1.
& 2.Call
to Order and of Roll
Present:
Spector,
Thurston, Vetrosky, Arata, Bowers, Brown, Chryslee, Cohen, Dilsaver, Haywick,
Jones, Labbe, Morris, Payne, Rogers, Bracken, Hsu, Kennett, McGinnis, Langan,
Ryder, Trufant, McIntosh, Frederick, Strange,Hamid,
Murray, Norman, Ballard, Brandon, Cepeda, Cox, Foster, Honkanen, Kayes,
Nelson, Teplick, Townsley, Wesenberg,DeWitt,
Doolittle, Weitzel.
Absent
(Excused):
Allison,
Caldwell, Hitt, McAfee, Miller, Zhang, Parker, Olsen, Davidson-Shivers,Ballard,
Sternberg, Stevens, Tuck-Muller, Engebretson, Wesenberg, LeDoux, Weston.
Wilson, Van Haneghan,
3. Approval
of Minutes:
Minutes
were not discussed during this meeting and will be approved next senate
meeting.
4. Report
from the Chair:
Dr.
Labbe discussed the Foundation Board meeting in Montgomery. Dr Whiddon
made a motion to add a faculty member to the Foundation Board. Drs. Ledoux
and Evans objected to this unless the President was also added. No further
action on the motion was taken. None of the requests from the faculty senate
to the Board have been honored thus far.
To
date, $4,345,660 has been received from the Foundation, and one million
of this amount was a loan to the USA Health Services Foundation. (Only
represents 1.59% of the Foundation net assets).
A
Federal judge has ruled that the suit between Messrs. Brunson and Lanhan
against the Foundation be moved out of Federal court and back to state
court in Mobile.
Once
again, the Foundation has granted Prime Health monies, this time 2.6 million
during the August meeting. Prime Heath has lost major Medicaid contracts
(3/4) of its business) and will probably continue to lose other contracts.
President
Moulton will investigate other options for the administration of the USA
health plan if Prime Health fails. (Prime Health administers the billing
aspects of the USA health plan). The president encourages you to call Gerald
Gattis if you are experiencing problems due to Prime Health.
Three
of the four committees of the Athletic Task Force have concluded their
investigations. The fourth, which has to do with football, has not. President
Moulton promised to encourage the conclusion of this process.
Reporting
on the renovation of the library, Dr. Labbe stated that after President
Moulton had met with the architects, the best recommendation would be to
build a completely new facility and use the old library for archives and
storage. It would be less expensive to proceed in this manner.
5. Reports
from Standing Committees:
There
were no formal reports from the standing committees.
6. Reports
from Caucus Leaders:
There
were no formal reports from the Caucus Leaders.
7. Communications
from the University President:
President
Moulton stated that a sick leave policy was approved August 26th
. There will be sick leave hours given based on a faculty members years
of service prior to the institution of the sick leave policy, but these
days can not be applied toward credit for retirement. All sick leave hours
accrued after the institution of the sick leave policy will count toward
credit for retirement. Compilation of faculty compensation baseline data
both within the University and externally continues. These data will be
used for legislative purposes when appropriate.
The
search procedures for the President and long range university planning
committee has been named and announced. A meeting will be scheduled soon.
The
USA Board of Trustees Budget Council recommended the following:
The
sale Saenger Theater to the City of Mobile. A partnership with the city
will allow the university use of the theater during specified times.
The
sale of the university=s
yacht Alice.
Search
procedures for the VP for Academic Affairs, the Dean for Arts and Sciences,
and an Executive Development Officer are in progress. There will be a search
for a new VP for Medical Affairs when Dr. Baugh leaves/retires.
Campus
enhancement efforts are underway. The president urges any faculty member
who is having problems with the buildings or grounds to contact maintenance.
A system for faculty and staff to request work orders is in the process
of being set up.
Enrollment
is down by 265 less freshman (2%), and 3% down on credit hours.
8. Old
Business:
Mr.
Joe Gottfried addressed the faculty senate in regards to establishing football
at USA. He outlined a five year plan to raise funds, and stated that there
would need to be local community commitment to the University=s
plan. He also voiced that unless sufficient monies could be raised from
entities outside of the university he could not see how a football program
would succeed.
Nominations
for Faculty Senate Vice Chair were entertained as Dr. Bryce Evans retired.
Elections were held and Dr. Dan Rogers will be the new Vice Chair. The
College of Allied Health Professions will hold an election to replace Dr.
Evans. The College of Nursing has elected Norma Doolittle, RN as a replacement
for Ms. Swint who has retired.
An
ad hoc faculty senate committee to continue to investigate football at
USA was established. The committee chair is Richmond Brown, and members
include Doug Haywick, Jim Norman, David Bowers, Steve Morris, and Steve
Kayes.
10. Adjournment:
Elise
Labbe adjourned the meeting at 4:08 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted by:
D.
Vetrosky, Secretary