FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

These minutes may be accessed electronically at:
http://fp.arizona.edu/senate/minutes.htm
Visit the faculty governance webpage at:
http://fp.arizona.edu/senate

1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair and Presiding Officer Wanda Howell at 3:04 p.m. in the College of Law, Room 140.

7. MILLENNIUM PROJECT REPORT (attachment)
Hearing no objection from the Senate, Vice Chair Howell took Agenda Item 7, the Millennium Project Report out of order, to accommodate the presenter’s time conflict. Dr. Naomi Miller noted that Senators received an executive summary report in their packets; the complete report is available on the web at http://www.arizona.edu/~millen/index.html. In the spring of 1999, she presented the concept of the Millennium Project to identify and improve the campus climate for ethnic and female faculty members. The Millennium Project Committee collected data through 250 interviews with individual faculty members and focus discussion groups including those with ethnic, gender and disability concerns, and from a 1998-99 UCLA national survey of 378 institutions of higher education which included 837 UA responses. The Faculty Senate was specifically invited and did participate in a discussion group. The Project was supervised by a campus advisory board, a community advisory board, and a national advisory board. The Millennium Project Report Action Agenda recommendations call for a more diverse, fair, and hospitable community at the University of Arizona. The Millennium Report Oversight Committee (MROC) is charged with considering how to implement the Action Agenda. Provost Davis has asked every dean to organize a college Millennium College Advisory Committee that may generate models for change. The College of Medicine also did its own study, the GRACE Project, which is imbedded in the Millennium Project Report. Furthermore, the Academic Council has formed a subcommittee on diversity. Although not recommended by the Millennium Project Report and not viable at this time, the potential for a Vice-Provost for Diversity exists and the Millennium Committee is encouraging any and all ideas. Dr. Miller said a campus-wide salary equity review process could be conducted annually to identify and rectify salary inequities. Millennium II will consider the issues of staff and appointed personnel. N. Miller invited the Senators to consider forming a Senate Millennium sub-committee or to charge a Senate standing committee with prioritizing and making recommendations on the Action Agenda. MROC welcomes the Senate’s involvement and feedback and intends to facilitate, coordinate, and avoid duplication of efforts.

2. OPEN SESSION
Ms. Debbie Collazo – Citizen Collazo thanked the ASUA students who petitioned and demonstrated to save the Joseph Wood Krutch Cactus Garden and also thanked President Likins for granting tenure to the boojum trees. She asked the Senate to consider passing a resolution to preserve the garden now and for the future. (Ms. Collazo’s complete statement is available in the Faculty Center.)

Senator William Bickel – Senator Bickel stated his concern about extraordinary delay in reporting the outcome of the CAFT-Kay case, which concluded last Spring 2001. He said he is submitting a formal public records request for the amount of money UA has spent for litigation in the Kay case since October 2001, for litigation involving Senator Roy Spece since 1990, and for litigation in all other cases involving employees’ lawsuits against the University over the last ten years. Senator Bickel also inquired why the request to place the Kay case on the Senate agenda was not honored and he asked to have this statement included as part of the February 4, 2002 Senate proceedings, which he said has not been done with his earlier statements. (Senator Bickel’s complete statement is available in the Faculty Center.)

Senator Peter Medine – Regarding his January 14 New Business request to place two items on the Senate Agenda, Senator Medine explained that he did receive an email message from the Faculty Center on behalf of the Senate Executive Committee requesting additional background information about those items. Due to a computer glitch he did not read this message in time to respond for the Senate Executive Committee’s agenda deadline. He does not fault the Faculty Center or the Executive Committee, although he does not understand why a Senator cannot request an item to be placed on the Senate’s Agenda.

Dr. Tim Jull – Dr. Jull, Chair of the Appointed Personnel Organization and a scientist in Geosciences, remarked that many staff and appointed personnel are experiencing fears about layoffs and salary adjustments while massive construction projects continue all over campus. He asked the faculty and the administration to consider the good of the University as a whole and to seriously consider the message being sent to staff, appointed personnel, and to faculty at the moment, which is that "there’s no money, but there’s lots of money."

Mr. Jay Rochlin – Mr. Rochlin, Associate Director of the Alumni Association and editor of the Alumni magazine, provided an update regarding the Alumni Plaza Project. The Alumni Plaza Committee unanimously recommended to PADRAC that they accept a design that incorporates the cactus garden into the entire Alumni Plaza design. David Duffy will take charge of the micro-design of the garden itself and will appoint a committee made up of members from Facilities Management, the architecture firm, the Alumni Association Board, the Alumni Association Plaza Committee and the Arboretum Committee, which also unanimously endorsed accepting a design that incorporates the cactus garden. Assuming approval at the PADRAC meeting on February 8 at 1:00, the project will go into schematic designs and go out for bids. Construction would begin during winter break prior to Spring Semester 2003 continuing through the summer of 2003. The proposed conceptual designs are available at the Alumni Association office.

3. REPORTS
3A. ASUA President Ray Quintero
No report

3B. GPSC President Kirsten Price
No report. Senator Price will provide her report to the Senators via e-mail. (attachment)

3C. Vice Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell
Vice Chair Howell responded to Senator Medine’s January 14 request for two agenda items. Immediately following that Senate meeting, she instructed Faculty Center staff to ask Senator Medine about the specific issues of his request regarding the Kay case, because the Senate had passed several motions that might have conflicted with the request for discussion. In the absence of Dr. Medine’s response, the Senate Executive Committee decided not to place that item on the agenda. The Senate Executive Committee is working with the Parliamentarian to clarify the rules for adding items to the agenda and will be bringing a draft of this section for the Senate Handbook for the Senate’s ratification. Petitions and biostatements for the faculty elections are due February 14. Senators who are not seeking re-election are asked to notify the Faculty Center so that other candidates may be identified in time for the elections so we may avoid having to hold special elections.

3E. Chair of the Faculty Jory Hancock
Chair Hancock acknowledged Naomi Miller’s enthusiasm, commitment and hard work on the Millennium Project and for personally reporting to the Senate about the process and outcomes. The study is called a project because the work is still underway and faculty and Senate participation are still requested. Most deans and some faculty members attended Provost Davis and Vice President Taylor’s retreat earlier this year and received a charge to create a compelling case for diversity and some college level task forces have already been created. Patti Ota’s report on financial aid to the Arizona Board of Regents’ (ABOR) included the fact that despite Arizona’s low tuition, 49^th in the country, we received a C- or a D+ for access. Many Regents previously thought that keeping the tuition low would provide more students access, but that is not the case, and some Regents may support a different kind of tuition structure in the future. Although Arizona’s economy and budget remain a continuing concern, the progress on the University’s financial aid structure is good news. The strategy among the legislature’s democrats is to delay decisions for as long as possible hoping the economy will improve in the next two months.

3F. Provost George Davis
Provost Davis described the stewardship of the Proposition 301 money. ABOR approved several budget changes to allow the three universities maximum flexibility to move Proposition 301 money quickly and effectively from operations, personnel, and capital as the departments implement the specific agendas. Initial receipts indicate that UA’s conservative projection of $16.3M for FY2001-02 is on target and this money is being protected from the state’s budget rescissions. The UA’s Prop 301 funds must be spent as intended, in access, workforce, biotechnology, information technology, water and optics. Faculty action committees generate ideas in each of these six areas and Provost Davis meets monthly with an executive committee composed of the heads of each of these areas to plan and make decisions for this 20-year effort. In the access area, UA has launched a project to provide high-speed connectivity to Sierra Vista, UA South, Fort Huachuca and the southeast Arizona community through leasing high-speed optical fiber. One possible use for this link will be in Arizona Rural Telemedicine. The workforce focus is primarily on math and science teachers. "Teach for Tucson," is a one-year program recruiting individuals with degrees in related areas that will then receive a Master’s degree, on-site experience, and teaching certificate. The College of Science’s science teacher program is also receiving Prop 301 funds. Biotechnology is focusing on framing an institute and recruiting very high quality faculty. Information technology is emphasizing the relationships between technology and commerce, partnering with ASU to create Connection One, a state center for high quality interconnectivity between institutions of higher learning, business, and government. Optical Science is also emphasizing recruitment of high quality faculty without a clear departmental association. UA and Washington may partner for an NSF grant center on materials and devices for information technology and research with an instructional component with web-based, interlinked materials from K-12 through sophisticated research scientists. The water initiatives hope to harness the four federally sponsored water institutes in the range from fundamental research to water use policy development. An investment of $.5M in Technology Transfer for 2001-02 has resulted in 5 spin-off firms, 44 inventions disclosures, and 21 licenses and options.

3G. President Peter Likins
President Likins stated that he would not comment on the substance of the Marguerite Kay case as long as the matter is before the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. He has not yet received that panel’s report, although he has been told that it is complete and has been sent to Dr. Kay for her response. When he receives the panel’s report, he will respond within the stated interval. In an essay written for the Wildcat, President Likins compares "The Battle of the Boojums" to the Battle of New Orleans, which was fought well after the truce in Europe was signed, due to the length of time required to deliver the news across the Atlantic. Although the decision to save the boojums was made last December 2001, he has been unable to quell all of the "after the fact" communications, editorials, protests, demonstrations, and petitions. He hopes PADRAC will accept a plan that calls for expanding the Cactus Garden. Regarding the battle of the budget, ABOR requested each university president to report orally on how they were handling this year’s rescission. Although UA has met its initial 4% obligation, the additional .56% ($2M) has not yet been resolved. Some adjunct faculty, facilities personnel, and temporary employee layoffs, as well as some canceled sections of classes were necessary for this term and could worsen for FY2003-04. Although students may have had less variety in their class selections, no one was denied a prerequisite or a required class for graduation. Following a long struggle, the universities have succeeded in persuading ABOR to give them substantially more flexibility in tuition waivers and financial aid decisions. This flexibility will be accompanied by corresponding accountability. Changes in the financial aid constraints will be presented at the March ABOR meeting. President Likins believes that significantly higher tuition and greater financial aid will increase access for Arizona’s poorest students. Fred T. Boice and Robert B. Bulla are the two new Regents. ABOR’s study session involved strategizing to attract the International Genomics Consortium to Arizona. This is an organization created by people central to the NIH Human Genome Project.
 
4. QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD
Senator Witte asked the Vice Chair to seriously consider not obstructing or censoring the ability of a Senator or a group of senators to place any item on the Senate’s agenda. She asked President Likins whether the area of the Alumni Plaza surrounding the Cactus Garden would be reflective of the University’s attitude to honor people who donate money. President Likins responded that the University has no funds to improve the outdoor space between the Integrated Learning Facility and the new Student Union. Knowing that the Alumni Association has long been interested in building undergraduates’ recognition of UA’s traditions and legacies, he approached the Board and the Alumni Plaza idea evolved as a gathering place. The plan calls for preserving, enlarging, identifying plants, and creating walkways in the cactus garden. No donor has been identified, and the recent negative publicity may hurt Alumni Association’s efforts to raise the funds to build the Plaza.

5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 14, 2002
The minutes of January 14, 2002 were approved as distributed. Because it is of immediate concern, Senators Witte and Medine moved [Motion 2001/02-8] to take Agenda Item 9, the Faculty Salary Increase, out of order. Motion was seconded and passed with two opposed.

9. DISCUSSION OF FACULTY SALARY INCREASE
Senator Schooley, who is a member of the Provost’s University Compensation Advisory Team (UCAT), reported that this committee met on January 17, 2002 to reconsider its draft policy recommendations of November 15, 2001. Staff Advisory Council (SAC) and Appointed Personnel Organization Council (APOC) both recommended across-the board distribution and those recommendations were received without objection. UCAT’s Salary Distribution memo has since been released to the campus community. The guidelines provide for classified staff and non-faculty appointed personnel to receive 5% across the board distribution. For faculty and administrators, a $1500 across-the-board increase allows the additional money to be distributed according to merit. SPBAC also strongly recommended maximum flexibility to allow unit heads to address compression and inequity. Senators’ questions and comments included the following: 1) According to the "Philosophy and Intent" section of the January 30, 2002 "Guidelines for Merit Adjustment for Faculty and Administrators," does the "deans’ and vice presidents’ maximum flexibility" mean that a college might not receive 5%? No. 2) Does it mean that a department might not receive 5%? Not sure. 3) What is the composition of UCAT and how many members are elected faculty? UCAT is composed of about 16 members appointed by the President and includes deans, SAC and APOC members, and two elected faculty Senate members. 4) Since the Senate speaks for the general faculty, and since the Senate has twice voted to distribute any increases of 5% or less as across-the-board, it appears that the general faculty’s voice is being abrogated. 5) Are any other state employees being treated this way? Senators Schooley and O’Brien presented the Faculty Senate’s resolution for 5% across-the-board increases to UCAT, where it was met with a number of objections from deans and others including college faculty governance groups. The end consensus was to allow flexibility. 6) It is more fair and more equitable to give the 5% across the board increases to all faculty, including those with outstanding merit, compressed salaries, or an inequitable salary, than to rely on the non-uniform merit system that is in place on this campus. The Guidelines describe how the operating units, through a faculty governance mechanism, have authority to determine the allocation of the merit portion up to 10%. Each dean will receive an allocation from the provost and will then receive input from faculty governance groups and department heads. Any increase over 10% will need special approval from the Provost. 7) How can another committee overrule the Faculty Senate? Shared governance requires certain kinds of issues to be resolved by the Senate and some by the President, with appropriate consultation. The Senate, UCAT, the Cabinet, SPBAC, and the Regents all provided consultation. President Likins reluctantly accepted UCAT’s recommendations for across-the-board increases for SAC and APOC, and did not accept the Senate’s recommendation for across-the-board increases for faculty. 8) About five years ago, all deans were charged to create shared governance committees within their colleges. The plan to allow maximum flexibility should go before the colleges’ shared governance committees, and those groups could still recommend across-the-board increases within their units. 9) Shared governance remains inconsistent among campus departments and ranges from the most autocratic to the most democratic. 10) Allowing another committee to undercut the elected Senators’ recommendations is an issue of principle that affects the Senate’s credibility, accountability, and morale. Allowing another committee to override a Senate resolution may be unprecedented. 11) UA faculty members have suffered a ten- to fifteen-year documented slippage between merit and compensation that is accompanied by the slippage between average levels of compensation and those of our peers. In this instance, a 5% across-the-board increase would have addressed the 65-75% of the faculty who are underpaid. Those discrepancies will not only remain but will most certainly worsen. 12) UA’s faculty is statistically seriously under-compensated and the system for faculty compensation would require $66M to bring average salaries up to our peers. 13) According to the shared governance law, the faculty’s input should be considered at the highest level below the decision-maker, particularly with regard to merit.

6. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ON FACULTY GRIEVANCE POLICY (attachment)
Senator Mitchell acknowledged the valuable assistance of APPC chair Amy Williamsen who is ill today. In addition to the materials already distributed in the packets, Senators today received a set of flowcharts and Senator Spece’s proposed ten amendments. Senator Spece moved [Motion 2001/02-9] to table discussion of the Faculty Grievance Policy until the next regular Senate meeting. Motion was seconded and passed with two opposed and two abstentions. Senator Silverman suggested that this item precede the reports.

8. ACTION ON CONSENT AGENDA ITEM FORWARDED AS A SECONDED MOTION FROM SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE            (attachment)
The consent agenda item detailed at the end of these minutes was approved. [Motion 2001/02-10]

10.ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.