BUILDING A SENATE AGENDA
Dear Senators: Below you will find a somewhat hastily gathered compendium
of the issues you forwarded to dmc for the Building a Senate Agenda worksheets.
For the first group of items (the 9 month time frame) I tried to roughly
organize the issues into topics or themes. (I did not have time to do this
for the 3- and 10-year items. Sorry.) I also tried to include a least some
version of every issue/concern that was forwarded to me. However, given
the short time-frame within which I compiled these items, I may well have
missed some of your ideas. If so, they can be added at a later date.
--Julia Heydon, Acting Faculty Secretary
9 MONTHS
ADMINISTRATION
Effectiveness of decentralizing administration
Review of administrators. (Evaluation of dept. heads and deans by faculty)
Information on how search committees are chosen
President Frohnmayer should offer guidance as to how the Senate might help
with relations with the Legislature and with the general public
FINANCIAL/BUDGETARY
Financial support for the Oregon Survey Research Lab
More scholarship money for students
More funding!
More funding for education and research
Boost case for restoring funding to higher education--mobilize faculty and
staff to work on this
Senate should watch proportion of University funds that go for administration
as opposed to academic/academic support activities
University should fund small seed grants for research of $3,000-$30,000
Streamline process for acquiring funds for research/presentations
Make money available for speakers and conferences with a broad academic/community
INSTRUCTIONAL ISSUES/ENROLLMENTS
Reward team teaching to encourage it
More faculty positions to accommodate increased enrollments
Improve quality of both grad and undergrad education, especially re: admissions
standards and policies
Exercise more quality control over the degrees we hand out
Close monitoring of academic quality as impacted by increasing class size
and use of new technology
Assess the impact of larger enrollments on facilities and human resources
Enrollment projections
Admissions standards; ensure high quality of students entering University
Active support of Honors sections of classes outside of the Honors College
Access to more guidance from counselors on majors and graduation
University sponsored speakers to address contemporary themes within majors
Increase number of classes taught by "staff" (faculty?) instead
of GTFs
Increase in number of electives and availability of classes
Smaller classes
Offer more discussion/recitation/problem-solving sessions
Intellectual property issues--"fair use" clause of copyright law
Change to a semester system
Academic legitimacy of short, week-end, self-support upper division workshops;
limit the number students may take per term?
Higher standards for student writing skills
Revisit lack of a core curriculum
Create more forums, colloquia to increase out-of-class student/faculty contact
Grade inflation
Get University to place greater value on out-of-classroom education
Discuss copyright policies as they affect academic instruction/goals
Curriculum: Need faculty-led curriculum review which would address general
ed. requirements, cross-departmental interaction, writing skills, flexibility
in times of course offerings, more one-and two-credit course offerings,
and clearer course descriptions
Review and adopt statement from subcommittee on advising
Improve understanding of academic preparation and educational needs of incoming
students
Promote student involvement opportunities with faculty
Establish learning expectations for students re: factors that are important
outcomes of educational process
Increase opportunities for students to meet with faculty in small groups
in more informal settings
Improve student literacy in mathematics
Consider a capstone exam at end of undergraduate program
Move back to a coherent program of undergraduate cluster courses
Leave first two years of undergraduate education to community colleges;
students who do this are "more successful" according to one unidentified
source
Separate graduate and undergraduate education into two distinct colleges
Don't forget the graduate education and research missions of this university
LEGISLATION/GOVERNANCE
Better prior notification of faculty by their senators of important issues
coming up
Respect for student input on UO policies and procedures
University Senate needs to establish itself as a PARTNER with the administration
in decision-making process
Senate should take more active role in all aspects of University decision-making
Assemble all faculty legislation currently in force, and organize it so
that faculty can locate it.
LESS action on morality issues; concern about sexual relations policy and
faculty vulnerability to lawsuits
Increased representation for Officers of Administration in Senate and on
University Committees
Adopt changes in student conduct code
Investigate faculty governance, democracy in CAS (Humanities Center Director;
review of Dean)
Election to Senate by entire faculty
Senate recognition of contributions made by UO community
Activate the Senate
Provide opportunities for wide involvement on strategic institutional decisions
Greater respect for student input into UO policies/procedures
Develop team mentality for moving forward on critical issues such as productivity,
salaries, etc.
University administration and Senate should quit coming up with policy proposals
such as the Sexual Relationships and Conflicts of Interest that do NOT reflect
the views of the majority of the faculty
Reduce number of meetings
LIBRARY
Protect the Library from dangerous cuts in serials and other resources
Expand Library hours to at least 1:00 a.m.
SALARIES/OTHER COMPENSATION/BENEFITS/HIRING
Dual academic career couples/split appointments
Faculty salaries/across-the-board increases
Low faculty salaries
Need a meaningful program for dealing with salary compression
Pay equity--how are people informed about it?
More summer support for faculty
Domestic partner benefits (including partners who are gay or lesbian) for
students, faculty and staff
Employment needs of faculty spouses; spousal hiring policy
Improve research and travel funds
Hiring procedures and value, recruitment, retention
Develop a genuine merit process and a plan to pay all faculty over 12 months
Salary increases: 10%
SERVICE/COMMITTEE WORK/COMMITTEES
When and how will service to the University be rewarded?
Status of recommendations of Commission on Faculty Rewards and Development
Complete analysis and streamlining of committees
The number of committees and their purposes is dysfunctional; committee
structure needs to be revised
Fewer committee assignments; more time for research and teaching
Send out information about what the Academic Requirements Committee does
(and possibly other committees as well)
Amount of time consumed in faculty governance (specifically committee work)
Reinvigorate our committee structure
Identify and reward involvement opportunities for faculty at all stages
of their careers
Complete redefinition of the University Committee on the Curriculum to include
an ex-officio member of the Grad School
Make faculty committees smaller, and rotate membership systematically
Administrators and faculty should be trained in meeting facilitation
SUMMER SESSION/SUMMER DUTIES
Review Summer Session pay/funding mechanism
Distinction and interface between 9 and 12 month faculty and business during
summer
TECHNOLOGY/COMPUTER SUPPORT
Provide incentives--such as release time--for faculty to develop instructional
technology
Distance learning issues
Space shortages--library space, classroom space, technology space
Recognize that not all programs and services can be improved by the addition
of technology
Clarity on technology goals/equity in distribution of technology dollars
Decision-making and accountability re: allocation of Ed Tech funds
Technology support services; coordination and overseeing of classroom technology
Better computer/technology support for faculty
Assist faculty with learning how to understand and use technology in education
Improve access to computer technology for grads and GTFs
Information on how Ed Tech Committee is chosen, and to whom it is responsible
Faculty need to design electronic course materials and insure that proper
campus infrastructure is there to use it
Need for reliable remote access to computers on campus
Hold a conference on the ethics of Ed Tech
Get rid of University-generated "junk" e-mail
Invest in current computer for each faculty person
Invest in computer training/consulting
Have banks of computers/terminals all over campus so students can access
mail, Web pages, etc.
Require and subsidize minimal training for students on technology
UNIVERSITY PLAN/PRODUCTIVITY
Revise Productivity Plan to emphasize quality of education instead of
production of Student Credit Hours
Develop a more coherent University mission to minimize mutually contending
goals (e.g., increased production of SCH's and improved quality of undergraduate
instruction conflict; P&T guidelines do not reward teaching, etc.)
Get rid of Productivity Plan
Review baselines for SCH productivity increases
Increasing corporatization of the University: what can be done that will
not undermine values?
The current "factory" model of higher education
The Portland agenda
Develop a more coherent University mission, especially as it relates to
P&T, research expectations, and increase in quality of undergraduate
education
Inequities in distribution of productivity funds
WORK LOADS/TENURE
Faculty workload (generally)/relationship of this and salaries to morale
Teaching equity within and across academic units
Teaching equity: credit for supervising theses, advising, service
Problems in tenure and promotion for women faculty with young children
Tenure decision should focus less on production of research, more on quality
and commitment to first-class teaching and service
Consider advising as part of the teaching mission in tenure/promotion decisions
Uniform and meaningful post-tenure reviews
Future of tenure at UO; how to protect it
Unionization of faculty
Make senior faculty accountable for their teaching, advising, and service.
Create teaching effectiveness standards, and give greater weight to teaching
in P&T decisions
Reduce teaching loads on junior faculty--junior leave
Require faculty to be on campus, in their offices, a certain number of hours
per week
WORKING CONDITIONS (OTHER)
Communications; knowing who to call with different questions (department
titles in phone directory do not make it clear what a department actually
does)
Make student directory available electronically
PARKING
Safety on campus
More clerical/staff assistance for faculty
Family work issues; time demands of job
Child care; drop-in daycare; after-school child care
Inadequate lab space (a specific concern in Anthropology)
Adequate space/facilities for instruction
Improve classrooms across campus and address the space problem more generally
Improve faculty offices--especially re: climate control
Improved facilities within Arts and Letters buildings
Lighting near bike shelters and racks
Better support for faculty teaching large classes, especially from IMC
More travel support
Classroom configurations other than lecture seating
Many faculty offices need painting, recarpeting, etc.
OTHER ISSUES
Establish goals for diversity for faculty, staff, and student body
Career paths and recognition for Officers of Administration
Improve faculty club to make it a "lively gathering place"
Develop quality athletic and recreational facilities
Respond with support to recent Emerald editorials on the effect on the quality
of education with increased enrollments without an increase in the number
of faculty
Communicate with Emerald in order to stay in touch with student concerns
Pay raises for classified employees
Get rid of annual peer reviews
Information on procedures for choosing Knight Chairs, and how faculty can
have influence
Improve choices and prices of food on campus
Book prices
Lack of a real "dead week" (i.e., a week with no classes or due
dates)
Establish a clearing house (i.e., a suggestion box that is taken seriously)
for issues raised by faculty/staff and a means for following up/implementing
suggestions
Foster a sense of community; bridge gap between various components of university
community (students, officers of admin. etc.)
Give staff support and perhaps administrative guidance to UEPCC
Recognize the difference between print and electronic media
Streamline campus mailing lists
More discussion on the relationship between the University and the local
community
More overseas study
Foster more collegiality and exchange of ideas among faculty
Make research faculty more than "second class" citizens of the
university community; improve the conditions and opportunities for research
faculty
3 YEARS
Work out long-range plans to address many of the issues above
Salary increases of 40%
Simplify the lives of P.I.'s; those who get grants are being punished by
overbearing and redundant accounting and fiscal management systems
Support a Webmaster to decide what and how materials representing the UO
should be linked to the UO Home Page
A plan for consistent, frequent communication with student and administrative
groups
We need a vision, a clear plan for the future, instead of just doing crisis
management
Reintroduce the value of investing in human FACULTY as primary vehicle for
teaching; technology is an expensive, unproved investment
Reintroduce traditional values of teaching and scholarship
Study how University can reduce its dependence on research grants
Reduce amount of paperwork generally on campus, and stop waste of paper
Raise salaries of GTFs
Reduce class loads for instructors
Give Instructors ASA accounts
Make team teaching possible
Develop a UO policy for tuition waivers for children of faculty and staff
Address issues of exploitation of instructors on a University-wide basis
Administration needs to become more responsive to faculty with disabilities
Improve advising system
Representation for non-tenure related faculty
Support system/"buddy system" for newcomers
Make University a more humane place to work
Long-range plan for University as a whole; will students continue to be
seen as clients/customers? What does this do to our standards of admissions,
teaching, and student performance?
Clinton's tax credit for college tuition, but only for students who maintain
a B average--how will we manage pressure to give good grades?
Continue to demand that teaching efforts be rewarded in salaries and promotions
Graduate education: should we continue to turn out PhD's at the current
rate?
Promote academic integrity among students
Restore Senate membership to proportional representation for Officers of
Administration; increase student representation
Move to a semester system
Keeping technology that we have already invested in current and continually
advancing
Having all students achieve a level of library and technological literacy
before graduation
Revise the University Productivity Plan to emphasize quality of instruction
over SCH accumulation
Recommend a Library representative on the Curriculum Committee
Find a more consistent way of obtaining input about library support for
decennial program reviews, UO program proposals submitted to OSSHE, and
accreditation reports.
How can we be more useful citizens of this state, not simply to get votes,
but in a real sense
Focus on encouraging active participation in the political process by actively
encouraging voter registration
How can we build a more committed constituency
Smaller classes--face-to-face instruction
More real support for interdisciplinary work: money, staff, housing
Recognize and address needs of nontraditional students, especially parents
and students of color
Tuition
Ethnic Studies
Recruitment and retention of people of color
Reconsider cost/SCH of humanities courses
BA's becoming a second-class education for women students (and second-class
profession for women who teach those BA courses)
Gender equity and comparisons of the retention rates in our languages courses
as compared with Freshman Seminars
Should colleges/schools be moving into the instruction of core curriculum
under their own rubrics, e.g., Business Spanish or Business Calculus?
Provide time to engage in volunteer work
Improve position and opportunities for research assistants
10 YEARS
Conversion to semester system
Maintain quarter system
Achieve goals re: inequities in faculty salaries; merit
Develop plan to reduce number of students in classes
Salaries commensurate with top third of major research universities in country
Promote mentoring as a way of educational life at all levels
Take action to ensure that the UO remains a functioning entity in Eugene
Reinforce importance of graduate education
Retain core values of "liberal education" in the face of market
pressures
Come to grips with outside forces that will affect/shape the academy
More academic support for programs doing work on the cutting edge: women's
studies, environmental studies, Jewish studies, gender studies, etc.