Official Minutes of the

Executive Board/Central Committee

May 4 , 2007

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United Faculty Executive Board/Central Committee Meeting

May 4, 2007

College Eye Room, Maucker Union

3:30-4:45 P.M

I. Call to Order

Announcements (Thompson)

•  Article 8 of the Master Agreement has been corrected and pending signatures, we now have a contract.

•  The matter of the recent job posting for “clinical instructor” has been brought to the attention of the administration. There is agreement that it is inappropriate to fill this position with a “clinical instructor.”

•  Next year, UF will examine the issue related to filling “faculty” positions with P&S personnel. The extent to which P&S personnel are used in the classroom without an adjunct appointment or as supervisors for faculty is a quality of instruction issue.

•  Membership Report (Quirk)

Quirk reported the loss of two members to retirement: Peter Goulet and Lee Nicholas. There is one loss to resignation and the addition of one new member as of next fall: Alan Asher.

There was a discussion of the need to look at retention of good faculty. UNI leads the regents institutions in loss of faculty to resignation.

•  Presentation and Approval of the Minutes (Canning)

Motion by Iskason with second by Campbell to approve the February 2 minutes. Motion carried.

Motion by Iskason with second by Campbell to approve the April 6 minutes. Motion carried.

NOTE: There was no meeting in March.

•  Treasurer's Report (Isakson)

Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet for April was distributed. Motion by Campbell with second by Nuehaus to accept the treasurer's report. Motion carried.

•  Grievance Report (Funderburk)

There are currently no formal grievances.

A letter has been sent to President Allen requesting a Meet and Confer with regard to the Office of Compliance and Equity Management; there has been no reply. This matter may be taken up in next fall when UF might notify the membership advising them not to respond to a call by the Office of Compliance without UF representation.

•  Old Business

Elections (Canning)

Canning distributed the April Elections Report listing Central Committee representatives for 2007-2008. Motion by Isakson with second by Beall to accept the report. Motion carried.

Central Committee representatives for next year are: Barbara Cutter (History), Sonia Yetter (Modern Languages, Philosophy & Religion), Laura Terlip (Communication Studies), Russell Campbell (College of Natural Sciences), Karen Couch Breitbach (Price Laboratory School), Allen Rappaport (College of Business Administration), Chris Neuhaus (Library), Kurt Meredith (Curriculum & Instruction and Student Field Experiences), Katherine Van Wormer (College of Social and Behavioral Sciences), and Joyce Milambiling (English). There are two vacant positions: Educational Psychology/HPELS and Art & Music.

It was suggested that this summer there might be an assessment of the equitable representation across the academic units on campus.

Student Assessment Committee (Beall)

The student members of this committee are Adam Bently, who has offered to chair the committee. Ira Simet serves on the committee as representatives of the administration. The target date for a proposal with regard to an instrument is December with implementation suggested for 2008-2009.

Several issues were raised and discussed: clear guidelines for delivery, content for questions, getting input, venue for student response (on-line v in class), timeline for results to be reported to faculty, opportunity for a “neutral: response., and what would constitute a valid assessment of teaching. There was agreement that there be a request that student evaluations be given a lower weight than is the current practice.

•  New Business

P&S Appointments

It was agreed to note that teaching is to be done by those with an academic appointment, i.e., tenured, tenure track, or adjunct.

•  Adjournment

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Canning, Secretary