Faculty Assembly
THE FACULTY ASSEMBLY
THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN VIRGINIA:
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF TUESDAY JANUARY 26, 1999
The meeting was called to order at 3:40 p.m. with 24 members present.
The minutes of the meeting of December 8th were approved as distributed.
I. Administrative Reports.
Provost Gillian Cell provided an update on the search for the director of the Reves Center, noting that on-campus interviews were imminent, but that the search was still open should good candidates apply in the near future. She warned the Assembled that the College had received a copy of a report from the Center for Equal Opportunity, alleging, on the basis of SAT's and GPA's, but most particularly SAT's, that four institutions in Virginia, including William &Mary, were giving preference to minorities in admission. She noted that W&M uses SAT's as only one factor in admission, and that she thought it likely the story would appear in the newspapers very shortly. In related news, she reported on a New York Times story that the Center for Individual Rights was taking ads in fifteen student newspapers around the country (and so possibly the Flat Hat), giving students information on how to sue if they felt their university was giving race-based preference in admission.
She summarized recent General Assembly activity, noting that while it was too early predict the final outcome, legislators were working with lots of money and lots of requests, but seemed focused on capitol projects. She announced that SCHEV would be releasing within the week a report on General Education requirements across the state, a report that was by definition to be descriptive and not evaluative. She addressed certain difficulties with the process of post-tenure review several departments had not yet had their procedures officially approved but said that we would go ahead with the procedures in place now unless a review looked as if it might be one that would invite an appeal, in which case that review would be suspended pending complete approval of the procedures. Finally, she reported on the Strategic Planning Review: the group (BPAC + all Vice Presidents and Associate Provosts) has looked at the mission statement, and will focus its immediate attention on the SWOT budget-planning document due, in draft form, to Richmond by April 16th. The group, as of 1/26, was through a draft document that she prepared with Sam Jones (Vice President for Management and Budget); they plan to have the draft completed by the end of February and to the Board of visitors for a special meeting in mid- March, after which it will be sent to Richmond for review, given back to us for revision, and resubmitted in final form to Richmond early in Fall '99.
In response to a comment about airline tickets being more affordable when purchased via the Internet than through state-approved travel agencies, the Provost said she would have to check state requirements regarding such purchases. She was also asked a question about how many parking spaces had been lost and/or replaced during various construction projects; Assembly President George Bass replied that we would refer that question to the Parking Committee (a.k.a. the Transportation Advisory Council).
II. Reports of Standing Committees
A. Academic Advisory Committee. Committee Chair Barbara Watkinson first moved approval of the Affiliated Scholars policy with the unanimous endorsement of the AAC. There was no discussion; the motion passed unanimously. She then moved that the vote to replace the non- academic leave policy (III. F. 7. b. of the Handbook) be postponed until the next meeting (February 22), because some faculty interested in the policy but not on the Assembly had not been given sufficient notice that the vote was scheduled for this meeting. Following brief discussion clarifying the reasons for the delay, the motion was approved unanimously.
B. BPAC. Assembly President George Bass reminded the Assembly of the four faculty members serving on BPAC (himself, Assembly Vice President David Lutzer, 98-99 Assembly President Don Baxter, and Chair of the Faculty Compensation Board John McGlennon). He promised to distribute email reports to the Assembly of the weekly BPAC and/or Strategic Planning Review meetings.
C. Committee on Committees. Dorothy Coleman, reporting in the absence of Chair Wagih Dafashy, thanked Assembly members who had commented on the draft survey to be circulated to chairs of university Wide committees; she also advised us that the CoC would be appointing two faculty members to the committee to review the Bookstore's contract. President Bass asked for volunteers.
D. Executive Committee. President Bass reminded Assembly members that the Executive Committee meets two weeks prior to each Assembly meeting to set the agenda for that meeting, and asked for items to be put on the agenda. He then reported that 8 faculty members would attend the legislative breakfast in Richmond on January 27th, and in response to a question about what role the Assembly might carve out for itself with legislature, noted that Vice President for Public Affairs Stewart Gamage and Director of Government Relations Michael Fox would be happy to work with us, especially on the issue of more student aid. Some general discussion followed regarding a comment about how best to keep the Assembly informed about Faculty Senate of Virginia issues, etc. someone suggested that we post Assembly news on Course Info, and someone else suggested that a list of University-Wide committees be posted on the FA Home page.
E. Liaison Committee. Vice President David Lutzer reported that, in February, Professor Stan Allen of VIMS would report to the Board of Visitors; that, for April, we were preparing a report on freshman seminars; and that there would be no Liaison Committee report to the BOV at their special meeting in March.
III. New Business.
On behalf of Professor Terry Meyers, who was unable to attend the meeting, President Bass read a resolution to list out the various fees (e.g., Athletic, Student Services, etc.) now encompassed under the general category "Tuition and General Fees" in the College catalog. A motion to approve the resolution was made and seconded. Following the Provost's explanation of the complexity of the reasons why fees rise (including the fact that auxiliary employees' salaries and raises are paid for by student fees) and her assurance that we would have easy access to a list of specific fees assessed, general discussion followed 1) to the effect that we probably ought not to vote on a resolution that we had just heard about and did not even have in print in front of us and 2) that we ought to send the resolution to whatever committee would accept it. A substitute motion was made and seconded to send the resolution to the Academic Advisory Committee; after some discussion, the mover (and seconder) accepted a friendly amendment to send the resolution to the Executive committee. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Colleen Kennedy
Secretary
