2006-2007 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

Thursday, March 8, 2007
Orchard Suite, University Union
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

MEETING AGENDA

OPEN FORUM

CONSENT ACTION

FS 07-11/CPC/Ex. COUNCIL ON THE PREPARATION OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL, CHANGE IN COMPOSITION

Background: The Council On The Preparation Of School Personnel (CPSP) is a permanent subcommittee of the Curriculum Policies Committee (CPC). The Council reviews all Subject Matter Programs and Professional Preparation Programs for compliance with the University's academic policies and regulations and for compliance with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) guidelines, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and other accrediting bodies for submission through appropriate review procedures of the University and for submission to the CCTC for approval by that agency.

The Faculty Senate recommends amending the composition to the Council on the Preparation of School Personnel as outlined in Attachment A.

REGULAR AGENDA

FS 07-12/Flr. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 1, 2007

 

SECOND READING

FS 07-10/FPC/Ex. RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY AWARDS, AMENDMENT OF

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. Please see Attachment B for further background information.

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.

FIRST READING

FS 07-13/Ex. AMEND SECTION 6.06.D OF THE UARTP POLICY - FACULTY REFERENDUM

Background: The 2005-06 Faculty Senate approved, on February 2, 2006, FS 05-69. The Senate's action was overturned by a faculty vote later in the Spring 2006 semester. The 2006-07 Faculty Senate, on September 28, 2006, affirmed the results of the referendum and initiative a series of discussions on the role of the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Representatives on search committees. Based on those discussions, the Senate's Executive Committee submit the following:

The Faculty Senate recommends submitting the following to a faculty referendum:

D.    Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Representatives  

1.     ELECTION, STATUS, SERVICE: SEARCH COMMITTEE CHAIR, DEPARTMENT (OR EQUIVALENT UNIT) CHAIR AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/ EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REPRESENTATIVE 

A.    In order to assure itself that it is providing equality of treatment and equal employment opportunity to all applicants, each department (or equivalent unit) shall elect from among its tenured faculty and its probationary faculty if permitted by the department (or equivalent unit) to participate in a search, an affirmative action/equal opportunity representative to serve as a voting member of its search committees. A department (or equivalent unit) may elect the same member to several search committees or a different member to each of several search committees.
 

B.    Each affirmative action/equal opportunity representative shall normally be elected in the early spring or as circumstances require and shall serve a term of no less than one year.
 

C.    In addition to his or her duties as a voting member of a search committee, the affirmative action/equal opportunity representative, based on training and advice from Human Resources and the University Counsel, shall advise the department (or equivalent unit) about recruiting practices that conform to applicable laws and regulations governing affirmative action, nondiscrimination, and equal employment opportunity.
 

D.   An affirmative action/equal opportunity representative may serve as chair of a search committee provided the search committee elects him or her to serve in that capacity.
 

E.    A department (or equivalent unit) chair shall be ineligible by reason of office to serve as an affirmative action/equal opportunity representative.
 

F.    Nothing in this section shall be construed to absolve a department (or equivalent unit) chair whether serving on a search committee or not of his or her responsibilities in relation to issues of affirmative action, nondiscrimination, and equal employment opportunity.  

2.     AA/EOR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

A.    The AA/EOR serves in an advisory and educational capacity to the search committee, not as a compliance officer. The role of the AA/EOR is to help develop an effective and comprehensive recruitment process to assist with the development of an inclusive applicant pool and to ensure the implementation of campus affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policies. The duties and responsibilities carried out by the AA/EOR shall be based on the training and advice from Human Resources and the University Counsel.
 

B.    Is well informed and knowledgeable on the issues of affirmative action and equal opportunity from both a state and federal perspective.
 

C.    Based on training and advice from Human Resources and the University Counsel, reviews existing departmental (or unit) and university policies and is advisory to the search committee on issues of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity.
 

D.    At the time a search is authorized, the Department (or equivalent unit) Chair and the Chair of the Search Committee, in consultation with the AA/EOR, (if selected at that time): 

i.      Critically analyzes the vacancy announcement for inclusivity, vision, and commitment to diversity, e.g., statement that applicant demonstrates a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability and ethnic backgrounds of students.
 

ii.    Develops a comprehensive and broad-based recruitment plan (vacancy announcement, advertising plan and language, and hiring procedures).
 

iii.   Calls for departmental (or unit) hiring trend data, Affirmative Action plan, and national availability data to inform the development of the recruitment plan and for consideration of additional actions the department (or equivalent unit) may take to solicit a broad and diverse applicant pool. The data collection and analysis will not discriminate or grant preference to an individual or a group.
 

iv.   The availability data will be used to help assess the effectiveness of the recruitment plan and to provide feedback for continuous improvement of the process. 

E.    Prior to the commencement of a search (prior to sending recruitment plan to the Dean), the AA/EOR in consultation with the Search Committee Chair and the Department (or equivalent unit) chair reviews the recruitment plan for potential discrimination and ensures equal employment opportunities. If a bias in the process is identified, the AA/EOR shares information with the search committee, the Department (or equivalent unit) Chair, the Dean and Human Resources.
 

F.    If the AA/EOR, at any time, has reason to believe that inappropriate actions have been taken which may have the effect of discriminating against an applicant, the AA/EOR shall contact the committee chair and then the Human Resources office, as soon as possible.
 

G.    After committee deliberations have been completed and prior to recommendations being forwarded to the Dean, the AA/EOR shall affirm (by signature on the Applicant Process Summary) that no inappropriate actions have been taken which may have the effect of discriminating against an applicant. If the AA/EOR fails to sign the Applicant Process Summary, a written statement by the AA/EOR may be included.
 

H.    Following the conclusion of a search, the AA/EOR requests data from the Applicant Flow Information Questionnaire from Human Resources. The AA/EOR compares this data to the availability data to determine if the search process was successful at developing a pool of candidates representative of the available candidates. Using this information, the AA/EOR makes recommendations to the Department (or equivalent unit) Chair regarding future searches. 

3.     TRAINING

A.    The appropriate administrator is responsible for developing training for faculty who participate in searches. The training is designed to prepare faculty for their roles in connection with the search. Training will be provided on at least an annual basis.
 

B.   Training is required at least every three (3) years for all Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity (AA/EO) representatives and department chairs to prepare them for their hiring responsibilities. No faculty member who is a department chair or an AA/EO representative who has not completed the prescribed training shall participate in a search. Training is not restricted to these individuals and shall be open to any faculty who wish to learn more about recruitment and screening in hiring new faculty. 
 

C.    It is the obligation of all members of the search committee to be familiar with department and University policies and procedures on hiring. Time shall be set aside for the department chair and/or AA/EO representative to provide information to department search committees on important recruitment or screening issues or changes in employment law.
 

D.    If any member of a search committee, at any time, has reason to believe that inappropriate actions have been taken which may have the effect of discriminating against an applicant, that member shall contact the committee chair and then the Office of Human Resources. 

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 15, 2007 - Senate meets
  • 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