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September 25, 2017 – Minutes

  1. Call to Order – The September 25, 2017 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:00 p.m. in University Hall, Room 111, by President Ernest Rufleth. 
  2. Roll Call – Alicia Kimbell – A quorum was met.
  3. Approval of Minutes – May 2017 – approved on a Crook/Nielsen motion
  4. Welcome – University Senate President, Ernest Rufleth, Liberal Arts
  5. Introduction of Senate Officers
  6. Introduction of College Representatives serving on the Executive Committee
  7. Business
    1. New Business
      1. Award Payments/Changes – Virgil Orr, University Senate Chair, and Staff Awards were intended to post to the winner’s payroll as the full funded amount; HR could not add fringe so winners only received a portion of their award.
        1. A motion was made by M. Swanbom to apply an extra amount in the future so that the award winner’s take home funds would equal the actual award value.  P. Crook seconded the motion. 
        2. E. Rufleth amended the motion that the extra amount would retroactively be added to the 2017 winner’s payroll.  All approved the motion with no opposition.  
      2. Report from ALFS Meeting on September 16th
        1. Commissioner of Higher Education, Dr. Joseph Rallo, gave a candid presentation about the state of education in Louisiana. 
        2. Dr. Jacob Borden from McNeese State University gave a presentation about the upcoming statewide day of Town Hall Meetings which is scheduled for November 2nd. 
        3. Dr. Jacob Borden and Dr. Matthew Butkus from McNeese State University lead a discussion on what happens to universities when funding is pulled. 
      3. Requests for Guest Speakers – Senate members requested Dr. Guice, Dr. Norris, and Dr. McConathy to come speak throughout the academic year. 
    2. Updates from around the University/State – Mikey Swanbom presented a slideshow demonstrating the average salaries at peer institutions by faculty rank.  The slides listed the average salaries for full, associate, and assistant professors and included data from the 14-15 and 15-16 academic years.  He also presented a slide based off data from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) that gave a comparison across states on the terms of dollars spent per state/per student. 
  8. Sub-Committee Work Time – New and returning Senate members were encouraged to join a sub-committee based on their interests.  Each sub-committee met for the remainder of the meeting to discuss initiatives and make notes for their continuation during the current academic year. 
  9. Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.