Minutes for the Meeting of February 24, 2006

Attending: Peter Hlebowitsh (Chair), Ellen Herman, John Northup, Chris Ogren, and Liz Whitt

Minutes of Last Meeting: Read and approved with minor corrections (PPLS corrected to EPLS and Devry corrected to Devery).

Presidential Search Letter to Board of Regents : Peter thanked everyone for moving ahead and quickly getting departmental faculty input relative to a letter of concern regarding the Regents proposed make up of the Presidential search committee. Peter clarified that he and John Westefeld collaborated on the letter included in last months’ FAC minutes. Since there was unanimous COE faculty support for the letter, it was mailed to the home address of each member of the Board of Regents. Additionally, under the guidance of the Faculty senate every other UI college developed and sent a similar letter to each member of Regents.

Travel Reimbursement Issue: Peter reported that after consulting department chairs he learned that while there is some variability; on average faculty across the college spend between $1,000 and $3,000 out of pocket dollars to attend yearly professional meetings. However, Chris Ogren shared comments by EPLS faculty that seemed to indicate the more disconcerting issue is that due to lack of comprehensive financial support, faculty chooses to attend only one professional meeting a year. This situation also means that graduate students are only encouraged to attend one professional conference each year which translates into less national COE visibility. The committee decided to address these issues by directing Peter to first investigate what travel resources (outside of grant money) UI faculty from other colleges receive. Once we have this information we might then move to suggest that travel reimbursement be increased to $1000 and suggest that the Dean develop clearly defined guidelines for applying for more than the $500 currently provided. A proposal was also made to amend the current practice of providing new faculty with an additional $1000 travel dollars to spend only during their first year. Since many faculty gather data in their first year in the college and are ready to present their research in following years, we propose that new faculty be permitted to use the extra $1000 anytime within the first three years of their appointment.

ACT COE Million Dollar Grant: Peter indicated that Tarrell Portman has information relative to this topic. Since Tarrell was unable to attend this meeting Peter will email her and report back at the next FAC meeting. If Tarrell has no information, Peter will discuss this with Dean Damico.

The Curriculum Committee: Peter reported that this it appears that none of the four departments in the college are in favor of resurrecting this committee. Additionally, Peter recalled that during Steve Yussen’s tenure as Dean, he was assigned as a member of the Curriculum Committee and it never met. Following some discussion, members of the FAC agreed to drop the idea of forming a Curriculum Committee deciding that it could be resurrected on an Ad Hoc basis should the need arise.

New business: Chris Ogren mentioned that during the last EPLS faculty meeting a heated discussion ensued relative to the “Mid-Year Pay Raise” letter was given to all faculty by the Dean and department chairs. The wording of the letter which indicated that raises were based on equity as well as individual faculty “vitality and excellence” created a great deal of frustration and concern. The general consensus was that the wording of the letter caused faculty who did not receive raises to feel undervalued by the college. Following further discussion Peter asked members of the FAC to consult with their department chair and inquire as to 1) who was involved in the decisions relative to raises, 2) what criteria was used in deciding who received a raise, and 3) who actually developed the content of the letter that faculty received.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Herman, FAC Secretary, 2005-2006