Advisory Council of
Faculty Senates
Minutes of September 2, 2005 Meeting
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Meeting Attendees: Tom Auxter (UFF); Leonard Bliss (FIU); Arlen F. Chase (UCF); Jim Cobbe (FSU); Mary Diallo (FAMU); Kieth Fitzgerald (NC); Susan Greenbaum (USF); Bruce Hauptli (FIU); Roy Levow (FAU); Martha Pelaez (FIU); Judith L. Solano (UNF); Kim Tanzer (UF) Hudson Wakanma (FAMU); Katherine Walstrom (NC); Dreamal Worthen (FAMU).
Chair’s Opening
Remarks
The meeting started on time at
Dr. Pelaez then raised several issues of concern to ACFS members. First, she commented on the State Board of Education “Access Task Force” (which next meets on Sept. 14, 2005), whose purpose is to make decisions that are of joint interest to colleges and universities (including a discussion on 4-year degree programs at community colleges). The goals of the Access Task Force are: (1) make recommendations regarding education to the legislature; (2) help determine how Bright Futures will take less money from the state budget; and, (3) institute the Florida Council of 100 recommendations (more need-based scholarships; raise in-state tuition and fees; heighten standards for Bright Futures; boost financial aid for private colleges). Susan Greenbaum (USF) noted that these goals tend to exclude minorities, focus on private rather than public education, and do nothing to help faculty salaries. Kim Tanzer (UF) noted that UF was trying to institute most of the Council of 100 recommendations. Jim Cobbe (FSU) suggested that the amount of Bright Futures support needed to be capped. Dreamal Worthen (FAMU) argued that Bright Futures should be tied to need.
A second issue raised by Dr. Pelaez was formalizing an ACFS position on community colleges granting baccalaureate degrees; she noted that because of necessary remedial education that the cost-to-degree in offering BAs at community colleges was almost triple that of a normal state university.
She also urged members to watch the BOG budget and what happens to it at the legislature this year.
Planning and Data
Analysis
Nate Johnson, BOG Director of Planning and Data Analysis, then made a presentation to the group. First he passed out copies of the BOG Strategic Plan for 2004-2013. This strategic plan looks at access to and production of degrees, targeted degree programs, indications of world-class institutions, and special institutional needs. He noted that there had been disagreements as to what constituted distinctive missions at different universities and as to what the optimum structure of the system was in terms of unit costs and cost per unit or degree. The degree production goals are clearly a challenge to the strategic plan and there is concern that there may be too many qualified high school graduates for the university system to handle, meaning that there is an opening for community colleges to offer 4-year degrees. He stated that community colleges charge only 85% of what university’s charge (however, this does not take into account remedial education). A question was then raised over whether or not funds were being diverted to community colleges that should be going to universities. Leonard Bliss (FIU) noted that Miami Dade had been allowed to offer a 4-year education degree even though FIU was under-enrolled in this area.
Fiscal Policy
Tim Jones, BOG Director of Fiscal Policy, next presented the
Legislative Budget Review (LBR) that had been prepared for the July BOG
meeting. In presenting the budget, it
was immediately pointed out that the value of an FTE was variable not only for
each fiscal year but also for each institution.
Thus,
Vice-Chancellor’s
Comments
R.E. LeMon, SUS Vice-Chancellor, next reported to the ACFS. He noted that he was preoccupied with the BOG Search Committee to replace Debra Austin as Chacellor and with undertaking the Hurricane Katrina response for the SUS (noting that we were welcoming displaced students into our universities with little or none of the usual paperwork). LeMon noted that the universities have provided information on various educational goals and accountability measures that were included in the Strategic Plan and that the next focus of the BOG would be on fiscal accountability and on management accountability. The present accountability system is poised to track the goals of the BOG with regard to the universities.
The BOG will next tackle the GAA (General Administrative Accountability or the legislative goals) in order to insert itself fully within this arena (requests versus outcomes). In order to begin to look at fiscal accountability, expenditure analysis of the various universities has begun to find efficiencies, barriers at the state level that can be broken down, and tools in order to make the system more efficient and accountable. Financial officers from various universities were being brought together for state-wide meetings in order to begin to address these issues.
LeMon next noted that Academic Learning Compacts would be in place by the end of this year at all institutions and that this would also foster state-wide assessment.
Susan Greenbaum (USF) asked LeMon if his office was able to deal with issues of: (1) intelligent design (as the new K-12 Chancellor supported creationism in the schools); (2) academic freedom (given the American Council of Education position endorsed by the University Provosts and noting that the OPAGGA requests look like academic “responsibilities” and not “freedom,” focusing again on students’ rights); and (3) the Chancellor Search. LeMon answered that he was prepared to work with OPAGGA on “wordsmithing” or on providing an addendum for inclusion with the policy.
UFF Update
Following a brief break for lunch, the revised minutes of the last ACFS meeting were approved. Tom Auxter, the UFF State President, then made a presentation on union activities at universities. He noted that the union was still not recognized at his home institution UF, but that it had been largely successful on most other university campuses. He directly credited the UFF for both the state-wide and local salary increases that occurred at the various universities over the past year. He noted that the issue of academic freedom (in the form of “ideological control of the classroom”) will be attacked again this year in the state legislature under the guise of “students’ rights” and that the university faculties needed to be ready to deal with this issue once more.
Campus Reports
Campus Reports for each university present were given next. The campus reports that were provided to the
ACFS as digital copy (UCF, FSU, UNF, USF,
ACFS Constitutional
Changes
Changes to the ACFS constitution were next suggested by Arlen Chase (UCF) and discussed as a way of bringing this document into conformance with our BOG presence, which now includes a Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past Chair. Some wordsmithing was undertaken. The formal changes that are proposed for the constitution are presented below and will be voted on at the next ACFS meeting. The new suggested wording for the articles to be changed is as follows:
Article 3.2.1. Full Member. Two faculty representatives from each member institution shall have voting privileges and the right to speak from the floor as full members. The officers of the ACFS will also be considered to be full members with both voting privileges and the right to speak from the floor.
Article 4.2.6. Placing its records in a public forum (such as a public website).
Article 5.1. The officers of the ACFS shall consist of a Chair, a Chair-Elect, and a Past Chair. No more than two of these officers may come from the same institution.
Article 5.1.2. The officers shall serve one-year terms normally starting the first Monday of August following the election.
Article 5.1.3.5. If the Chair, Chair-Elect, or Past Chair no longer serves as a full voting member of an institution, that individual shall maintain voting privileges until expiration of his/her term.
(Article 5.1.4.6. to be deleted in its entirety.)
Article 5.1.5. The Past Chair
5.1.5.1. The Past Chair may perform the duries of the Chair in the absence of the Chair and the Chair-Elect.
5.1.5.2. After seving as the Chair, the Chair shall become the Past Chair.
5.1.5.3 The Past Chair shall normally keep minutes of the BOG meetings for the ACFS and perform such other duties as directed by the members.
5.1.5.4. The Past Chair shall attend both the ACFS and the BOG meetings with the Chair and the Chair-Elect to provide continuity for policy issues related to the ACFS.
5.1.5.6. It is expected that the respective public colleges and universities from which the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past Chair derive will provide the appropriate level of institutional support to these ACFS officers as that extended to their respective Chairs of their Faculty Senates, specifically with respect to release time and travel.
Web Presence and
Chancellor Resolution
Martha Pelaez then introduced two topics for final discussion. First was the need for a web presence with a paragraph description of what the ACFS is and does, with a listing of members and with web-links to faculty governance at each member institution. The final topic of discussion was the search for the new University Chancellor. Dr. Pelaez is a formal member of this committee and has been able to get the committee to undertake a national search. To help her get the best qualified candidate, the group unanimously passed a resolution to go forward to the BOG that stated:
“The ACFS directs its Chair to strongly advocate for a national search and screen for a highly qualified academically trained individual to serve as Chancellor of the State University System.”
The ACFS Meeting was adjourned ca