2006-2007 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

Thursday, March 1, 2007
Foothill Suite, University Union
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

MEETING AGENDA

MOMENT OF SILENCE

ANDY KINGSBURY
Retired Staff, Facilities Management

OPEN FORUM

INFORMATION ITEM: CSU ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (ATI)

CONSENT ACTION

Committee on Diversity Awards
Hong Wang, LIB, 2008

Search Committee, Dean, Library
Margarita Berta-Avila, EDUC
Marlyn Jones, HHS

Grade Appeal Procedural Appeals Board
Miles Roberts, NSM, 2010

REGULAR AGENDA

Background: A Working Group on Graduate Education is being convened by the Acting Dean for Graduate Studies, Chevelle Newsome. The Working Group's task is to frame the issues related to graduate education and to draft a report to be discussed at a campus "Summit on Graduate Education" towards the end of the Spring 2007 semester. Two representatives from the Faculty Senate shall serve on the Working Group.

Nomination of two representatives to the Working Group.

INFORMATION ITEM: STATEMENT ON CIVILITY AND RESPECT

The Faculty Senate's Executive Committee, at its meeting of Tuesday, February 27, 2007, approved the following "Statement on Civility and Respect" unanimously.

Statement on Civility and Respect:

We, the undersigned members of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate of California State University, Sacramento, are concerned about the potential ramifications of the possible job actions that may occur as a result of the impasse on collective negotiations between the California Faculty Association and the CSU Administration.

We respect and encourage faculty to take those actions they feel are necessary to support our union in its efforts to secure a contract. In times such as these, it is important to remember that, after the contract is settled, we will continue on our path to provide leadership and giving voice to the concerns of the faculty in matters of collective governance and curricular functions.

Therefore, we encourage both the CSU Administration and the California Faculty Association to make efforts to resolve this impasse and arrive at a contract.

We remind all of our colleagues of the need for civility and respect during and after the bargaining and contract negotiations. The decisions made by individuals on the faculty to engage or not to engage in job actions are personal decisions made by the individual members of our faculty community. These decisions to participate or not are based on personal values and beliefs and on the impact of actions taken on classes and students. We will strive for an atmosphere that respects and supports each member of the faculty as they weigh their actions and ensure that our colleagues can make these decisions free from retribution or censure by any party or parties.

We recognize our long-term commitment to shared and cooperative governance and, in that light, pay special attention to the tone and tenor of our discussions with other members of the academic community in these turbulent times. During and after this contract dispute, we will continue to work to improve the quality of the academy with students, staff and administration, as well as members of the community. The current dispute must not sour these relationships to the point that progress cannot continue toward making California State University, Sacramento a better place for all of us.

Ben Amata, Library
Bruce Bikle, Criminal Justice
Bob Buckley, Computer Science
Karen Davis O'Hara, Child Development
Michael Fitzgerald, Communication Studies
Tracy Hamilton, Mathematics and Statistics
Janet Hecsh, Teacher Education
James Sobredo, Ethnic Studies

*Sylvester Bowie, Social Work - absent

FIRST READING

Background: The Research and Creative Activities (RCA) Awards program is well established on this campus. Guidelines and procedures have been developed and improved over the years to meet changing circumstances. Currently, the issues of equity across colleges and the inadequacy of funding are major concerns. With increasing pressure for faculty to engage in scholarly activity for retention, tenure and promotion, along with increased workloads and diminishing resources, the program has become highly competitive and come under increasing scrutiny from the campus community. In particular, the distribution of colleges and departments receiving awards has been perceived by many to be inequitable.

The primary purpose of this motion is to address the perceived inequitable distribution of awards across colleges and divisions by ensuring that any college or division with proposals of merit be guaranteed the awarding of its top two proposals. This would serve to prevent any college from being “shut out” of the award process (given the presence of fundable proposals).

The Faculty Senate recommend amending the Research and Creative Activities Awards program as follows:

Each college (and the Library) be guaranteed a minimum of two awards each year, provided that there are proposals submitted of acceptable quality, beginning with the 2007-08 awards cycle.

INFORMATION

1. Faculty Senate's home page:  www.csus.edu/acse, or, from the CSUS home page, click on Faculty and Staff, then Faculty Senate.
2. For new Senators:  "TOP TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW AS A FACULTY SENATOR".
3. Meeting procedures

4. Schedule of Faculty Senate meetings:

March 8, 2007 - tentative March 15, 2007 - tentative March 20, 2007 - "Access to Excellence" meeting, Ballroom III, 1:00-4:00 March 22, 2007 - tentative March 29, 2007 - no Senate meeting: spring recess April 5, 2007 - 1st organizational meeting of the 2007-08 Senate, 3:00-3:30; 2006-07 Senate meets, 3:30-5:00 April 12, 2007- tentative

April 19, 2007 - 2nd organizational meeting of the 2007-08 Senate, 3:00-3:30; 2006-07 Senate meets, 3:30-5:00 April 26, 2007 - tentative May 1, 2007 - Outstanding Teaching, University and Community Service, and Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service reception May 3, 2007 - tentative May 10, 2007 - tentative