Executive Committee of the University Senate September 3

The meeting was called to order at 11 a.m. by Ken McGill Point of discussion 1. ECUS and SCoN July meetings: Ken McGill asked members present to determine whether minutes were needed for the July meetings that were conducted via E-mail. All members agreed minutes were needed for Senate records. President’s Report: 1. Provost Jordan delivered the President’s report. The Provost shared information on three items: 1) that ground breaking for the new Wellness Center will begin next week on West Campus, 2) that a campus update will be sent after Labor Day, and 3) that there is no change on the (un)likelihood of furloughs, although the campus is facing a possible 2-4 % budget cut. Area managers have been urged to increase revenue from 2-4% instead of making cuts. The Provost reported that the President is hopeful GCSU will have more “move the needle money” at the end of the year. Provost Jordan also shared, with those present, that the President has indicated that the university community will return to the campus-wide budget process that was in place two-three years ago. New Business: 1. Core Report: Ken McGill reported that the core proposal is with CAPC, which had the item on its agenda for 3rd September, 2010. Ken commended those involved in the core proposal for working within the university governance process. The Provost indicated that she has asked the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) to develop guiding principles for the decision-making process to be used to designate courses and that the UCC is working on rubrics for Area B. Again emphasizing the urgency of action due to BOR mandates and the requirement for review from multiple constituencies, she indicated that the deadline for sending information on Area B courses, to the state level is early October. 2. Bylaws Revision Committee: Ken McGill proposed the possibility of ECUS putting together a bylaws revision committee, with a work group to be appointed on a temporary basis. Current items for consideration by ECUS and the adhoc work group include: 1. election process for the presiding officer, 2. election process of the University System of Georgia Faculty Committee (USGFC) representative, 3. a permanent University Curriculum Committee, 4. moving the deadline for college senate elections, possibly to December 1st, and 5. A provision for special called meetings of standing committees. The question to be considered ECUS members at this time is whether to move forward on establishing a permanent subcommittee of ECUS and, if so, to consider how it might be populated. 3. Senate Website: Jay Lancaster, from W-eR, presented the progress of the website to the members present. Ken McGill reported that Jay, Matt Rogers, and Ken have a standing meeting at 3 p.m. on Fridays to discuss the progress of the new senate website. It was suggested that Matthew Buchanan, as senate point person in the Provost’s office, be invited to attend the weekly website meetings. Jay reported that the main issue is with Internet Explorer and that Firefox and Safari browsers seem to work well with the new senate website. The work is ongoing to continually upload all the content from the old site into the new site. Jay asked all members present to continue to provide feedback on site navigation. Jay also reported that a new role for the senate website, User Manager, has been created and as chair of the subcommittee Christine Zuger has been named the user manager for the 2010-2011 year. Jay reported that a bylaws tool is needed for keeping track of the bylaws and an editor is being developed for other areas of content that need to be updated frequently. Ken McGill asked for feedback on the agenda tool and Karynne Kleine asked for clarification concerning adding items to ECUS agenda. All members agreed that all agenda items will be sent to Ken McGill for his addition to the agenda. 4. Election of USGFC representative: Ken McGill distributed the University System of Georgia Faculty Council policy for ECUS members to review, a faculty advocacy body recently recognized by the USG. All present discussed the identification of a Georgia College representative for this year. All members agreed that the presiding officer elect, Jan Clark, will represent Georgia College as a voting member on the USGFC. Karynne Kleine reminded all present that anyone from Georgia College can attend these meetings.