Executive Committee Minutes

04/10/2014 03:30 PM - Peabody Boardroom, Administration Building

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The University Council Executive Committee met on April 10, 2014 in the Peabody Boardroom in the Administration Building. Chair Silvia Giraudo called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Standing committee chairs in attendance were David Shipley of the University Curriculum Committee, Rodney Mauricio of the Educational Affairs Committee, and Thiab Taha of the Faculty Affairs Committee. Janet Frick and Brenda Keen of the Human Resources Committee substituted for chair Dee Dee McEwen. Visitors to the meeting included Evelyn Andrews, Debbie Bell, Abigail Butcher, Greg Clinton, Kirk Cureton, Janyce Dawkins, Jeff Dorfman, Melissa Freeman, Jennifer Graff, Mary Ann Johnson, Deirdre Kane, Kay Kelsey, Mike Lacy, Jiyoon Lee, Fiona Liken, Jay Mancini, Kathy Pharr, Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, Hunt Revell, Kathy Roulston, Allison Skinner, Martha Thomas, Chuck Toney, and Joanna Warren.

The minutes of the March 6, 2014 meeting were approved as distributed.
Action Items:
1. Proposals from the University Curriculum Committee: A motion was made from the table to consider items B.1.a. through B.1.q. as a comprehensive package requiring a single vote to either send all of the items forward to the University Council or back to the Curriculum Committee. Hearing no objections from the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and no dissension from the Executive Committee, the motion was approved. A vote was called, and the Executive Committee approved placing the following items on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda:
2. Proposals from the Educational Affairs Committee: Prior to presenting the Committee's action items, Dr. Mauricio presented first the Committee's information item, C.1.a.
  1. Proposal for the 2015-2016 Academic Calendar: A brief discussion regarding the proposed calendar occurred. A recommendation was made to correct a clerical error on the Fall 2015 portion of the calendar. The Executive Committee also discussed the requirement placed on the creation of the calendar of beginning each semester on a Monday. Some members expressed that this requirement might deserve revisiting in light of the constraints it places on establishing the calendar each year. Following the discussion, a vote was called and the proposal was approved to be placed on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
  2. Proposal to revise the Academic Affairs General Policy No. 4.02-3, University Policy on Course Drops and Withdrawals: An extensive discussion took place concerning the revised policy, some of which concerned the practice of EAC overriding grades of faculty for retroactive hardship withdrawals and the proposed change of allowing the Registrar, supported by Student Support Services, to assign grades of WP to hardship withdrawals during the current semester. Two friendly amendments were made from the table. One requested replacing references to "OASIS" in the proposal to "Athena" and another changing "OVPSA" to "ODOS"- the Office of the Dean of Students. The proposal with the friendly amendments were approved for placement on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
  3. Proposal to revise the Academic Affairs General Policy No. 4.04-2, Graduation with Honors: Executive Committee members discussed the proposed revisions to the policy. Among the discussion was the topic of determining what semester the proposed revisions would be effective. A straw poll among the Committee resulted in a majority of members favoring an effective date of December 2018. A friendly amendment was then made to add this effective date to the proposal. The amendment was approved. Following further discussion, a vote was called and the amended proposal was approved to be placed on the April 23, 2014 agenda.
3. Proposal from the Faculty Affairs Committee:
  1. Proposal for suggested revisions to the UGA Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure: Following an extensive discussion of the suggested revisions, including the specifics of the proposed guidelines regarding promotion and tenure of joint academic appointments, a vote was called and the proposal was approved to be placed on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
4. Proposals from the Human Resources Committee:
  1. Proposal to support the Franklin College Faculty Senate resolution to add "gender identity and expression" to the NDAH and EO policies: A suggestion was made to change the wording comprised in the proposal to better reflect that the Human Resources Committee requests that the Council approves changing the NDAH and EO policies to include the phrase "gender identity and expression." A vote on the proposal including this suggestion was called and the proposal was approved to be placed on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
  2. Proposal to recommend that President Morehead appoint a university-level committee to examine the current maternity leave policy and develop a new parental leave policy that will reflect best practices in higher education: Regarding the proposal, a discussion occurred as to whether or not a new committee should be formed to examine this issue or if the proposal should return to the Human Resources Committee for further consideration and the formation of concrete proposed changes to the current maternity leave policy. Both the Executive Committee and representatives from the Human Resources Committee agreed that the item should return back to the Human Resources Committee for further development and consideration.
  3. Proposal to recommend a study be conducted on faculty salary issues: Following a brief dialogue on the proposed study among Executive Committee members, recommendations to revise the wording in the proposal regarding the scope of the recommended study emerged. Two friendly amendments were thus made. One called to add the phrase "to the extent that the data is available" to the proposal. The other one called for a report to be delivered on the topic of faculty salaries every five years. Both friendly amendments were approved. A vote was then called and the amended proposal was approved to be placed on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
Information Items:
1. From the Educational Affairs Committee:
  1. 2012-2013 Academic Honesty Report: Following presentation of this information item, a vote was called and the item was approved to appear as an information item on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
2. From the Committee on Statutes, Bylaws, and Committees:
  1. Second Reading: Proposal for amendments to the University Council Bylaws: This second reading of proposed changes to the Bylaws was approved for placement on the April 23, 2014 University Council agenda.
There was no old business to come before the Committee.
New Business:
1. The election of the Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee for the 2014-2015 term was held as a New Business item. Registrar Jan Hathcote distributed ballots to members for the vote. After voting was held, Dr. Hathcote collected the ballots, counted the votes, and had the votes verified by Interim Vice Provost Hugh Ruppersburg, a proxy at the meeting for Provost Whitten. It was then announced that Brock Tessman was elected and will serve as Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee for the 2014-2015 term.
2. The Executive Committee then confirmed a new slate of candidates to the Program Review and Assessment Committee for a term of July 1, 2014 through August 31, 2016.
3. Executive Committee member Catherine White, speaking on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Committee in the Office of Emergency Preparedness, inquired about obtaining faculty email addresses to send out a survey to faculty members. Dr. Hathcote indicated that the Office of the Registrar would be able to assist in providing that data.
4. Being the last meeting of the Executive Committee for the 2013-2014 term, members of the Committee thanked Dr. Giraudo for her service as Chair.

There being no further new business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Jan Hathcote, Registrar
Secretary to University Council

Executive Committee Members Present
Gayle Andrews
Barbara Biesecker
Jerry Daniel
Silvia Giraudo
Mark Harrison
Jan Hathcote
Austin Laufersweiler
Lettie Lockhart
Rodney Mauricio
Joe Nairn
Marisa Pagnattaro
David Shipley
John Stickney
Brock Tessman
Catherine White

Executive Committee Members Represented by Proxy
Dawn Robinson (Jody Clay-Warner)
Richard Schuster (Pamela Orpinas)
Pamela Whitten (Hugh Ruppersburg)