Minutes

General Faculty Meeting

Thursday July 22, 2004

Burruss Auditorium

12 noon

 

Prof. David Brani, Moderator of the Faculty presided, Nancy Reichert, Acting Secretary.

 

        I.      Approval of Minutes

                      Moderator suggested that the approval of the minutes for the General Faculty meeting of April 22, 2004 be postponed due to the short notice for today’s meeting.

                      A motion was made and carried to postpone approval until the next general faculty meeting.

      II.      Approval of Graduates

                      The list of students applying for graduation Summer 2004 was approved.

    III.      Comments by the VPAA

                      Contracts.  Dr. Hornbeck apologized for the various errors made concerning the current contracts.  In some cases stipends were left off, dates were incorrect, and/or the pay schedule was incorrect.  Corrections will be made.

                      Fall Kickoff.  The fall kickoff will begin on August 17th. The VPAA will mail all faculty relevant schedule changes.  The change will enable the President to call a general faculty meeting for the week of August 16.  Discussion ensued.  Faculty concerns dealt with the lateness of the notice for change, the preference for a general faculty meeting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, and the disruption to personal schedules.  The VPAA will consider having the President call for the meeting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

                      Budget.  SPSU will receive around $1.5 million in new money.  Around $880,000 will be allocated to Academic Affairs.  Of this money, approximately $360,000 is needed for the six, currently advertised positions. Also, due to the decline in budget the past three years, this increase should not be categorized as a windfall.

                      New Faculty Positions.  Departments are to identify all faculty positions that need to be filled. The VPAA will create a prioritized list. Positions will be staffed based on the 2006 budget. Advertisements for approved positions are to begin as soon as practical. The VPAA recognizes the need to begin advertising early in the Fall. Dean approval is required before any position is to be advertised.

                      Graduation.  All faculty are invited to attend the summer graduation ceremony.  Summer faculty members are expected to attend graduation.

                       

                      Department Budgets.  Department chairs should know by the end of summer the final departmental budget.  Deans will help make budget decisions concerning the size of the OSE and Travel budgets for the departments within their school.

                      Fall Final Exam Schedule.  The anticipated date for release is shortly after drop/add. Classes scheduled outside of the block schedule and the number of two-day classes makes it difficult to schedule all exams within the allotted exam dates. For future terms, securing an earlier release date may require an additional exam day.

                       

   IV.      Other Business

                      Election of new moderator. The current moderator will be on leave of absence for the upcoming academic year. Secretary Mark Stevens will serve as moderator until a new moderator is elected. An election will be conducted at the next general faculty meeting. Faculty may submit names to the secretary prior to this meeting.

                       

                      Joyce Mills announced that faculty will again be dressing on the lower level of the architecture building for the summer graduation.

 

                       

     V.      Adjournment

                      A motion was made and carried to adjourn.

                       

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                       

Nancy Reichert,

Acting Secretary

 

                                                                                                                                               

David M. Brani                                              David E. Hornbeck

Moderator and President, Faculty Senate Vice President, Academic Affairs