Executive Committee Minutes

03/08/2007 03:30 PM - Peabody Board Room - Administration Building

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The University Council Executive Committee met on March 8, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. in the Peabody Board Room of the Administration Building.  Susan Mattern-Parkes, Chair, called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.  Standing committee chairs in attendance were Malcolm Adams, Mary Anne Akers, Peter Shedd, William Vencill, and Scott Weinberg.  Visitors included Meg Amstutz, Greg Ashley, Irwin Bernstein, Kristen Coulter, Larry Dendy, Frank Digiacomo, Audrey Goodson, Stuart Ivy, Thomas Lauth, Finoa Liken, and Barbara White.

The minutes from the January 25, 2007 (attachment a) and February 6, 2007 (attachment b) meetings were approved as distributed.

Action Items:

1. Dr. William Vencill presented the following proposals from the University Curriculum Committee (attachment c):
   1. A proposal to offer a major in Agricultural Leadership under the M.A.L. as an external degree. The vote was called and the proposal was approved.
   2. A proposal to offer a major in Counseling and Student Personnel Services under the Ph.D. as an external degree. The vote was called and the proposal was approved.
   3. A proposal to change the name of the major in Guidance and Counseling under the M.S. to Professional Counseling and under the Ed.S. to Professional School Counseling. The vote was called and the proposal was approved.
   4. A proposal to change the name of the major in Agronomy to Crop and Soil Sciences under the M.S. and Ph.D. The vote was called and the proposal was approved.
   5. A proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Media Industry Research. The vote was called and the proposal was approved.
2. Dr. Peter Shedd presented proposed changes to the University Council Bylaws (attachment d) and requested that a corresponding change to the University Statutes (attachment e) be added to the agenda on behalf of the Committee on Statutes, Bylaws and Committees.  Following discussion, a friendly amendment was made to change all references of "will be sent to the Faculty/Staff listserv" to "will be sent to Faculty, Staff, and Student listservs".  The vote was called and the amendment was approved contingent upon approval from the administration.  A second friendly amendment was made and accepted to change the month staff begin their term of office on the Faculty/Staff Parking Appeals Committee from September to August.  The vote was called to place the proposed changes to the University Council Bylaws, as amended, and the University Statutes on the March 22, 2007 Council agenda for the first reading and was approved.
3. Dr. William Vencill presented the proposed 2008-2009 Academic Calendar from the Educational Affairs Committee (attachment f).  Dr. Vencill invited Rebecca Macon to share the details of the proposed calendar with the committee.  A friendly amendment was made and accepted to correct the due date for grades for spring semester to Monday, May 11 at 7 p.m.  Following discussion, the vote was called and the proposed 2008-2009 academic calendar was approved as amended.
4. Dr. Mary Anne Akers presented recommendations for the implementation of Professional and Educational Leaves at UGA from the Benefits Committee (attachment g).  Supporting documents for this recommendation (Board of Regents policy, School of Public and International Affairs policy, College of Education policy and Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication policy) as well as a chart of Sabbatical/Educational Profiles of Peer Institutions can be viewed here.  The vote was called and the recommendations were approved.
5. The recommendation to form an ad hoc committee to address future gender equity studies at UGA was withdrawn by the Benefits Committee.
6. The consideration of a request from Paul Alberto, Chair of the Executive Committee at Georgia State University.  Dr. Alberto was asked by the Regents staff to coordinate with UGA to provide them with feedback on the new criminal background check policy (attachment h).  A motion was made and seconded to seek Council approval to form a subcommittee to work with Georgia State University to formulate a response to the Regents.  Dr. Mattern-Parkes indicated that Irwin Bernstein and Stuart Ivy have volunteered to serve on this subcommittee.  Comments and suggestions should be sent to Drs. Bernstein and Ivy at isbern@uga.edu or sivy@uga.edu.  The vote was called and the motion was approved.
7. John Morrow, President of the UGA Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), shared concerns about the recent hiring of high-level administrators without on-campus visits by candidates (attachment i).  Provost Mace was pleased to provide details on how national searches are conducted and the composition of national search committees.  He also explained why decisions are made to not bring some candidates to campus for an interview.  A motion was made to remove Dr. Morrow's letter from the record.  A subsidiary motion was made to amend the original motion to redact all references to name and position from Dr. Morrow's letter.  The vote was called and amended motion was approved.
8. Janet Frick, Professor in Psychology, shared her concerns regarding the new spam filter used by EITS (attachment j).  Dr. Mattern-Parkes moved to refer this issue to the Faculty Affairs Committee.  The vote was called and this issue was referred to the Faculty Affairs Committee.

Information Items:

1. Due to time restraints, there were no status reports from standing committee chairs.
2. It was noted that the election of Chair Elect for the Executive Committee for 2007-2008 will take place at the April 12, 2007 meeting.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 5:24 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Rebecca L. Macon
University Council Secretary

Executive Committee roster	Members represented by proxy
Anderson, Wyatt Bride, Brian Brooks, Dwight Childs, Adrian Frick, Janet Harris, Ruth Harrison, Georgia Hilton, Nelson Hollett, Bruce Langston, David Lipp, Erin Mace, Arnett Macon, Rebecca Mattern-Parkes, Susan Scott, Lindsey Scott, Shannon St. Pierre, Elizabeth Vencill, William Zinkhan, George	Calhoun, Georgia Peper, Jamie