Present: Abbott-Kirk, Adams, Baird, Beck, Bowery, Buddo, Carini, Cox, Counts, Curtis, Davis, Dunn, Farris, Garland, Genrich, R. Pippin (for Gilchrest), Hair, Jensen, K. Johnson, P. Johnson, Johnston, Longfellow, Losey, McGee, Riley, Stone, Supplee, Weaver, Williams, Wilson, Young

Absent: Yelderman

Also Present: Steven Moore, VP for Student Life.

I. Invocation

The meeting began at 3:35. R. Baird gave the invocation.

II. Consideration of Agenda

The agenda as distributed at the meeting was approved by consent.

III. Welcome to new senators, including announcement of the recent election by faculty of Truett Seminary

Senate Chair Baird welcomed newly elected senators, and announced that D. Garland had been elected by faculty of Truett Seminary to fill the position left open by the resignation of Ruth Ann Foster.

IV. Appointment of Parliamentarian

Baird announced that following procedures outlined in the Senate Constitution, he has appointed D. Longfellow to serve as Senate Parliamentarian.

V. Committee/Liaison Reports

A. Faculty Committee on Student Life and Services (R. Wilson, Chair)

R. Wilson introduced guest Steven Moore, Vice President for Student Life, who then addressed the Senate on several topics.

1. Welcome Week.

Moore reported on several changes to Welcome Week, designed to make the experience "educationally purposeful." A new convocation was held, designed to be attended by students and their parents. Second, academic "power lunches" were held, where representatives from various academic units and programs were available for information. Also, a "parents' welcome" session was added, in which Dean Daniel led a session on the goals of a Baylor education. Finally, faculty dinners were again held on Monday evening.

2. New Student Life Initiatives.

a. A "residential master plan" is being developed to study future housing needs and to examine how residence hall life can be incorporated as part of the larger learning experience.

b. A task force on alcohol will be formed. National trends indicate a significant increase in the number of alcohol-related incidents at college and universities, and Baylor's pattern has followed this trend.

c. Student Life is studying the overwhelming number of activities scheduled across campus, with a desire to coordinate these activities more efficiently, increase the number of academically-related activities to 1/3 of the total of "major calendar" events, and to identify and emphasize certain key events and traditions.

3. Chapel/Forum

Newly--hired Dean Lake is working with Student Life to integrate Chapel/Forum speakers in the existing academic units, so that the units might also utilize these guest speakers.

4. Strengthening the partnership between Student Life and Academic Affairs.

Following this, Moore was asked the following questions:

Q: What is the current status of the NoZe Brotherhood?

The Brotherhood was asked by the administration to respond to various questions and take certain steps. They did so, but have yet to comply with the final requests, and are technically still on probation.

Q: What kind of steps have been taken to increase sensitivity to diversity on campus, particularly regarding attitudes and behavior towards homosexuality?

Chapel/Forum will be discussing this topic. Also, a group of students leaders from various racial and ethnical backgrounds have been selected to discuss these questions as they arise. Also, the number of graduate internships for ethnic students has been increased.

B. Faculty Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Environment (J. Losey, Chair). No Report.

C. Faculty Committee on Enrollment Management (D. Johnston, Chair)

As of the 12th class day, 2772 new students were enrolled (166 fewer than the same time last year) and 506 new transfer students (6 fewer than last year).

D. Faculty Committee on Physical Facilities (J. Yelderman, Chair). No Report.

E. Athletic Council (M. Dunn, Liaison). No Report.

F. Staff Council (J. Abbott-Kirk, Liaison).

The staff council issued a "challenge" to faculty regarding participation in the United Way campaign.

G. Benefits and Personnel Committee (F. Curtis, Liaison). No Report.

VI. Chair's Report (R. Baird)

A. Conversation with President Sloan

During the summer, Baird met with the President for 2 hours during which a number of issues were discussed. Baird was asked about the substance of the discussions, and he reported on three specific areas: 1) the issue of scholarly expectations, especially for those caught in the bind between increased expectations and heavy teaching responsibilities; 2) concern that the Tenure Policy and Procedures document developed by the Senate and approved by the administration had been almost immediately altered by the administration for three faculty members by introducing for the three an additional pre-tenure review year; and 3) the impact on faculty morale when faculty-initiated recommendations and requests are rejected or simply left to languish. Baird indicated that the conversation was an open and frank one and that the President expressed a desire to enter into meaningful conversation with faculty. One possibility discussed involved the President meeting this year with small groups of senators. The Senate agreed to do this, and Baird suggested using the present Senate committee structure as a vehicle. Longfellow suggested that in order to avoid unnecessary duplication, the various groups may wish to focus on specific content areas (to be determined later). Baird will begin making arrangements.

B. Three Communications from Faculty

1. Henry Walbesser wrote to Baird asking that the Senate consider a policy of "amicus senatus," whereby faculty who are not Senators would be allowed to address the Senate and introduce motions. Baird replied that such a provision was not authorized by current bylaws. Walbesser then asked that Baird introduce a motion calling for a change in the by-laws, allowing a tenured faculty member to introduce a motion to the Senate, provided that it carried the signature of two sitting Senators. Baird indicated that he had notified Professor Walbesser that he would let the Senate know of Walbesser's interest but that he (Baird) would not introduce such a motion to change the by-laws for two reasons: (1) he believed such a change was unnecessary, since either of the sponsoring (co-signing) Senators could introduce the motion, and (2) he also believed such a policy change would be incompatible with the representative function of the Senate.

2. Diana Vitanza wrote to let the Senators know that a number of faculty have expressed dissatisfaction with the text-book ordering procedures of the Baylor Bookstore. Baird will refer this to the existing Bookstore Committee.

3. A letter from a faculty member who wished to remain anonymous expressed displeasure with current life insurance coverage for dependents. Currently, the value of the policy depends on the age of the child: the policy coverage for infants is $200, but that value escalates slightly as the child gets older, eventually reaching a benefit coverage of $1000. The faculty member questioned the philosophy behind these distinctions. Baird referred the matter to the Benefits Committee through our liaison Senator Fred Curtis.

VII. Report from B. Hair, Senator representing the Libraries

Hair reported concern over a recent hiring decision by the Library. The position was authorized and advertised as tenure-track faculty, but the selected candidate was offered a contract as "Executive Staff," not a tenure-track. This involved the serious problem of advertising one kind of position but offering another kind of position to the candidate. An attempt by Library faculty to resolve this has not yet proven successful, although assurances have been given that the currently-advertised faculty position will remain tenure-track. The library faculty asked for no specific Senate action at this time.

VIII. Old Business

A. Scholarly Expectations Document was sent to the Provost. One specific recommendation in this letter was that each tenure-track faculty member should meet with his or her chair to make clear what the expectations for tenure are for that faculty member and to insure that the resources are make available to that faculty member to provide a fair opportunity to meet those expectations. The Provost indicated that this has been arranged with the chairs through the deans. Some senators have questioned whether this had been done in all academic units.

B. Tenure with Condition. Baird and Losey met with the Provost, and both communicated that the Provost is aware of the Senate's deep concern about this matter. Baird anticipates meeting with N. Bice, General Counsel, in an attempt to clarify the language in the contract following a positive 6th-year evaluation, making it clear that any decision to terminate the faculty member beyond that time would require the same steps used in revoking tenure for any tenured faculty member.

C. Combining of Grievance and Hearing Committees. The proposal has been forwarded to the Administration for some time, and Baird will pursue the matter this month.

D. Dismissal Procedures. The proposal has been forwarded to the Administration for several years with no response, and Baird will pursue this further.

E. Description of Senate in Faculty Handbook. The Faculty Handbook is in revision; the description of the Senate in the current version of the Handbook (Art. 1, Sec. II) omits reference the Senate's legislative function. This was done, according to the Administration, because this description was never approved. However, according to documents supplied by Chancellor Reynolds' office, the original constitution--which was approved by then President Reynolds--did contain this phrase.

R. Beck moved the following: The Senate request that the description of the role of the Faculty Senate as it appears on page 17 of the current edition of the Faculty Handbook be made consistent with the language of the Senate's Constitution (which appears in the Faculty Handbook on page 87). The language in the Senate's Constitution was originally approved by the administration. The sentence on page 17 should read: The Faculty Senate is the representative, deliberative, and legislative body of the Baylor University Faculties. Motion was seconded by McGee, and passed unanimously.

IX. New Business

The English Department's request for a "departmental approval" for use of Macintosh computers was not approved by the Administration. The Dean of the College has communicated to the Senate that individual requests will continue to be honored if a case can be made on educational grounds for retaining the Macintosh. A legitimate ground is a faculty member's recent purchase of a Macintosh for home use and the need, therefore, to be compatible with the computer in the office.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:10.

Respectfully submitted,

Chuck Weaver