November 13, 2002

Jill Olmsted called the meeting to order at 1:50 p.m.

Present: Professors Ahrens, Brenner, Burke, Doolittle, Douglass, Forst, Hakim, Heintze, Irvine Belson, Jennings, Jernigan, Kehoe, Kravetz, Langbein, Olmsted, Riddick, Riley, Rosenbloom, Rubenstein, Schaeff, Williams. Provost Kerwin.

Absent: Professor Sha

The minutes of the October 16, 2002 meeting were approved.

Report of the President
Benjamin Ladner began his comments by congratulating the Faculty Senate for constituting itself as the new faculty governance body. He said he was proud of the faculty’s ratification of the new governance structure and pleased that the senators were willing to take time from commitments in their own academic areas to take responsibility for developing a system that is more open, more deliberative, and more consultative.

President Ladner then spoke in very positive terms about the status of the university. He said there appeared to be a feeling among people, across the board, that somehow American has pushed itself to a level of quality and a level of prestige that makes it a delight to be associated with the institution. He cited the following indicators as evidence of a more positive climate on the academic level:

• the huge strides the university has made on the international front, including the creation of a new Office of International Affairs, under the direction of the vice president of international affairs, Robert Pastor;
• the number of individual academic units that have been ranked highly in reports such as the one published by U.S. News and World Report;
• the widespread recognition of faculty accomplishments in scholarship, research, and creative work.

President Ladner also reported on two recent developments, which he said were indicators that the university is also in good financial health. They were:

• the recent approval of a $45 million bond issue for the construction of the Katzen Arts Center and other projects in the Campus Plan;
• an upgrading of the university’s Standard & Poor’s rating from A- to A.

As a second major theme, President Ladner spoke about the challenges that the faculty face as they grapple with key decisions about the future of the university. He acknowledged that many members of the faculty have deep feelings about certain issues, such as the review of graduate education. He also emphasized, however, the importance of maintaining an atmosphere where individual views can be heard, where questions can be raised and arguments put forth, and where the process allows for broad consultation. In addition, he noted, more the once, the challenges that higher education in general faces, given the uncertainties and the anxieties of a post-9/11 world.

President Ladner also shared his views about a number of issues that are slated to come to the Faculty Senate for consideration. His comments follow:

Graduate Program Review - Graduate education will always be a hallmark of the university, but the emphasis will be on quality, not on numbers. It is possible for the university to move to the top ranks of graduate education in some fields, but not in all fields. The issue of how to get the balance right and how to expend resources is going to be a difficult charge.

University College - The University College concept has real potential for allowing the university to rethink how freshmen and sophomores are introduced to the academic life of the community. But what the college will be and how it will attach itself to, or distinguish itself from, the General Education Program is an important issue.

The reduction of adjunct faculty in the curriculum - Achieving the right mix of full-time faculty and adjunct faculty is a complex issue, closely related to equally weighty questions regarding course loads. The two issues together will have enormous implications for the university’s budget.

The course load question – As a separate question, course load itself has wide ranging ramifications. The university needs to adapt a model that will allow American to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining high-quality faculty.

Responding to questions and comments from the senators, President Ladner announced that he did plan to hold further Campus Conversations, perhaps as early as December, but certainly in the spring semester. He also noted that the president’s cabinet was going to join with the deans in a public session; each member of the cabinet will also have a public session on his or her unit. As a final comment, President Ladner said he would be glad to return and talk further about his views, upon the Senate’s request.

Report of the Provost
The first part of Neil Kerwin’s report covered the following topics: the Board of Trustees meeting; the Middle States self-study process; the re-accreditation visits in the School of Communication and in the Kogod School of Business.

Board of Trustees – Provost Kerwin said he had made a report to the Finance and Investments Committee of the Board, in which he outlined four academic priorities for the coming fiscal year: (1) the commitment to maintain salaries for tenure-track and tenured faculty at AAUP Level 1; (2) the financial implications of the interaction between the commitment to reduce adjunct faculty presence in the curriculum and the whole issue of course loads; (3) an increase in graduate financial aid; (4) support for faculty, in terms of technology. He said the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board also met and approved faculty actions that had been taken by respective units since the May meeting; this included faculty appointments and some late promotion and tenure actions. In its meeting on November 8th, the full Board established the general parameters with which the community will work in formulating the budget for FY 2004.

Middle States – The liaison officer from Middle States visited campus on October 31st. He met with several constituencies and, following those meetings, he indicated that the university had made good progress to date on the self study. Provost Kerwin said that one issue, still to be resolved with Middle States, is the composition of the site team that will visit AU in 2004.

Re-Accreditation Visits – The Kogod School of Business successfully completed a re-accreditation visit by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, and the School of Communication successfully completed a re-accreditation visit by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Both schools were commended for the quality of their self-study documents, the overall quality of their academic programs, the engagement of their faculties in the process that led to the reaffirmation of degrees, and, in general, the satisfaction level expressed by students about the quality of education.

As the second part of his report, Dr. Kerwin reviewed issues that he said will have implications for the longer-term agenda of the Senate. He spoke first about the Graduate Program Review, noting that at that stage, the Educational Policy Committees should be actively engaged in reviewing recommendations that were percolating through the units. One issue to be considered by the Senate, he said, is the role the Senate will play in the review process.

After hearing comments from several senators, Dr. Kerwin said he would work with Cathy Schaeff to convene the Joint Committee on Curriculum and Academic Programs, in order for the committee to talk about their role in the review process. He said he would also consult with the deans in terms of their sense of what the procedures do, or do not, empower them to do.

Provost Kerwin then reported that despite the efforts of the past two years, academic integrity still remains a serious problem on campus and an issue that the Senate will need to address in the coming year, including a possible rewrite of the code. A third issue, he said, and one to be addressed by the Committee on Faculty Development, will be how to stimulate more sponsored program activity on campus.

Report of the Chair
Jill Olmsted brought the Senate up-to-date on her activities since the October Senate meeting. She reported that she had participated in the faculty roundtable that met with the Middle States liaison officer. She also participated, as chair of the Senate, in the first meeting of President Ladner’s new University Council. In addition, she attended the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee meeting and was also present for the full session of the Board. She said her written report to the Board reviewed what had occurred with the governance system since the spring semester and alluded to some of the challenges the Senate was facing in identifying new leadership.

Approval of the Senate Calendar for AY 2002-2003
The Senate approved the schedule of meetings for the remainder of AY 2002-2003. A copy of that schedule is appended to the record copy of the minutes.

Election of Senate Officers
The Senate unanimously elected Pat Kehoe, Washington College of Law, to serve as chair, and John Douglass, School of Communication, to serve vice chair for AY 2002-2003. Terms of office were to begin immediately. Professor Kehoe will serve as chair until the end of the spring semester.

Election of Members of the Committee on General Education
and the Honors Advisory Committee
The Senate unanimously elected the following members of the faculty:

• Committee on General Education
  Deborah Payne-Fisk – CAS Literature
  Christin Chin – SIS
  David Rodier – CAS Philosophy and Religion

• Honors Advisory Committee
  Lenny Steinhorn, SOC
  Richard Linowes, KSB
  Mark Walker, SIS
  Larry Medsker, CAS Computer Science, Audio Technology, and Physics
  Joe Soss, SPA
  John Hyman, CAS Literature

Report from the Committee on Instructional Budget and Benefits
John Douglass, chair of Instructional Budget and Benefits, presented the committee’s report with regard to the budget development guidelines. He outlined the following as the budget priorities for FY 2004: (1) maintaining salaries for tenure-track and tenured faculty at AAUP Level 1; (2) reducing the number of adjunct taught classes; (3) an increase in graduate financial aid. The committee also recommended that the range for tuition and residence hall increases be set at 3.5-6.5 percent.

Elaborating on the second priority, Professor Douglass reported that the committee had raised a number of questions related to the commitment to reduce the number of adjunct faculty. He said the committee raised a number of questions, including the following:

• What percentage of classes in the curriculum should adjunct faculty teach?
• Conversely, what percentage of classes should full-time faculty teach?
• Should the university consider differential teaching loads?
• Should the student-teacher ratio be raised in some classes?
• Can the university make life for adjuncts more attractive on campus and have them participate in campus life in a more meaningful way?

As a final item, Professor Douglass noted that the committee had also expressed strong sentiments about the plan to make AU a smaller university by reducing the size of the undergraduate class. He said that given the university’s dependence on tuition income, the committee felt it was prudent to demonstrate that the university has sufficient funds prior to cutting the size of the class.

A copy of the report from Instructional Budget and Benefits is appended to the record copy of the minutes.

For the Good of the Order
John Douglass expressed appreciation to Jill Olmsted for her service as chair during the transition period.

Katharine Kravetz announced that Robert Egger, Interim Director of the National Capital Area United Way, would speak in Kay Lounge on Thursday, November 21st at 12 noon. She urged faculty to come out to hear Mr. Egger discuss his efforts to reform and revitalize the United Way.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.