University Senate - December 2, 2019 Meeting Minutes

Call to Order and Announcements

The University Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m., in Room 111 Harrison Hall, Oxford Campus, on Monday, December 2, 2019. Members absent: Cecelia Comerford, Darryn Edwards, Mandy Euen, Effie Fraley, Sande Garner, Antonio Vazquez Lim, Edith Lui, Jaylen Perkins, Danti Rossi, Steven Tuck, and Don Ucci.

  1. Announcements and Remarks by the Chair of Senate Executive Committee, Dana Cox.
    1. Senator Curme is the Senate liaison to Benefits Committee as well as the Retirement Plan Advisory Committee.  He is asking for feedback about benefits, including any issues with the transition to the new 403B and ARP Plans.

Approval of University Senate Minutes

  1. A motion was received, seconded, and carried to approve the October 8, 2018, amended minutes of University Senate and the November 4, 2019, minutes of University Senate. .

Consent Calendar

  1. The following items were received on the Consent Calendar.

    1. Curriculum 

New Business

  1. SR 20-08 – TCPL Cap – Jason Osborne, Provost, Liz Mullenix, Dean, College of Creative Arts, and Carolyn Craig, Instructor, Marketing

    1. Provost Osborne provided a brief update before introducing Dean Mullenix and Instructor Craig. He reports that nationally, among four-year public institutions, 61% of faculty are full-time, and the number is lower at four-year private institutions. Miami has a higher percentage of full-time faculty than the national average, but we still have to be conscientious about the economic realities. This year, it is anticipated that 30 T/TT will retire. We currently are conducting 43 T/TT searches and anticipate 18 TCPL searches. We are trying to reverse the losses from the economic downturn of 2008.

    2. SR 20-08 was revised. The new version establishes caps for each division. These caps can be removed or changed as divisions see fit. All divisions were set at 25% of T/TT faculty except EHS and CLAAS who were set at their current levels.

    3. Carolyn Craig, Instructor of Marketing, was introduced. She is in her fifth year as a VAP and has over 25 years of industry experience. Carolyn connects with real life corporations like Target and UPS and makes sure students engage with the world. She has also accomplished significant service. She trains new faculty on diversity and inclusion and is the program developer for a new diversity and inclusion certification program for faculty and staff. She feels that her primary responsibility is teaching students. She teaches four sections of a course that she loves. She does academic advising and works as a faculty advisor for multiple student organizations that seek her out for her expertise. Provost Osborne added that she is ‘one example of phenomenal people doing really great work.’

    4. Dean Mullinex was introduced and addressed her perspective on shared governance. Provost Osborne asked her to address several questions:

      1. How do we make decisions within our constraints and honor shared governance? In the CCA, there are 72 T/TT faculty and 7 TCPL (10%) and 11 VAPs. In the music department, we have 27 T/TT faculty with multiple vacancies. The money that is being held there is being used to hire professional musicians as adjuncts such as the principle and Assistant Principle trumpets from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Decisions are made that are culture-specific and direct the kind of faculty into position that will add programs and students strategically. Finances are NOT the only factor, rather, other things such as the experience and expertise needed.

      2. Have you ever had to deny a request for a Tenure line? The Theatre department had a request for a theater historian. We saw some struggles with our graduate program and decided to suspend the program and that didn’t support the position. The T/TT line was reallocated to another program.

      3. SR 20-08 will allow divisions to manage their own composition. Is that desirable? I think it’s better to look at context. What is the academic discipline? Do you have research productivity according to expectation? Do you have multiple sections of a particular course? Especially in CCA, there is a great deal of diversity in terms of work. These decisions are made through careful conversations with chairs. Shifting from RCM means we need to be in conversation with the Provost. 

    5. Senators had several questions and comments for Dean Mullenix:

      1. Were you here when the deans were in control of the lines? Yes, but we always had to get provost approval. Now, the difference is that the Provost has all of the positions in terms of reallocation. IMS will need lines, which may mean an allocation from some of the programs that are now lower enrolled.

      2. Have you been denied a position? A request for a staff position was denied. There always have to be checks and balances.

      3. How would the College of Creative Arts be impacted if nothing was done (the TCPL cap kept at 25%)? There would be a concern with the lack of flexibility to be able to address major hiring issues (IMS example).

    6. Provost Osborne indicated that the ratio of TCPL is currently at 22.9% and there are several deans who want to convert VAPs. There are a lot of visiting faculty who are committed to the teacher/scholar model, and we are capping the ability to recruit and retain quality faculty. The proposal is to replace a ‘one size fits all’ cap with divisional specific caps, which will give divisions time to manage themselves.

    7. Motion to discuss the resolution was passed, and the following discussion points were made.

      1. A comment was made that we need to look at the VAP percentage of total faculty. The suggestion was made to suspend the rules and not have a vote until after the break. Provost Osborne indicated that hiring plans are due January 17, 2020. No suspension was made.

      2. It was noted that Carolyn Craig’s work is similar to what a TCPL would do. Why isn’t there inclusion of VAPs in this resolution? Provost Osborne is trying to get one specific thing done so Deans can get their hiring plans done and VAPs could get hired. The proposal is to devolve this to the divisions.

      3. There was a concern that the TCPL numbers are not represented as a percentage of the total number of full-time faculty.

      4. A senator who was on the Ad-hoc Committee for Composition indicated that the number one recommendation from the report was to address the issue of VAPs, so it is worrisome that they are not included in this discussion. There does not appear to be a dire emergency. The ad-hoc committee indicated that the ratio of TCPLs was at 18%, which is lower than what the Provost has indicated.

      5. The Provost responded that this is a false dichotomy. VAPs are teacher/scholars. If there is no faith or trust in the process and people, there is no hope. Do we trust our deans, chairs, and provost?

      6. A senator responded that if you are a fifth year VAP, there is an emergency. Please don’t presume to know what is important to someone else. We have lost good VAPs due to the five-year rule.

      7. Several senators commented that they are seeing this for the first time and need to consult with their constituents, and therefore, do not feel confident voting. Provost Osborne indicated that the only change were the addition of caps for divisions and communication.

      8. One senator commented that although the new resolution is much better, they don’t feel comfortable voting. Provost Osborne indicated that the intent is to increase shared governance and to give deans merit and autonomy. Divisional caps are a safeguard and can be modified as needed.

      9. Celia Ellison, Director of Academic Personnel indicated that we are currently hiring for August based on incoming class and VAPs have to be fluid.

      10. One senator spoke to the impact of TCPL on faculty research in the science areas. When a department is unable to hire more TCPLs, there isn’t enough staffing to help with undergraduate research. The department will never be able to afford a new T/TT line.

      11. A motion was made to Call the Question: Two-thirds majority was not reached, and the motion failed.

      12. A motion was made and approved to table the of SR 20-08 discussion until January 27, 2020.

  1. Department of Classics Consolidation Update – Terri Barr – Process Coordinator

    1. Terri Barr presented a recommendation to merge the Classics department to French and Italian department. Steve Tuck will go to the Department of History. Implementation team will be developed and merger completed by end of spring 2020.

    2. Senate voted unanimously to forward the recommendations of the Classics Consolidation process coordinator to the Provost for consideration.

  2. Department of Kinesiology & Health Partitioning Update – John Bailer – Process Coordinator

    1. Professor Bailer presented a recommendation to partition KHN and SLAM. There are two units with different foci. This will support focused expansion and divergence of curriculum. They have resolved logistical issues including space, scholarships among others.

    2. It was asked whether they would have shared staff. They will not.

    3. Senate voted unanimously to forward the recommendations of the Kinesiology and Health Partitioning Committee to the Provost for consideration.

 

Report

  1. Report by the Chair of the Executive Committee of University Senate, Dana Cox

    1. Arrest Reporting Ad-hoc Committee update:

      1. Ad-Hoc Committee Members: Jose Amador; James Bielo (chair); Justin Chandler; Gion DeFrancesco; Madelyn Detloff; David Eyman; Alan Ferrenberg; Nishani Frazier; Lisa Gault; Tara Hoppe; Theresa Kulbaga; Lindsay Miller; Robin Parker (ex-officio)

      2. The committee met to design the process by which they will meet their charge.

      3. The initial meeting examined the purpose of the policy, the relationship of this policy to others at Miami, and other models in use elsewhere.

      4. Concerns with the proposed policy were identified along with some preliminary recommendations.

      5. The next stage of work will be to conduct focus groups to gather information from a broad representation of stakeholders.

    2. There will be a Senate retreat on January 8, 2020, in the Wilks Conference Center, Hamilton Campus, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

    3. There also may be another change to the Tenure and Promotion guidelines for discussion next academic semester that would require Departments and Chairs to write separate decision/recommendation letters for candidates.

Adjournment

  1. A motion was received, seconded, and carried to adjourn the Regular Session of University Senate. The meedting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Next scheduled meeting of University Senate:

January 27, 2020, 3:30 p.m.

Room 111 Harrison Hall, Oxford Campus