| Faculty Senate Activities and Accomplishments (January 2011 - December 2011) |
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Faculty Senate Activities and Accomplishments January 3, 2011 – September 27, 2011
I. Monthly Meetings: Agendas and Minutes Available for Review
A. Senate meetings [summary and expanded minutes posted on Senate web page] http://www.uab.edu/facultysenate
B. Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings [minutes posted on Senate web page]
C. Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings with President Garrison and Provost Lucas [minutes posted on Senate web page]; Senate identifies topics for discussion
D. Minutes of Faculty Policies and Procedures Committee available on Senate website [see FPPC]
II. Recommendations Submitted to Provost and President
A. Revision of UAB Faculty Handbook and Policies [Approved and implemented]
1. Addition of Section - UAB Faculty Participation in shared Governance in a Community of Learners
2. Reorganization of Section 2.0 Faculty Policies – order of information to support search of information from Handbook as posted in Policies and Procedures Library http://sppublic.ad.uab.edu/policies/Pages/default.aspx
3. Deletion of content related to Human Resources policies and not unique to faculty
4. Current content: four major sections with guidance information for faculty
B. Revision to Faculty Senate Bylaws to define structure and function of Curriculum Committee [Approved and Completed]
C. Revision to Faculty Senate Bylaws to define structure and function of Research Committee [Approved and Completed]
D. Review and revision process for academic unit faculty handbooks to include approval process by Provost Office and to assure compliance with UAB Faculty Handbook and Policies [Approved and notification to deans]
III. Activities Completed by Senate
A. Elections for Senators, Alternate Senators and academic unit representatives to Faculty Policies and Procedures Committee – completed in April
B. IDEA administrator evaluation process – first time for feedback from administrators [President, Provost, Deans] to constituents completed
C. Senate Executive Committee met with dean of each academic unit to review topics including shared governance practices in unit, budget transparency, communication practices, and role of Senators within academic unit governance structure
D. Discussions with President, Provost and Chief Human Resources Officer concerning Climate Survey completed in fall 2010
E. Faculty Development Grants Program – proposals submitted in January with Research Committee completion of recommendations in July; 42 proposals submitted with 18 funded for the year
F. Senate Constitution and Bylaws updated to include all changes related to formation of College of Arts and Sciences; formation of separate Senate Standing Committees for Curriculum and for Research
G. Appointment of Senate representative to advisory group for Center for Teaching and Learning
H. Appointment of Senate representative to UAB Joint Compliance Committee/UAB Enterprise Standards
I. Appointment of Senate representative to Dean’s Council
J. Appointment of Senate representatives to Retention and Graduation Committee
IV. Ongoing Activities by Senate
A. Senate sponsored IDEA administrators evaluation process for department chairs being conducted during fall term
B. Curriculum Committee to begin curriculum review activities previously conducted by the Undergraduate Programs Council
C. Review of role and participation by Senate representatives to University Committees
D. Membership on UAB Fringe Benefits Committee
E. Discussions for University Faculty Club
F. Faculty Forum Planned – October 7, 2011
G. State of University Presentation by President Garrison – October 20, 2011
H. Monthly meeting by Chair of Faculty Senate with Provost
I. Chair of Faculty Senate is Senate representative to Deans Council which meets monthly with the Provost
J. Chair-elect and Past Chair Senate representatives to the Recruitment & Retention Committee
K. Chair of Faculty Senate appointed to Provost Search Committee
L. Senators with each academic unit to continue communication practices with dean of unit
M. Academic calendar – criteria and guiding principles development for future updates to academic calendar
V. Goals and Objectives for October to May 2012
A. Elections Committee and Governance and Operations Committee - Conduct elections processes for Senators
and FPPC representatives during January – March 2012
B. Research Committee - January 2012 distribute Faculty Development Grant Program guidelines and receive
proposals by March
C. Governance and Operations Committees is preparing amendments related to filling of vacancies of Senator
positions Curriculum and Governance & Operations Committees will prepare amendments to address changes needed pertaining to structure and function of the Curriculum Committee New web address: http://www.uab.edu/facultysenate New look and updated information available on website; implementation of feedback process in progress. II. Monthly Meetings: A. Senate meetings [summary and expanded minutes posted on Senate web page] http://www.uab.edu/facultysenate B. Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings [minutes posted on Senate web page] C. Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings with President Garrison and Provost Capilouto [minutes posted on Senate web page]; Senate identifies topics for discussion D. Minutes of Faculty Policies and Procedures Committee available on Senate website [see FPPC] III. Faculty Forum – October 1, 2010 Topics identified by faculty attending the October 1, 2010 forum: parking around the 13-15th street buildings; gender equity report availability; status of shared governance activities by Senate; administrative costs of the operation of Provost office associated with reorganization and the implementation of the College of Arts and Sciences; status of issues associated with laptop encryption; status of vacation accrual practices; lactation rooms’ support; sabbaticals for non-tenure earning or tenured faculty; process for non-tenured faculty to move to tenure-earning position. Information is being obtained for each of the topics and a report will be posted on the Senate page when work completed and report presented to Senate. IV. Senate Sponsored Shared Governance Survey The survey was completed in September with initial data analysis reported to the Open Forum on October 1, 2010 and later shared with President Garrison. Currently the findings of the survey are being reviewed by the Executive Committee of the Senate in conjunction with review of the university results for the Climate Survey completed during fall term. These data along with the findings of the IDEA administrator evaluations completed by the faculty for President Garrison and Provost Capilouto are being used to develop a strategic plan for addressing the common themes identified in the three surveys. This work is ongoing and will be shared with Senate as available. V. Amendments to Faculty Senate Constitution Related to Formation of College of Arts and Sciences During June – December, the Senate prepared and approved amendments to Constitution Articles to address the changes associated with implementation of the College of Arts and Sciences specifically related to faculty representation to the Senate. During November the UAB full-time regular faculty voted approval of the amendments to the Constitution and with approval by President Garrison the Constitution has been amended and is available on the Senate page under Resources. VI. Amendments to Constitution Concerning Structure and Function of the Committees of the Senate Based on input from faculty, the Senate made amendments to the Constitution to separate the Curriculum and Research Committee to form two separate committees. This new structure is being implemented to allow more direct actions on issues of concern specifically for curriculum and on issues of concern related to the research infrastructure. Additionally, the election process for the FPPC has been updated to conform to current practices. VII. Amendments to Faculty Senate Bylaws Related to Formation of College of Arts and Sciences During June – November, the Faculty Policies and Procedures Committee (FPPC) and the Senate addressed the changes required to update faculty representation to the FPPC from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education based on the formation of the CAS. The Bylaws’ amendments were approved by the Provost in October and are posted on Senate website with the Constitution and Bylaws at Resources. VIII. Revisions to UAB Faculty Handbook and Policies Related to Formation of College of Arts and Sciences Revisions have been made to the Faculty Handbook related to the identification of academic units and to the sections related to faculty representation to the FPPC. http://main.uab.edu/Sites/faculty-development/images/75944.pdf IX. Recommendations Submitted to Provost Capilouto A. August 2009 – Accrual methods and documentation standardized process for faculty; Human Resources implementing eLAS for documentation of absences and leaves during January 2011 B. November 2009 – Addition of shared governance language to the Faculty Handbook; ongoing review and revisions by Provost with Senate Executive Committee before return of the document to the Senate for approval C. November 2009 – Senate requested discussions concerning the UA System Ethics Hotline to address revisions to the guidelines and the information on the web site and the processes; discussions with UAB Compliance Officer are ongoing http://www.uab.edu/ethics/ D. March 2010 – Procedure for evaluated administrators to give feedback to constituents by implementation of feedback process; implemented following during December 2010 by President and Provost report to Senate; to date some of the Deans have shared feedback. E. March 2010 – Creation of Policies and Procedures Library Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee is being appointed and will be chaired by Ms. Teresa Bragg, UAB Compliance Officer as of September 2010; Senate and FPPC representatives to this advisory committee have been identified; Advisory Group has not started meeting to address guiding principles and procedures for update of policies and procedures in Library X. Senate Activities August 2009-January 2011 A. August 2009 – Open Forum Senate meeting identification of topics of concern for faculty; topics addressed by Senate during the year; report posted on Senate web page B. October 2009 – First University Faculty Forum – topics of faculty concern identified and addressed during the year; summary report posted on Senate web page C. October 2009 - Senate sponsored State of the University Address by President Garrison D. October 2009 – Senate sponsored IDEA administrator evaluations completed for department chairs E. October 2009 – Senate appointed Ad Hoc Research Committee to address issues identified at the Faculty Forum; report is available on Senate web page; OGCA open session meetings are one follow up action to recommendations; separation of Curriculum and Research committees to form two independent Senate committees; work ongoing F. November 2009 – Senate conducted elections for faculty representatives to CAS Decanal Search Committee G. December 2009 – Senate elections {Senators and FPPC representatives} process initiated; completed in March 2010 H. January 2010 – June 2010 – Faculty Development Grants Program activities by the Research Subcommittee of C&R; review of proposals and submission of rankings submitted to Associate Provost; recipients for 2010 are posted on Senate web page I. April 2010 – Senate conducted Health Benefits Survey; results presented to Fringe Benefits Committee J. May 2010 – Annual reports for Senate committee activities – posted on Senate web page K. June – July 2010 – newly elected officers, senators’ orientation; identification of goals for year L. August 2010 – Shared governance survey with preliminary results shared at the October 1, 2010 Faculty Forum M. October 2010 – Second University Faculty Forum on October 1, 2010 N. October 2010 – Senate sponsored IDEA administrator evaluations to be conducted for President, Provost and Deans O. October 2010 – Senate sponsored State of the University Address by President Garrison http://www.uab.edu/president/presentations October 2010 – Senate conducted UAB full-time faculty vote on Constitution amendments P. November 2010 – Senate Executive Committee implemented meeting with a dean/library director at the monthly meetings to address topics of shared governance at unit level, budget transparency, role of Senators at unit level, and communication practices in unit concerning sharing of information and forwarding information from Provost with faculty Q. December 2010 – Senate implemented new Senate website http://www.uab.edu/facultysenate R. December 2010 – Senate initiated the elections process for the 2011 cycle; this will be the first elections based on the changes for representation of faculty to the Senate and the FPPC from the College of Arts and Sciences and from the School of Education S. December 2010 – Preparations for Senate support for the implementation of the Faculty Development Grants Program starting in January 2011 T. January 2011 – Senate will review the revised UAB Faculty Handbook and Policies as prepared by the FPPC based on reorganization of Handbook to be aligned with the Policies and Procedures Library – http://www.uab.edu/policies |