Present:  Cody Bustamante, Curt Whittaker, Sib Farrell, Marny Rivera, Wilkins-O'Riley Zinn, Kevin Talbert, Peter Wu, Jean Maxwell, Terry Longshore, Jon Harbaugh, Lee Ayers, Mark Siders, Etsuko Fujimoto, Elena Ruggerio, Dale Vidmar, Connie Anderson, Kemble Yates, Laura O’Bryon, Earl Potter.o:p>

Guests: Barbara Scott, Diane Brimmer, Carl Moody, Sarah Ann Hones, Cynthia Beckwith, Ron Bolstad, Mike Corcoran, Judith Ginsburg, Steven Jessup, Susan Walsh, Mada Morgan, John Sollinger, Chelsey Lontini, Holly Scotton, Barbara Scott Winkler, Parvaneh Scoggin, Dan Morris, John Fitton, Elisabeth Zinser.

I.          Approved Minutes of st1:date Month="2" Day="2" Year="2004">February 2, 2004

            Motion by Dale Vidmar, Second by Sib Farrell with no changes.

II.         Announcements

A.     Sib Farrell announced the upcoming Career Networking Fair 2004, scheduled for Thursday, February 26, from 5-8 p.m. in the Stevenson Union Rogue River Room and the Redford Lounge.

B.     Alena Ruggerio announced that several faculty were to perform in honor of the Beatles 40^th Anniversary on February 16^th at 8 p.m. in the Britt Ballroom.

C.     Lee Ayers announced the 3^rd annual Lock-in sponsored by the Criminology Department, scheduled for February 27, starting at 1 p.m. and ending at 1 a.m. This event is available to all students on campus, not exclusive to Criminology majors.

III.       Remarks from the President

A.     SOU is invited in June to present to the President’s Council for the Frontier Conference Council of Presidents meeting in Lewiston, Montana.  A determination of membership in the Conference will follow.

B.     The President has called for an all campus meeting to be held on February 25 from 3 – 4:30 p.m. to review the outline and direction of the new OUS Board, post Measure 30 plans, and perhaps other subjects.

C.     The reduction to the OUS system as a result of defeat of Measure 30 is $7.5 million. Because the tentative plan of the Board is to take half of this cut from the Chancellor’s Offices, the share of the reduction tentatively planned for the institutions is less than anticipated.  If the Chancellor’s Offices do absorb half of this system reduction, the reduction amount tentatively scheduled for SOU will be $212,046 (6%). If our amount is at this lower level, while challenging on top of the many reductions in the past couple of years, SOU administration would not institute tuition surcharges during the balance of this year. The institution’s biennial budget balancing does depend, however, on continuing plans for the projected tuition increase for Fall ’04. The University Planning Committee will begin immediately to work with the administration to propose the specific reductions and cost savings plans needed to absorb the $212, 046 (or some revised number based on Board action at least by May).

D.      A proposal to name our newly enhanced library “The Lenn and Dixie Hannon Library” will be submitted to the OUS Board on Friday, February 20^th.

E.      A celebration to honor Lenn and Dixie Hannon, for their long and distinguished service through 30 years in the Senate, will take place on Friday, February 27 from 2-3 p.m. with a reception to follow.

F.      The Advisory Council of Faculty Senate has approved moving forward with a naming of an Honorary Doctorate for this academic year.  The OUS Board will review the recommendation on Friday, February 20^th.

G.     Microsoft has endorsed the AAC&U Greater Expectations publication, and the company placed an advertisement noting their endorsement in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This reinforces support in the corporate world for the value of practical liberal education as an essential part of preparation for career and life.

IV.       Remarks from the Provost

A.     The President and the Provost recently met with seven editors and reporters from various publications in New York, and information about SOU was warmly received.  Some publications may be following up with publicity for our institution.

B.     Professor D.L Richardson is currently working with an Advisory Council on multicultural issues. He is the “Faculty in Residence for Multicultural Affairs”.

C.     The American Democracy Project is co-sponsored by the New York Times and The American Association for State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The project is a collaboration among over 166 universities that has been created for the purpose of helping those universities foster civic engagement of their student bodies and prepare graduates for active lives in their communities. As part of the project the NYT created a three-day workshop for campus student newspaper leaders. Jessica Robinson of the Siskiyou will be attending this workshop.

D.     Thirty-six initiatives have been submitted for review by the AAAC. Teams are reviewing and sorting the proposals into three groups: supported initiatives, initiatives that need further development, and initiatives that are not supported.  The Provost and AAAC will keep Faculty Senate informed as the review process continues.

E.      The new OUS Board is putting forward a strong push for Community College partnerships. A strategy to continue the work with colleagues at RCC is under development.

F.      A comprehensive review of SOU programs done in conjunction with K-12 is being undertaken.

V.        Advisory Council Report from the Faculty Senate Vice Chair: Jon Harbaugh

            A.  The Faculty Senate Survey on this year’s progress was reviewed and the results were                                  distributed.

            B.  A change in the Faculty Senate bylaws regarding release time for the Faculty Senate President          for each academic quarter of service was reviewed. A vote on this change will occur at the next meeting on March 1^st.

            C.  Cynthia Beckwith, Wayne Schumacher, and Barbara Scott, representing the HR Advisory   Committee,             presented and discussed the concepts around development of a single group      definition of SOU Administrators, replacing the categories of Administrative Faculty and    Administrative Professionals.  Policies will be established, and benefits and compensation        packages are being developed. The AC has asked HRAC for any developed policies to review and then to forward the proposed changes for discussion to the Constitution Committee. The     projected finalization of the revision process is in Fall 2004.

VI.       Action Items

A.     Curriculum Committee – Catalog changes, discussion and votes

1.      A motion was made by Kevin Talbert to approve the new courses submitted by the committee on January 27. Dale Vidmar seconded. Motion approved: For-17, Against-0, Abstention-0.  Courses approved: Art 304, Drawing, Design Color and Typography for Digital Media; Art 349, Comic Books and Picture Books; Art 395, Installation and Site-Specific Art; Art 495, Installation and Site-Specific Art; Comm 411, Intensive Experiential Learning; Comm 460/560 Topics in Communication: Texts of Truth;  Comm 460/560, Topics in Communication: Feminist Rhetorical Theories; Span 320, Topics in Hispanic Film; Span 431, Spanish Phonetics/Phonology; Bi 336, Plant Evolution and Systematics; Ch 344, Organic Chemistry Workshop; Ch 345, Organic Chemistry Workshop; Ch 346, Organic Chemistry Workshop; Ch 434, Organic Chemistry Workshop Mentor;  Ch 435, Organic Chemistry Workshop Mentor; Ch 436, Organic Chemistry Workshop Mentor; Ch 481 Advanced Organic Spectroscopy; Ch 482, Forensic Research Project.

2.      A motion was made by Kevin Talbert to approve the changes related to minors. Curt Whittaker seconded. Motion approved: For-16, Against-0, Abstention-0.  Minors changes approved: Film Studies interdisciplinary minor has been moved to Department of Communication; and Video Production interdisciplinary minor has been moved to Department of Communication.

3.      A motion was made by Curt Whittaker to approve the new courses submitted by the committee for upper division synthesis and application designation on a one-by-one basis. John Whitesitt seconded. Motion approved: For-16, Against-0, Abstention-0. 

a.       Motion to approve made by Curt Whittaker, seconded by John Whitesitt: Fr 314, 315, 316 French Culture, Composition, and Conversation:  Motion approved: For-15, Against-1, Absstention-0.

b.      Motion to approve GL 301, 302, and 303 German Culture, Conversation, and Composition made by John Whitesitt, seconded by Zinn: Motion approved: For-16, Against-0, Abstention-0.

c.       Motion to approve WS 302, Contemporary U.S. Women’s Movements made by John Whitesitt, seconded by Terry Longshore: Motion approved: For-16, Against-0, Abstention-0.

VII. Remarks/updates

A.     John Sollinger presented the CREAC update for this term. CREAC is using the Greater Expectations Report to generate general education goals and working on ways to assess these goals to turn over to the Curriculum Committee for review.

B.     Interinstitutional Faculty Senate (IFS) – Laura Jones reported that the IFS meeting was held at Western Oregon University. Faculty are being encouraged to develop personal relationships with the Oregon legislators. IFS is putting together a “briefing book” on critical issues in higher education to distribute to interested parties such as the legislature, press, and others. The State Board of Higher Education will meet on SOU’s campus in June, and IFS will also be held at SOU the first weekend in June.

C.     The Labyrinth Committee has developed an update sheet on background information, cost estimates and the potential location on campus.

XII.  Adjourned approximately 5:30 pm.                                              Minutes submitted by Laura O’Bryon