2007-2008 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

AGENDA
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Foothill Suite, 3rd Floor, University Union
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

MOMENT OF SILENCE

ROBERTA GEHRMANN
Emeritus Faculty
Learning Skills and Mathematics and Statistics

OPEN FORUM

CONSENT ACTION

FS 07-65/Ex.

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT – SENATE

 

Committee on Diversity and Equity

Manuel Barajas, At-large, 2009

Ta-Chen Wang, At-large, 2010

 

FS 07-66/Ex.

AD HOC GOALS COMMITTEE REPORT

 

The Faculty Senate receives the report and recommendations of the Ad Hoc Goals Committee found at Attachment A and commends and thanks the members:

 

Claudia Bridges, Business Administration

Ed Dammel, Engineering and Computer Science (Chair)

Kevin Elstob, Arts and Letters

Mary Maguire, Health and Human Services

Reza Peigahi, Library

Steve Perez, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies

Al Striplen, Student Services

Lisa Taylor, Natural Sciences and Mathematics

 

Background: on May 17, 2007, the 2006-07 Faculty Senate approved FS 07-39 “Follow-Up to Referendum and Appointment of University Budget Advisory Committee”, which, in part, established an ad hoc Goals Committee, “. . . whose charge shall be to prepare a draft list of remedies/particulars that address the faculty concerns articulated in the faculty referendum, over the summer 2007, for discussion at the Fall Senate Retreat and lead to subsequent action at Senate meetings early in the Fall 2007 semester. In preparing this list the committee should consider, among other things, the urgency of making tenure-track hires, the desirability of ceasing MPP hires until a sufficient number of tenure-track hires is made, and the desirability of the Advancement Office becoming self-supporting. The membership of the Committee, whose Chair shall be elected from among the members of the Committee, shall include the Senate Chair or designee, and one faculty representative from each of the Colleges, the Library, and Student Services. The Senate Chair shall convene the ad hoc committee and shall ensure communication with the Executive Committee. It shall be the responsibility of each of the College/Library representatives to consult with the faculty in their respective units, including soliciting input from individual faculty members in their units.”

 

REGULAR AGENDA

 

FS 07-67/Flr.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

REPORT: DAVID WAGNER, VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES (15 MINUTES)

SECOND READING

FS 07-62/Ex.

SENATE FLOOR PROCEDURES, AMENDMENT OF

Amends FS 07-55:

The Faculty Senate recommends amending its floor procedures as follows:

. . .

3)         FIRST READING ITEMS

 

A motion/resolution is initially presented to the Faculty Senate as a First Reading item.  The presentation shall be for the purpose of informing the Senate of the intent of the motion/resolution and any needs or issues the motion resolution is intended to address.  The presentation will be the responsibility of the Chair of the originating body or, in the case of a motion/resolution originating from the floor of the Faculty Senate, the maker of the motion and the Senate member who provided the second to the motion.

 

Once presented, the discussion shall be limited to 10 minutes.  The time limit may be extended by a motion to extend, a second and an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the senators present.

 

During the first reading, the motion or resolution is subject to substantive amendment and procedural motions.

 

During the First Reading, the motion/resolution is subject to amending, but procedural motions are in order.

 

FS 07-63/Flr.

PROPOSED BRITISH BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL, RESOLUTION ON THE

 

WHEREAS

The essence of academic freedom is vigorous discussion and debate; and

WHEREAS

Israeli academic institutions are centers of such vigorous discussion and debate, permitting sharp criticism of the Israeli government’s policies with respect to Palestine and other matters; and

WHEREAS

The British University and College Union (BUCU) is considering a boycott of Israeli professors and academic institutions based on the Israeli government’s policy toward Palestine; and

WHEREAS

Israeli academic institutions are the only ones in the entire world singled out by the BUCU, including those in countries with far worse records of academic freedom where university professors are regularly harassed, imprisoned, and dismissed for expressing opinions that run contrary to those of governmental leaders; and

WHEREAS

There is no evidence that the BUCU has made any effort to have British universities divest themselves of funds from people doing businesses in countries that have well documented patterns of persecuting their own citizens on the basis of their political beliefs, including such nations as China and Saudi Arabia; and

WHEREAS

The United States House of Representatives, by a vote of 414 to 0, passed a resolution this summer condemning the proposed boycott of Israeli academia, calling it a “totally unjustified campaign” to “limit cultural and scientific collaborations between foreign universities and academics and their counterparts in Israel; and

WHEREAS

Members of the University and College Union at the prestigious Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Britain recently voted overwhelmingly to oppose the proposed boycott; and

WHEREAS

The proposed boycott has been sharply criticized in Israel even by academics with long histories of opposing Israeli government policy; and

WHEREAS

Calling for an academic boycott of the world’s only Jewish state, and a country that allows more academic freedom than most other nations in the world, can justifiably be considered blatant anti-Semitism; now therefore be it

RESOLVED

That the California State University, Sacramento Faculty Senate strongly condemns the proposed BUCU boycott of Israeli academic institutions and therefore be it further

RESOLVED

That copies of this resolution be distributed to the British University and College Union, the Chancellor and Trustees of the California State University, and the CSU Academic Senate. 

FIRST READING

FS 07-68/Ex.

AD HOC GOALS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

The Faculty Senate forwards the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Goals Committee to President Alexander Gonzalez for response or referral to the appropriate administrator or entity, where applicable, as follows:

Recommendation #1

Establish a permanent committee to work with the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) and any other required parties to gather, interpret, and disseminate information regarding class size, number of faculty, student-faculty ratio, and number of administrative personnel. This committee would help to overcome the problems associated with multiple numbers for the same definition and establish a way for concerned faculty to access accurate information about the university.

Refer to the University Budget Advisory Committee

Recommendation #2

Senate, faculty, and administration collaborate on a mechanism that permanently guarantees that the budget at all levels be transparent. A clear budget process goes hand-in-hand with building trust between faculty and administration.

Refer to the University Budget Advisory Committee

Recommendation #3

The Ad Hoc Goals Committee recommends that the University make the hiring of tenure-track faculty a priority over the hiring of part-time instructors in light of the following:

·       assembly Bill 1343, currently in committee, mandates the CSU reach a 75/25 ratio of tenured and tenure-track faculty to part time faculty by 2014-20151:

·       according the Budget Task Force Report, in Fall 2005, the percentage of tenured and tenure-track faculty to total faculty at Sacramento State was 63%, and;

·       data provided by the Chancellor’s Office on CSU campuses with enrollment greater than 20,000 indicated the following trends:

 

Average, CSU > 20,000

Sacramento State

Year

Tenured and Tenure-Track

Other Faculty

Tenured and Tenure-Track

Other Faculty

2004

727

452

784

365

2005

728

510

748

393

2006

737

542

726

453

1http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

Refer to Academic Affairs

Recommendation #4

The Ad Hoc Goals Committee recommends that the University also make the hiring of tenure-track faculty a priority over the hiring of MPPs. In light of the following:

·       there has been a decrease of tenure/tenure-track (TTT) faculty since 2002 (from 762 to 726);

·       there has been an increase of MPPs since 2002 (from 135 to 145); and

·       while the CSU ratio of TTT/MPP has remained lower than the Sacramento State average, the Sacramento State ratio has been decreasing.

However, the Committee cannot recommend ceasing MPP hires until a sufficient number of tenure-track hires is made because of the variables involved in making MPP hiring decisions. For instance, in 2006, of the new MPPs, 70% were a result of reassignment, reclassification, and reorganization.

Refer to Academic Affairs

Recommendation #5

The Ad Hoc Goals Committee suggests that the University establish a formalized and uniform exit interview for non-retiring tenured and tenure-track faculty who leave the institution to better understand the circumstances that surround such departures. Current data is not collected in a uniform and rigorous manner as to the reasons for separations from the institution. Understanding the issues surrounding such separations may better enable the institution to recruit and retain full-time faculty.

Refer to Human Resources

Recommendation #6

The Ad Hoc Goals Committee was asked to consider requiring the office of advancement to be self-supporting. The Board of Trustees and the Chancellor's office expect each campus to raise 10% of its budget externally. Given this, it is understandable that the University needs to have a successful Office of Advancement.

In this light, the Ad Hoc Goals Committee recommends:

·       the Office of Advancement not be funded at the detriment of academic endeavors;

·       the President direct the Office of Advancement to redouble its efforts at raising funds with directly recognizable academic contributions, and;

·       as part of the annual budget report, the Office of Advancement produce an annual report to the campus community that clearly describes the sources of funds and the academic benefits of both development and advancement.

Refer to University Advancement

Additionally, the Faculty Senate requests a report from the President on the recommendations in the report early in the spring semester.

A transmittal form can be found at Attachment B.

INFORMATION

1.     Faculty Senate's home page:  www.csus.edu/acse, or, from the CSUS home page, click on Administration and Policy, then Administration, then Faculty Senate.

2.     The Structure of Senate Meetings

3.     Top Ten List of Things New Senators Should Know

4.     Faculty Senate meeting schedule:

·                October 18, 2007 – no meeting

·                October 25, 2007 – Senate meets

·                Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - Livingston Lecture convocation: Professor Cristy Jensen, Public Policy & Administration

·                November 1, 2007 – tentative

·                November 8, 2007 - tentative

·       November 15, 2007 - tentative

·       November 22, 2007 - Thanksgiving holiday

·       November 29, 2007 - tentative

·       December 6, 2007 - No Senate meeting

·       December 13, 2007 - tentative