Meeting Minutes
Minutes of September 10, 2007 University Coordinating Committee Meeting
Members Present: Scott Harris, Walter Jay, Gerry McDonald, Dow Scott, Paul Whelton, and Christine Wiseman
Also Present: Lorraine Snyder
Absent: Patti Jung, Summur Roberts
- In the absence of a chair, Lorraine opened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
- The Committee discussed the draft Faculty Handbook that was sent to the UCC by Paul Jay, and determined that it should be forwarded to the Faculty Affairs UPC (FAUPC) for review. Both Christine and Paul offered to meet with the FAUPC in order to share their input on the draft handbook. In the absence of a chair, Lorraine agreed to forward the handbook to FAUPC chair Patricia Simpson.
- Christine presented the School of Communication proposal which was approved by the Board of Trustees last week. The School’s budget was also approved by the Finance Committee of the Board. It was noted that the proposal should have gone through Shared Governance committees last spring. The Committee determined that the proposal should be forwarded to both the Faculty Affairs and Academic Affairs UPCs, and that these committees should be asked to review the proposal by October 15th if possible. In the absence of a chair, Lorraine agreed to forward the proposal to Patricia Simpson and Janice Rasheed, chair of the Academic Affairs UPC.
- Gerry then discussed some concerns he had regarding lack of communication in and among Shared Governance committees. He expressed his hope that the UCC would make efforts to facilitate and improve communication, especially so that the UCC is in the loop on discussions that take place at the UPC level. There was a brief discussion of the Shared Governance charter and the role and responsibilities of the UPCs themselves to ensure regular communication with relevant elected bodies and councils. Gerry proposed that the UCC consider drafting a document that would accompany policy proposals -- this document would detail both the UPCs and relevant groups on campus that needed to be consulted when discussing policy issues, and the UPCs and relevant groups would sign the form as a way for the UCC to track and ensure communication within the Shared Governance system. Committee members decided that they would come back to this important issue at a future meeting.
- Lorraine opened a conversation about the Committee’s need to elect a chair among its reconstituted membership. Several members felt that it would not be appropriate for them to serve in ex officio capacity. The Committee suggested that member Patti Jung would make an excellent chair, and Lorraine agreed to call Patti to ascertain her willingness to serve in this capacity.
- The Committee recommended setting meeting dates for the 2007-2008 academic year. Members shared their class and other schedules with each other, and it was agreed that Lorraine would work with the new chair to set up meeting dates for the months ahead.
- The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.