FACULTY ORGANIZATIONMINUTES |
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November 2003 |
FACULTY ORGANIZATION
MINUTES
NOVEMBER 21, 2003
1. Call to Order
President Vinodgopal called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m.
2. Minutes of the October 17, 2003 Meeting
A motion to approve the minutes was offered by Dr. Jim Tolhuizen and seconded by Dr. Geoff Schultz. Motion was approved by all.
3. Chancellor Report
The Chancellor announced that the Strategic Planning Process is well under way with many important issues to be discussed this year.
He also reported that Dr. Nikita Pokrovsky, our Fulbright Scholar from Moscow State University will be giving a talk on December 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Library Conference Center. Nikita will discuss "Globalization and Tradition." Thanks was given to the International Affairs Club (IAC).
Dr. John Poulard, IAC sponsor, complained to the Chancellor that someone was taking down announcements of Nikita's talk from the campus bulletin boards. The Chancellor assured John that: "Our flyer policy is not taking down your flyers, John."
Dr. Robin Hass-Birky then asked why the approved faculty positions had not been released. The Chancellor responded that she would need to address that question to the Interim Vice Chancellor, Marilyn Vasquez. Anna Rominger, Dean of Business, added that the money for the positions may be held up until the state budget stabilizes. This decision, she said, would prevent the termination of people at a later date due to an over-extended budget.
Vinod then asked members of the campus budget committee about these position releases. All members who were present recalled emailing approval, a week or so ago, for all position that Marilyn had released. Dr.Geoff Schultz reported that he had only approved the positions that morning; he was thus jokingly held responsible for the failure to release the positions.
4. Vice Chancellor's Report
VC Marilyn Vasquez was unable to attend the meeting. Associate Vice Chancellor Joe Pellicciotti reported that the campus was about to undergo a review by the Institutional Research Board from Indianapolis. He explained that all human subject research on the South Bend campus had been stopped because of serious violations in the review process. Dr. Mary Ann Fisher, Psychology, will work with the IRB while they are on campus.
5. Committee Reports
Dr. Don Coffin, Business, was asked to report on UFC. Unfortunately, Don reported that he had suddenly suffered a "brain-cramp" and would be unable to report; he had also left his notes in his office.
6. Other Business
Dr. Iztok Hozo, Mathematics, and Dr. Don Coffin reported findings from their ad hoc group charged by the Executive Committee. Their data suggested that as tenure track positions are decreasing on our campus, lecturer positions are increasing. These results represent, Iztok believes, a movement away from hiring tenure track faculty. Robin Hass-Birky commented that such a trend could impact negatively on student learning. Dr. Rik Hug, Interim Director, SPEA, encouraged Robin to support her statement with hard data.
7. Adjournment
At 11:05 a.m. a motion to adjourn was offered by Dr. Jim Tolhuizen and seconded by Dr. Robin Hass-Birky. It was accepted gratefully by all.
Respectfully,
Geoff Schultz, Secretary
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