NORTHEASTERN
STATE UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, December 5, 2003
[Revised and Approved February 6, 2004]
A. Welcome
President Wickham called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
Council Members in attendance: Grant Alexander (Business & Technology), Terri Baker (Arts & Letters), Dan Glasgow (Education), Harriett Hobbs (for Linda West, Library), Andre Marquis (Social & Behavioral Sciences), Diana Mashburn (Math, Science & Nursing), Rick Matzen (Math, Science & Nursing), Jeff Miller (Optometry), Jackie Schumaker (Library), David Scott (for Bill Wallace, Arts & Letters), Debbie Smith (Education), and Hank Van Veen (for Latricia Pack, Optometry).
Council Officers in attendance: M. Gary Wickham (President), Andrew Vassar (Vice President), and Chuck Ziehr (Secretary/Treasurer).
Others in attendance: John Yeutter
B. Committees and Standing Reports
1. Minutes of October 3, 2003 meeting
A motion to approve the minutes as revised was made by Marquis,
seconded by Scott, and approved by the Council.
2. Minutes of November 7, 2003 meeting
A motion to approve the minutes as revised was made by Alexander,
seconded by Glasgow, and approved by the Council.
3. Treasurer's Report
President Wickham stated that the Council has a balance of $4,349.44 in its account. The only expenditures since last month have been $20 telephone bill and $124.56 for President Wickham for travel to the Faculty Advisory Council meeting at the State Regents Office.
4. Faculty Welfare Committee Report
There was no report from the committee.
C. Old Business
1. Circle of Excellence
a. Bricks
It has been determined that a
mortuary in Muskogee can engrave the bricks in place, but this has not
yet been done.
b. Circle of Excellence Comittee for
2003-2004 academic year
President Wickham announced the
committee that he had appointed. Dana Eversole will chair the
committee. Members include Celia Stall-Meadows (chair-designate),
Thomas Salmon, Lallie Scott, Sarah Brick-Archer, Dan Glasgow, Rick
Matzen, and Gary Wickham (ex-officio).
2. Mission Statement for the Faculty Council
President Wickham appointed a
committee composed of Andre Marquis, Dan Glasgow, and Chuck Ziehr.
The committee is to present a draft for Council consideration at
its February 2004 meeting.
3. Survey of Faculty Attitudes about Current Events
President Wickham is still
interested in surveying the faculty in order to have specific
information with which to represent the faculty. He will revise
the proposed survey questionnaire in light of the October general
faculty meeting. Rick Matzen encouraged the faculty to respond to
the "citizenship" survey that had been distributed to the faculty via
e-mail. The citizenship survey is part of the civic engagement
effort being promoted by the State Regents.
4. Petition Requesting a University-Wide Faculty Meeting
Following considerable discussion
of the current state of the budgetary situation at NSU, it was moved
(Terri Baker) and seconded (Grant Alexander) that the general faculty
meeting in October called by President Williams satisfied the call of
the petition for a Faculty Association meeting. The motion passed
unanimously.
C. New Business
1. There is a possible inequity in the retirement supplement calculations. Southeastern’s Council proposed a resolution stating, "The retirement supplement for all faculty should be calculated on the basis of the average annual contract for the three highest paid years plus up to twenty percent of that average contract based on an average of any additional salary amounts-i.e., summer, intersession, overload, etc.-in the same three highest paid years." Can we support this?
Considerable discussion included noting that both Regents and OTRS supplements exclude faculty summer pay, whether the retirement supplement is now based on last 5 years rather than 3 years, and whether there may be more than one set of retirement supplement rules. President Wickham will respond to Brett Elliott at SEOSU and note our concerns for more information.
2. Has Handbook section 7.23, "TIAA Retirement Annuity," been officially changed?"
Yes, apparently, section 7. 23, July 2003 handbook now uses the word "may" instead of "shall." It was noted that the faculty was not informed of this change until 44 days after the effective date. The Council expressed concern that material changes in the policies in the handbook could be made without timely notification to the faculty.
There were also questions about how much leave time must be accumulated to count as an additional year of service for retirement purposes. President Wickham is to contact Tim Foutch about this matter.
The Council requested that the most current Faculty Handbook be put online as a .pdf file.
3. Will NSU employees get a written
document identifying
the monthly amount of the TIAA-CREF contribution that now goes to
salary
or to a new retirement supplement?
Kim Cherry will be asked about this.
4. The parking space to bed ratio for the major
new housing project north of the Library is about 2:3. This meets
city code but will this project cause problems with parking in adjacent
lots?
Concern was expressed about
access to the Library, Wilson, and old-tennis court parking lots.
Pat Johnston will be asked about this.
D. Other Business
1. Retirement dinner for Vice President Howard
President Wickham remarked
about the pleasant evening of dinner and conversation that marked Jim
Howard's retirement.
He noted that this is a good example of the type of event that
could
be given to honor retiring faculty.
2. Faculty at the University of Arkansas
passed a vote of no confidence in their Regents for approving the
transfer of courses with a grade of D.
It was requested that more
information be found out about this issue.
3. Late night breakfast
There will be a free late
night breakfast
on Dec. 10 during finals week for students. Faculty members are
encouraged to volunteer to serve at this event.
E. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned
at about
5:00 p.m.
Submitted by Chuck Ziehr, Secretary-Treasurer
1/29/04