University Senate

Minutes of the Seventh Meeting of the Executive Committee for Academic Year 2007-08 on
Friday, April 4, 2008 at 11:30 AM in Picotte Hall at Dundale

AGENDA:

I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 27, 2008 MEETING
II. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
a) Date, Time and Place for Annual Executive Committee Dinner
b) Date for the ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
c) Dates for the SENATE MEETINGS for the 2008-2009 Academic Year
III. WELCOME TO STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS
IV. PREPARATION OF THE SENATE AGENDA FOR THE APRIL 18, 2008 MEETING
V. NEW BUSINESS



The Executive Committee Meeting was called to order by the Chair, Dr. Susan Mackey-Kallis at 11:55 AM

I. The MINUTES of February 27, 2008 were unanimously approved as written.

II. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE

a) The Annual Executive Committee Dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 5:30 P. M. at Savona Restaurant

b) The date for the ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING of the University Senate has been scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2008 at 3:00 P. M. in BARTLEY HALL, ROOM 2001

c) Dates for Senate Meetings for Academic Year 2008-2009

Friday, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008Friday, FEBRUARY 6, 2009 (Budget)
Friday, OCTOBER 24, 2008Friday, MARCH 13, 2009
Friday, DECEMBER 5, 2008Friday, APRIL 17, 2009 (President’s Annual Address)
  

III. WELCOME TO STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS

The Chair, Dr. Mackey-Kallis suggested that the most appropriate time to invite the
Committee Chairs would be at our first meeting in the Fall. She then welcomed
Dr. Robert Styer, Chair of the Rules and Review Committee and Dr. Q. Chung, Chair
of the Committee on Faculty to the meeting.

Dr. Chung commented that it should not be mandatory for the Committee Chairs to attend the Senate meeting, but that an open invitation should be extended so that it would increase the relevance.

Dr. Mackey-Kallis asked Dr. Styer if he could give any suggestions on how the Executive Committee could best coordinate efforts with our Standing Committees.

Dr. Styer felt as though the main issue was the discussion of the Executive Committee
constituency regarding the staff and alumni. He also mentioned that Dr. Johannes is anadvocate of term limits for seats on the Senate. Dr. Mackey-Kallis responded by saying thatin regard to Senate elections in the past, we have had contested seats, but there have been times when it has been difficult to get people to serve on the Senate. She questioned as to whether term limits would make it harder.

Dr. Gustafson remarked that it is a real issue that the ex-officio members would not have term limits. He felt if you have term limits for only the elected representatives they are the people who have less knowledge of just how the Senate runs. It is a transfer of power to the unelected. He did note that he felt that rotation was a healthy organization. However, he stated that it would work better as a practice than a rule. He feels as though this is something that should be looked at by the Faculty Congress. Dr. Mackey-Kallis thought another way to view this would be not to limit the membership on the Senate but to limit membership on the Executive Committee. Mrs. Quilter noted that many times it is difficult to find people to run for the seat, as in her case, she was the only candidate. She noted that if she were limited in her term, there would have been no Staff Senator.

Dr. Styer also brought up the idea of adding one or more people to the Executive Committee. Dr. Mackey-Kallis felt that since we already have a staff representative, it would be beneficial to add an alumnus.

The committee decided that the issue would be something to consider at a later date. She concluded that it would be good to have all of the Standing Committee Chairs for our first meeting in the Fall.

IV. PREPARATION OF THE SENATE AGENDA FOR THE APRIL 18, 2008 MEETING

Invocation ~ Senator Michael Powers

1. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES of the MARCH 14, 2008 MEETING

2.  POWER OF INTERPELLATION (if any)

3.  STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Student Life Committee - Fr. John P. Stack, O. S. A. –Chairperson
Rules and Review Committee – Dr. Robert Styer – Chairperson

4. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE

a) Date for ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING of the Senate for the 2008-2009
Academic Year – Friday, May 2, 2008 in Bartley Hall, Room 2001 at 3:00 PM

b) FACULTY CONGRESS meeting will be held in the same location at 2:00 PM

c) Dates for Senate Meetings for Academic Year 2008-2009

 Friday, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 Friday, FEBRUARY 6, 2009 (Budget)
 Friday, OCTOBER 24, 2008Friday, MARCH 13, 2009
 Friday, DECEMBER 5, 2008Friday, APRIL 17, 2009
(President’s Annual Address)
 
5. AMENDMENT REGARDING A CHANGE IN THE MEMBERSHIP ON THE ACADEMIC POLICY COMMITTEE
 
Rules and Review recommends the following amendment concerning the Academic Policy Committee in Article VIII, Section 2 that a sentence may be added directly after the first sentence which lists the APC membership. The new sentence should read as follows: “A dean may designate an associate or assistant academic dean in his or her stead with full voting authority of the dean. ”
 
6. RECOMMENDATION FOR CHANGES IN CONSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE
 
a) Issue Regarding Graduate Student Senators The Rules and Review Committee made a motion to remove the words “graduate school” to be replaced by “a graduate student” in the Constitution, Article 5, Section III.
 
The phrase” graduate school” has been interpreted in the past to mean a graduate student from the Arts and Science “graduate school. ” The new language makes it clear that the graduate student representative could potentially come from the Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Nursing, or VSB graduate programs, but not the Law School, as the Law School already has a Senate student representative.
 
b) Replacement of Position of University Vice President The Rules and Review Committee passed a motion as follows:  in Article V Section 4, replace the phrase "University Vice President" with "Special Assistant to the President for Mission Effectiveness”
Since the University Vice President position has been eliminated by the President, and the President has decided to change the Vice President for Mission Effectiveness to one of the President’s five standing administrative appointments to the Senate, the Constitutional Language needed to reflect this change.
 
They also noted the change in amending the wording from “Vice President of Finance” to “Vice President for Administration and Finance” to reflect the new title associated with this position.
 
 
7. SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR FUTURE SENATE MEETING AGENDAS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SENATE BLUEPRINTS PAGE
 
8. SUGGESTION FOR FUTURE SPEAKERS
 
9. NEW BUSINESS

Current Article V Section 1
The University Senate shall be composed of thirteen faculty members,
thirteen administrators, thirteen students, two staff, two alumni and the President
of the Alumni Association serving as an ex officio, non-voting member. . . .
 
Proposed Article V Section 1
The University Senate shall be composed of thirteen faculty members, thirteen administrators, thirteen students, four staff, two alumni and the President of the Alumni Association serving as an ex officio member. . .

Current Article V Section 5
The alumni representation shall consist of the President of the Alumni
Association or, if delegated by the Alumni Association President, one of the elected
members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, ex officio, non-voting,
and two alumni representatives elected from the membership of the alumni from
all class years. Each shall be elected for a two year term. Elections will be administered
by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association.
 
Proposed Article V, Section 5:
The alumni representation shall consist of the President of the Alumni
Association or, if delegated by the Alumni Association President, one of the elected
members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, ex officio,
and two alumni representatives elected from the membership of the alumni from
all class years. Each shall be elected for a two year term. Elections will be administered
by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association

Current Article V Section 6
The staff representation shall be apportioned as follows: two representatives shall be elected, one from the exempt staff and one from the non-exempt/non-represented staff:
 
Proposed Article V Section 6
The staff representation shall be apportioned as follows: the Chair and Vice-Chair of the University Staff Council, ex-officio, plus two elected representatives, one from the exempt staff and one from the non-exempt/non-represented staff

Current Article VI Section 6
The staff members shall be elected by their respective constituencies for two year
terms. Any member of either constituency may nominate a member of that constituency, and self-nomination will be permissible. A majority of the votes cast shall be necessary to win, and members may be re-elected. Nominees must have completed three years of service at the University to be eligible and must demonstrate an interest in contributingto the mission of the
 
 
University and support for the Constitution of the Villanova University Senate.  No one at the Director level or above shall be eligible.  The Executive Committee of the Senate, with the help of the Department of Human Resources, will oversee the election process.
 
Proposed Article VI Section 6
The exempt and non-exempt staff members shall be elected by their respective constituencies for two year terms. Any member of either constituency may nominate a member of that constituency, and self-nomination will be permissible. A majority of the votes cast shall be necessary to win, and members may be re-elected. Nominees must have completed three years of service at the University to be eligible and must demonstrate an interest in contributing to the mission of the University and support for the Constitution of the Villanova University Senate . The Executive Committee of the Senate, with the help of the Department of Human Resources, will oversee the election process.
 
 

 V. NEW BUSINESS

There being no further business, the committee adjourned at 1:30 P. M.

Sincerely

Brian M. Murray
Executive Secretary
BMM/hh