Florida A&M University
Faculty Senate
Faculty Senate of Florida A&M University
Minutes, Tuesday, April 17, 2001
The meeting of the Faculty Senate of Florida A&M University was held on Tuesday, April 17, 2001, in Lee Hall Auditorium at 3:00 p.m. Dr. Ada Puryear Burnette, President of the Faculty Senate, presided over the meeting.
1. Attendance
Faculty Senators and others in attendance were asked to sign the attendance roster. The following persons were in attendance, as indicated by the attendance roster.
Officers
Dr. Ada Puryear Bumette, President
Dr. Dreamal Worthen, Vice President
Dr. Adeline L. Evans, Secretary
Dr. William Hudson, Parliamentarian
Dr. Clyde Ashley, Asst. Parliamentarian
Dr. Beulah Hemmingway, Immediate Past President (5th President)
Members
Dr: Doris Ballard-Ferguson
Dr. Emma Fenceroy
Dr. Shawnta Friday
Mr. John Grayson
Dr. Vivian Hobbs
Dr. Maurice Holder
Dr. Jeffrey Jacques
Dr. Bernadette Kelley
Mrs. Odies Knight
Dr. Lekan Latinwo
Dr. Larry Mengelkoch
Dr. Abigail Mobley
Dr. Wendell Motter
Dr. Hudson Nwakanma
Dr. Ebenezer Oriaku
Dr. Donald Palm
Dr. Gary Paul
Mr. Thomas Pugh
Dr. Nanda Shrestha
Dr. Marian Smith
Dr. Melinda Smith
Dr. Frances Stallworth
Dr. Charles Stanley
Mrs. Cornelia A. Taylor
Dr. Michael Thomas
Dr. William Tucker
Mr. Luther Wells
Professor Roosevelt Wilson
Others
Voting Ex-Officio Senators
Dr. Arthur Washington
SGA (Voting)
Non-voting Ex-officio Officers
Additional Faculty and University Officials
II. Correspondence
President Burnette called on Dr. Evans, Secretary, to read the correspondence.
Dr. Evans read a memorandum from Mr. Michael A. James, University Registrar, regarding the "Summer 2001 Calendar Correction." The memorandum read as follows:
This is to inform you that Summer Term `A&C' 2001 starting date is incorrect. The correct date for classes to begin is Tuesday, May 8, 2001. (The Summer 2001 Calendar was enclosed.)
III. Reports
President Burnette asked Faculty Senators to sit in the center seats. She also reported the following:
a. The last meeting of the Faculty Senate will be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2001. Kindly encourage all faculty members to attend the final meeting.
b. May we have a moment of silence in memory of the daughters of two faculty members - Dr. Eva Wanton's daughter passed a couple of weeks ago and Dr. Russell daughter passed last week; Mrs. B. Clarke, retired professor of mathematics, and charter member of the Tallahassee Chapter of Jack and Jill of America and founder of Kappa Iota Chapter of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society and Beta Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; and Dr. A. S. Shetty, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
c. As yet I do not have an office manager, and two students are helping to carry the load. Ms. Platt has received financial aid to attend Florida State University to earn a Ph.D. in business management in the fall.
d. The Academic Deans have been sent notices to have faculty voting for their Faculty Senators as a follow-up to earlier requests. Since some units have additional faculty, they will have additional Senators, such as in the College of Arts and Sciences. Every unit has at least two faculty Senators. Deans were also advised to report SPEP results.
e. This year the Teacher/Advisor of the Year Awards will be presented during the Employee Awards program. However, the University President will recognize the winners at the University Commencement. The awardees will serve, to the extent possible, as University Marshals.
f. Last week, Representative Curtis Richardson called a town meeting on FAMU Leadership. He had on his panel Regents Steven Uhlfelder, Dr. A.L. Evans, Mr. John Winn, Mr. Andre Gilliam, Dr. Ada Puryear Burnette, Mr. Reginald Mitchell, and Representative Fredericka Wilson.
g. Dr. Worthen will give a report on the Committee on Committees and Mrs. Crump gave a report at the Library Committee last time. Both committees have met.
Dr. Jeffrey Jacques asked if the Curriculum Committee will meet during the summer, as his department has some major curriculum changes to make. Dr. Burnette said that, although Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji would not like to meet, she might convince him to meet once during the summer.
President Burnette said that Dr. Ballard-Ferguson had a meeting scheduled but the attendance was poor. She added that perhaps there were problems in getting information on the meeting date and time.
President Burnette called Dr. Evans to report on the Tenure and Promotion Ad Hoc Committee. Dr. Evans said that she would continue to contact members on her committee about the recommendation from a member of the Faculty Senate concerning the approval of the faculty and deans for tenure.
President Burnette said that it is important to have tenure recommendations in place before the Local Board of Trustees takes over. She also said that the present educational reorganization process has been time-consuming and its clarifications are ongoing.
President Burnette said that the Faculty Senate did send a letter (dated Feb. 7) to the Governor, BOR, Senator Graham and others. She also said that Dr. Bolden is not here because she was attending an out-of-town professional meeting.
President Burnette explained that the Interim President will be named soon, and that faculty should be among the team for the required training of the Board of Trustees. She indicated that students have already received representation on the BOT, but faculty has not been included.
A quorum was present.
President Burnette emphasized that all of us should be together, especially since academic freedom, tenure and promotion, and union representation are among major legislative and Board of Trustees issues.
President Burnette said that revisions, as given by Dr. Evans, have not been made in the March minutes but they will be made by the next meeting. She asked that if Faculty Senators had additional revisions, they should send changes to the Faculty Senate Office.
Dr. Larry Mengelkoch said that his title was not correct on the attendance roster. The correction will be made.
IV. Curriculum Committee
President Bumette presented Dr. Nnaji who reported for the Curriculum Committee. Dr. Nnaji said that the Curriculum Committee had been meeting regularly for the last several months. Further, he said that several course requests had been made to increase the number of courses in the social sciences. Lastly, he said that the Department of Foreign Languages requested new tracks in foreign language, such as a B.A. in French, and an A.B. in Spanish with certification.
Dr. Nnaji moved that his report be accepted. The motion passed.
V. Committee on Committees
Dr. Worthen, Chair of Committee on Committees, gave the following recommendations from her Committee:
a. To facilitate full participation of all Committee members, the Committee should meet at times other than Sam - 5pm, Monday - Friday.
b. Blocks of time should be set-aside on the University calendar for faculty meetings.
c. Unit representatives should supply names of individuals who are interested in participating in Committee assignments.
d. Each committee chair should be given a survey to determine the number of meetings, number of committee members in attendance, program goals, objectives, and achievements, recommendations for next year, and needs of the committee.
Dr. Worthen moved that her report be accepted. The motion passed.
President Burnette said that Faculty Senators should be mindful of sending in names of faculty who really want to participate in the Senate. Further, she said that she had sent a copy of the new Senator election form to all the academic deans.
President Burnette said that she requested the names of the candidates for the Interim President, but Dr. Hample refused to send the names to her. She said that even Mr. Eddie Jackson could not get the names. Furthermore, she said she would request the names again.
President Burnette said that Florida State University and the University of Florida Board of Trustees have allegedly been selected.
VI. Department/College/School Plans of Action
President Burnette introduced Dr. Clyde Ashley to report on the Department/ College/School Plans of Action.
Dr. Ashley said that each college/school should prepare a report for the new administration to include the following:
o Organizational Structure
o Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives
o Duties and Responsibilities for all employees
o Faculty Assignments
o Professional Development (faculty and students)
o Core Curriculum
o University Requirements
o Service Courses
o Number of Students with Degrees in pursuit/granted.
o Customer Satisfaction (internal and external)
o Performance Measures (admission policy, graduation requirements, retention rates, advisement policy, tutorials, technology, etc.)
o Effective Processes
o Teaching Effectiveness (methodologies)
o Research
o Community Service
o Constraints (classrooms, buildings, etc.)
o Solutions
o A Business Assessment (S.W.O.T. Analysis)
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
The report should be completed by May 11, 2001, with approval by the reporting faculty and dean within each unit. The approved document should be filed in the Office of the Faculty Senate, Provost and President by June 1, 2001, the last day of the Provost's employment.
Senators responded to the report from Dr. Ashley with the following comments and questions:
One senator asked, "Does not the deadline seem very aggressive? The time is short and impossible to do by the deadline." Dr. Ashley responded by saying that the document should be completed by the last working day of the Provost.
Dr. Washington said that the documents for the report are already in place, but the configuration of the document would take too long.
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Dr. Donald Palm asked if there would be a uniform format for each college to follow. Dr. Ashley responded, "Yes, with more specificity."
Dr. Washington said that since each college and school has a different mission, the information each would provide would be different. Furthermore, he said that Dr. Ammons had requested this important information six months ago. Dr. Ashley responded that each college/school has not put together a SWOT report.
Dr. Maurice Holder said, "I appreciate the Senator's efforts to bring us to the present. However, we must ask what is the purpose of the report. Furthermore, he said that perhaps we should accept the report, but not accept it as a principle or policy."
Dr. Fenceroy said, "I don't think that we are asked to do something that is extraordinary. Most of the documents should already be in place, and it would only be a matter of organizing them.
Dr. Ashley said that he thinks this is a great idea to have our documents organized in a Two-to-FiveYear Strategic Plan.
Dr. Washington said that since most have these documents, perhaps the Senate could place them in an organized manner.
Dr. Wendell Motter said that most of the documents are in the annual reports of each college/school, and that they have an annual report for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Worthen said that since each college or school had a representative on the Committee on Committees, the representatives could ascertain what is missing.
Dr. Hudson Nwakanma said that faculty members should look into the future and see that their mode of operation has to change. Furthermore, he said that this is one way to be proactive.
Dr. Fenceroy said that each unit should have an operational manual, and each should analyze what it has and what needs to be done.
Dr. Ashley said that with all the new appointments by the BOR and the Board of Trustees, the University will need to show others that its business is in order.
A motion was made to accept the report. Dr. Worthen moved that the report be adopted. The motion was rescinded.
Dr. Holder said that a plan must be made to have the report done in a timely manner. He indicated that maybe the representatives from each unit could be responsible for the report.
Dr. Washington said that to do the report by the deadline would be impossible, especially since we have NCATE to complete.
Dr. Worthen reiterated that the representatives on the Committee on Committees could serve as contact persons for the respective schools and colleges.
Dr. Shawnta Friday suggested that the diskettes on which the documents have been placed could be used to organize and develop the respective reports.
Dr. Ashley said that each report should be no longer than fifteen (15) pages.
Dr. Worthen moved that the report be adopted. It was suggested that the deadline be extended to June 1, 2001. She also suggested that the Committee on Committees set a timeline for the development of the report.
Dr. Fenceroy indicated that the items proposed for the report are already in her department.
Dr. Worthen said that she does not accept the amendment to her motion, (that the deadline be extended) since the Interim President would be here July 1, 2001.
The motion was amended to say that the Faculty Senate adopts Dr. Ashley's proposal that includes a specific format and the Committee on Committee representatives serve as contact persons to the respective colleges and schools. The motion passed.
VII. Culture and Climate Committee
Dr. Vivian Hobbs reported that faculty is concerned about student services. Specifically, their concerns are customer service to students, financial aid questions on statements, faculty and staff treatment and action towards students, and instructional methods that do not infringe on the 120 hours for a degree. Dr. Hobbs moved that her report be accepted. The motion passed.
VIII. Communications
Dr. William Tucker said that the University family needs to communicate with one another. He commented about the fact that the University Dining Hall is no longer available for talking and eating.
Dr. Tucker also said that the Town Hall meeting sponsored by Representative Curtis Richardson was not publicized well. He related that he did not find out about it until Monday morning, which was too late to get better attendance at the meeting. Lastly, he said that the University that is fully wired is one interested in the Internet for its faculty such as the new President of Morris Brown College who said that faculty and students are required to have laptops.
President Burnette said that the Faculty should be interested in attending the Faculty Senate meeting, but they do not view it as a serious thing. She also said that communication is very important. A fully wired campus would make this easier.
Dr. Motter said that he took the Faculty Senate position paper to the legislators to Senator Al Lawson who has worked on behalf of FAMU and state workers. He continued that the Senate Education Reorganization Bill was inate Bill 2108.
Dr. Jones suggested that a block of time be set aside for meetings. Dr. Tucker said that it would be nice to have a place where faculty members could meet on a regular basis.
Professor Roosevelt Wilson said that regardless of technology we are not relieved of our responsibility to know what is happening. In addition, he said that we must educate ourselves on what is happening.
President Burnette said that she has asked for the e-mail addresses of Senators for a longtime, but still does not have all of them. Some faculty members do not yet have email and there is no single e-mail address posting to enhance communication. She also said she is aware that in some units faculty members do not get their mail in a timely manner.
Professor Wilson said that we should have faculty members who will not take the time to find out what is happening.
IX. Interim President and Interim Provost
President Burnette called Dr. Bernadette Kelley to report on the straw vote for the Interim President and Interim Provost positions, which was requested at a Faculty Senate meeting of representatives of all campus groups. Dr. Kelley passed out sheets for faculty to select a local person for Interim President and Interim Provost. She reported that several local persons were nominated for the two positions. She also said that she would report on the results later.
X. Board of Trustees
President Burnette passed out the list of names for Board of Trustee members nominated to date and sent by various groups and individuals to Governor Jeb Bush. The list was provided per her request by the Governor's office. However, she said she could not get the names of the Interim President candidates, even through the intercession of the Governor's Office, since Interim Chancellor Judy Hample has refused to release the names that she sent to the Executive Search.
Dr. Ashley said that he is willing to work with the members of the Committee on Committees to formalize a format for the reports.
An announcement was made that FAMU is now a part of the Caribbean plan.
XI. Adjournment
President Burnette declared the meeting adjourned at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Adeline Evans
Secretary of the Faculty Senate
Ms. Breda Platt
Graduate Assistant of the Faculty Senate
NEXT MEETINGS / DEADLINES
The last meeting of the Faculty Senate will be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2001, at 3:00pm in Lee Hall Auditorium.
The first meeting of the Faculty Senate and the Installation of New Senators will be held on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, at 3:00pm in Lee Hall Auditorium.
Call meetings of the Faculty Senate may be held during the summer months, since many internal and external changes may necessitate such action.