HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY Academic Senate Minutes February 25, 2003

Chair MacConnie called the meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. on Tuesday, February 25, 2003, in Nelson Hall East, Room 102 (Goodwin Forum).

Members Present: Bicknell, Butler, Dalsant, Derden, Dunk, Fulgham, Goodman, Klein, MacConnie, Martin, Meiggs, Mortazavi, Moyer, Nelson, Oliver (5-6 p.m.), O'Rourke-Andrews, Paselk, Paynton, Richmond, Sanford, Schwab, Shellhase, Snyder, Travis, Varkey, Vrem

Members Absent: Adkins, Coffey, Gill, Green, Thobaben, Yarnall

Proxies: Luong for Fonseca; Platin for Kinney; Mortazavi for Knox, Post for Novotney

Guests: K. Carlton, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; V. Phillips, Undergraduate Studies; N. Sprotte, Enrollment Management

1. Approval of Minutes

It was moved and seconded (Klein/Varkey) to approve the submitted minutes of February 11, 2003. Voting occurred and MOTION PASSED.

2. Announcements and Communications

Chair MacConnie announced that a senator is needed to serve on the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. If anyone is interested please contact Greta in the senate office.

Chair MacConnie reported on the February 13 CSU Chairs' meeting held in Long Beach. The following issues were discussed:

Facilitating Graduation - A typical CSU student graduates with an average of 144 units; a typical graduate from UC has an average of 126 units.

Transfer Students - Ways in which transfer students can be helped to move through their programs more efficiently were discussed.

College Preparation - An earlier assessment preparation program is being reviewed so that during their high school junior year, students will take a standardized exam to determine their skill level and potential for success in the CSU. Any deficiencies noted at this level may be addressed during their senior year, thereby reducing the amount of remedial work needed.

Budget - The budget was discussed; President Richmond will be addressing this item during his report today.

Campus senate feedback was requested on the task force reports regarding the roles and responsibilities of campus chairs; the workload task force; and facilitating graduation.

During the senate chairs' session, enrollment management process was a large issue for most of the other campuses. Also discussed was the budget process and consultation occurring at the different campuses. At Humboldt the ad hoc Budget Process Committee has met several times and is close to bringing to the senate a proposed process. The status of tenure track searches on the various campuses was discussed and there are a variety of actions being taken on the different campuses. Chair MacConnie distributed a table listing tenure track searches and which campuses have or have not cancelled any searches. Some campuses have more flexibility than others owing to enrollment growth money coming to them.

During the plenary session there was a presentation on enrollment management and policy practices and also discussed were campus efforts regarding the Common Articulation Number (CAN) System, which is a way to streamline the transfer of community college students into the CSU. Additional information is available on this for anyone interested.

Additional announcements from Chair MacConnie included:

Jon Greene, Manager of the Humboldt Bookstore, gave a presentation to the Joint Council last Wednesday concerning the textbook adoption policy, and is seeking input. Humboldt students prefer to buy used textbooks so it is important for faculty to pay attention to the deadlines so that an adequate number of used textbooks can be purchased.

Margaret Kelso and Phyllis Chinn are the interim ombudspersons.

During the President's Council meeting held last week one topic of discussion was the non-discrimination policy for Humboldt. Dawn Hill, Director of Diversity & Compliance Services, held a short training at the meeting. Appropriate groups should contact the Diversity and Compliance Services office to arrange for such training.

The President's inauguration is scheduled for Friday, May 2. A survey will be distributed to the campus so that an estimate can be made of the number of people who plan to attend in order to reserve an appropriate venue.

3. Committee and State Senate Reports

General Faculty Association - There still is an insufficient number of nominees for the general faculty elections, and senators were reminded that elections cannot occur until there is an adequate number of candidates. In particular, faculty are needed for the UFPC and the Professional Leave Committee. Senators were invited to talk with their colleagues and encourage them to consider running for one of these positions. Anyone interested may contact Greta, a member of the Nominating Committee or General Faculty President Fulgham.

Statewide Senate - Senator Snyder noted that the list of total searches, suspended searches and remaining searches generated by the campus chairs was different than the list generated by the Chancellor's Office. For example, San Jose shows no cancellation of its 88 searches and the chair indicated that it would be cancelling approximately 49 positions. Chair MacConnie will provide a copy of this list to the senators.

Associated Students - The Independent Energy Fund is a proposal to charge students $5 to become energy independent approximately fifty years from now. AS is supportive of this idea, but does not believe that the written policy will pass through the Student Fee Advisory Committee and be successful in the election so a special election will be held in the fall. The student smoking symposium held last week was successful and another one will be held from 1-3 p.m. next Wednesday in the Kate Buchanan Room. The California Higher Education Student Summit held in Sacramento provided an opportunity for all sorts of students to be involved, and there were keynote speakers including Chancellor Reed, Board of Trustees Chair Farar and Statewide Academic Senate Chair Kegley. Humboldt was well represented at a rally held to oppose the student fee increase, and Humboldt students met with Wes Chesbro, Patty Berg and Herb Wesson. The CSSA Student Advocate of the Year Award was won by Humboldt's student senator, Caitlin Gill. Two resolutions that will coming from AS soon include one on the long term fee policy and one on the state budget.

Tony Leung, Manuel Fonseca's proxy for the term, was introduced and welcomed to the senate.

OAA - Interim Vice President Vrem announced that thirteen of the tenure track searches have been suspended at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Educational Policies Committee - There are two resolutions on the agenda for today's meeting.

Faculty Affairs Committee - The Committee will be meeting again with members of the UFPC and the deans to discuss the proposed changes to Appendix J.

Student Affairs Office - Vice President Butler announced that February is Black History Month; the faculty and student meeting tonight and a luncheon tomorrow will be the final events for this month. The diversity conference is scheduled for March 7 and 8. The search for the Director of Health and Counseling Services has been announced; a corrected flyer will be distributed soon. The Athletic Scholarship Auction is scheduled for April 2; this is the largest function that the university orchestrates for raising student scholarships. The spring student activity, the Arts and Music Festival, will be held April 26.

CFA - The CFA transmitted its public notice, also known as sunshine proposals, to the Board of Trustees earlier this month. The reopeners are on three articles: salary, benefits and workload. Given the importance of these three articles, the proposals were crafted so as to avoid any accusation of raiding the budget. Year round operations also will be discussed. The Faculty magazine will be distributed soon which will carry a copy of the reopeners and the transmittal letter for those who are interested in seeing the language. Senators also may contact CFA Chapter President Travis for a copy of this material.

UCC - The Committee met today and certified 4 more DCG courses so that Humboldt now has 49 certified classes. There probably should be enough courses certified for fall enrollment. UCC is sponsoring a conference titled What an Humboldt Student Should Know When H/She Graduates to be held 1 to 4 p.m., Friday, in the Kate Buchanan Room. All were encouraged to attend.

Senate Finance Committee - There is a resolution on today's agenda.

Student Affairs Committee - Kathy Munoz, the Faculty Athletic Representative, met with the Student Affairs Committee and Manolo Platin was welcomed as the newest member of the committee.

Additional Announcement - Chair MacConnie commented that R.J. Wilson informed the Joint Council that some students are downloading and printing documents up to 600 pages in length. Faculty were encouraged not to require documents of this size, given the paper consumption and the possibility of copyright issues.

4. Discussion Item: Budget Update and Process

President Richmond announced that the final budget may not be known until September or October, and he will do his best to keep the campus community informed regarding the budget situation. A letter discussing many of the issues he will speak about today will be distributed campuswide next week.

The information contained in President Richmond's Power Point presentation also was distributed as a handout at the senate meeting. See attachment to these minutes. The presentation started with the situation the CSU is facing and then covered the implications for Humboldt.

Slide 2 depicted the CSU budget for next fiscal year based on the Governor's January 10 budget. Most likely the budget will change; however, the Governor's budget does have a substantial influence on the outcome. The information provided today probably is the best case scenario for this year. The recommended budget reductions for 2003/04 total $326.1 million. This figure includes reductions in the base budget; academic and institutional support, such as libraries, public safety and administrative costs; student services, what this category includes is not completely clear; outreach funding; and an increase in the student-to-faculty ratio (the latest figure for Humboldt is 18:1). Unfunded mandatory costs, such as increases in faculty salaries, health benefits and worker's compensation, total approximately $79 million. And the Governor and legislature asked that the CSU budget be reduced by approximately $43 million, affecting areas such as libraries and telecommunications. The total amount of reduction that the CSU is facing next year is $447.7 million.

Slide 3 depicted the 2003-04 revenue to the CSU budget to be $187 million; this figure includes $142 million for net student fee revenue after the state grants are awarded and $45 million for partial funding for 2002/03 student enrollment, which is higher than the anticipated enrollment figure.

Slide 4 showed that the budget reduction of $447.7 million minus the anticipated revenue for next year of $187 million results in a budget reduction to the CSU in the amount of $260.7 million.

Slide 5 showed that many campuses may be receiving revenue related to enrollment growth. Since Humboldt has not met its enrollment targets, we probably will not be receiving much of this money.

Slide 6 displayed revenue and current budget information for Cal Poly Humboldt. General fund support in the amount of $61.3 million is anticipated; for the current fiscal year that number is $69 million. Student fee money, including the expected 25 percent increase, totals $19.8 million bringing Humboldt's total general fund support revenue to $81.1 million, so there will be a substantial reduction next year. The current budget for Humboldt, listed by major academic units, shows that $84.4 is the total amount available to spend at the beginning of the 2002/03 fiscal year.

Slide 7 included some of the information from Slide 6, and based on the Governor's budget and the best guess based on circumstances known now, shows the dollar reduction and the percentage of reduction for the major areas. The total amount of proposed expenditures is $77 million. [The Other category includes worker's compensation, work study, and a third item that President Richmond will identify at a later date.]

Slide 8 showed that the $8 million consists of two main categories. The $5.1 million includes the $1.26 million reduction from mid-year of 2002/03 and Humboldt's portion of the 2003/04 cut to the CSU. The $2.9 million includes Humboldt's mandatory increases for Unit 3 salaries, health benefits, workers compensation and CMS.

Slide 9 listed a proposed timetable for the various constituencies to meet and discuss the proposed budget.

President Richmond announced that he will be reporting verbally to Vice Chancellor West on March 15 regarding the consequences of the budget reductions to Cal Poly Humboldt and how such reductions fit within the Governor's proposed guidelines. Budget information may be found at the web site: humboldt/edu/~hsupres/news/.

Interim Vice President Vrem announced that another opportunity for feedback on the academic affairs budget will be a Joint Council meeting Monday, March 3, 10 a.m.

President Richmond admitted that such budget cuts will be unpleasant and the campus will be damaged. It will be difficult not to eliminate some people. He also expressed optimism that Humboldt is a strong university and has been through difficult times before, and he is confident that this university will weather such changes. Senators were encouraged to think of this not only as a hurdle to be overcome but also as an opportunity to assess the campus as a whole, including resource usage, direction of the university, etc. President Richmond also expressed his confidence that the current administrative team will do a good job in developing a plan to meet the Governor's recommendation, and the CSU requirements, as well as the honor the values expressed in the budget resolution and the guidelines in the budget reduction criteria. Everyone's help is needed. Good ideas on methods for reducing Humboldt's budget without damaging the university should be made known. If anyone is not sure of who should receive such ideas, they may be sent to President Richmond. It is President Richmond's desire that the university continue moving forward and encouraged everyone to help keep the momentum going.

Discussion comments included:

President Richmond has urged his colleagues in the Chancellor's Office to provide the campuses with as much flexibility in meeting the budget reductions as possible, and he is hopeful that the Governor's specifications for how such reductions will be achieved may be relaxed somewhat. It will be difficult for Humboldt to take the cuts as indicated for two reasons: 1) the university is not budgeted that way; and 2) President Richmond's own feeling is that it would have taken an unrealistic effort on Humboldt's part to analyze its budget and determine how to make it fit the reductions. For purposes of President Richmond being able to report to Vice Chancellor West about the consequences for this institution, the kind of information Vice Chancellor West wants will be provided satisfactorily through the process that is being developed now. It will be important to eventually consider how Humboldt's budget fits in the Governor's budget.

A list or an accounting of faculty, staff and MPP reductions would be helpful in order to see how the burden is shared; it would be better if the reductions occurred in all areas. [President Richmond stated he will try and provide such data.]

The $77 million for 2003/04 contains summer session money; however, the amount will be reduced. Perhaps the summer session money for 2004 could be used to meet enrollment targets for the coming year. [President Richmond replied that Humboldt has been given a target by the CSU for summer enrollment and recent reports have indicated that Humboldt will be held to that target. President Richmond has informed his colleagues at the Chancellor's Office that it would be better in terms of overall enrollment at Cal Poly Humboldt if we have some flexibility to move money out of summer session and into the academic year. This, however, would result in Humboldt not meeting the summer enrollment target.

Comments on the budget process will continue after discussion of the time certain item.

5. TIME CERTAIN 5 P.M.

Resolution on Budget Reduction (#11-02/03-SF)

The members of the Senate Finance Committee considered the comments from senators at the previous senate meeting and developed the list of criteria attached to the resolution.

It was moved and seconded (Mortazavi/Fulgham) to place the motion on the floor.

WHEREAS, The State of California faces nearly $35 billion of deficit in its budget; and

WHEREAS, Governor Davis's budget cuts CSU's budget by $326 million and leaves unfunded an additional $78.6 million in compensation and health insurance cost increases; and

WHEREAS, CSU expects 5 percent student enrollment increase for 2003/04; and

WHEREAS, The CSU Board of Trustees has increased student fees by 10 percent and plans to increase student fees additionally by 25 percent; and

WHEREAS, Cal Poly Humboldt must share the burden of budget cuts and increased enrollment; and

WHEREAS, Cal Poly Humboldt's mission statement considers instruction and learning as the highest priority; therefore, be it

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend to the President the attached list of criteria for budget reduction for implementation of budget reduction.

Discussion included the following comments:

It was offered and accepted as a friendly amendment to remove the word all in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth bullets of the criteria.

It was noted that no criteria are listed regarding how decisions will be made to lay off faculty, particularly since those most likely to be laid off are the temporary employees, and perhaps some recognition and acknowledgement of long-term lecturers could be instituted. [There is an implied order in the contact regarding the approach used for personnel reductions. CFA is concerned about this and will be monitoring the method by which any decision of cuts is made.] [It was suggested that the following language be added: If positions are cut at the lecturer level, long-term lecturers should be given priority.] [This is a contractual issue.] [There is nothing to prevent Cal Poly Humboldt from having a campus policy on this; it cannot conflict with the contract nor could it protect lecturers in terms of the contractual rights they have, but it can send a signal to lecturers about the attitude of this institution.] [Using seniority of lecturers may not compute equitably in a programmatic sense; it may be possible to include such language as make every effort to reasonably consider long-term lecturers, but language to the effect that cuts should only occur in departments with specific conditions is not feasible.] [It would not be equitable to include language regarding part-time faculty when there are part-time employees in other areas of campus.]

It was offered and accepted as a friendly amendment to delete from the tenth bullet the language, and to explore possibilities for increasing summer FTES.

Disappointment was expressed that reference to student success was not included in the criteria. [The senate voted to exclude this language at an earlier meeting.]

Students are not comfortable with only academic being mentioned; although academic quality is one of the most important things of education, it is not the only thing and students are anxious without there being any verbiage expressing the need for support services.

Voting occurred and MOTION PASSED WITH TWO ABSTENTIONS.

It was moved and seconded (Fulgham/Meiggs) to make this an emergency item for immediate transmittal to the President. Voting occurred and MOTION PASSED.

It was requested that an electronic copy of the criteria with the amendments be sent to all senators.

4. Discussion Item: Budget Update and Process (continued)

It is hoped that good times will come again, and administrators were encouraged to mediate the next budget crunch during such good times so that Humboldt is in a better position for any future budget crises. [President Richmond stated this is a point well taken. Cal Poly Humboldt has not devoted much attention or money to alternative ways of providing resources to the university; we need to seek resources from places other than the state budget. Efforts will be made over the next few years to build resources to access money that is outside the institution.]

When asked about the size of reduction that the Chancellor's Office is taking, President Richmond stated he will try and get the answer.

Clarification is needed regarding how Humboldt is to cut many sections of courses and increase enrollment at the same time. Concern was expressed that students will arrive next fall but there will not be sufficient classes for them. [It is important that provosts, deans and department chairs use the faculty, one of Humboldt's most important resources, more effectively. Increase in class size is inevitable. Departments with subject matter that is more amenable to an increase in class size may be asked to teach larger classes.]

According to President Richmond, approximately 10 percent of the faculty receive release time, and this will need to be reviewed and a determination made as to whether such release time is needed or if it can be relinquished for the next year or so.

Interim Vice President Vrem stated that a subcommittee has been formed that is looking at student need and student schedules and trying to maximize student enrollment. The committee will look at what they believe the demand will be and what the current course structure looks like for fall and will bring these two items into alignment.

President Richmond assured senators that any move to mandate increases in class size or folding multiple sections into one large section or eliminating release time would go through a negotiation and consultation process and would be a joint decision between the faculty and the administration.

Regarding the CMS Audit Report, President Richmond stated that he believes it is close to fruition but has not been formally completed yet; apparently there are some questions that have been raised as a result of the audit but there is no suggestion of any malfeasance. There has been some discussion regarding postponing using additional funds for CMS and probably there will be some flexibility in delaying its implementation if needed during this current budget crisis.

That CSU provides access to higher education has become increasingly important as a means for people in California to establish themselves. President Richmond stated he would be disappointed to see the legislature take away the 1/3 set aside money since such funding helps allow access to higher education that is not available in other states. CSU's position is not to support this nor would President Richmond support it.

It was suggested that the administrators and those in MPP positions demonstrate commitment to the university by taking a voluntary 10 percent pay cut or a tiered pay reduction. [President Richmond would support this idea if the CSU as a whole did it; he will suggest it at the next presidents' meeting.] [If the CSU as a whole does not support this idea, perhaps the executive and highly paid MPP people could contribute to a student fund, which many do already.]

Although several references have been made to the budget under discussion being the best case scenario, there has not been any discussion as to what the worst case scenario would look like. [There is an ongoing dispute as to what the state budget deficit is, so this uncertainty also clouds the picture. Given that schedules are being created for next year the Governor's budget seemed like a good place to start.]

Concern was expressed that reducing assigned time without a thorough review of it first would be detrimental to everyone involved. Most faculty with assigned time take overloads so that the university may be gaining more than is realized. Reducing faculty assigned time would result in faculty working to rule. [If reducing assigned time is determined to be the best course of action, the senate will be involved in the discussion and will have access to any data supporting the reduction of assigned time.] [What needs to be determined is the total unit load for faculty with assigned time.]

Senators were reminded that this is the first of many discussions regarding the budget. A senate meeting is scheduled for March 11, which is prior to the March 14 budget summit, and any comments may be forwarded to members of the Senate Executive Committee. There will be other opportunities for comment.

6. Resolution on High School Courses for Humboldt Credit (#10-02/03-EP)

Senator Varkey reminded senators that this resolution has been modified after receiving senate input. A pilot program was established with Eureka High School to offer two courses, English 100 and Computing Science 130. These are high school courses and those students who have registered for high school courses have an opportunity to register for English 100 or CIS 130 at Humboldt. If these high school courses are compared to other high school courses for which students are given credit, such as the AP courses, then those students are given credit only if they take a standardized examination. The argument is that since these are high school courses and there is no standardized test administered by Humboldt, then some kind of testing should be instituted to give students credit. If this program is to be implemented as a permanent program, this resolution recommends that a test be developed to measure a student's score.

It was moved and seconded (Goodman/Fulgham) to place the resolution on the floor.

WHEREAS, On May 3, 2000, the Joint Council approved the pilot program to offer high school courses for Humboldt credit; and

WHEREAS, English 100 and CIS 130 were designated as the two pilot courses; and

WHEREAS, The Educational Policies Committee was given the charge of reviewing these courses after a one-year time period and making a recommendation "regarding the continuation of the High School Courses for Humboldt Credit Program"; and

WHEREAS, The Educational Policies Committee reviewed all of the available documentation for the one-year period and discussed the pilot program with the faculty liaisons and the Dean of Undergraduate Studies; and

WHEREAS, Cal Poly Humboldt has the policy of giving credit for high school courses provided students earn a minimum score in standardized tests as determined by the university and department policy; and

WHEREAS, The joint program as implemented does not provide a mechanism for assessment of student's knowledge in the appropriate subject with an independent or Humboldt administered tool; therefore, be it

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that if this program be made permanent, any course in the program must include a mechanism for an independent or Humboldt-administered tool for assessment of student knowledge in the appropriate subject; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend the program conform by implementing an independent or Humboldt-administered tool for assessment of student knowledge in the appropriate subject starting the academic year 2003-2004; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that any course offered by a high school for Humboldt credit shall have been approved via the appropriate Cal Poly Humboldt curricular review process; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that if this program is to be made permanent, a formal policy be written that incorporates both the criteria included in this resolution and the policies contained in the attached May 2, 2000, document written for the pilot programs.

Discussion comments included:

The second resolution needs language stating that the program conform to Executive Order 365. [EO 365 says that any award for systemwide credit must be normed systemwide, such as AP or CLEP exams; or for a campus oriented challenge exam.]

This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was moved and seconded (Snyder/Derden) to strike the third resolved clause.

Discussion on the amendment included:

The high school course is not equivalent to the Humboldt course; the main point is that the student must pass an examination at the end of the course so requiring high schools to run their courses through the campus approval process is too burdensome and not reasonable.

The challenge exam is department driven although there may be some restrictions.

The motion was accepted as a friendly amendment.

There was general agreement that if the resolution is approved, the Educational Policies Committee will be responsible for writing the formal policy referred to in the last resolved clause.

Voting on the resolution as amended occurred and MOTION PASSED.

The revised resolution reads: