dealing with quality of life in the workspace is being constructed.
B. Old Business
1. On-line Survey
President Kenny Paris stated that he had consulted with Donna Wood on the on-line
survey of faculty perceptions of the Faculty Council. Paris indicated that the survey
should be sent to Faculty Council officers and delegates for comments by February 15.
The survey will then be distributed to the faculty, and Paris hoped to have results available
for the April meeting.
2. Textbook Problems
Paris reported that he was continuing discussions with President Williams and Vice
President Pate concerning problems with textbooks being available for all students in all
classes at the beginning of each semester.
3. NCA Site Visit
Paris told the council that the NCA site visit team would arrive in Tahlequah on Sunday,
February 10. He said that the requested breakfast meeting with the Faculty Council had
not yet been confirmed.
4. Appendix C
President Paris informed the council that he had sent a request to the college deans for
copies of any material developed at the college or department level concerning Appendix
C of the faculty handbook. In addition, he contacted all individuals who have applied for
tenure or promotion in the last two years under Appendix C. Paris said the response was
generally positive, although most of the respondents had indicated they had specific
questions or concerns. Paris, Dr. Pate and Dr. Johnnye Morton will be reviewing this
information in the next couple of weeks.
5. Office Hours Resolution
Kenny Paris stated that President Williams had given the office hours resolution to Vice
President Pate, who had in turn distributed it to the deans for comment. A response has
not yet been received.
C. New Business
1. Faculty Teaching Evaluation Instrument Committee
Paris appointed a committee to look into revising the form used by students to evaluate
faculty teaching. Committee members are Alicia Casas, John Milbauer, and Julie Sawyer
with Ted Legatski to serve as chair.
2. Report on AAHE Conference
Paris told the council that a team from NSU attended the AAHE Conference in Phoenix,
Arizona, on Faculty Roles and Rewards. Paris and Julie Sawyer attended workshops and
sessions. Sawyer participated in a "town meeting" style session for faculty leaders.
National issues discussed included unionization of faculty, restructuring of universities,
and a greater faculty voice in governance of institutions.
3. Invitation to NSU Student Government President
The council approved Paris' request to issue a standing invitation to the president of the
Student Government to attend Faculty Council meetings.
4. Providing Written Explanation to Faculty Terminated Prior to Tenure/Denied Tenure
President Paris stated that two bills were currently under consideration in the state
legislature which would require written explanation of dismissal, denial of tenure or denial
of promotion upon request of the faculty member. Paris said he had previously discussed
this issue with President Williams who preferred to keep this type of policy internal to
NSU. Members suggested that the Faculty Council pass a resolution supporting the
legislation. Discussion centered on the fact that a majority of those in attendance had not
read the actual bills and the short time line for action as the bills will be voted on in
committee next week. Paris asked John Milbauer to forward copies of the bills to council
members. It was the consensus of the council that Paris should once again discuss the
policy with President Williams.
5. Circle of Excellence Awards
Several topics concerning the Circle of Excellence Awards for teaching, service and
research were discussed by the council. James Alexander and Chris Owen were invited to
the council meeting to participate in the discussion. Alexander chaired a committee last
year that defined criteria for both submission of materials and selection of winners. Owen
said the new criteria had streamlined the process.
1) Openness of Process - President Paris informed the council that some faculty members
had criticized the selection process for the awards, stating that there is no access to the
documents submitted by the nominees. Objections to making the documents accessible
including a slowing down of the selection process and unwillingness of individuals to serve
on the committee if the evaluations were not confidential. Several council members
indicated that it might be beneficial to future nominees to be able to see what materials
previous winners had submitted. Gary Wickham suggested that materials related to
accomplishments of the winners should be put on public display as those accomplishments
should be celebrated. As a result of the discussions, two motions were passed:
#1 "The winners of the Circle of Excellence Awards each year will be
approached by the President of the Faculty Council to develop a forum for
public display of information relative to their credentials for winning
awards."
Motion: Wickham, Second: Choate
#2 "Applications of the winners of Circle of Excellence Awards will be kept in
the Faculty Council office for a period of five years and will be made
available for review by any interested party."
Motion: Davey, Second: Thompson
Both motions passed unanimously.
2) Repeat Winners - The limitation on the ability of any faculty member to win only one
Circle of Excellence Award in a lifetime was discussed by the council. Julie Sawyer
voiced an objection to the policy that a winner in one category was not eligible to win in
either of the other two categories. Discussion included the issues of overlap between
categories and wanting to "spread around" the awards since there are so many talented
faculty at NSU. The following motion was made by Anne Davey, "Faculty will be eligible
to win the Circle of Excellence Award once in each of the teaching, research, and service
categories. A minimum of five calendar years must have elapsed between awards in
different categories." The motion was seconded by Kin Thompson and passed
unanimously.
3) Paris appointed the selection committee for the 2002 awards. The committee will be
chaired by Dana Eversole (Arts and Letters) and will include representatives from each
college.
(Note: The composition of the committee was adjusted following the adjournment of the
meeting to ensure that each college was represented. The committee finalized by Paris
after the meeting included Rick Matzen (Math, Science, Nursing), Michelle Bither
(Optometry), Chris Owen (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Louis White (Education),
Catherine Ott (Library), and Mike Toyne (Business and Industry).
D. Other Business
1. Workshop
Paris issued a reminder that the Faculty Council will co-sponsor, with the Center for
Teaching and Learning, a workshop on "How to be an Effective Peer Observer" at 3:30
on February 19 in NET 614.
2. Branch Campus Delegates
Carol Choate brought a request from faculty at the Muskogee campus that Faculty
Council consider the issue of whether delegates from the branch campuses should be
added to the council.
E. Adjournment
The next meeting of the Faculty Council will be held on Friday, March 1, 2002 at 3:00 p.m. in the
Net Tower Room.
Submitted by Julie Sawyer, Secretary-Treasurer
Questions or Comments?
Please e-mail the council
president
or the secretary/treasurer.
