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.