MINUTES

LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY SENATE

Volume 12 February 2003 Number 6

1. Call to Order: Norman Pumphrey

The February 24, 2003 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:10 p.m. in Prescott Memorial Library, Room 334, by President Norman Pumphrey.

2. Roll Call: Rose Butler

Senators absent from the meeting were John McKillip, Mark Murphey, Ben Choi, Hisham Hegab, Carey Cox, Frank Ji, Tianhong Cui, Don Braswell, Amy Stegall, Bob Burt, and Mary Louise Carter.

3. Adoption of Agenda: Norman Pumphrey

A motion was made to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded and approved.

4. Adoption of the January 27, 2003 minutes.

A motion was made to accept the minutes. A correction was made to the minutes regarding the official colors of Louisiana Tech in the minutes. With this correction noted, the motion to accept the minutes was seconded and approved.

5. Announcements: Norman Pumphrey

Administrative and Planning Council – No report

Post-tenure review – A handout of the SLU policy on Evaluation of Faculty was given out. Norman Pumphrey and Rick Simmons have attended two meetings on how Tech will proceed in the instituting of a post-tenure review policy. Some of the issues discussed in the meeting were (1) how will it be used by each college/department (2) categories for evaluations “satisfactory” and “unsatisfactory” were voted on and chosen. The committee decided that there should not be too many categories as this would lead to confusion.

The Senate then discussed how a decision would be made on the satisfactory and unsatisfactory categories by their college/department. Since the annual evaluation is used for merit raises, the Senate felt that a clear description for the terms of satisfactory and unsatisfactory should be explained to faculty.

Norman Pumphrey explained that a faculty member would have to get an unsatisfactory twice consecutively or 3 unsatisfactories in 5 years before a remediation plan would have to be developed for the faculty member. Unit heads would have to inform their faculty when problems are arising with their performance. He asked for any input.

Norman Pumphrey informed the Senate of a difficult situation concerning the dismissal of a tenured faculty member, Dr. Charles Dorsett. Dr. Pumphrey read a memo dated January 24, 2003, from Dr. Dorsett to Dr. Pumphrey requesting that tenure and continued employment be discussed at the February Senate meeting. Dr. Pumphrey reviewed, with Senators, Tech Policy 2118 on Termination of Tenured Faculty and informed them of a January 23, 2003 memo from Dr. Dorsett to Dr. Reneau related to his case. Dr. Pumphrey informed Senators that if they would like a copy of the January 23, 2003, memo, they should approach the faculty member. Finally, Dr. Pumphrey mentioned that the dismissal has been appealed and will be considered at the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisor’s meeting on February 28, 2003.

Student Evaluation of courses – The new system that was selected to replace the old system will not be put in place due to issues of dissatisfaction by other universities who have been using it. A new committee will be selected to begin the process of devising a new system. Steve Graves informed the Senate that a university in Illinois has a similar system to the Aleamoni, and it is available for purchase.

6. Treasurer’s report - Susan Elkins

A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded and approved.

7. New Business

Academic Integrity Honor Code – Rick Simmons reported that this code will be implemented in Fall 2003. For those students caught cheating, they will be required to go to an ethics class. More information will be shared later as details are finalized.

F. J. Taylor Award – Dr. Pumphrey reminded the Senate that the nominations for the F. J. Taylor Award will be accepted at the next meeting. Please have someone in mind to nominate and be sure this person has the qualifications required. Individuals nominated will be contacted to give pertinent information and a resume.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:08 pm.

Rose Butler, Recording Secretary