Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Council of University System Faculty

CUSF Meeting of May 13, 2005

Present: Lee Richardson (Chair); Martha Siegel (Immediate Past Chair); Alcott Arthur (CSU); Marci McClive (FSU); John McMullin (FSU); David Parker (SU, ExCom); Stephanie Gibson (UB); Douglas Pryor (TU); Betty Mulroy (UMB); Paul Thut (UMB); Johnathan Peters (UMBC); Joyce Tenney (UMBC); John H. Collins (UMBI); Rose Jagus  (UMBI); Court Stevenson (UMCES); Vincent Brannigan (UMCP, Vice Chair); E. W. Chapin (UMES, Secretary); Emmanuel Onyeozili (UMES); John Gustafson (UMUC); Irv Goldstein (USM)

The meeting was called to order at ten o’clock.  UMES Executive Vice President Wanda Colston brought greetings from the campus.

The agenda for the meeting was approved. The minutes of the April meeting were approved.

Chair Lee Richardson reported that there seemed to be no progress on getting together with CUSS to write a letter concerning the unfortunate July 1 change in faculty health benefits.  It was moved and passed that the Executive Committee be given the responsibility for writing such a letter, indicating the unsuitability both of the timing and the content of the new policy.

Vice Chair Vince Brannigan reported on the Senate Chairs’ meeting on May 6. At that meeting there was much discussion of shared governance on the campuses, many of which seem to have suitable formal structures in place for the campus-wide level, even if the current actual operation is imperfect. More problems occur at lower levels, particularly at the departmental level.  New campus administrators (and self-governance body leaders on some of the campuses) need careful instruction about both shared governance policy and its implementation.  We might offer workshops for faculty leaders and also continue to invite Senate officers to our CUSF meetings.

Material from Pat Alt on the the Drug Free Workplace, providing an update on work on a substance abuse policy, was passed out.

We agreed that the CUSF procedure for dealing with System Appeals was already in effect.  The Executive Committee will confer with the Attorney General’s office about any concerns that office might express concerning the document.

Most USM campuses have proper representation at MHEC-FAC, but BSU still needs either to select a representative or pass the choice on to one of the other campuses with which it shares representation.

Chair-Elect Martha Siegel passed out the tentative CUSF schedule for next year to start getting campus commitments for hosting the meetings.

Vice Chancellor Irv Goldstein reported that there will probably not be a USM campus able to host the Lilly-East conference.  Despite BOR concern with the coming enrollment bulge, there seems to be a consensus that access to excellence must remain a central USM concern. Negotiations with the community colleges seem to be going through a peaceful stage as we continue to discuss curricular and transfer issues. Motion continues on such issues as tenure adjustments to fit the realities of the lives of faculty and the changing campuses, the creation of a sick leave bank for faculty without making complications about “collegial” sick leave, campuses such as BSU at which faculty and administration are at odds, and the unifying (for purposes of efficiency and cost savings) of purchasing systems and library systems across campuses.  The situation for the TU--UB MBA program is still unclear.

Elections for next year resulted in Bill Chapin (UMES) being elected as Vice Chair, John Collins (UMBI) as Secretary, and John McMullin (FSU) and Vince Brannigan (UMCP) as At Large members of the CUSF Executive Committee.

We agreed to not have a general CUSF meeting this June.  Instead the Executive Committees (new and old) and any other interested member will meet on June 16 in Adelphi to plan for next year.

The meeting was adjourned at about two o’clock