Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting
April 20, 2006
3:30 p.m.
107 Samford Hall

Attended by: Rich Penaskovic, David Cicci, Bob Locy, Jack DeRuiter, Ann Beth Presley, Kathryn Flynn, Conner Bailey (attended as a non-voting participant)

Rich Penaskovic called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

Rich Penaskovic stated that Dr. Richardson would be out of town on May 2 and that he planned to invite Dr. Heilman to speak to the Senate in Dr. Richardson’s absence.  He reported that Thereza Oleinick, Chair of the Calendar and Schedules Committee, has asked to present a report from her committee at the May meeting.  It was noted that this topic usually generates a lengthy discussion.  For that reason, 30 minutes were allocated for this item on the agenda.

Rich Penaskovic also reported that Sid McAnnally had indicated a willingness to provide an update to the Senate on legislative activities during the last session.  It was decided that, due to time constraints, he would be asked if he was willing to provide a written summary that could be posted on the Senate web page. 

The Student Grievance Committee has a new policy recommendation that it wants to present to the Senate at the May meeting.  It was decided that the information provided by the Committee chair should be included as an Information Item on the May agenda thus allowing the Senate time to discuss the proposed changes.

The Steering Committee then reviewed the Resolution Endorsing the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities drafted by Conner Bailey.  This topic will be put on the May Senate agenda as an Action Item.  Kathryn Flynn will send the resolution and the 1966 AAUP statement to the Senators. 

Rich Penaskovic then mentioned the Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) Committee’s survey. He mentioned that there are a number of NTTF in danger of loosing faculty status.  This would affect raises, annual and sick leave and other benefits. Isabelle Thompson, who chairs this committee, has indicated that she will be ready to report on the survey in June.  Rich Penaskovic asked if we might not want to ask her to give an update at the May meeting.  He said there is the danger that the NTTF slated for reclassification might be reclassified before June.  The Senate leadership has asked that anyone currently occupying a position slated for reclassification be grandfathered.  Rich Penaskovic stated that he has invited NTTF to attend the May meeting of the Senate.  He stated that he felt faculty should have some say in this reclassification decision.  It was decided that if Isabelle Thompson is not yet ready to report on the survey that Rich Penaskovic would address this issue in his comments.

The Committee then discussed the items that Rich Penaskovic would include in his comments to the Senate.  He will include an update on actions pertaining to the Presidential Search Committee. 

Rich Penaskovic stated that he wanted the Senate to discuss a structural problem that exists within some units on campus.  This is the issue of units having a high percentage of faculty members classified as non-tenure track.  He thinks the AAUP recommends that less than 15% of any unit’s faculty be classified as NTT faculty.  It was generally agreed that this is an institutional concern and that there is a need for an examination of hiring practices at AU and at other universities.  It was asked if we should consider an ad hoc committee to address the larger issues related to this problem.  There was some agreement with this suggestion and further discussion will occur in future meetings. 

Conner Bailey reported that he is working on the request that the Senate develop a resolution honoring the swim teams.  He said that he has asked for some academic information so that he can develop the resolution with a focus on both academics and athletics. 

It was asked if Dr. Heilman was going to report to the faculty on the Initiative for Alabama as was originally planned.  Two options were discussed by Steering: ask him to address this in his comments to the Senate on May 2 or have the Executive Committee ask him for an update.

Rich Peneskovic stated that he must send the Steering Committee’s report on post tenure review to Dr. Heilman in early May.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50.