Minutes of the
First Regular Meeting of the Twenty-Fifth Senate
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
September 12, 2005
12:00 P.M., Kettler G46
Agenda
1. Call to order
2. Approval of the minutes of April 11, 2005
3. Acceptance of the agenda – J. Grant
4. Reports of the Speakers of the Faculties
a. Indiana University – B. Fife
b. Purdue University – N. Younis
5. Report of the Presiding Officer (Senate Reference No. 05-1) – G. Bullion
6. Committee reports requiring action
Executive Committee (Senate Document SD 05-1) – J. Grant
7. New business
8. Committee reports “for information only”
Curriculum Review Subcommittee (Senate Reference No. 05-2) – D. Oberstar
9. The general good and welfare of the University
10. Adjournment*
*The meeting will adjourn or recess by 1:15 p.m.
Presiding Officer: G. Bullion
Parliamentarian: D. Turnipseed
Sergeant-at-Arms: G. Steffen
Secretary: J. Petersen
Senate Members Present:
B. Abbott, A. Argast, R. Bean, S. Blythe, C. Champion, M. Codispoti, S. Davis, P. Dragnev,
C. Erickson, B. Fife, R. Friedman, P. Goodmann, J. Grant, T. Grove, S. Hannah, C. Hill,
P. Iadicola, A. Karim, L. Kuznar, D. Lindquist M. Lipman, L. Meyer, M. Montesino,
G. Moss, D. Mueller, A. Mustafa, E. Neal, D. Oberstar, E. Ohlander, H. Samavati,
G. Schmelzle, J. Tankel, S. Tannous, J. Toole, S. Troy, G. Voland, M. Walsh, L. Wark,
M. Wartell, N. Younis
Senate Members Absent:
W. Branson, J. Brennan, D. Erbach, L. Fox, J. Garrett, D. Goodman, P. Hamburger,
Z. Liang, L. Lin, G. Mourad, R. Murray, D. Ross, J. Zhao
______________________________________________________________________________
Attachment:
“Amendment to the Constitution: Expanding Opportunities to Serve the Campus Community” (SD 05-1, failed)
Faculty Members Present: E. Blumenthal, J. Clausen, S. Sarratore
Visitors Present: J. Dahl, R. Kostrubanic, P. McLaughlin, K. Stockman (Journal Gazette)
Acta
1. Call to order: G. Bullion called the meeting to order at 12:02.
2. Approval of the minutes of April 11, 2005: The minutes were approved as distributed.
3. Acceptance of the agenda:
J. Grant moved to approve the agenda as distributed.
The agenda was approved as distributed.
4. Reports of the Speakers of the Faculties:
a. Indiana University:
B. Fife: It is good to be back for another year in this body. I am very much looking forward to working with our distinguished Purdue speaker and presiding officer. Their passion and dedication to this institution are well documented, and they will serve with honor and civility.
I would like to remind all of you serving on the Call to Action committees that a brief summary of each group’s progress is due for the October, 2005 Senate meeting, and a written report is due in the Senate in either January or February of 2006.
Lastly, I have just received a publication entitled "Eight Campus Identities, One Shared Destiny." This is the final report of the Indiana University Mission Differentiation Project. I would like to share a brief passage from page 17 of the report, under "Campus commentaries: observations and options":
"There is a high interest in research and in the advanced degree needs of the region. There has been significant enrollment growth in the past decade. Located in Indiana’s second largest city, yet far away geographically from other large population centers, IPFW should be allowed to introduce a small number of specialist and doctoral programs to meet regional needs, especially if this is done in collaboration with IU Bloomington, IUPUI, or another institution."
We need to continue a substantive dialogue about the future of this institution. Such an endeavor would be undoubtedly far more effective if it were done locally and with meaningful participation by diverse constituencies. Thank you.
b. Purdue University:
N. Younis: I look forward to working with Speaker Fife, Presiding Officer Bullion and the Fort Wayne Senators. It is an honor to be a Speaker at IPFW, a great university with two Big Ten names.
I believe that this is going to be an exciting year as we embark upon finishing the new IPFW strategic plan and establishing the new educational objectives for the bachelor degrees. In addition, we will be dealing with issues that the faculty deem necessary and that they are passionate about.
Currently, many subcommittees are working on drafting the next IPFW strategic plan. Every IPFW member’s input is important in order to have a strategic plan that will shape the future of IPFW for the next five years. The faculty is an integral part of developing and executing the plan and I look forward to receiving input from them.
The current educational objectives were developed in the late ’80s. However, the achievement of the objectives by IPFW baccalaureate degree graduates has not been assessed properly. Thanks to the Educational Policy Committee, I anticipate the new IPFW baccalaureate degree objectives will come to the Senate floor this academic year. The revised objectives are based on our constituents’ input. I would like to see the faculty engaged in the process of establishing the new objectives. An assessment plan will accompany the new objectives.
As I mentioned before, this is a great university, but it is not a perfect one and we can use some improvements. For example, when I speak with faculty, it is my opinion; the main issue in the academic affairs arena is the need to improve shared governance. While we have many documents and procedures regarding shared governance, and I can only speak to the academic affairs arena, at least this needs to be visited and discussed.
Finally, as a thank you note, I would like to thank the Student Government Association for financially supporting the new equipment at the Gates Sport Center that everyone, including the faculty, is enjoying.
I look forward to working with you! Thank you.
5. Report of the Presiding Officer – G. Bullion:
As we begin the year, I sense a special sense of excitement. The campus is vibrant, alive, and is moving forward. I think, as was reflected in the comments made at the fall convocation, that the Physical Plant is prepared to change even more. But the strength of the university is what occurs within the faculty and student body. I believe that we are capable and well prepared to move forward in that area as well. Many of you are serving on the Call to Action committees and, as Professor Fife has just challenged you, the timelines for bringing those reports to the faculty will be rather short. So, please be sure that those groups move to deal with the challenges that are before them. I would also make a special note on the Strategic Planning initiative that so many of you participated in last April. I was participating in a session this last week, and one of the community members, David Molfenter, was noting the extensive participation that had occurred in that session. I think you have certainly reflected the interest and the enthusiasm that you have for having your voice heard in helping shape that strategic plan. I am sure that this year is going to provide many opportunities for that to go forward, and from the tactics and measures whereby we measure, we are succeeding in the process. I think the Strategic Plan that we had for the past five years certainly provided us with a good roadmap, and the next five years will be even more important in helping to shape the role of this university in this community. I had made a statement, and the chancellor attributed part of the statement to me at the convocation, and for those who did not hear it, I used the word “arrogance.” That I really believe that we, as an institution, have reached the point that we are justified in communicating with a sense of arrogance to our constituents – that we are good, and we know that we are good. It is the confidence that comes from having done a job well and having done it for many years, and preparing to move to the next level. So, I take no special claim for that attitude, but I think that the university has reached that stage in its growth and development as it prepares to go forward.
I did agree to make an announcement today. Jennifer Bosk had asked if an announcement could be made about the Mastodon Roast for faculty and graduates that is coming up. It is the Seventh Annual Mastodon Roast on Tuesday, October 11. We know that all of you have your schedules open that day (fall break). If you could fit it into your schedule, that would be a very appropriate event to have strong faculty representation. Please notify the Office of Alumni Relations of your intent to attend so that they can make arrangements.
I want to acknowledge that David Turnipseed has occupied the parliamentarian chair for six or seven years. Thank you, David, for agreeing to serve as our parliamentarian again this year. And also, Gary Steffen has stepped forward again this year to serve as the sergeant-at-arms. He did such a wonderful job last year – he held down completely all of the energetic activity that faculty feel when they want to get combative, and he made it a mark of civility last year. We depend on him to accomplish the same thing again this year.
6. Committee reports requiring action:
Executive Committee (Senate Document SD 05-1) – J. Grant:
J. Grant moved to approve SD 05-1 (Amendment to the Constitution: Expanding Opportunities to Serve the Campus Community). Seconded.
M. Lipman moved to amend the last sentence to read: Eligibility of the additional eight senators is limited to tenured faculty members and librarians only. Seconded.
Motion to amend passed on a voice vote.
M. Lipman moved to strike the last sentence of the amendment. Seconded.
Motion to strike the last sentence was approved on a voice vote.
Motion to approve the amendment to the Constitution failed on a show of hands (16 ayes, 22 nays).
7. New business: G. Bullion requested the senators to introduce themselves and the number of years they have been at IPFW.
8. Committee reports “for information only”:
Curriculum Review Subcommittee (Senate Reference No. 05-2) – D. Oberstar:
D. Oberstar presented Senate Reference No. 05-2 (Proposal for Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering) for information only.
9. The general good and welfare of the University:
J. Tankel: I would like to welcome everybody back. During the summer members of the EPC, with the addition of Nash Younis and Justin Harber (student), worked on the ongoing goals and objectives project for the establishment of the requirements for the undergraduate degrees at IPFW. We took all of the information that you provided us last year and went on a retreat to Utah. We came back with a draft document which we are now polishing and finishing up, which will then be distributed to the entire campus and all other constituencies so we can begin this process. We hope that by the spring we will actually be able to submit to the Senate, for consideration, the revision of Senate Document 88-33: Goals and Objectives of the IPFW Baccalaureate Degree. Please be aware that this is coming up, and we do want to have as much input as possible. We urge everyone to participate in this project since it will determine ultimately what the learning objectives for the undergraduate baccalaureate degree will be, which will have a great impact on our assessment and other issues. Then we can determine just how great a campus we are.
C. Erickson: I have an update from the IPFW Child Care Taskforce. We had a really good response to the survey that we distributed last spring to faculty, students, and staff. We are now compiling and evaluating the data, and we expect to make a presentation to the administration sometime in mid-October.
M. Wartell:
1) Final enrollment statistics. We ended up 1.1 percent (about 1200 up in credit hours) and about 15 students down in headcount. So, we now have more full-time students than we had before. If you look only at undergraduates, we are at about 61.8 percent full-time students. If you look at the entire undergraduate population, we are at about 58.6 percent full-time students. So we are moving toward the goal of 60 percent full-time students at IPFW. As I mentioned, also, at convocation, there are changes in our application pool. We are increasing significantly in high school graduates, that is immediate high school graduates, but we are also decreasing in transfers and adult entries. So, we need to take a careful look at that and decide why that is happening and ensure that our management of enrollment is working.
2) Housing. Housing is 100 percent full. We have 160 people on the waiting list; that is, we have 160 extra applications for housing than we could get in. We are now planning on adding either 150 or 200 more units. We cannot get that done in less than two years: we just cannot build them that quickly and get the appropriate approvals that quickly, but we will move toward adding two more buildings. The only question is whether they will be three-story buildings like we have now or four-story buildings. We did learn one thing from the previous construction: put more insulation between the floors. We will do that.
3) Building projects. We have received bids for the music building. That project will now proceed to the Board of Trustees on the 23rd for authorization. We hope to break ground in October. There should be no change in the opening date, which we hope to be Fall 2007. It is possible that it could slip to Spring, but that would be the latest that it would slip.
We have just picked an architect for the Student Services Building. That choice will also be recommended to the Purdue board on September 23rd. You may remember that we have a $2.4 million authorization for architectural and engineering funds for that. So that process will begin and all areas of the campus will be talked to, discussed with, and consulted concerning the structure and the composition of that building. It should be a very interesting building.
You probably saw in the paper that our bridge project was authorized. We received $1 million from the state. That is known as “TEA” money: transportation enhancement act money. It is actually federal money. I do not usually respond to these things, but a student wrote an editorial stating, “What do we need a bridge for – we’re wasting money on that?” Transportation Enhancement money may only be used for things like bridges. It cannot be used for something else, like faculty salaries, so the money is specific, and it also will enhance our river greenway access. So it is an important project, not only for the campus, but also for the community in general. The hotel and park project is proceeding. The bridge helps that, of course, and the developer believes that he is several months away from getting all the appropriate certifications for beginning on the hotel. So, all of that is moving ahead.
The PIT (theatre) will be renovated during this academic year. I don’t think it has been touched in many years. It will be renovated, and it will be useful for more than just theatre productions, so there will be a very nice multi-purpose, tiered classroom, if you want to use it for that.
4) Enrollment management. During the next couple of weeks I will send out a letter describing the enrollment management structure. The way we have viewed enrollment management is that we look at recruitment and retention. Diversity also is an important part of the environment in which enrollment management occurs. So those three areas will be subsumed under an enrollment management office. Mark Franke will be responsible for that, and he will report dually to Edna Neal and Walt Branson, because the Bursar is a part of our enrollment management operation as well. Financial Aid and the Bursar work very closely together. Also, the enterprise resource project, the One Purdue project, is also a very important, integral part of that enrollment management. We want to make sure that, since Mark is already running that, all of that is integrated into our enrollment management. I will put out a detailed memo within the next couple of weeks.
5) Strategic Plan. In the next Senate meeting, I will report on the Strategic Plan progress as I did for each of the last two years, so you will be updated on where we are in the strategic plan.
6) The Bonus Salary Plan, which I hope the campus enjoyed last year, will be done similarly this year: same amount of money in total, and the plan will be administered in a very similar way as it was before. From a faculty point of view, that comes out of Academic Affairs. For the rest of the campus it comes out of the appropriate vice chancellors’ areas.
Things are moving ahead. The face of the campus, as George Bullion pointed out, will change fairly significantly in the next few years. Thank you for all your work.
10. The meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m.
Jacqueline J. Petersen
Secretary of the Faculty