UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FACULTY SENATE 9 MARCH 1998 MINUTES SUMMARY I. Roll - The following Faculty Senate members were absent: Balling, Barkey, Burger, Calculator, Henke, Herold, Morgan, O'Connell, Petty, Roh, and Zunz. Guidry was excused. II. Communications from the Chair - The chair said that the president was impressed with the outpouring of support, warmth and concern from both the Durham community and the national mathematics community. The senate chair added that faculty may wish to contribute to the Jim Leitzel scholarship fund or one of the other two funds mentioned by the family. The faculty senators expressed warm approval of the chair's recent article in the Campus Journal. The chair has sent a letter to the department chairs about the Faculty Senate elections, and the ballots are being distributed. The Council of Chairs will meet on March 12 with the Agenda Committee. The senate chair will write to the Director of Sustainability asking that he communicate with the Faculty Senate. Senators should keep in mind that item three of the Faculty Senate Constitution says that decisions on fundamental changes must be ratified by the whole faculty. The Faculty Handbook is expected to be revised this summer. The search for a director of alumni affairs is in progress, and candidates were on campus last week. There was a small notice in the Campus Journal and a letter to the senate chair, but better notification should be provided to the whole faculty. Steve Fink and Todd DeMitchell are the two faculty members on the search committee for a director of enrollment management. The senate chair will ask the president how she thinks UNH should respond to the document from the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled "On the Importance of Diversity in Higher Education". The campus has been asked to hold campus town meetings between April 6 and 9 on the subject of race. There will be major changes in UNH's relationship with the Coast Bus service. Future Faculty Senate agendas will include scholarly misconduct and the policy on privacy in email and other communication methods. The documents on both these matters are available for review on the internet, and the one on scholarly misconduct will be revised in the week after spring break. Input on that subject may be sent to John Seavey, whose email address is jws@christa.unh.edu. The senate chair has written to a number of university-wide committees asking them to report to the Faculty Senate by the end of April. Their reports may generate items for next year's senate agendas. VPFA Corvey will report at the next senate meeting, on the budget and on responsibility center management. Motions for the Faculty Senate should usually be brought to the Agenda Committee meeting first, before distribution to the senate. III. Minutes - The minutes of the February 23 senate meeting were approved unanimously, with an amendment to the last sentence in item 3 to add that it was Gregg Sanborn who asked that people review the document on diversity and give their input. IV. Academic Affairs Committee Progress Report - The committee has reviewed information on part-time faculty and urges next year's committee to give this issue its highest priority. This year the committee brought to the Faculty Senate two reports on enrollment management and two motions on the transfer of "other" credit, thus completing a series of motions on transfer credit. The committee will meet with the ACCESS Office and the Affirmative Action Office on how Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is implemented at UNH. The Academic Affairs Committee will report to the senate on that issue later this semester. The Academic Affairs Committee's Library Subcommittee has been changed to the Library Committee, a standing committee of the Faculty Senate. V. Student Affairs Committee Progress Report - This committee contacted Tito Jackson and asked that a one-on-one relationship be established between students and the committee members, but the students did not act on that offer. Committee members Dennis Bobilya and Julie Brinker have been especially active in working with students. The committee has liaisoned with the Student Affairs Office, which now has a clear idea that there are faculty members available to work with that office. John Chaston and Julie Brinker have worked with the SCAN project, and students have requested that a faculty member from the sciences also join them at this general discussion each Thursday from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. The Student Affairs Committee proposed a motion to the Faculty Senate last semester, on alcohol policy. The committee chair is also a member of the university-wide Athletic Policy Committee, along with three other professors. Yae Sok Roh looked into academic advising and found that this matter does not need to be brought before the senate. VI. Draft Policy on Scheduling of Games and Practices - Jim Farrell said that UNH will soon undergo an NCAA site review regarding intercollegiate athletics. Therefore a self study was done which found that UNH has no written policy on conflicts between academic requirements and scheduled athletic games and practices and that such a policy is required by the NCAA. In today's senate meeting, a professor asked that a revised draft of the policy be provided to the Faculty Senate. Many faculty expressed concern about student-athletes attending classes and exams and about item B.3. of the policy, which says, "Except during final exams, no UNH athletic coach shall be required to alter his/her regular practice schedule, or excuse an athlete from practice, to accommodate the academic schedule of a student-athlete." One professor said that it is reasonable that each student-athlete should decide what is in his/her best interests when conflicts exist between academic and athletic obligations, as stated in item B.4. In the beginning of the preamble, the policy should state that academics are the primary mission of the university and include wording respectful of the athletic programs. VII. Campus Planning Committee Progress Report - This committee was charged with reviewing building priorities, distance education, library renovation, academic computing, parking, sustainability, and the loop road. UNH does not have enough funds for urgently needed building repairs. Internet courses can be prepared for both on and off-campus uses. The committee feels that distance education should concentrate on masters programs rather than undergraduate courses and that this funding should be on a project-by-project basis. The teaching excellence program has been working with distance learning and technology. A fair is planned to demonstrate the uses of technology in the classroom. Super-technology classrooms are overbooked, and so there is little time for set up. The ITV studio is available for increased use, such as video conferencing or as a production studio. Sending video on regular phone lines, by using a special device, may soon be an available option. The committee's charge on library renovation was sent to the senate's new Library Committee. Professors Greenlaw and deAlba serve as members of the university-wide Academic Computing Committee. The university would like to provide the faculty with new computers every four years, but this may not be possible. Email privacy is being reviewed by a separate group. The Campus Planning Committee talked with the director of sustainability, who also made a presentation to the senate. VIII. Loop Road - On the loop road map, the southeast quadrant is the main campus, and the southwest quadrant contains the Ocean Engineering Building and the future entrepreneurial campus. Two tunnels under the railroad would be added near the Ocean Engineering Building and the Dairy Bar, and each tunnel would accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians. The current tunnel would be closed, as would some Forest Park housing. The plan is to build the loop road beside Huddleston Hall, through the middle of B lot behind McConnell Hall, and either beside or through the baseball field and the tennis courts. The loop road would also pass by Cole Hall and the New England Center. Most parking within the loop would be removed, closing 2500 existing parking places which are near the main part of campus. Roads within the loop would be closed to all except service, delivery, handicapped and emergency vehicles. New parking lots would be developed near Leavitt Center, necessitating a long bus ride, especially for those who work at the end of the loop, near the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Faculty expressed strong concern about this proposal which would include the needless loss of thousands of convenient parking spaces. A professor calculated that the plan would cost him at least two and one-half hours a week in lost time. This, multiplied by many faculty and staff, is a serious loss to the university. In addition, there would be a loss of flexibility, since now when faculty have heavy things to carry, there is the option of coming in early and parking near the building. Also, many faculty would not come to work on nights and weekends if they could not park near the building. Faculty whose work requires them to go off campus once or twice during the work day would spend a great deal of time on the bus. Faculty pointed out that we could ensure access to the entrepreneurial campus and across the railroad without accepting the loop road plan. That plan would also cost a great deal for new roads, new parking facilities and a greatly enlarged shuttle service. The committee has serious concern about the university's ability to pay for all that. One faculty member estimated that a parking garage might cost less than the loop road plan, and another suggested moving the athletic facilities and turning them into parking. What will students who live in Dover and Newmarket do if the Coast Bus Service is no longer available? Concern was expressed that sustainability issues are poorly served by the loop road plan because it would require paving over additional land for distant parking lots and could make outlying students drive instead of taking the Coast Bus. When will the Faculty Senate revisit the loop road issue? The chair of the Campus Planning Committee will put together a document that represents the sense of the senate. IX. Open Mike - A request was made to give these minutes to VPFA Corvey before her March 30 meeting with the Faculty Senate and also to copy more senate materials back to back. X. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned.