John J. Sachs USA Faculty Senate Chair’s Report

For October 15th, 2008 Faculty Senate Meeting

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting October 1st, 2008

1. The revision of the Non-Reappoint Resolution has been completed and will be voted on
   by the entire Faculty Senate at our September 15th meeting.
2. The search for the Vice-President of Academic Affairs has begun and we are in the
   process of having video interviews with 9 candidates. The committee will complete the
   interviews by November 1st and invite approximately 5 candidates to the campus.
3. The Senate Executive Committee discussed the Conflict of Interest/Conflict of
   Commitment Policy with Dr. Russ Lea. The Executive Committee believe that Policy and
   Procedures are designed to encourage the Faculty to continue to engage in professional
   unpaid and paid activities while protecting the University and individual Faculty from
   being accused of engaging in unethical behavior. Dr. Russ Lea will attend the September
   15th meeting to answer any questions prior to our vote.
4. We have held two Town hall meetings, one at the College of Education and one at the
   University Terrace. We had 18 participants at the College of Education and 5 at the
   Terrace. On October 15th we are holding our third meeting at the College of Nursing. The
   meetings, while small, were productive and enlightening. The minutes of the meetings
   will be discussed during our next Executive Board Meeting. Based upon our review the
   Executive Committee will provide the Senate with a summary and agenda of items that
   the Senate may wish to address. The Town Hall meetings were advertized and covered in
   the Mid Week Memos.
5. The Chair of the Faculty Senate attended a meeting hosted in Montgomery by the Higher
   Education Partnership. The Senate Chairs from the various Universities in Alabama
   attended this meeting. The main discussion was how university faculty from across the
   entire state could help support the passage of Amendment 1 which is to help soften the
   blow that would be created by proration. We will have a presentation by the Higher
   Education Partnership at our November Meeting.

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting with President Moulton

October 9th, 2008

1. Scott Weldon presented a comprehensive assessment of the financial status of the USA
   Foundation and the funding patterns that have occurred over the past decade.
2. We discussed the impact of the current Pre-existing Condition Policy on hiring of
   Faculty. While the administration knows that in some cases that this policy sometimes is
   a disincentive to prospective faculty, the costs of eliminating the policy is cost
   prohibitive. We discussed the possibility of providing financial assistance to faculty for a
   one year time period, but this would expose the university to legal liabilities.
3. We discussed the problem of the August 15th hiring date of new faculty leaves little time
   for orientation and in some instances faculty are on campus before their contract begins.
   We discussed starting the semester a week later and ending the academic year a week
   later. We are going to survey the faculty regarding this concept. In the meantime there
   seems to be a problem for the registrar as it relates to having official transcripts
   completed for graduating students. Dr. Moore has indicated that need to rectify the
   situation and that we need to review the concept of modifying the calendar and other
   options e.g., paying new faculty to start one week earlier.
4. We were informed by Carl Moore that he Workload Resolution which was developed by
   the Policy and Handbook Committee and submitted to the Deans Council was passed.
5. President Moulton agreed that the equity adjustment policy should be revisited and that a
   committee should be established to work on revising the current equity adjustment
   policy.

Respectfully submitted
John J. Sachs, Chair
Faculty Senate

University of South Alabama  -  Faculty Senate -  Mobile, AL 36688-0002
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Last date changed: October 27, 2008
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