MINUTES OF THE UT MARTIN SENATE MEETING

September 24, 1996

CALL TO ORDER
The first meeting of the 1996 Fall Semester was called to order at 3:20 p.m. by President Stan Sieber in the Boling Center Rooms 201-2-3. Present were 42 senators, 2 substitutes, and 13 visitors.

A photograph was taken of the 1996-1997 Faculty Senate. This photograph is to be used in the yearbook and on the web page.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the April 23, 1996, meeting were approved, after clarification of the time of adjournment.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
Executive Committee
Sieber gave a report of the September 10 Executive Committee and the August 16 informal senate organizational meeting, thanking the senators for a very successful meeting on August 16, even though some were not there due to time conflicts with other meetings. He thanked Drs. Perry and Blanchard for hosting the opening luncheon for the faculty.

Sieber reminded the senators that a Faculty Senate web page was under construction and that Bill Zachry, Anna Clark, and Kristy Crocker were working on it. Present plans are that the senate minutes and senate committee minutes will be available through this page, as well as the senate roster and other things.

E-mail will be used as much as possible in communicating with the senators and especially the executive committee. Sieber asked that any senators who do not have access to e-mail to let him know, so other means can be used to get information to them.

The scheduled committee meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be working fairly well. There is not as much confusion as to when committees meet. Sieber announced that there has been a change in the Faculty Senate schedule to allow more time for the academic units and the Senate committes to complete their assignments.

Last spring, President Sieber asked the faculty for items for discussion by the senate. One item that was sent to him was from International Programs, asking that they be allowed representation on the senate. A senator must be tenure track, with faculty rank. Visitors are welcome at senate meetings at any time; however, the bylaws are very specific regarding who can be a senator. A motion was made by Senator Johnson to invite a representative of International Programs to attend Faculty Senate meetings and participate in a non-voting capacity. (Clarification added by Senator Davis -- Restricted to general faculty senate meetings.)
Move to close discussion.
Seconded. Passed.
Motion carries.

John Overby and Sue Byrd distributed information about SQE, and provided an update on the SQE teams and work groups. The team types were chosen from suggestions made through the Baldrige criteria process last year and from information gained from surveys regarding what needs attention. An emphasis is being placed on the need for communication -- if the faculty and staff have concerns or suggestions, they should talk to one of the team members. The Process Teams consist of a sponsor, a facilitator, a team leader, and team members. The sponsors are continually being updated on the progress of the team, and the sponsors update the Leadership Team. The usual response time from the response team is about two weeks.

There was a discussion about whether there were resources allocated to implement the suggestions, and the response was that within reason there were funds budgeted for this.

Budget and Economic Concerns
Jim Nance had nothing to come before the senate at this time.

Undergraduate Council
Helmut Wenz had nothing to come before the senate at this time; the curriculum changes that were brought before the Undergraduate Council were tabled at that meeting.

Graduate Council
Maurice Field presented and moved approval for the curriculum changes from the School of Business as approved in their September 5 meeting, with the packet coming as a motion and second. Motion passed.

Instruction Committee
Jerald Ogg brought a report of their August 27 meeting. One of the problems the committee had needed to address had already been solved. The area of concern -- early morning library access -- has been addressed by Joel Stowers, who has announced that the library will now be open at 7:50 a.m. and most certainly by 8:00 a.m. Another concern has been availability of the computer labs during final exam week. Dr. Britton spoke to the committee, stating that it is difficult to find students to staff the lab during these times, and that funding is also a concern. The following recommendation comes from the Instruction Committee as a motion and second:

We recommend that the Computer Center explore ways of extending general purpose computer lab hours through final exam week.

Motion passed.

Library Committee
There was no report from the Library Committee.

Personnel Policies
Frank Black mentioned the committee was busy reviewing the current Tenure and Promotion policies. He had nothing to come before the senate at this time.

Chancellor Perry gave a report on enrollment and said there was a slight decline this fall in enrollment, mostly in the freshman class. There is an increase in graduate level enrollment. More students chose UTMartin on ACT forms, but fewer came. We do have a better level of students, and hope this means a better retention rate. Generally, enrollment is down at all four-year schools and up at technological centers.

NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.

A question was raised regarding curricula -- if undergraduate courses are passed, isn't it up to the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor to decide if something is duplication? Is it the Undergraduate Council's responsibility to decide if a course is duplication? Senator Trentham stated that it was the responsibility of the faculty to decide course duplication. There were no other comments.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn was made and seconded; the meeting was adjourned at 4:23 p.m.

Stan Sieber, President

Anna Clark, Secretary