Texas Tech University

Faculty Senate Meeting

Meeting #254

October 12, 2005

The Faculty Senate met on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 in the Matador Room in the Student Union Building, with President John Howe presiding.  Senators present were:  Doerfert, Johnson, Kvashny, Gallegos, Louden, Boros, Carr, Daniels, Drager, Dunham, Grappendorf, Grass, Hart, Howe, Kimball, Niwayama, Santos, Schaller, Smucker, Toda, Bremer, Ritchey, Olivarez, Collins, Jackson, Lakhani, Sinzinger, Thompson, Blum, Reifman, Kreidler, Spurrier, Whitfield, Gardner, Gelber, Meek, Wilson, Alvarado, Donahue, Ellis, Marbley, Morse and Smith.  Senators excused were:  Perry, Sheets Hernandez, Myles, Hein, Masten, Maushak and Chambers.  Senators unexcused were: Brooks, Davis, Miller, Rahnama, Mercer, Letchford, Mann, Amor, Laughlin, Oskam, Reeves and Tombs.

I.         Call to Order.  President John Howe called Meeting #254 to order at 3:20 pm, October 12, 2005.

II.       Recognition of Guests.  President Howe recognized guests including:  Vice President of Research Dean Smith, Provost William Marcy, Vice Provost James Brink, Director of Strategic Planning Gil Reeve, Staff Senate Liaison to Faculty Senate Rebecca Owens, Past Faculty Senate President Gene Wilde, Parliamentarian Clarke Cochran, Reporter from the Daily Toreador Michelle Cassidy, Stephen Morse, Vice Provost Liz Hall.

III.     Approval of Minutes.  Minutes brought forward for approval by President Howe.  Minutes approved.  [3:06]

IV.     Invited Guests:  [3:15-29:20].

a.        Dean Smith, Vice President for Research. 

Dean Smith discussed how he intends to accomplish his mission: to increase TTU research capacity.  He intends to invest in faculty by (a) providing hassle free research services, (b) support interdisciplinary interactions, and (c) play a role in faculty retention; promote innovation by (a) using research to support the Big Bang bucks, and (b) restructure overhead; and increase the ties with the health science center.  The Big Bang bucks is a pool of one million dollars to be used to fund innovative research.  He will assess progress by answering the Board of Regents’ questions and evaluating the impact of faculty in their field.  Special challenges to be addressed are to avoid fixing what is not broken and to pay attention to faculty and student diversity.

b.        Sam Segran, Associate Vice President Information Technology [29:24-57:14]

Sam Segran addressed issues raised by members of the Faculty Senate and the Senate Study Committee B.  He was accompanied by Kathy Stalcup, Shannon Cepica, and Jay Stalcup.  He discussed the work and anticipated work of the Information Technology group on email passwords, encryption, storage quotas, network backups, abuse, and plagiarism.

V.       Old Business [57:18-1:09:08]

a.        Evaluation of Administrators [57:18-58:47]

Gene Wilde, the previous Faculty Senate President, indicated that he has talked with Provost Marcy regarding an online evaluation of administrators that would be modeled after the program used by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.  Current work is focusing on question development and programming issues. 

b.        Resolution on Hurricane Relief [58:48-1:01:17]

President Howe announced that Raider-Aid t-shirts are on sale to support Hurricane Relief efforts.  The t-shirts are $5 and are available at the Student Union Information Office.

c.        Faculty Lounge [1:01:29-1:09:08]

Senator Blum indicated the Faculty Lounge Committee has met and scheduled a meeting with President Whitmore to discuss access, decoration, and marketing of the lounge. 

President Howe indicated that questions and comments should be addressed to Senator Blum.

VI.     New Business [1:09:16-1:19:42]

a.        Day Care [1:09:25-1:17: 00]

Senator Toda cited the need for a bigger day care on campus.

President Howe announced that the Agenda Committee has assigned the issue to Study Committee C.

Senator Dunham mentioned the development of a Staff Senate proposal on the day care issue and Vice Provost Hall indicated that the president is interested in day care as it is a gender equity issue.

b.        Other New Business [1:17:03-1:19:36]

                           i.      Senator Thompson expressed concern over the generality of OP 32.07—faculty consulting. 

Vice-Provost Hall announced that two OPs address faculty consulting and they conflict.   Senator Alvarado agreed a need exists to address faculty consulting OPs.

President Howe will have the Agenda Committee identify a study committee.

VII.   Announcements [1:19:46-1:22:26]

a.        Sympathy card for Charlie Myles.

b.        Robert Baker, Faculty Representative on the Athletic Council will speak at the next meeting.

c.        Reception after the meeting.

d.        President Howe thanked Barnes and Noble for providing coffee and pastries before the meeting.

e.        President Howe referred senators to Faculty Senate website.

VIII. Adjournment.  Meeting was adjourned at 4:40 pm.