2011/2012 FACULTY SENATE COMMITTEES
(1/26/2012 version)
Academic Affairs Committee
Michael Ferber, English, LA, Chair
Brent Bell
(fall) and Dain LaRoche (spring), Kinesiology, CHHS
Roslyn Chavda, Political Science, LA
Vince Connelly, Education, LA
Cathy Frierson,
History, LA (fall only)
Nancy Johnson, Thompson School, COLSA
Karsten Pohl, Physics
Evangelos Simos, Economics, WSBE
Leah Woods (fall) and Ben Cariens
(spring), Art History, LA
David Townson, Molecular, Cellular & Biomed Sci., COLSA
Campus Planning Committee
Erin Sharp, Family Studies, HHS, Chair
Nadine Berenguier (fall) &
Jaune Martin-Olivella (spring), LLC, LA
William Berndtson, Biological Sciences, COLSA
James Connell, Physics, CEPS
Eleanor Harrison-Buck (fall) & Svetlana Peshkova (spring), Anthropology, LA
Anthony Pescosolido, Management, WSBE
Finance and Administration Committee
Bob Woodward, Health Management & Policy, HHS, Chair
Thomas Ballestero, Civil Engineering,
CEPS
Ihab Farag, Chemical Engineering,
CEPS
Fred Kaen, Accounting and Finance,
WSBE
Carolyn Mebert, Psychology, LA
Robert Taylor, Biological Sciences, COLSA
Information Technology Committee
Steve Tuttle, Thompson School, COLSA, Chair
Chris Harrist, Recreation Mgmt. & Policy,
CHHS
Jeff Klenotic, UNH-M
Elizabeth Varki, Computer Science,
CEPS
Martin McKinsey, English, LA
Library Committee
Alberto Manalo,
Natural Res, & Environment, COLSA, Chair
Carmen
Garcia-Rasilla, LLC, LA
Joel Hartter (fall) & Mary Stampone (spring),
Geography, LA
Patrick Shannon, Social Work, CHHS
Research and Public Service Committee
Wayne
Fagerberg, Molecular, Cell. & Biomed Sci., COLSA, Chair
Ken Baldwin, Mechanical Engineering, CEPS
Kelly Kilcrease, UNH-M
Elizabeth Mellyn, History, LA
Bruce Pfeiffer
(spring)
& Billur Akdeniz (fall), Marketing, WSBE
Andrzej Rucinski, Electrical and Computer Engineering, CEPS
Student Affairs Committee
Barbara White, Occupational Therapy, HHS, Chair
Pamela Dinapoli, Nursing, HHS
Valentini Kalargyrou (fall
only), Hospitality
Management, WSBE
Jo Laird, Earth Sciences, CEPS
Larry Veal, Music, LA
Rob Robertson, fall & Heidi Asbjornsen, spring, Natural Resources & Environment, COLSA
Agenda Committee of the Faculty Senate
Lawrence Prelli, Communications, LA,
Chair
Willem deVries, Philosophy, LA, Vice
Chair
Louise Buckley, Library
Ed Hinson, Mathematics, CEPS
Art Greenberg, Chemistry, CEPS
Deb Kinghorn, Theatre and Dance, LA
Dan Reid (fall only), Decision Sciences, WSBE
Professional Standards Committee
Willem DeVries, LA,
2011/12 academic year, Chair
Victoria Banyard, LA,
through the 2011/12 academic year
John Sparrow, UNH-M, through the
2012/13 academic year
Joanne Curran-Celentano, COLSA,
through the 2011/12 academic year
Arthur Greenberg, CEPS, through the 2012/13 academic year
Stephen Hardy, SHHS, through the
2012/13 academic year
Barry Shore, WSBE, through the
2011/12 academic year
Deanna Wood, Library, through the
2011/12 academic year
University Curriculum and Academic Policies Committee
Christina Bellinger, Library, to 7/1/13, 2011/12 ChairDiscovery Committee
David Richman, LA, to 7/1/12Teaching Evaluation Committee
Paula Salvio, LA, Chair
Cliff Brown, LA
John Burger, COLSA
Steve Ciccone, WSBE
Karen Collins, CHHS
Nivedita Gupta, CEPS
Bob Jerard, CEPS
David Kaye, LA
Dan Reagan, UNH-M
John Sparrow, UNH-M
Neil Vroman, CHHS
Committee on Standards for Promotion and Tenure
Jeff Diefendorf, LA, Chair
Todd DeMitchell, LA
Michael Goldberg, WSBE
Jim Haney, COLSA
Jim Lewis, CHHS
James Malley, CEPS
Dante Scala, LA
Bob Stibler, LA
Sterling Tomellini, CEPS
Deanna Wood, Library
Committee on Organization of Science and Engineering
Art
Greenberg, CEPS, Chair, liaison
James
Connell, CEPS
Drew
Conroy, COLSA, liaison
Jeff
Diefendorf, LA
Tom
Foxall, COLSA
Phil
Hatcher, CEPS
Kim
Therrien, PAT
Malcolm
Smith, Extension
Deanna
Wood, Library
Committee on Organization of the Graduate School
Marco Dorfsman, LA, Chair, liaison
Ellen Cohn, LA
Cathy Frierson, LA
Gene
Harkless, CHHS
Andrew
Kun, CEPS
Subhash
Minocha, COLSA, liaison
Emily
Poworoznek, Library
Cindy
Glidden, PAT
Robert
Swarthout, GSO
___________, WSBE
Committee on Organization of Other Entities
Bob
Taylor, COLSA, Chair
David Richman, LA
Stacia
Sower, COLSA
P. T. Vasudevan, CEPS
Jim
Wible, WSBE
Bob
Woodward, CHHS
2011/2012 FACULTY SENATE COMMITTEE CHARGES
(12-7-2011 version)
The following are the Agenda Committee's recommendations for senate committee priorities for 2011/2012. The order in the list of charges below does not imply the priority of the charges. These charges have come from the senate's recommendations, from needs of implementing policies and programs, and from administrative issues under the shared governance model at UNH. Committees may also consider other issues as needed and are requested to submit proposed new charges to the Agenda Committee for approval and for scheduling of agenda time at senate meetings. Each committee should consult with and inform its corresponding administrator(s).
Academic Affairs Committee
The chair of this committee should attend meetings as an observer to the Institutional Programs and Services Committee of the Board of Trustees and also to the Systems Academic Planning Committee.
Charges:
1. Review the academic aspects of the components of the Academic Plan and the Strategic Plan and report to the Agenda Committee and the Faculty Senate. [See item VII of 9/11/06 FS minutes; item XI of 3/20/06 FS minutes; and the 5/4/06 “Motion Concerning Academic Planning” which was not presented to the FS by the AAC due to lack of time.] [See 2/28/2011 FS, item IX]
2. Continue monitoring of the January term and consider the outcome and assessment of the pilot. Consider the feasibility of adding a fourth week to the January term. [See 7/1/05 email of alternatives and also senate approved guidelines. See item II of 6/19/09 Ag. Com. minutes, item IV of 10/5/09 Ag. Com. minutes, item V of 4/26/2010 Ag. Com. minutes, item II, para. 2 of 7/1/05 Ag. Com. minutes, item V of 4/21/08 FS minutes, item V of 4/27/09 FS minutes, and item VII of 2/14/2011 FS minutes and FS motions XIII-M19 and 20 and XIV-M2.]
3. Monitor the impact of January term on academic quality and on hiring practices for tenure-track faculty, if any.
4. Consider whether the comparative roles of faculty and administration in governance and the tenure-track and promotion procedures and decisions has changed over time. [See college by-laws and composition of decision-making committees.
5. Initiate inquiry on “best practices” for transitioning senior professors to retirement as enacted at other institutions, and report to the Agenda Committee and the senate. [See “The Academic Workplace,” Chronical of Higher Education (July 29, 2011), Sec. B.
6. Develop a policy statement regarding research faculty teaching which addresses compensation and minimum allowable class size. Pay scales, which have been used to compensate research faculty for teaching, differ from compensation for tenure-track faculty. Further, research faculty sometimes teach and are compensated fully for classes which have enrollments that are below the number necessary to permit them to be taught in an academic department. These discrepancies should be addressed.
Campus Planning Committee
The chair of this committee or the chair's designee should attend meetings as an observer to the Space Allocation, Repair and Renovation Committee.
Charges:
1. Track the Master Plan implementation, and communicate with the Office of Campus Planning and with the Faculty Senate on issues that arise.
2. Investigate progress on the issue of graduate and family housing and attempt to secure a proposal in collaboration with Doug Bencks.
3. Consider parking availability and needs.
4. Investigate the progress on the creation of a university club.
5. Establish the availability and condition of inquiry-style classrooms (35 or less students) and determine whether they are sufficient to meet 444 and inquiry attribute course demand over a five-year period. Consult with the registrar on availability of courses to meet that demand. (Consider also preliminary projections conveyed in the 2/9/2009 Senate minutes.) Part of the effort to establish the condition of inquiry-style classrooms (e.g., moveable furniture; access to IT; etc.) should include consultation with the Discovery Program Director and a survey of participating faculty in 444 and inquiry attribute courses. The committee should appoint one of its members to attend the UNH Classroom Committee sessions to keep up with related classroom issues.
Finance and Administration Committee
The chair of this committee or the chair's designee should attend meetings as an observer to the Financial Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and also the Board of Trustees' Finance Committee for Investments. The Finance and Administration Committee chair should attend meetings as a member of the Central Budget Committee.
Charges:
1. Review the financial implications of the components of the Academic Plan and the Strategic Plan and report to the Agenda Committee and the Faculty Senate. [See item VII of 9/11/06 FS minutes; item XI of 3/20/06 FS minutes; and the 5/4/06 “Motion Concerning Academic Planning” which was not presented to the FS by the AAC due to lack of time.]
2. Consider the implications of RCM III for the university’s academic mission, decision-making procedures (recentralization), class sizes, faculty load, departments' ability to replace faculty who leave or who have advanced in the university [see Mimi Becker and also the 4/21/03 Finance and Administration Com. report, as well as the spring of 2004 Central Budget Committee report], and lecturers/adjunct faculty employment [see item X of the 5/10/04 Ag. Com. minutes].
3. Assess how well individual college RCM advisory committees are functioning. [See 4/21/03 Finance and Administration Com. report.] [See item V of 5/3/2010 FS minutes, item III of 11/16/09 FS minutes and the 7/20/2011 senate Planning seminar minutes.]
4. Review the ten-year trend of faculty versus administration and staff positions, with selected comparators.
5. Monitor how SIP affects the ratio of tenure-track to non-tenure-track faculty, and consider whether having fewer tenure-track faculty adds to the work of the remaining tenure-track faculty.
6. Consider and report on the potential faculty role in the capital campaign. Relevant issues include: (a) whether the senate should request faculty representation through senate appointments on the planning committee for the capital campaign, (b) how operating budgets will be funded for maintaining new structures funded by the capital campaign, (c) whether gender equity issues might be partly addressed via endowed professorships from the capital campaign, (d) whether there should be a grass roots contribution to fundraising and (e) whether financial aid could be a good part of fund raising and will help the colleges.
7. Consider how the senate can assess the academic effectiveness of changes, such as electronic learning or January term, and the cost effectiveness or lack thereof. There has been a lot of talk about electronic learning as a panacea, but is it really? What are cost-effective approaches to problems and challenges in instruction? What are the best practices and where are they working well?
8. Develop policy indicating when it is appropriate for research faculty to be funded by the UNH budget. A general assumption is that research faculty are funded exclusively through external grants or contracts. In reality, this is not the case, since some research faculty receive significant portions of their compensation through the UNH budget. Policy which includes oversight provisions needs to be established.
Information Technology Committee
Charges:
1. Disclose what messages or narratives about faculty work are conveyed through the UNH public relations office and news bureaus.
2. Consider what can be done to raise the public profile of ongoing faculty work through public communication. The tenure-track system is under attack and so is the value of education, from the administration, the legislators and the public. It is important to articulate the benefits of the tenure-track system. It is important for people to understand what this university does well. Promotion and tenure reviews and evaluations are often glowing, but people do not know that. Faculty seem to have trouble getting out the message that we are hard working and productive. Media relations staff put up on the university website only the president’s comments and not faculty concerns about those comments. How can that be addressed? What best practices have other universities established? Establish a channel of communication with the university’s public relations and news groups.
3. Monitor IT initiatives at UNH.
4. Monitor paperless advising.
5. In collaboration with the deans’ offices, coordinate a “Good News for Faculty” column in the Campus Journal.
Library Committee
Charges:
1. Monitor recent and proposed revisions in the library’s academic structure and report to the senate’s Agenda Committee. What are the issues involved? {See item XII of 2/28/2011 FS minutes.]
2. Eleta Exline is planning to start up a university-wide committee to advise about the library scholarly communications and institutional repository initiatives. The senate’s Library Committee should work with and provide a representative to this committee.
Research and Public Service Committee
Charges:
1. Consider what role the faculty will play in the design, implementation, use and general oversight of the faculty activity reports and related information; and bring a motion on these matters for consideration by the Faculty Senate. [See item III of 11/15/2010 FS minutes and the 7/20/2011 senate planning seminar minutes.]
2. Monitor the push towards a vision of the research university as expressed in the strategic plan and in the Blue Ribbon Panel Report and how they relate to ongoing creative, scholarly and research practices, including those of the arts and humanities. [See item IV of 4/18/2011 FS minutes.]
3. Under current guidelines, research faculty who are being considered for promotion have their cases evaluated by the tenure-track faculty serving the affiliated college Promotion and Tenure Committee. This arrangement has been problematic in the past because of differences between the published evaluation criteria for research faculty and the expected role for any faculty member that is held by many tenure-track faculty. In particular, college promotion and tenure committees have ruled in the past that all persons with a faculty title should have demonstrated significant and pervasive interaction with students, even though such interaction is not dictated by existing policy. This disconnect between tenure-track faculty expectation and policy should be addressed.
4. Develop a uniform policy statement regarding formula-funded faculty voting privileges in academic departments and colleges. Formula-funded faculty receive a percentage of their salary from "soft" or contract funds. In some academic departments, formula funded faculty are given full voting privileges while others are allotted a vote based upon the percentage of their salary that is paid by the department. For example, a 50% formula-funded faculty member would receive one-half vote in the department. A campus-wide policy on formula-funded faculty voting privileges should be addressed.
Student Affairs Committee
The chair of the Student Affairs Committee will try to ensure that a member of this committee or the Faculty Senate can represent the faculty at Student Senate as needed. The Student Affairs Committee is encouraged to invite a Student Senate observer to attend Student Affairs Committee meetings.
Charge:
1. Monitor the issue of the medical amnesty pilot program and report to the Faculty Senate on this matter. [See item VI of 1/31/2011 FS minutes.]
Professional Standards Committee
The chair of this committee is the vice chair of the senate and represents the Faculty Senate when the UNH Policy on Academic Misconduct is triggered. The chair of this committee serves as a member of the Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure Review Committee and also of the Responsible Conduct of Research Advisory Committee.
Charges:
1. Consider any quasi-adjudicatory charges which arise.
2. In consultation with the provost, consider a workshop on work place “mobbing” and bullying.
3. Consider policies employed in changes of faculty status.
University Curriculum and Academic Policies Committee
Charges:
1. Review a draft proposal to form schools at UNH; and get further information from the administration on significant issues that need further attention before the senate should take action on the proposal on schools. [See item VIII of 3/22/2010 FS minutes, item III of 9/14/09 FS minutes, item VII of 4/20/09 FS minutes, item VII of 5/4/09 FS minutes and item IV of 5/2/2011 FS minutes. See also John Aber’s handouts to the 7/9/2010 Ag. Com. and the 7/20/2011 senate planning seminar minutes.]
2. Monitor RCM III by specifically considering inter-unit problems and the ways in which strategic initiatives will influence the fiscal health of academic programs; and report your findings to the Faculty Senate.
3. Consider the differences between the proposed definition of schools and the proposal from the marine group and others and report first to the senate chair and then to the senate on this issue.
4. Review the proposed sustainability dual major.
Discovery Committee
Charges:
1. Continue implementation of the Discovery Program.
2. Deliberate on the inquiry course requirement, a key component of the Discovery Program core curriculum and make a recommendation to the senate. Specifically, there are two points of discussion: a) the committee should make a recommendation to the senate regarding the delivery of INQ courses in online formats; [Currently, the committee is like-minded that INQ courses should not be delivered online, but there is nothing in the senate motions that support this as policy.] b) the committee should deliberate the two versions of INQ (444 and attribute) and identify if there is an “ideal” mix/balance of the two or if no such policy/agreement is warranted.
3. The committee should identify a mechanism by which to share faculty teaching accomplishments and innovations within the Discovery Program (core curriculum teaching).
Teaching Evaluation Committee
Charge:
1. Assess the current teaching evaluation form, protocols for its administration, and its applicability to current classroom practices. Consider best practices at other universities.
Committee on Standards for Promotion and Tenure
Charge:
1. Review promotion and tenure criteria for colleges, schools and the library and assess the criteria for the degree of transparency, consistency and applicability to academic departments and other units.
Committee on Organization of Science and Engineering
Charges:
1. Review the academic and financial advantages and disadvantages of reorganizing schools, the colleges of science and engineering, and EOS. [See the 7/20/2011 senate planning seminar minutes and the 7/18/2011 Ag. Com. minutes.]
2. Develop a uniform policy statement regarding how research faculty are affiliated with academic departments. Currently, most research faculty are affiliated with an academic department or departments, while others have no affiliation except with an institute, center or program. A question that needs to be addressed is whether it is appropriate to have research faculty unaffiliated with an academic department.
Committee on Organization of the Graduate School
Charge:
1. Review the academic and financial advantages and disadvantages of reorganizing or changing the reporting structure of the Graduate School and the graduate programs across the university. [See the 7/20/2011 senate planning seminar minutes and the 6/17/2011 and 7/18/2011 Ag. Com. minutes.]
Committee on Organization of Other Entities
Charge:
1. Review the academic and financial advantages and disadvantages of reorganizing the other entities of the university, including the administration and sports. [See the 7/20/2011 senate planning seminar minutes and the 7/18/2011 Ag. Com. minutes.]
Faculty Senate Vice Chair
Review the Faculty Senate motions of the last academic year and report to the senate on their implementation, by the end of November, so that there will be time to deal with any lack of implementation.
Corresponding administrators are as follows:
Academic Affairs Committee - Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dean’s Council
Campus Planning Committee - Assistant Vice President for Facilities.
Research and Public Service Committee – Senior Vice Provost for Research
Student Affairs Committee - Vice President for Academic and Student Support Services
Finance and Administration Committee - Vice President for Finance and Administration
Library Committee – Dean of the University Library
Information Technology – Chief Information Officer