Faculty Assembly
THE FACULTY ASSEMBLY
THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN VIRGINIA:
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF TUESDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2000
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 p.m. with 31 members present.
The minutes of the meeting of December 14, 1999 were approved as distributed.
Assembly President David Lutzer introduced guests Paul Jost, a Board of Visitors member and Peter Maybarduk and Greg Thrall, students at the College.
Peter and Greg presented a proposal for ethical environmental education. They circulated a document outlining their proposal and discussed various curricular strategies that could be used to address ethical and environmental issues in various discipline/major areas.
I. Administrative Reports
President Sullivan reported on the College's 2010 initiative and General Assembly activity. He stated that 2010 provides "an opportunity for all members of the W&M community to participate in an examination of the college's soul." The three themes of 2010 are William and Mary and (1) the campus experience, (2) the community, and (3) the world. Sullivan requested that faculty members participate in the 2010 process by sharing their comments with his office. The president hopes to gain information useful in shaping future fund raising efforts. President Lutzer noted that the faculty would like to be involved in the process of digesting the input from the 2010 process. President Sullivan stated that he will share with faculty information the College is gathering from this exercise. Members of the Assembly urged the president to consult with the faculty before reaching any conclusions growing out of the 2010 exercise.
President Sullivan reported that budget proposals working their way through the legislature are generally more generous to higher education than were the governor's original funding proposals. Sullivan indicated that the two appropriation committees had included sufficient funds to allow W&M to achieve the 60th percentile in faculty salaries within two years. The two committee proposals for faculty salaries range from 4.0 to 4.3%. Legislative proposals at the time of the Faculty Assembly meeting also included an in-state tuition freeze for two years, some additional funds for student financial aid, and some additional funding for the Equipment Trust Fund. Sullivan also noted that the Senate budget proposal includes $16 million for renovations to Millington Hall. According to Sullivan, the Commonwealth has no overall plan to address higher education's aging facilities.
Vice President Jones also discussed plans to move the College Bookstore to the building that formerly housed Casey's Department Store. Such a move would increase space and the number of trade books the store could carry. Jones reported that the College is currently in negotiations with Barnes and Noble concerning the potential move and with CW concerning rent.
President Sullivan reported that the Budget Review Commission of the House and Senate went along with the institutional presidents' recommendation for further study of institutional performance agreements before implementing this concept. He noted the legislature's concern that IPAs would weaken the legislature's ability to influence higher education.
President Sullivan assured Faculty Assembly members that he will be working to improve legislative proposals and to insure funding for Millington Hall as these matters emerge from conference committee. Furthermore, he assured Assembly members that if funds for Millington are not approved in this year's session, the College will return to Richmond a year from now to seek the funding.
II. Reports of Standing Committees
A. Academic Advisory Committee. AAC Chair Katherine Kulick distributed a preliminary report on the W&M Faculty Survey. She thanked all who had participated in developing, implementing, and analyzing the survey, and she reported that the final response rate was 61.9%. The survey identified a high level of faculty satisfaction with 87% reporting they were either very or moderately satisfied. The faculty's highest priorities are salaries, funds for research leaves, and student financial aid. Professor Kulick stated that the next step in the study is follow-up interviews. Assembly members suggested issues to pursue in those follow-up interviews.
B. Committee on Committees. President Lutzer raised Joe Scott's concern that COC is sometimes asked to make committee membership recommendations with little turnaround time. Lutzer requested that COC receive sufficient notice of committee vacancies to permit proper consultation on appointments.
The Assembly unanimously approved faculty appointments to administrator evaluation committees. It also unanimously approved faculty appointments to the Registration Coordinating Committee.
Will Hausman agreed to find a volunteer to fill Alan Ward's vacancy on COC.
C. Executive Committee. President Lutzer announced that the Board of Visitors approved the Assembly's new Constitution and Bylaws at the Board's February meeting.
President Lutzer presented the proposal for the Assembly's budget and for compensation for Executive Committee members:
Proposed Assembly Budget:
The Executive Committee proposes that the Assembly budget be as follows:
a) buyouts for three officers at $6,500 each $19,500
b) M&O $ 3,500
c) funding for retreat $ 5,000
Following a vigorous discussion concerning compensation for Assembly officers and the rationale for relieving them of some teaching duties, the proposal passed unanimously. This budget represents a $5,000 savings compared to previous Assembly budgets, and Provost Cell announced her intention to transfer that $5,000 to the faculty research budget.
For the Executive Committee, President Lutzer also moved to modify the COC standing rules as follows:
The Assembly adds item 4 (below) to the list of duties of the Committee on Committees. In addition, because the Board of Visitors approved the constitution and bylaws changes at its February, 2000 meeting. the Assembly assigns all duties of the current Committee on Committees to the Executive Committee, or one of its subcommittees, starting in the 2000-2001 academic year. Finally, the Assembly authorizes the current Executive Committee to rewrite the standing rule of October 28, 1998 to reflect the changes in this motion.
"4. The Committee on Committees is responsible for recommending faculty membership on all other university-wide committees, including but not limited to, administrative evaluation committees."
The proposal passed unanimously.
Via the written agenda, the Executive Committee announced its plans for implementing the new Assembly Constitution and bylaws. In some constituencies there are more continuing Assembly members than are allowed for in the new constitution. As a result, some current Assembly members will be asked to volunteer to become alternate members for 2000-01. In addition, current Assembly members will be asked to volunteer to serve three of the Assembly's four standing committees, and the Executive Committee will do its best to make sure that Assembly members are assigned to their first two choices.
D. Liaison Committee. Vice President Bill O'Connell reported on the Liaison Committee's February report to the Board of Visitors. This report focused on undergraduate research. A faculty-student team from mathematics gave one presentation to the BOV. A faculty-student team from chemistry made the other.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Baldwin
Secretary
