MINUTES

UAF GOVERNANCE COORDINATING COMMITTEE #52

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

Chancellor’s Conference Room, 330 Signers’ Hall

 

I        Derek Miller called the meeting to order at 2:07 p.m.

        

A.            Roll Call

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:                         MEMBERS ABSENT:

Chukwu, G.                                      Bird, R.

Combellick, M.                                 Carrothers, A.

Ledlow, L.                                        McCrea, S.

Miller, D.                                          Swazo, N.

                                                     

                                                      OTHERS PRESENT:

                                                      Solano, E.

                                                     

 

         B.      The agenda was adopted as distributed via e-mail.

 

II        COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

         A.      Health Issues - M. Combellick

 

The Health Issues committee met April 2 to discuss future involvement in the UAF LIFE Program.  The committee decided that they want to continue to be an active part of the program.  The SRC has added Fred Morrison to the Health Issues committee to help with the LIFE Program.  All of the lecture series come from the committee and they want to continue this.  The committee is trying to get a show of support for the program from students, staff, and faculty.  The committee would also like to get the program more institutionalized within the UAF system and is open to suggestions.  Financial support for the program is also an issue the committee is hoping to improve.

 

B.      Intercollegiate Athletics - R. Bird

        

Not present.  No report.

 

III       GOVERNANCE REPORTS

 

A.      ASUAF – D. Miller

        

ASUAF elections are currently being held for next years President and Vice-President.  Results of the election should be ready in the next couple of days.  ASUAF will hold a full funding rally tomorrow, April 4, from 1:00-2:00pm in Constitution Park.  ASUAF sewed an Alaska flag and students are currently signing it in the Wood Center.  The plan is to unveil the flag during the full funding rally and then send it to the Legislature in Juneau.  Derek Miller spoke of the Campus Forum on Discrimination that was held in February.  He attended the forum and said he would like to see more student participation in the future.  Derek Miller is working with ASUAF Vice-President, Antwaun Carrothers, who is working with Multicultural Affairs, LaJuana Williams, on the second forum to be held in April.  The Academic Calendar 2003-2004 is currently in ASUAF Student Affairs Committee.  The committee is going to be meeting later this week to give Derek Miller a recommendation to recommend to the Chancellor’s Cabinet.  The recommendation will be based on what students prefer as far as taking away the study day to change last day of class and eliminate finals on Saturday.

 

B.      Faculty Senate – G. Chukwu

        

Faculty Senate is currently discussing a bonding issue, which is very political, classified research.  Faculty Senate has invited individuals from different campuses to give insight on classified research.  This issue is ongoing and will continue to be discussed further in the months ahead.  Faculty Senate also has a committee that is working on evaluation of academic administrators.  A procedure has been developed for evaluating academic administrators.  Faculty Appeals & Oversight committee came up with a process for handling student appeals.  An incident took place a couple of months ago and a loophole was detected in the process.  The Faculty Affairs committee is looking at academic decisions for student grades and trying to come up with a concrete procedure for handling appeals.

 

C.      Staff Council – L. Ledlow

        

Staff Council has been very active on taking on the topic of adding language on sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy.  Staff Council did not pass a motion to add the language, however, did initiate the “Campus Forum on Discrimination” to gather more facts.  IARC was established as it’s own unit under Staff Council at the March meeting.  Initially, IARC was represented with GI.  Earlina Bowden, Assistant to the Chancellor/EEO/AA, gave a presentation on recruitment at the March Staff Council meeting.  The presentation provided a good understanding on how the recruitment process works, and what EEO and AA really mean to employees.  One of Staff Council’s major topics is re-classification.  The Classification Project began a couple of years ago to attempt to classify jobs into families.  Janet Jacobs, SW Human Resources, held a comprehensive discussion on the Classification Project at the March BOR in Juneau.  The presentation included a number of statistics about why people leave their job and what people look for in a job.  SW Human Resources is hoping to have all jobs classified in 18 months.  The Classification Project does not address compensation.

 

IV      OLD BUSINESS

 

A.            Discussion on nondiscrimination policy

        

Derek Miller said that the nondiscrimination issue has been on the ASUAF Student Affairs Committee all year.  Derek Milled also stated that at this point, ASUAF has only been observing what the governance bodies are doing.  Godwin Chuckwu informed the Governance Coordinating Committee that Faculty Senate passed motion at Meeting #105 on December 10, 2001 to forward to the Board of Regents (BOR) March agenda.  However, Godwin Chuckwu said for unknown reasons the motion was not included on BOR March agenda.  Larry Ledlow informed the committee that he and Scott McCrea, Staff Council President, spoke with President Hamilton on this issue and his position was that it could be bad for the budget.  Staff Council postponed the motion to gather more information on the issue.

 

Staff Council postponed motion to hold forum on the subject and send out a survey to students, staff, and faculty.

 

MOTION

=====

 

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Staff Council requests that the University of Alaska Board of Regents amend the UA Nondiscrimination statement (Policy #04.01.020) as follows. Additions to the statement are in bolded caps.

 

In accordance with federal and state laws, illegal discrimination in employment against any individual because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, veteran status, physical or mental disability, marital status or changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood, or SEXUAL ORIENTATION is prohibited. Decisions affecting an individual’s employment will be based on the individual’s qualifications, abilities and performance, as appropriate.

 

Staff Council further requests that copies of this motion be sent to the UAF Faculty Senate and ASUAF for voting consideration, and that once acted upon, copies be forwarded to staff, faculty, and student governance groups at the other two MAUs for their consideration.

 

EFFECTIVE:  Staff Council requests that first discussion of the amendment be placed on the Human Resources Committee agenda at the March BOR meeting.

 

RATIONALE:  Under the current policy, gay and lesbian students, staff and faculty could be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. As an institution of higher learning, the University of Alaska should be setting an example to the rest of the state in terms of recognizing and respecting all of the diverse peoples of Alaska. By adding sexual orientation to the policy, the university is further sending a message to gay and lesbian students, staff, and faculty that this is a place where they are welcome, accepted, and protected against discrimination.

 

 

REPORT ON CAMPUS DISCRIMINATION FORUM

 

On February 21st the UAF Staff Council along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted a campus wide forum on discrimination. The purpose of the forum was to bring together the campus community to discuss issues of discrimination and the campus climate, and how various individuals felt about how they were being treated at UAF. The forum was broadcast live on KSUA, audio-conferenced to the rural sites, and was attended by about 20 participants, including Chancellor Lind and Dean Kirts.

 

The panel consisted of Dr. LaJuana Williams, Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs; Peter Pinney, Associate Professor of English; Carolyn Chapman, Director of Human Resources; Lee Hendricks, UAF student and Sun Star editor; and Dr. George Charles, Alaska Native Studies. Each panel member gave a 5-10 minute presentation on how they felt about the issue personally. The forum was then opened up to comments from the floor. While only five people testified, their testimony was all passionate. A gay staff person talked about how he actually feared for his job simply by showing up at the forum. A gay student talked about how he dropped a class and eventually out of school because of a disparaging remark made by a professor. The same student also talked about being threatened/intimidated by religious groups at Wood Center.  An Alaska Native student talked about being treated unfairly in the classroom.

 

It was decided after the forum that more discussion needed to take place, and the momentum needed to keep moving forward. The forum captured the interest of the Chancellor’s Cabinet, and was a featured topic at the recent Chancellor’s Summit. The planning group for the forum plans on having another forum sometime in late April to continue the dialogue and hopefully attract a larger turnout.

 

Submitted by Scott McCrea, President, UAF Staff Council

 

 

The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #105 on December 10, 2001:

 

 

MOTION PASSED AS AMENDED:

======================

 

The UAF Faculty Senate recommends that the University of Alaska Board of Regents' amend the UA Nondiscrimination Statement (P04.01.020) as follows:

 

 

CAPS  =      Additions to the statement

 

 

In accordance with federal and state laws, illegal discrimination in employment against any individual because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, veteran status, physical or mental disability, marital status or changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood is prohibited.  FURTHER, DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS PROHIBITED.  Decisions affecting an individual's employment will be based on the individual's qualifications, abilities and performance, as appropriate.

 

 

EFFECTIVE:  The UAF Faculty Senate requests that first discussion of the amendment be placed on the Human Resources Committee agenda at the March BOR meeting.

 

RATIONALE:  Under the current policy, students, staff and faculty could be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.  As an institution of higher learning, the University of Alaska should be setting an example to the rest of the state in terms of recognizing and respecting all of the diverse peoples of Alaska.  By adding sexual orientation to the policy, the university is further sending a message to all students, staff, and faculty that this is a place where they are welcome, accepted, and protected against discrimination.

 

 

B.            Discussion on Academic Calendar for 2003-2004

 

Derek Miller said the ASUAF Student Affairs committee is reviewing the calendar in regards to Saturday finals.  One option being discussed to eliminate Saturday finals is having class on “All Campus Day”.  Another option is to get rid of “Study Day” between last day of classes and finals.  ASUAF will forward a recommendation to the Chancellor’s Cabinet for a decision.

 

The UAF Governance Coordinating Committee approved the following at its meeting #50, October 8, 2001:

 

Chancellor Lind approved on February 11, 2002 with modifications.  2002-2003 only.

 

 

MOTION PASSED (unanimous)

===========

 

The UAF Governance Coordinating Committee moves to approve the following 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 academic calendar:

 

         EFFECTIVE:  Upon Chancellor’s Approval

 

 

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS

ACADEMIC CALENDAR

2002-2003 AND 2003-2004

 

 

FALL SEMESTER-2002

 

Labor Day                                                         September 2, 2002

Fall-1st day of instruction                                  September 5, 2002

Last day to register                                          September 13, 2002

Thanksgiving holidays                                        November 28-29, 2002

Last day of classes                                           December 13, 2002

Final exams                                                       December 16-19, 2002

 

 

SPRING SEMESTER-2003

 

Martin Luther King / AK Civil Rights Day            January 20, 2003

Spring-1st day of instruction                              January 16, 2003

Last day to register                                          January 24, 2003

Spring Break                                                     March 17-23, 2003*

All Campus Day                                                 April 25, 2003

Last day of classes                                           May 5, 2003

Final exams                                                       May 7-10, 2003

Commencement                                                May 11, 2003

 

 

FALL SEMESTER-2003

 

Labor Day                                                         September 1, 2003

Fall-1st day of instruction                                  September 4, 2003

Last day to register                                          September 12, 2003

Thanksgiving holidays                                        November 27-28, 2003

Last day of classes                                           December 12, 2003

Final exams                                                       December 15-18, 2003

 

 

SPRING SEMESTER-2004 (LEAP YEAR)

 

Martin Luther King / AK Civil Rights Day            January 19, 2004

Spring-1st day of instruction                              January 15, 2004

Last day to register                                          January 23, 2004

Spring Break                                                     March 15-21, 2004*

All Campus Day                                                 April 23, 2004

Last day of classes                                           May 3, 2004

Final exams                                                       May 5-8, 2004

Commencement                                                May 9, 2004

 

*To be coordinated with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District

 

 

V       NEW BUSINESS

 

A.            Discussion on ASUAF Resolution SR158-003A

 

Derek Miller informed the committee that ASUAF drafted a resolution to encourage Faculty Senate to re-evaluate and change the advisor registration signature.  This came about due to students and numerous faculty not seeing the effectiveness of the signature.  The resolution states that the signature should only be used during the students’ first year attending UAF and during any years a student is undeclared.  Godwin Chukwu said that if the resolution would come forward to Faculty Senate he would be against it because it could result in students taking classes out of sequence.  Derek Miller asked if there is another process that could be taken rather than the advisor signature.  Godwin Chukwu said that the only other way is to have the Registrar ensure classes are being taken in sequence.

SR158-003A

       ASUAF Resolution to change the procedure on the advisor signature.

                                               Josh Steadman

                                               25 March 2002

Statement of Purpose  The purpose of this resolution is to encourage faculty senate to re-evaluate and change the advisor registration signature.

Fiscal Impact Statement        The enactment of this resolution is free of fiscal impact, but will save the time and money of countless students in the future.

                                                                New

Date                              Action            Version      Committee                 Vote

25-Mar-2002                 Introduce

26-Mar-2002                    Refer                                 Executive

26-Mar-2002                 Discharge

26-Mar-2002                    Refer                                 University

                                                                                 Relations

27-Mar-2002          Committee Amend        A

27-Mar-2002            Recomend Adopt                                                           5 - 0

Whereas,  There are other universities, including University of Alaska Anchorage that do not have an advisor signature at all

 

Whereas,  These universities without advisor signatures still build a relationship with students that negate the need of what we have put in place, the advisor signature, and these universities still continue to graduate students in traditional times, and with high GPA’s

 

Whereas,  Students after an orientation process and a year of experience after declaring a major are most likely familiar with the University to get help when they need it

 

Whereas,  If a student needs help they could still go to the advising center, or to their department for help on how to complete the degree.

 

Whereas,  There are faculty and staff included with students that feel the advisor signature is unnecessary ‘red tape’ to register for classes

 

Whereas,  After the advisor has signed the document confirming classes, the student can change classes against the advice of the advisor

 

Whereas,  Even after the advisor has approved the class list, the student can continue to register for classes not signed off on and impertinent to the completion of the degree

 

Whereas,  Any improvements that can be made to help out with the registration process can produce positive results in the overall experience of registration for students

 

Whereas,  In the advent of on-line registration, the world that includes knowledgeable students that can register and pay will become an easier reality; therefore be it

 

Resolved,  That it is the Associated Students of Alaska Fairbanks decision referring the advisor signature that the advisor signature should only be used during the students’ first year attending UAF and during any years a student is undeclared.; and be it further

 

Resolved ,  That this resolution be read to the Faculty Senate to convey the wishes of ASUAF to evaluate and change the advisor signature process.

 

 

VI      COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS

 

VII     Next meeting will be scheduled after the December System Governance meeting.

 

VIII     The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

 

         A tape of this Governance Coordinating Committee meeting is available in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall, if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tape.  Submitted by Elizabeth Solano, Governance Coordinating Committee secretary.