UNH Faculty Senate

Summary Minutes from 5 April 1999

I.  Roll - The following Faculty Senate members were absent:  Bornstein, 
de la Torre, Grenier, Gross, Macieski, McNamara, Niman, Pugh, Roh, Sohl, 
Turner, Wang, Williams, and Zsigray.  Absent as work to rule were 
Brinker, Carr, Coon, Echt, Reardon and Zunz.  Excused was Naumes.

II.  Communications with the President - Guy Petty announced that he 
would stand during the president's remarks, in order to emphasize the 
importance of the need for a collective bargaining contract.  The 
president said that she too is very frustrated by the collective 
bargaining process.  The president said that, while she has strong views, 
she can talk about the collective bargaining process but not about the 
matters being bargained.  She said that the Board of Trustees and the 
faculty are the two sides which are negotiating, and each has a 
bargaining team.  She said that she is supposed to talk with the 
trustee's bargaining team which talks with the faculty's bargaining team, 
and she cannot jump over that channel.  She explained that fair labor 
practice requires that we follow the process precisely and that, since 
she is not on the bargaining team, she cannot attempt to influence the 
decisions of the faculty.

The last faculty contract expired on June 31, and an impasse was declared 
on September 11.  A mediator worked with the two bargaining teams on 
November 11.  On April 16, the first meeting will be held with the fact 
finder.  In preparation for that meeting, both sides must submit written 
reports and evidence, which will be public.  There may be a second 
meeting on April 24 with the fact finder, who will subsequently issue a 
non-binding report.  A professor said that at other universities the 
faculty work hand in hand with the administration towards a collective 
bargaining contract but here the process seems so adversarial.  The 
president said that she hopes that the process can be redesigned in the 
future.  We can engage the Board of Trustees in discussion about the 
process.

III.  Communications from the Chair - The Faculty Senate chair said that 
there are ongoing discussions with the vice president for academic 
affairs on the issue of the proposed Associate of Arts Degree Program.  
Also, the vice president for finance and administration is seeking input 
from faculty on how the units should be structured in the decentralized 
budget plan.  The senate chair said that the Faculty Senate elections 
have been completed, and only a few tie votes have to be resolved.  On 
April 19 the next senate meeting will be held, and it is expected to 
include a motion by the senate's Academic Affairs Committee regarding the 
structure of the University Curriculum and Academic Policies Committee, 
which will deal with potential conflicts between colleges that may occur 
if decentralized budgeting is instituted.  The final Faculty Senate 
meeting of this year will be on May 3 and will include a transition to 
the 1999/2000 senate.  The chair has requested written reports and 
recommendations for next year from the standing committees of the Faculty 
Senate and also from a number of university-wide committees.  The reports 
submitted will be distributed to the senate by its final meeting of the 
year.

IV.  Minutes - The minutes of the last meeting were approved unanimously.


V.  Report from the Student Affairs Committee - This committee dealt with 
its four charges as follows.  The committee made efforts to contact the 
leaders of student government and to open up lines of communication, but 
there was no response from the students.  John Miller, the chair of the 
Faculty Senate's Student Affairs Committee sat in on the SCAN Committee 
administered by the UNH Student Affairs Office.  Also he was a member of 
the Parking Appeals Committee.  Julie Brinker was the faculty's 
representative on the Memorial Union Board of Governors, which worked out 
the MUB's budget and recommended a MUB fee of $335 for each student.

James Farrell represented faculty on the university's Athletic Advisory 
Committee which advises the president.  That committee reviewed the 
policy on academic awards to student athletes and redrafted the mission 
statement of the university's Athletic Department.  The Athletic Advisory 
Committee also endorsed a draft from its safety subcommittee, which 
recommended improving safety-related conditions of the facilities and the 
physical plant.  The Athletic Advisory Committee also heard a 
presentation from the commissioner of the American East Conference and 
considered ways to address fan behavior at ice hockey games.

Ralph Draper reported on student affairs issues in meetings of the Board 
of Trustees.  There was a discussion on institutional effectiveness and 
how to measure outcomes at the College of Life-long Learning.  A 
presentation was made on the alcohol abuse education program at Keene 
State College.  The trustees' Academic Affairs and Student Affairs 
Committees are considering the interaction between the two committees and 
are looking for agenda items.  Faculty are asked to give input to the 
Faculty Senate's Student Affairs Committee on potential topics for 
consideration by those trustee committees.

Concerns were expressed about retention of students.  The UNH Admissions 
Office is working on this issue, and it could be discussed in the trustee 
committees.  Also if planned enrollment increases occur but more 
dormitory space is not completed, this would increase the proportion of 
commuter students and change the dynamics of the university.  That has 
important implications and could be discussed by the trustee committees.  
There is a plan to tear down the mini dormitories and Forest Park 
housing.  Also, the number of faculty has been reduced, which increases 
the work load for the remaining faculty.  In addition, more students seem 
to have a consumer mentality about their university experience now.

VI.  Open Mike - A faculty member submitted an urgent alert to the 
faculty regarding the arrest of university students who were engaged in a 
peaceful protest of the Disney Corporation.  Faculty are requested to 
write letters of support for the students who were denied free speech.  
Another professor said that the university has changed to a more distant 
internet service provider and that this change has caused serious 
interruptions of off-campus email communication.  April is sexual assault 
awareness month, and faculty are asked to show their support.  Concerns 
were expressed that the Claremont decision, which has now taken effect, 
will cause more budget problems for the university.  Faculty are 
encouraged to write their legislators on this issue.  There are still 
many unanswered questions about the proposed decentralized budget plan.  
There will be continuing dialogue on this issue for the rest of this year 
and into the fall, when the matter will come before the Faculty Senate.  
When the university's academic budget was cut this year, there were 
promises of cuts in the administration's budget.  Did those cuts occur?  
The senate chair will request information on that issue.  The meeting was 
adjourned.