Council of University System Faculty
CUSF Executive Committee and Senate Chairs Meeting of
February 6, 2004
Minutes
Combined Senate Chairs / CUSF Executive Committee
USM Headquarters – February 6, 2004
Present:, Vince Brannigan (UMCP, CUSF ExCom), Bill Chapin (UMES, CUSF ExCom),
Joel Cohen (UMCP), Gertrude Eaton (USM), Mike Garner(SU, CUSF ExCom), Stephanie
Gibson (UB), Irv Goldstein (USM), Art Huseonica (UMUC), Steve Jacobs (UMAB),
Brit Kirwan (USM Chancellor), Randall Rhodes (FSU), Lee Richardson, (UB), Martha
Siegel (TU, CUSF ExCom), Court Stevenson (UMCES)
The meeting was called to order shortly after ten o’clock.
Discussion of the proposed Policy on Appeals of Campus President’s Actions
that violate Board of Regents or Institutional Policy revealed that the campus
Senates wanted to be part of the process, but also supported the possibility of
further appeals off-campus to CUSF or some other body in limited circumstances.
There was also general agreement that the results of the appeals would generally
end up on the Chancellor’s desk.
A discussion of merit pay for this year revealed some campuses with much
faculty input into the decision process and some with virtually none. There was
also a division about whether, in view of many years of no pay increases, the
merit should generally be distributed relatively evenly or perhaps should be
reserved primarily to reward merit that has occurred during the period when no
merit funds were available.
Discussion of the matter of faculty evaluation of administrators revealed a
similar disparity of procedures and perceptions. Only FSU had a fixed procedure
for annual evaluations for most administrative levels. Some campuses organize
evaluation around survey instruments while others appoint committees for the
task. Some campuses were formerly much more active in such evaluation but have
given it up because the value did not seem to be worth the considerable effort.
Evaluation of Presidents by faculty seems to be almost everywhere nonexistent.
The currently available Issue Papers, prepared to allow intelligent
discussion with legislators and others outside the university about university
issues, were distributed and discussed. Suggested corrections and adjustments
should be sent to the Executive Committee.
Similarly, knowledge of the testimony of institutional Presidents at the
hearings in Annapolis for each campus is a good source of information for
discussions with legislators. Lee Richardson will be organizing access to these
as the text versions become available.
The student research show in Annapolis will present about thirty-five poster
presentations (selected from about seventy applicants from across the system).
This presentation for legislators needs the support of all campuses in helping
to insure a large and suitable audience.
Chancellor Kirwan spoke on the anticipated level budget funding for the next
year (unfortunately with about eighty million dollars worth of unfunded
mandates). Several bills have been introduced in the legislature that would cap
tuition increases in return for a guaranteed percentage increase in state
funding for the university system. Some are more favorable to us in either
recognizing increases in enrollment or in returning some of the extreme cuts of
previous years, but there is no clarity as to which version will succeed. All
institutions will have to continue finding way of demonstrating efficiency and
effectiveness, and must deal carefully with the legislative understanding of
faculty load.
The group agreed that it would be good to have a third session later this
spring with the CUSF Executive Committee and the campus Senate chairs.
The meeting was adjourned at about one o’clock.