Time:        3:15 p.m.     

Place:       HMSU, Dede III

Officers:   Chair S. Lamb, Vice Chair B. Evans, Secretary C. Hoffman

Senators: S. Allen, C. Amlaner, E. Bermudez, J. Buffington, D. Collins, J. Conant, J. Fine,

                B. Frank, A. Halpern, P. Hightower, J. Hughes, K. Liu, M. Miller,  G. Minty, T. Mulkey,        

                L. O’Laughlin, S. Phillips, J. Powers, R. Schneirov, S. Shure, G. Stuart, S. Wolf,

                D. Worley, D. Yaw, G. Zhang

  Absent:   K. Bolinger, H. Chait, S. Davis, S. Ghosh, T. Hawkins, M. McLean, S. Pontius,

                T. Steiger, C. Stemmans, J. Wilson,

Ex-Officio: Provost Maynard

Visitors:     R. English, T. O'Neill and K. Hoolehan (ISU Foundation), E. Kinley (OIT),

                  D. Wright (Student Affairs), S. Brown, R. Guell, C. MacDonald

I.  Administrative Report – Provost Maynard

   1.  According to the March 15 report, applications and admissions are up. Confirmations are still 

        down and are cause for concern.  There is, however, some reason for optimism. The Laptop

        Scholarship application deadline was March 1.  Last year 1400 qualified students were

        admitted by that deadline, and approx. 700 later enrolled. This year over 1800 qualified 

        students were admitted by March 1.  If the ratio holds, 900 (200 more) will enroll.

        These numbers suggest that better-qualified students are applying and will enroll.

   2.  The Library is to be commended for its efforts in recognizing Disability Month.

   3.  The Public Service and Community Engagement Awards Banquet recognizes those who   

        give of themselves. Students are making a big difference. One prominent example of

        volunteerism is the recent work  for hurricane victims. Faculty and students are working

        together to help those in need.

   4.  Kathleen White and David Gilman are seriously ill. Keep them in your thoughts.

II.  Chair’s Report – S. Lamb

     The March 15 Undergraduate Admissions Report for fall semester 07 shows that applications are 116%    

     of what they were last year at this time, admissions are 108% of what they were last year, and the elusive  

     confirmations are 57% of what they were last year.

     The state AAUP meeting will be held April 7 at the University of Indianapolis. The main speaker is  

     Donald Wagner, a nationally-known expert on distance education. If you are at all interested contact   

     Richard Schneirov.

                                                                                                           UFS #8, 3/22/07, Page 2  Chair's Report (cont'd)

     Brian Morton informs me that on Mar. 14, 2007 the Faculty Council of the College of Arts and Sciences

     passed the following resolution:

         The Faculty Council of the College of Arts and Sciences by a vote of 12‑1‑7 strongly disapproves of  

         the elimination of majors in philosophy, physics, sociology and art history.

         1. Only the most severe financial constraints or a directive from the state level would justify eliminating  

            majors in core disciplines.  Given that virtually no cuts have been made in the nonacademic units at  

            ISU, we are clearly not facing such financial exigencies.

         2. We believe such a move would be counterproductive in increasing our enrollment, since prospective 

            students and their parents would conclude that ISU is in a perilous financial condition and hence 

            enroll elsewhere if they see no physics, philosophy, sociology or art history majors in our catalogue.

    This resolution was immediately sent to CAAC so that it may give its input to the Executive Committee.

  I would like the Provost to inform us about the state of the search for the Vice President for Enrollment   

  Management and Marketing.  At what stage is it?

  Changes to General Education and the restructuring of Nursing and HHP will flow through faculty  

  governance.

  And again, I would like to inquire as to whether the WEB advisory committee is functional.

III.  SGA Report – A.J. Patton

     The last senate meeting of this session has been held.

     Please visit the leaf art by Le Club. For the cost of $40, a department can add a leaf.

     An  efficiency study is being done to discover what opportunities exist to improve effectiveness  

     and maximize budget.

     The Student Government Dinner will be Wednesday, March 28.

     SGA thanks all who helped with regard to saving the physics program and requests the same

     be done for philosophy.

IV.  15 Minute Open Discussion Period

     1. Congratulations offered to AJ Patton on his reelection as SGA President.

     2.  Disability insurance – Points noted:

          -- When an individual goes on disability, the employee’s health insurance is terminated. It is 

              assumed that the disabled employee will apply for Social Security, Medicare, and  

              Medicaid.  There is, however, a 2-year wait without insurance for Medicare to take effect. 

              In the interim, the disabled individual is unable to get private insurance. 

          -- ISU pays $15/month for employee disability insurance, making any disability payments

              taxable income.  If ISU employees paid for disability insurance themselves, benefits

              would not be taxable.

                                                                                                      UFS #8, 3/22/07, Page 3

     3.  The Indiana General Assembly is considering a Resolution ("marriage amendment") under 

         which domestic partner benefits could be banned.  Seven newspapers have editorialized

         against the amendment, and wondered why universities hadn’t spoken out against it.

         Some believe that the Speaker of the House would have stopped SJR 7 if a university had

         asked that it be rewritten. Many Indianapolis businesses are opposed. Those opposed 

         should email the Speaker of the House and the House Rules Committee.  Time is short.

         The Executive Committee was asked to write a formal letter or email and it was suggested 

         that an ISU lobbyist could call in the morning before it is too late to be heard.  Because of

         domestic partner issues, SJR7 could make new hires and retentions difficult.

     4.  K. Liu thanked the Student Government Association, the Student Affairs Committee, and all 

          who worked to address the issue related to the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

V.  Minutes #7 (2/15/07) - APPROVED as amended (Collins, Mulkey 28-0-0)

VI.  Grad Council Recommendations – C. MacDonald

      1)  Recommendation to move the Geology MA/MS program from "elimination" to

           reorganization" (Program Prioritization).

       APPROVED (Amlaner, Frank 28-0-0)

      2)  Recommendation to move the Counselor Ed Doctoral Program from "elimination" to

           "to be monitored" (Program Prioritization).

       APPROVED (Collins, Buffington 28-0-0).

VII. Academic Integrity – Proposed changes: Appendix I – B. Evans, D. Wright

     -- Thanks to those who worked on the documents. 

     -- This document has been 1½ years in the making and has been through multiple revisions.

     -- Implementation of the Academic Integrity process needs to be in the forefront of the 

        University, talked about, and on the website.

     -- Much discussion has occurred regarding may versus must in the documents. Results:

        The instructor always makes the final choice whether to report an incident.  If a faculty 

        member determines that a problem exists, that faculty member may fill out the form.

        Individual faculty determine whether the student had “bad intent” or “poor scholarship.”

        Although an instructor may choose to talk to someone about a specific case, only the faculty

        member makes the final decision.

     -- To bring Academic Integrity to the forefront, a mission statement is necessary. 

        That statement should appear in the University Handbook and be stressed with incoming 

        freshmen.  A resource recommended for use with incoming freshmen is Doing Honest

        Work In College.

       APPROVED (Hightower, Frank 28-0-0)

                                                                                                      UFS #8, 3/22/07, Page 4

VIII.  Elimination of Permanent Incompletes - R. Guell 

        The Undergraduate Academic Advising Committee "recommends that no undergraduate

        student be allowed to graduate with an incomplete, if that incomplete was assigned for any 

        semester or term after Spring 2007."  

        R. Guell explained the rationale for the change and answered questions.

       APPROVED (Liu, Hightower 27-0-0)

IX.  Information Item: Foundation Fundraising

Tim O’Neil and Kevin Hoolehan made a Powerpoint presentation on changes in the operation of the University Foundation.  Points noted:

The Foundation is separately incorporated, but is part of the greater ISU family.  Its mission is to develop and manage private financial support.  An agreement with the University recognizes the Foundation as the fundraising arm of ISU.

Major restructuring has been implemented, both in personnel and fee structures, producing opportunities for considerable growth.  Major points:

      1) The Executive Committee makes decisions.  Some members of this Committee  

          also are University officers, but the president of the Foundation is no longer the president

          of the University.  Most Board members are alumni.

      2) An Audit Committee now oversees accounting and financial operations.

      3) Basic investment philosophy has changed.  Investments remain conservative and safety

          is still the primary consideration, but the portfolio is much more diversified than in the

          past.  

      4) New initiatives include:

          -- engaging more volunteers

          -- targeting family and corporate foundations for grants

          -- becoming self-sustaining

          -- improving stewardship

          -- training stakeholders on the availability of funds

          -- strengthening ties with various groups, both internal and external,

              especially administration, faculty, and emeriti

 The goal of all the above is to "maximize support for University programs."

 As of Jan. 1, 2007, the endowment stands at $55M, a growth of $10M in one year.

 The Philanthropy Awards Dinner will be held on April 20.

 The Foundation is considering adding a faculty liaison to its Board.

A quorum was lost and the meeting ended at 4:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

C. Hoffman, Secretary