University Faculty Meeting Minutes

April 30, 2003

President Bell called the Spring General Faculty Meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, 2003, in Derryberry Hall Auditorium. Copies of the Flower and Gift Fund report and ballots for the Council elections were distributed at the door.

President Bell thanked all the faculty and staff for their support prior to and during the recent highly successful ABET and NCATE reaccreditation site visits. The President reported that part of the new residence hall will be ready for occupancy this fall, that Senator Frist had notified us of a new $1.2 million gift to the Nursing building campaign, and that the Governor’s School in the College of Business has been funded by the state for this summer. He announced that two units/programs were the recipients of Regents Innovation Awards at the annual Distance Learning Conference. Individuals recognized were Richard Rand and Bob Niebuhr for the deployment of the on-line Distance MBA, and Pat Jordan, Steve Sanders, and Darrell Garber for the on-line Master’s Degree in Health and Physical Education. President Bell recognized and expressed appreciation to Phillip Campana, who is moving to a faculty position after 33 years as Chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages.

Council Elections
Academic Council

Ray Jordan and Linda Null were nominated by petition to fill one of the three vacant at-large seats on the Academic Council; nominated from the floor were Patrick Reagan, Lori Edgemon, David Crouse, and Tony Baker. The motion to cease nominations was made, seconded, and approved. President Bell instructed the faculty to vote for three. Voting was done by secret ballot, and the ballots were collected by the tellers. Serving as tellers for the Council elections were Roy Loutzenheiser, Leo McGee, Beth Mannle, Virginia Moore, Francis Otuonye, and Rubye Torrey.

Administrative Council

S.K. Ballal was nominated by petition for one of the two at-large seats on the Administrative Council, and Bob Elmore, Bill McRae, and Roger Haggard were nominated from the floor. The motion to cease nominations was made, seconded, and approved.

Committee and Council Reports
Flower and Gift Fund

Copies of the Flower and Gift Fund report were distributed at the door. The balance on hand on April 30, 2002, was $2,160.62. After expenditures/adjustments of $4,901.09 and deposits of $5,620.00, the balance on hand on April 15, 2003, was $2,879.53.

Academic Council

Jann Cupp, chairperson, reported that the Academic Council met five times this year. The Council approved eliminating the minor requirement once the 120-hour requirement is implemented; approved Freshman Progress Reports indefinitely; changed drop dates for undergraduates; approved early registration times for all SGA members; changed University 1050 to 1020, First Year Connections; approved a revised admission policy; defined a minor as 15 hours; and re-elected Jann Cupp as chairperson of the Academic Council for 2003-04.

Administrative Council

Mancil Johnson, chairperson of the Administrative Council, reported that during the Spring Semester the Council approved constitutions for “Up ‘til Dawn”, the International Business Association, Coptic Christian Fellowship, the Society of Clarinets, and the National Pan-Hellenic Council; approved an addendum to the Parent Handbook for the Child Development Laboratory; approved a procedural change for the Instructional Improvement and Faculty Development Committee; approved annual reports of committees reporting to the Administrative Council; received a report from the University Safety and Environmental Committee relative to the air quality in buildings on campus; and elected Allan Mills as chairperson for 2003-04.

Faculty Senate

Mark Stephens, President of the Faculty Senate, noted that minutes of the meetings are now available on the Faculty Senate website. The major issues discussed by the Senate during the Spring Semester were the budget crisis, changes to the campus tenure and promotion policies, and athletic funding and budget reductions. The Senate issued the following proclamation in appreciation of Homer Kemp’s many years of service:

We, the Faculty Senate of Tennessee Technological University, wish to acknowledge and thank Dr. Homer Kemp for his years of faithful service to the Senate. Homer was a charter member and served for twenty years, four of those as President of the Senate. As President, Homer steered the Senate in its formative years through some difficult times, providing important leadership at a time when the Board of Regents was contemplating potentially detrimental changes to policies dealing with tenure. In addition, he helped secure meaningful faculty participation in the selection process for upper level administrative positions. Homer’s knowledge of the workings of TTU, the Board of Regents, and the State Legislature enabled him to provide history and context for the Senate’s deliberations on a wide variety of issues, and made him an advocate for courses of action that were reasonable and well thought out. We will miss his sage advice, and we are grateful for his dedication to the Senate.

University Assembly

President Bell reported that the University Assembly met on April 23 and approved annual reports from the Information Technology Committee and the International Affairs Committee. The Assembly also approved spring 2003 reports from the Academic and Administrative Councils.
President Bell said the Assembly also discussed the recently approved TBR “Open Dorms 24/7 Policy,” which is not a mandate but gives institutions the option of 24/7. Of the15 dorms at TTU, 13 are planned as co-ed, 1 for males only, and 1 for females only. The smoking policy in the dorms will be discussed over the summer and, most likely, will result in more dorms being designated as non-smoking.

As a point of clarification, Whewon Cho pointed out that the change in the admission policy is actually an increase in the admission standards.

Recognition of Retirees

President Bell recognized and expressed appreciation to retiring faculty members and presented retirement gifts to those attending the meeting. Those honored were Bill Brinker, History; Linda Ferreira, Music and Art; Wayne Pegram, Music and Art; Betty Roe, Curriculum and Instruction; Bob Smoak, Mechanical Engineering; John Wells, Physics; and Carolyn Whitaker, Nursing. President Bell recognized Bob Langley, who retired from the Department of Decision Sciences and Management in December. President Bell also recognized and presented a 35-year service pin to Wayne Pegram.

Results of Council Elections

President Bell announced that Tony Baker, Ray Jordan, and Linda Null were elected to three-year terms on the Acdemic Council. Elected to fill the two vacancies on the Administrative Council were S.K. Ballal and Bill McRae.

Announcements

President Bell announced that the Outstanding Faculty Awards for this year will go to Ada Haynes for teaching and to Joe Biernacki for service. Those receiving non-instructional assignments for 2003-04 are Katherine Osburn, Aran Sekar, Bruce Throckmorton, and Josephine McQuail.

President Bell announced that commencement will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, and the speaker will be David Cooley, Deputy Governor of the State of Tennessee. He also announced that the schedule for opening meetings will be new faculty orientation on Tuesday, August 12; the general faculty meeting on Wednesday, August 13, in Johnson Hall Auditorium; and departmental and college meetings on August 13-15.

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

Pat Gilbreath, Recorder

< Back to TTU Home | University Faculty Home