Academic Senate Minutes January 29, 2002

Chair Bicknell called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29, 2002, in Nelson Hall East, Room 201 (Goodwin Forum).

Members Present: Adams, Bicknell, Braggs, Burroughs, Fulgham, Goodman, Jenkins, Kenyon, Klein, Little, MacConnie, Martin, Mayer, McFarland, Meiggs, Mortazavi, Novotney, Paselk, Paynton, Sanford, Smith, Stokes, Thobaben, Thompson, Travis, Varkey, Wang, Yarnall

Members Absent: Christensen, McCrone, Oliver, F. Wilson

Proxies: Snyder for Bockover, Greta for Sheppard

Guests: Steve Butler, Student Affairs; Ron Fritzsche, Office for Academic Affairs; Robert Hensley, Registrar's Office; Steve Heck, CMS; Sherry Jones Deffenderfer, Office for Academic Affairs; Ron Maggiore, Enrollment Management Office; Carolyn Mueller, President's Office; Donna Schafer, Research & Graduate Studies Office; Richard Vrem, Undergraduate Studies Office

1. Approval of Minutes

It was moved and seconded (Klein/Thompson) to approve the submitted minutes of December 11, 2001. Voting occurred and MOTION PASSED.

2 Announcements and Communications

Chair Bicknell announced the following:

The search committee for an Humboldt president met with the advisory committee on January 18, 2002, in San Francisco, at which time applications were reviewed and the list of applicants was reduced to those who will be invited for an "airport interview." The airport interviews (approximately eleven candidates) will occur February 7 and 8 at a hotel near the San Francisco airport. Campus interviews of the candidates selected after completion of the airport interviews are scheduled for the week of February 25; time has been scheduled for on-campus candidates (probably three to five candidates) to meet with administrators in each of the three administrative areas, the President's Executive Committee, the Academic Senate Executive Committee, the Labor Council, Associated Students, and the President's Office. Time also is scheduled for an open forum, a social reception, and media access. The plan is to complete the search with identification of the successful candidate made known by mid-March. Chair Bicknell stated that there was a strong pool of many interesting and well-qualified candidates and believes that the search will end successfully.

If there are no objections, the approved senate minutes will no longer be distributed with the senate packets. The approved minutes are available online at the Academic Senate web page (http://www.humboldt.edu/~acadsen), and are on file in the Library. Copies of the approved minutes will be distributed to key campus offices. If anyone knows of any reason that this practice should not be instituted, please contact Greta. A paper copy of the approved minutes is available; please notify Chair Bicknell or Greta if you would like a copy.

There is a vacancy on the senate for a lecturer representative. To be eligible, a lecturer must be employed for at least a .4 time base for the spring term. A special election for this position will be held. Nominations should be forwarded to Greta as soon as possible.

President McCrone has approved the fall graduation list motion from the December 11 senate meeting.

2. Committee and State Senate Reports

Associated Students - On April 5, 2002, trustee interviews will be held at Cal Poly Humboldt in conjunction with a California State Student Association Conference scheduled for April 6 and 7. The Residence Hall Association is in the process of bidding for a regional business conference to be held at Humboldt. In an attempt to increase voting response, Associated Students is working on the possibility of online voting. Associated Students also is working on the 1/3 set aside amount attached to the computer paper lab fee. Test runs of 100% post consumer waste paper have been conducted in the computer labs, and the paper has passed the test.

Statewide Senate - Senator Snyder reported on the following issues considered by the Academic Affairs committee: 1) Advice on a policy for accepting high school courses for college credit is being sought. The community college system recently approved changes in Title 5 allowing individual campuses to establish the requirements for approving high school courses. The position of the Academic Affairs Committee is that no high school courses be accepted for university credit. Comment on this item should be forwarded to Senator Snyder. 2) A resolution recommending that the Intersegmental GE Review Committee not accept first term non-English language courses as counting toward GE credit has been proposed. This proposal primarily affects the community colleges. 3) A resolution proposing a constitutional amendment on apportionment was passed by the senate. The result is that campuses that are above the average FTEF in the system will have three senators; campuses below the average will have two senators, and a few campuses may have four senators. This item requires a two-thirds vote and will be coming to the campuses for approval. The addition of an emeritus faculty representative to the senate also was approved and will be voted on separately.

Senator Thobaben reported that a resolution on evaluating teaching performance of faculty was approved; the senate encouraged campuses to develop policies and procedures for periodic evaluation of all faculty including lecturers or temporary faculty in accordance with the CBA. Another resolution that may be of interest concerns faculty office space. Many campuses are experiencing problems with inadequate space, and the Board of Trustees' policy indicates some flexibility in the allocation of office space. A handout regarding budget information received from Vice Chancellor Richard West was distributed. The recommendations of the Board of Trustees and the Governor are contained in the handout. Budget highlights for next year show some permanent reductions including $20 million for natural gas costs and $14.5 million for funding in technology training for K-12 teachers, CalTeach teacher recruitment, CalTeach Outreach and student financial aid. According to Vice Chancellor West, the worst case scenario is that there will be a 5 percent reduction in next year's budget; this year a 1 percent reduction occurred. According to West, any salary savings that occur when a faculty member retires are kept on the local campus and used at the discretion of the campus president. Senator Snyder reported that Vice Chancellor West confirmed that with so many people retiring there is a substantial amount of money in salary savings systemwide. Questions regarding the use of such monies, (for example, SSIs and GSIs) were discussed. The 5 percent worst case scenario needs to be considered seriously and included in plans for next year's operation.

Senate Finance - Since the last senate meeting, the additional modified .5 percent cut for this year was determined to be $202,700 in OAA. The first budget meeting of OAA is scheduled for tomorrow; the budget was not discussed at the first Joint Council meeting. Chair Bicknell reported that at the URPBC meeting, Carolyn Mueller, Executive Assistant to the President, reported similar information that was provided to senators at the December 11 senate meeting. Senator Little reported that the Senate Finance Committee will be meeting Monday and will be reviewing a statewide academic senate report on best practices of finance-type committees. Contained in today's agenda packet is a copy of a memorandum from Carolyn Mueller, Executive Assistant to the President, to Senator Little in response to some questions raised last term regarding the university budget.

Faculty Affairs - The first meeting is scheduled for next week and post tenure review will be discussed; the TA pay scale has been reviewed and Humboldt's median pay for TAs is $20 more per month above the CSU average so most likely there will be no effort made for a TA pay raise at this time.

Student Affairs - The Committee will meet next week and continue its work on the campus noise policy.

Educational Policies - The first meeting will be held tomorrow.

OAA - Vice President Stokes announced that the budget director has been hired and will be on campus March 1. The Diversity and Compliance Program search did not result in a hire; the position description will be redrafted, and it is hoped that this hire will occur sometime this year. The search for the Dean of the College of Professional Studies is continuing and applications are being reviewed.

Given that Athletics has been transferred to Student Affairs and that the College of Professional Studies is much smaller than the other two colleges, has there been any discussion regarding a possible reorganization occurring? Also, given that a new president is coming in, has there been any consideration given to the idea of cancelling this search and having an interim position in place until the new president arrives so that s/he may review such structural changes? [There was general agreement that dissolution of the college is not a good idea.] [Vice President Stokes responded that the college has an internal integrity, with or without Athletics, and she met with the search committee and department chairs in that college and the desire was to proceed with the search. If a search becomes untenable because of budget constraints, then other steps may be taken. For now, the search will continue.]

UCC - The UCC continues its discussion and facilitation of learning outcomes and assessment techniques for general education areas A, B, C, D and E. Proposals regarding Areas C and D have been received from the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, and the UCC is scheduled to consider them at its next meeting. The UCC also is considering a subcommittee report regarding the Institutions Program Review as well as completing an arrangement with the Liberal Studies Elementary Education representatives regarding oversight. Many subcommittees are working on topics such as diversity and common ground, information competency, and distance learning. It is hoped that closure on many of these items will occur this term.

CFA - A primary contention of the CFA during the last few years has been that a diversion of compensation money away from CSU employees, amounting to over $100 million, has occurred over the past ten years. Calculation of the SSIs, which the CFA believes cost nothing, contributes to the confusion surrounding compensation. Bargaining has not progressed much; the fact finder has been selected and fact finding has been scheduled for February 13-15 in Sacramento; the fact finders's report would be due the following Friday (February 22). The statutory process will be completed at this point. CFA does not have much faith in the process given the events that have happened at the table over the past two years, and preparations are underway for a strike this spring. A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6, from 2-4 p.m. in Goodwin Forum to discuss a strike and other work actions to take place in the spring.

General Faculty - There are several positions still open in the upcoming general faculty elections, and a second notice will be distributed this week. All faculty are encouraged to volunteer for a position.

4. Resolution on the Procedure for Review of Existing Graduate Programs (#14-01/02-EP)

The resolution was introduced by Senator MacConnie who stated that the document contained in the agenda packet has been revised in accordance with an earlier senate discussion and a subsequent meeting with the Graduate Council. The most substantial change in the document is coordinating the timing of the graduate program review process with the department self study.

It was moved and seconded (MacConnie/Little) to place the resolution on the floor.

WHEREAS, The graduate program review is designed to satisfy a Board of Trustee's requirement that all programs are to be reviewed approximately every seven years; and

WHEREAS, The WASC team suggested in the Fifth-Year Accreditation report (1990) that "The program review process should be modified to assess graduate programs distinct from undergraduate programs (p. 16)"; and

WHEREAS, The proposed graduate program review procedure outlines the additional material that should be provided during the department self-study; therefore, be it

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that the review of the graduate programs, in order to comply with suggestions in the WASC report, shall include the attached Review of Existing Graduate Program guidelines as revised; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that the review of graduate programs be conducted coincidentally with the departmental self-study when applicable; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that the review of graduate programs shall follow the process of departmental self-study as described in Administrative Memorandum P & VPAA 97-07: Department Self-Study and Resource Review (or more recent versions as they are available), including all timelines when appropriate; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend that in the case of interdisciplinary graduate programs, the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) establish the review cycles; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of Cal Poly Humboldt recommend approval of the attached Review of Existing Graduate Programs as revised.

There was no additional discussion. Voting occurred and MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

5. Discussion Item: Channel Islands Charter Programs

Chair Bicknell announced that contained in the packet for the December 11 senate meeting is a copy of a Channel Islands notice of a nationwide search for faculty with thorough disciplinary grounding in one or more subject areas including Environmental Science & Resource Management. Humboldt is having difficulty meeting enrollment targets now and if another campus is in competition with some of Humboldt's leading programs, how will that affect Humboldt in the long run? The Senate Executive Committee held a brief discussion on this issue.

Discussion included:

Given the push for elementary school teachers, will Channel Islands' education program be offering a master's degree as well as teaching credential programs and what is the expected enrollment over the new few years? [For Channel Islands, the Education program lists an MA; no BA or teaching credentials are listed. The academic plan for Channel Island includes a BA in Languages and Cultures, Liberal Studies, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences; a BS in Biology, Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Sciences, Environmental Science and Resource Management, and Organizational Management; an MA in Education; an MBA in Business Administration; and an MPA in Public Administration.]

Has there been a change in policy at the system level? It appears as though the programs designated as special programs housed at Cal Poly Humboldt no longer have that privilege. [There are different interpretations by the Chancellor on what the policy should be. More recently there has been a trend for each campus to make decisions for itself rather than go through a central body. Such a trend has strong points and points not necessarily supportive of existing programs. At this time there is no mechanism in place for one campus to comment on proposals made by another campus.]

Historically a package of programs and degrees was authorized to any new campus and usually included the general liberal arts areas. In addition, each campus could offer such disciplines as business and education. And certain campuses were assigned certain disciplines that belonged to that campus; Humboldt had the natural resource areas. Campuses could apply to offer programs such as journalism and nursing; however, they were required to make a case for statewide need. Regional factors often were considered.

According to Dean Vrem, it is not the situation that a campus can declare its offerings without any review. What may have happened is that no formal change in policy has occurred since there is no written policy regarding the exact process. However, the procedure has been somewhat relaxed and more autonomy is given to campuses. For example, campuses are allowed to offer degree programs called fast track, which is a faster process of getting approval of degree programs, or may offer pilot programs, which do not require approval from the Chancellor's Office for the first few years. There appears to be an attempt to allow more campus autonomy in recent years. The gatekeeper is still the Chancellor's Office, in conjunction with CPEC. Dean Vrem searched the files and found no examples of where our campus has made a formal complaint regarding degree programs being offered by other campuses that would be in competition with ours. [In the late 1980's Humboldt was invited to respond to San Luis Obispo's proposal for a forestry major and Chair Bicknell worked on a response to that proposal. Although Cal Poly Humboldt actively opposed the proposal, San Luis Obispo did offer a forestry major.]

Vice President Stokes reported that there is a review process and part of that process includes some discussion regarding the effect that such a program may have on existing programs within the system. At this time there is no known means for one campus to formally comment on the program of another campus. On paper, the natural resources program at Channel Islands is supposed to differ from Humboldt's in significant ways. If it is possible for Humboldt's program to work in cooperation with the program at Channel Islands, that might be a fruitful combination.

Although programs may appear to be similar, there may be differences so that a collaborative curriculum would enable a campus to have credit given for its courses at another campus and would allow students to move between the two campuses.

Discussion was suspended temporarily to allow for consideration of the time certain item.

6. TIME CERTAIN 5 P.M.

Information Item: CMS Update [Steve Heck]

Steve Heck, CMS Project Director, provided the senate with a progress report regarding the CMS (Common Management Systems) project. All were invited to visit the web site at www.humboldt.edu~cms; links to PeopleSoft and to the Chancellor's Office will be added soon.

Readiness assessment, which provides information regarding whether a campus is ready to begin the project in such areas as budget, executive leadership, project management capabilities, help desk and telecommunications, has been completed. Work with the vendor (Cedar Group) began in Fall 2001. The steering committee reviewed Cedar Group's initial draft report in December, and it has been forwarded to the Chancellor's Office. If approval is received from the Chancellor's Office, access to the Development Database of PeopleSoft will be granted and the implementation process started. The system that will be implemented first is the human resources system. The unique quality of this system is that it is based completely on browser technology, which is faster and easier to use. The steering committee will focus on the strategic issues for this particular project. The steering committee applauds Cedar Group's work on readiness assessment and has decided to continue working with Cedar regarding the implementation phase.

The first significant training in PeopleSoft occurred the first two weeks of December for the technical employees. The portable training environment (pte), which is a training center contained in a large box including computers, servers, cabling, etc., was used. Training sessions will be held on campus as much as possible.

Process mapping has been a key part of the project since last spring. It has been completed in Human Resources, the Budget Office, and Contracts, Procurement and Risk Management Office and currently is underway in Payroll, Fiscal Affairs and Faculty Personnel Services. Mapping involves putting on a piece of paper a schemata of each business process that has been identified by the individuals in a particular area. The importance behind such mapping is that it allows one to understand the difference between current business practices and how such practices interface with the PeopleSoft product, indicating what changes and specifications may need to be made.

The CMS Project Office is located in Gist Hall 209; all are invited to visit the office. Anyone with questions or comments may contact Steve Heck.

Discussion included the following comments:

How user friendly is PeopleSoft for people with disabilities? Since there are many people who require a system that must be compatible with assistive technology, such as a screen reading device, Disability Resource Directors throughout the CSU system share a concern that various technical issues need to be addressed and resolved with regard to user accessibility. [Steve Heck responded that he will research this question.]

How much has CMS cost up to this point and what is the estimate for the final cost to Cal Poly Humboldt? [Overall cost projections for the entire project were between $8 and $10 million. The budget for CMS this year is approximately $1.2 million, and the project will not be immune from budget cuts next year. Although there were not many expenses prior to Steve Heck coming on board, there probably will be two to three years of higher expenses before the cycle downward will begin and expenses will taper off somewhat. However, with a project such as this, a commitment needs to be made since the product continually evolves and maintenance and enhancement costs will be ongoing.]

According to Heck, there are three major expense items: consulting costs, training costs and backfill costs. The unique challenge at Humboldt is that we are not located near a large metropolitan area so the backfill issue will be a particular challenge here. Backfill is not an on-going issue, but it is needed at the beginning of a project and especially during the three or four month testing period prior to the product being activated.

The system seems to have a public service information interface. [PeopleSoft Portal, which is a product add-on and carries with it the concept of one-stop shopping, is under consideration. For example, the portal allows a student to access public information about different campuses so that comparisons may be made easily. The student administration module is one of the powerful aspects of the PeopleSoft product.

Some people with experience of earlier versions of PeopleSoft had to maintain their existing system so that two systems were needed. Is there any need to maintain parallel systems? [The product is showing to be more stable. The goal of any project should be to get away from the old legacy system as quickly as possible so that two parallel systems are not needed; however, one must be able to insure that the transactions carried out in the new system have a high level of quality and meet the needs of users.]

Chair Bicknell expressed appreciation to Steve Heck for his report.

5. Discussion Item: Channel Islands Charter Programs (continued)

It was suggested that a committee be formed to review the history behind the establishment of new campuses and develop a set of recommendations on ways in which either the process could be influenced or the campus could work cooperatively with another campus in order to ensure that viable programs are maintained. [Chair Bicknell will take this recommendation to the Senate Executive Committee.]

It was moved and seconded (Fulgham/Wang) to adjourn the meeting.

Meeting adjourned 5:35 p.m.