Faculty Senate Minutes - 3/22/2001

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
March 22, 2001



Call to order


President Mikkelsen called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m.


Senators present


Aschermann, Bargar, Cadden, Caldwell, Fowler, Greiert, Klostermeyer, McLear,
Mikkelsen, Nelson, Noynaert, Radmacher, Roberts, Tapia, Williams


Senators absent


Hamzaee


Senators-elect present


Andrews, Caldwell, Church, Greiert, Hunt, Rhodes, Smith, Windsor


Senators-elect absent


Blessing


Ex-officio


James Roever, vice president for academic affairs, Missouri Western State
College
James Scanlon, president, Missouri Western State College


Guests present


Noel Cross, chairperson, support staff salary committee
Todd Ekdahl, associate professor of biology, and chair of faculty senate
salary committee
Kathyrne Mueller, administrative assistant to vice president for academic
affairs
Jan Norton, chairperson, professional staff salary committee
Beverly Payne, lecturer of business and economics


Mikkelsen introduced the newly elected senators: five from the division of
liberal arts and sciences (Caldwell, Church, Greiert, Hunt, and Rhodes); four
from the division of professional studies (Andrews, Blessing, Smith, and
Windsor).


Approval of minutes


The minutes of the March 1, 2001, meeting were approved as presented
(Noynaert/Roberts).


Approval of agenda


The agenda for today's meeting was approved by unanimous consent
(Nelson/Radmacher).


Report from college president


James Scanlon, president of MWSC, stated that he would be attending a Board of
Regents meeting later that afternoon at 5:30 p.m. at which he would report on
the following items: 1) His own activities in the first three weeks of his
presidency. 2) The process and timeline for the campus strategic plan and his
plans to invite everyone on campus to two specific meetings to discuss the
mission statement, a values statement, and a vision statement, as well as
strategic goals and objectives. 3) His plans to meet with representatives of
the community to discuss the same process and timeline issues. 4) Preliminary
issues to the development of the budget, including an increase in room and
board rates for students (a tuition increase will be broached at a future
Board of Regents meeting in April or May). 5) Capital budget issues. 6) The
Greater St. Joseph Community Plan for the next ten years. 7) A request for
funds to finance a study of the compensation of professional and support staff
as well as the reclassification system for professional staff and support
staff employees at MWSC.


More specifically, Scanlon said that the Board of Regents will be asked to
approve the campus strategic plan. Such a plan has been mandated by the
Coordinating Board of Higher Education in the state of Missouri. Scanlon
noted that, even if that mandate had not been issued, it still would be a
necessary enterprise to undertake.


Scanlon reiterated that MWSC and other state colleges and universities have
been told to expect a "flat budget" by the Governor of Missouri. Scanlon
explained that this is the best one can hope to receive since other state
government agencies have had to make percentage core cuts and to return a cut
from this fiscal year's budget.


Scanlon related that the Governor was optimistic in his recent comments
regarding state funding for capital projects. Even so, it will be several
weeks before the college knows for sure about capital funding. Based on the
Governor's comments, however, Scanlon said that the original priority list for
projects at MWSC is back in place: 1) the Alumni Training and Development
Center is back on top of the list; and 2) the Fine Arts addition has returned
to the second position with no guarantee of money out of this budget for that
project.


Scanlon reported that he had attended one meeting of the Greater St. Joseph
Community Plan Committee. He stated, however, that, at first glance, there
appear to be many components of that strategic plan with which MWSC can
connect.


Scanlon indicated that his request for funds to finance a study by consultants
of the issues of compensation and reclassification system for professional and
support staff reflected the lowest and best bid of $61,500. The money for
this study would come from the college reserve funds.


Scanlon announced that the Commencement Speaker for the ceremonies to be held
in May, 2001, would be Jean Carnahan, the newly appointed U.S. Senator from
Missouri.


Senator Tapia asked how much money was in the reserve funds. Scanlon
responded that the total was slightly over $3 million. He stated that
standard procedure at state colleges and universities was to retain 5% of the
budget in reserves. He said that the North Central Association recommends at
least 3% of the budget should be kept in reserves. Scanlon said MWSC was
closer to the 5% figure than the 3% figure.


Report from vice president for academic affairs


James Roever, vice president for academic affairs, had two terrific
announcements to make. First, he reported that the Council on Social Work
Education had recently approved the re-accreditation of the MWSC social work
program for another eight years. Patricia Scott, assistant professor of
social work and director of the MWSC social work program, will appear at the
MWSC Board of Regents meeting later today in order to be recognized for her
outstanding contributions to the successful re-accreditation effort. Second,
Roever stated that the MWSC self-study report has been selected by the North
Central Association as one of the better reports submitted during the past
year and, as such, will serve as a visible example for other colleges and
universities to emulate. Roever recognized Kathyrne Mueller, administrative
associate to the vice president for academic affairs at MWSC, for her
excellent work as a key person on campus in producing that self-study report.
The MWSC Faculty Senate congratulated Mueller for her stellar performance.


Report from faculty senate executive committee


President Mikkelsen reported that the Faculty Senate Executive Committee had
met with President Scanlon on March 8, 2001, to discuss the most significant
issues that the college must address. Those issues were identified as: 1)
increasing faculty representation on the Master Plan Committee; 2) procedures
for discussing the college's mission statement; and 3) opening up the budget
process. Mikkelsen noted that, in each instance, Scanlon had been receptive
to recommendations from the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.


Mikkelsen announced the following schedule changes for Faculty Senate meetings
during the remainder of this academic year: 1) the agenda of the April 19,
2001, meeting will include reports from the Faculty Senate General Studies
Committee and the Faculty Senate Academic Regulations and Standards Committee
­ reports that had originally been scheduled for March meetings; 2) a Faculty
Senate meeting during the first week in May is likely to be scheduled to
complete unfinished business; 3) more immediately ­ a Faculty Senate meeting
will be held on March 29, 2001, with a work session scheduled for March 27,
2001, if decisions are not reached in today's meeting regarding
recommendations from the Faculty Senate ad hoc Salary Committee.


Mikkelsen reported that in the recent Faculty Senate general election, all
four proposed amendments to the Association's Constitution had been approved.
(See Attachment A)




Special meeting of 2001-2002 Senate to accept nominations for new Senate
officers


Mikkelsen invited the newly elected senators who will comprise the Faculty
Senate for 2001-2002 to sit at the table for the purpose of nominating Senate
officers for next year. Outgoing senators temporarily relinquished their
seats to the incoming senators. According to the Association's Constitution,
the retiring President of the Faculty Senate (Mikkelsen) ran this special
meeting.
He requested that a list of suggested election guidelines discussed at an
earlier work session be accepted for this meeting. Such a motion was made
(Nelson/Caldwell). It was approved unanimously. (See Attachment B)


Mikkelsen requested nominations for President of the Faculty Senate for
2001-2002. Senator Greiert nominated Senator Klostermeyer, who accepted the
nomination. Senator Tapia nominated Senator Nelson, who declined the
nomination. No further nominations for this office were forthcoming.
Mikkelsen closed the nominations.


Mikkelsen requested nominations for Vice President of the Faculty Senate for
2001-2002. Senator Noynaert nominated Senator Nelson, who accepted the
nomination. Senator Nelson nominated Senator Greiert, who accepted the
nomination. No further nominations for this office were forthcoming.
Mikkelsen closed the nominations.


Mikkelsen requested nominations for Secretary of the Faculty Senate for
2001-2001. Senator Greiert nominated Senator Nelson, who accepted the
nomination. No further nominations for this office were forthcoming.
Mikkelsen closed the nominations.


The question was raised concerning what would occur if Nelson was chosen as
Vice President and as Secretary. Nelson thereupon rescinded his acceptance of
the nomination for Vice President. This left the list of nominees for
officers as follows: 1) President ­ Klostermeyer; 2) Vice President
­ Greiert; 3) Secretary ­ Nelson. Each office is, therefore, uncontested.
Faculty Senate write-in votes, however, will be accepted at the next regular
meeting on April 5, 2001.


Mikkelsen then closed the special meeting to nominate officers for next year's
Faculty Senate.



Old Business


SR00-01.03 (Greiert/Klostermeyer) To change the wording of the 2000-2001 MWSC
Policy Guide (Appendix L, CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE MISSOURI
WESTERN STATE COLLEGE INSTRUCTIONAL FACULTY (Approved March 10, 1978) Article
VIII: POWERS, Section 6, p. 250) from: "The Faculty Senate shall have the
power to alter by one year the length of Senate terms for the purpose of
restoring a balanced rotation of Senators." to:


"The Faculty Senate shall have the power to call a special election of the
Association in order to alter by one year the length of Senate terms for the
purpose of restoring a balanced rotation of Senators."


Discussion ensued. The question was called (Nelson/McLear). By a unanimous
vote the motion passed.


SR00-01.04 (Bargar/Caldwell) To support Recommendation #1 put forth by the ad
hoc Faculty Senate Salary Committee: The ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary
Committee recommends an across-the-board increase of 5% in faculty
salaries for the academic year 2001-2002.


Discussion ensued. Mikkelsen recognized the guests present representing
salary committees from the professional staff and support staff, respectively.
The question was called (Nelson/McLear). By a unanimous vote the motion
passed.


SR00-01.05 (Noynaert/Bargar) To support Recommendation #4 put forth by the ad
hoc Faculty Senate Salary Committee: The ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary
Committee recommends that the college should use the initial placement
guidelines for instructors in setting starting salaries for lecturers. Each
current lecturer's salary should also be adjusted to the level at which it
would be if he/she were hired now under these guidelines.


Discussion ensued. Roever was asked how many lecturers would be affected by
this recommendation. He said that it would affect nine lecturers and that the
total cost would be $14,677. The adjustments would vary from $251 to $5,044.
Roever maintained that the first priority should be to adjust the salary of
each lecturer. He said no current plans existed to add to the total of nine
lecturers and that the concept of the lecturer position still needed further
discussion. Senator Klostermeyer asked if the adjustment in salaries for
lecturers was necessitated as a response to a recommendation from the North
Central Association accreditation team. Roever said that was not the case.
Senator Radmacher questioned the logic of paying lecturers according to the
scale of pay for instructors when merit pay for lecturers still came from the
merit pay pool for professional staff. Roever responded that former President
Janet Murphy had decided to place the merit pay of lecturers in the
professional staff pool. He noted that lecturers only are evaluated on the
first two of the four categories currently used to evaluate all full-time and
half-time faculty at all ranks ­ instruction and departmental support. He
stated that lecturers have faculty contracts in which lecturers are directed
to the MWSC Policy Guide for a description of their duties. He reiterated
that, once the salary issue for lecturers is resolved, the remaining issues
involving lecturers should be examined as a whole. Mikkelsen suggested that
the Faculty Senate Executive Committee will likely recommend that a separate
ad hoc Faculty Senate committee be appointed to examine these issues. The
question was called (Cadden/Radmacher). Senator Fowler requested a roll call
vote. Secretary Greiert read the roll: Aschermann ­ Yes; Bargar ­ Yes; Cadden
­ Yes; Caldwell ­ Yes; Fowler ­ Yes; Greiert ­ Yes; Hamzaee ­ Absent;
Klostermeyer ­ Yes; McLear ­ Yes; Nelson ­ Yes; Noynaert ­ Yes; Radmacher ­
Yes; Roberts ­ Yes; Tapia ­ Yes; Williams ­ Yes. Total vote: Yes ­ 14;
No ­ 0; Abstention ­ 0; Absent ­ 1. The motion passed.




New Business


SR 00-01.06 (Greiert/Radmacher) To support fully the ad hoc Faculty Senate
Salary Committee's recommendations to increase substantially the salary
increases for rank promotions from assistant professor to associate professor
and from associate professor to full professor and to provide annual increases
of 3% for the salary increases awarded for such promotions. Also, to support
a delay of one year in the period of service required before tenure-track
faculty may apply for promotion from assistant professor to associate
professor and from associate professor to full professor. However, the
Faculty Senate believes that it would be unconscionable to support such delays
for promotions without additional salary adjustments built into a new salary
system, e.g., an increase in the base starting salary scale or an adjustment
in the first year of contract service for all newly hired faculty who have
received "satisfactory" rankings in their annual evaluations for three
consecutive years, that would better guarantee that any new salary system
adopted provide faculty with annual salaries and total earnings amounts
greater than the annual salaries and total earnings amounts provided under the
present system. The Faculty Senate regrets, therefore, that it cannot support
the ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary Committee's Recommendation #2 as presented to
the Faculty Senate at its meeting of March 1, 2001, but the Faculty Senate
would be willing to consider any new proposal that provided the guarantees
previously indicated.


Discussion ensued. Todd Ekdahl, chairman of the Faculty Senate Salary
Committee and a member of the ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary Committee, used a
spread sheet to entertain any hypothetical figures for promotion increases
and/or hypothetical alterations in designated length of time to develop a
successful portfolio for promotion. He reported that at MWSC over the last
ten years an average of 5.8 faculty/year had been promoted from the rank of
assistant professor to associate professor and an average of 1.9 faculty/year
had been promoted from the rank of associate professor to full professor. The
initial cost of Recommendation #2, therefore, was estimated at $7,500/year.
The initial cost of Greiert's motion was estimated by Ekdahl to be double that
amount.


A motion was made to table SR 00-01.06 (Tapia/Williams). Senator Greiert
requested a roll call vote. Secretary Greiert read the roll: Aschermann ­
Abstain; Bargar ­ Yes; Cadden ­ No;
Caldwell ­ No; Fowler ­ Yes; Greiert ­ Yes; Hamzaee ­ Absent; Klostermeyer ­
No; McLear ­ No; Nelson ­ Yes; Noynaert ­ Yes; Radmacher ­
Abstain; Roberts ­ Abstain; Tapia ­ Yes; Williams ­ Yes. Total vote:
Yes ­ 7; No ­ 4; Abstention ­ 3; Absent ­ 1. The motion to table passed. SR
00-01.06 was tabled.


SR 00-01.07 (Bargar/Radmacher) To support Recommendation #2 put forth by the
ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary Committee: The ad hoc Faculty Senate Salary
Committee proposes that salary increases for promotion be increased, and that
the length of time required for promotion also be increased from four to five
years to make promotion more meaningful and more financially rewarding. In
addition, the salary increases for promotion should be incrementally increased
by 3% each year.


Discussion ensued. A motion was made by Senator Tapia to split Recommendation
#2 into two parts. The motion died for lack of a second. Heated discussion
ensued. Senator Bargar withdrew his motion. Senator Radmacher withdrew her
second. SR 00-01.07 died.




A motion was made to remove SR 00-01.06 from the table (McLear/Caldwell).
Discussion ensued. The question was called (McLear/Noynaert). The vote was
Yes ­ 12; No ­ 1; Abstention ­ 1; Absent ­ 1. The motion passed.


A motion was made to suspend the rules and to invoke the emergency clause in
order to vote on SR 00-01.06 (McLear/Klostermeyer). By a unanimous vote the
motion passed. The question was called (McLear/Klostermeyer). Senator
Greiert requested a roll call vote. Secretary Greiert read the roll:
Aschermann ­ No; Bargar ­ No; Cadden ­ Yes; Caldwell ­ Yes; Fowler ­ No;
Greiert ­ Yes; Hamzaee ­ Absent; Klostermeyer ­ Yes; McLear ­ Yes; Nelson ­
Yes;
Noynaert ­ No; Radmacher ­ Pass; Roberts ­ Yes; Tapia ­ Absent; Williams ­
Yes; Radmacher­ Abstain. Total vote: Yes ­ 8; No ­ 4; Abstention ­ 1;
Absent ­ 2. The motion passed.


Adjournment


The meeting was adjourned at 5:54 p.m. (McLear/Radmacher).



Respectfully submitted,



Steven Greiert
Secretary