The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate moves to refer the motion to approve the Certificate program in Microcomputer Support Specialist to the Curricular Affairs Committee for review. EFFECTIVE: Immediately Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ****************** The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate moves to refer the motion to approve the AAS in Microcomputer Support Specialist to the Curricular Affairs Committee for review. EFFECTIVE: Immediately Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ****************** The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate encourages individual departments to design their own criteria where appropriate to evaluate the work done towards developing distance education, including the creation of materials for such instruction. EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: The University of Alaska Fairbanks Regulations for the Evaluation of Faculty, Section III.C.1f (Effectiveness in Teaching) specifically states that "Effective teachers . . . regularly develop new courses, workshops and seminars and use a variety of methods of instructional delivery and instructional design." This implicitly states that periodic evaluation of faculty includes distance delivery-based courses as part of teaching evaluation. It is appropriate to develop such criteria at the department level. Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ****************** The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: RESOLUTION PASSED AS AMENDED ============================== WHEREAS, The University of Alaska Faculty Senate has discussed in depth the consequences of the 1996-97 academic year Retirement Incentive Program; and WHEREAS, Positions vacated in that RIP were not refilled on a one- to-one basis by the administration; and WHEREAS, The loss of faculty members to retirement in certain departments caused undue hardship to certain academic programs; and WHEREAS, College deans were given the power to decide in which way faculty members in their units would have input into the decisions as to which positions were more important to departments than others; and WHEREAS, Recommendations from the dean's level in colleges were not always followed in replacing faculty positions once these recommendations reached the Provost and Chancellor levels; and WHEREAS, The RIP program unduly impacts departments with a majority of senior faculty; now THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That a faculty member be selected from and by each of the departments affected by faculty who have exercised the RIP option, to serve as an advisory board to the Provost and Chancellor in making final decisions regarding RIP replacements. Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ****************** The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate moves to refer the motion to approve a policy concerning UAF faculty and advanced degrees back to the Faculty and Scholarly Affairs Committee for additional review with instruction to give more detail and information in the rationale. EFFECTIVE: Immediately Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ******************* The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate has reviewed the draft Board of Regents' Policy and Regulations 09.01.00, 09.03.00, 09.04.00, and 09.05.00, at the request of the Faculty Alliance, and recommends that Regulation 09.03.00 be rejected as written and makes no suggestions with regard to the other draft regulations and policies. EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: The basis for the draft language submitted to the Board of Regents was the existing and functioning UAF rules, which were specifically designed to guarantee completion of the procedure in ONE semester with only one meeting of a review committee, and to keep it as simple as possible. The draft procedures do not guarantee completion in one semester, provide for as many as three review committee meetings, and turn it into a student-unfriendly procedure that will dissuade many from seeking corrections of what may have truly been arbitrary and capricious grading. The present UAF rules were written in response to a request by the Provost (UAF Chief Academic Officer) to get this issue out of his office. The draft reverses this by replacing the dean with the "Chief Academic Officer", hence putting it back in his office and the other MAUs' chief academic officers; it is regressive. The draft review does not protect faculty rights to due process. The draft rules violate the fundamental axiom of academe that degrees are awarded by faculty in that it violates the corollary that only faculty award grades that count toward degrees. Based on experience by several faculty members, having two students on the committee rather than another faculty member is probably detrimental to the student's chance of a successful appeal. There are basic structural problems with the draft. For example, in Section B, "Resolution of Disputes Regarding Academic Decisions or Actions", the first sentence is general, and states that section is not limited to assignment of final course grades. The second sentence limits this entire section to assignment of the final grade. It can't be both and the material that follows is designed to address the question of final grades, but with confusing language related to the other issues. There are other serious structural problems. The UAF Faculty Senate's Curricular Affairs Committee has spent many hours on this review and has concluded there are too many issues involved for a simple markup of the draft. The UAF Faculty Senate offers to meet with the drafting committee to make clear the areas of concern and to aid in the creation of regulations that will truly aid as opposed to hinder students. Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/15/97 ****************** The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #76 on December 8, 1997: MOTION PASSED ============== The UAF Faculty Senate moves to send the following letter to the Governor on behalf of the Senate after editing and inclusion of a statement that it was passed by a unanimous vote. EFFECTIVE: Immediately Signed: John D. Craven, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 12/17/97 *************** December 15, 1997 The Honorable Tony Knowles Governor, State of Alaska P.O. Box 110001 Juneau, AK 99811-0001 Dear Governor Knowles, The University of Alaska plays a vital role in the future of our very young, promising state, as it is one of the keys to Alaska's economic, intellectual, cultural, and political development. Alaska is unique in many ways, and it requires an outstanding institution of higher learning inside its borders to help craft solutions to its numerous challenges. However, in the face of repeated budget constraints in funding at the state level, the quality of higher education available in the state is being severely compromised. Such constraints can not continue without extensive damage to the University and its ability to fulfill its stated mission and goals. Alaska does not need its University so crippled that it is merely a shadow of what a strong university should be. Instead, the University of Alaska must provide an environment in which students are stimulated, challenged, and encouraged to reach their full potential, while knowing that they are receiving a superior education from a healthy, outstanding institution. We appreciate the fact that you also hold many of these views about the University of Alaska and have stated so publicly. We have been gratified to hear you recognize the budget trimming efforts and sacrifices many have made and that through several assessment procedures the faculty, staff, and administration have actively sought to increase efficiency and lower costs. Since you are aware of our efforts, you must know that the Board of Regents' budget request of 174 million dollars for the coming fiscal year is not only reasonable, but reflects an anticipated 10 million dollar reduction to the administrative branch of the University while merely sustaining the rest of the system at minimal levels. Your proposed budget of 167.8 million dollars, which you described as "a modest increase," is an increase that means further reductions will occur, continuing the process of irreparable harm to the University of Alaska System. By unanimous vote the UAF Faculty Senate, through its elected representatives, has moved the adoption of this letter and, as faculty members of the University of Alaska, stand ready to provide any information and assistance you may seek in a quest to more clearly understand the predicament of the University of Alaska. We can provide such assistance through perspectives gained as we carry out our obligations to teaching, research, and public service. It is the faculty and the students that are engaged in learning, not the administration. While they represent us to you, their task is greatly complicated by the additional obligations to the physical institution and support functions, further removed from the central obligation of a university, which is to higher education. We can provide that focused perspective. Respectfully submitted for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Faculty Senate, John D. Craven, President Madeline F. Schatz, President-Elect