Academic Senate
Minutes
March 20, 2002
Present: M. Apostolos, M. Baron, B. Brown, F. Clark, R. Clark, W. Dutton, R. Garet, J. Gates, N. Hanel, E. Heikkila, M. Jorgensen, B. Knight, R. Labaree (alternate for J. Toscan), D. Larsen, M. Levitt, G. Loeb, W. Mack, D. Mayer, E. McCann, J. Moore, S. Murphy, M. Nichol, P. Nosco, P. Pattengale, M. Renov, M. Safonov, G. Schierle, M. Schuetze-Coburn, P. Shrivastava (alternate for W. Mack), G. Siegel, M. Stoner, N. Troy, M. Weinstein, W. Wolf, R. Zemke, F. Zufryden
Absent: E. Cooper, R. Guralnick, W. Handley, C. Jacob, P. Levine, J. Manegold, V. Nguyen, J. Nyquist, M. Omar, D. Stram, N. Troy, W. Weber
Guests: L. Armstrong, T. Banerjee, E. Bickers, A. Capron, Kosko, M. Levine, K. Servis, C. Zachary
Senate called to order at 2:46 p.m. by President Peter Nosco.
Meeting adjourned at 4:29 p.m.
Agenda item #1 Approval of February 20, 2002 Senate Minutes
Minutes approved as written with one abstention.
Agenda item #2 Comments by Provost Armstrong
The Provost related that the $100 million endowment to be raised to support graduate student stipend is specifically for those in Ph.D. programs. He noted that many of the top universities are awarding stipends of as much as $25,000 and the average for Ivy League universities is now around $20,000. At USC the typical stipend is around $15,000. Until the funds are raised, the Provost will fund these stipends at $5 million per year. He went on to note that the annual payout of a $100 million endowment is about $5 million.
When queried whether professional school programs would benefit from the program, the Provost stated that these stipends are a limited resource and will be directed to graduate programs that will attract the best Ph.D. students and thus bring the most prestige to USC. He also noted that many of the professional programs at USC are already very prestigious.
The Provost was asked about the use of the subvention funds to support educational programs and schools. He stated that these funds are currently being used to address issues at the university level that individual schools would not necessarily consider high priorities.
The Provost was asked about a pending policy that will require mandatory background checks of new staff and visiting researchers. Some Senators expressed concern about this policy. The Provost stated was aware of the pending policy and mentioned that was developed out of Vice President Dennis Daugherty’s office. He also mentioned he believed that the policy regarding staff was developed, in part, because University had suffered several thefts during the past year. When the individuals committing the crimes were discovered it was found that several had previous criminal records.
There was extensive discussion around the recent move by students at USC placing evaluation of instructors on a Website operated by the students at UCLA. Provost Armstrong noted that there are no controls on this Website and that anyone, even non- USC students, could post things about USC faculty. He noted that in the first three weeks of operation there appears to have been over 117,000 hits. The Provost noted that in the past, the Administration has not released the results of the student evaluation of teaching, but now the Administration is considering establishing its own Website where only USC students can receive information about instructor evaluations. Several options are being considered, including having students post directly to a Website instead of having to complete paper evaluations at the end of the semester. An extensive discussion followed which covered problems of validity of these evaluations and suggestions of methods that might satisfy students, faculty, and the Administration.
Agenda item #3 Announcements by President of the Faculty, Peter Nosco
A) Introduction of Candidates for Senate Executive Board: Officers and Members-at-Large
President Nosco announced that a problem arose with the slate of candidates for the four at-large positions. Two candidates who had accepted nomination have since asked to have their names withdrawn. (The two are Dana Poland from CANT and Robert Flick from Fine Arts.) In past years when this has occurred with at-large candidates, the ballots have reflected this by having a single line drawn through the name of the candidate who has withdrawn. Having conferred electronically with the Executive Board, a consensus emerged that every effort should be made to have a full slate of eight candidates. Thus President Nosco reported that two colleagues have demonstrated exemplary academic citizenship by stepping forward on short notice to accept nomination to the slate of at-large candidates. The two are Professor and Senator Margo Apostolos from the School of Theater, and Professor Estela Mara Bensimon from the Rossier School of Education.
President Nosco read the candidates names in alphabetical order for each position.
Academic Vice President
Eugene Bickers, LAS
Alex Capron, Law
Secretary General
Mike Nichol, Pharmacy
Mike Safonov, Electrical Engineering Systems
Members-at-Large
Margo Apostolos, Theater
Tridib Banerjee, Policy, Planning and Development
Estela Bensimon, Rossier School of Education
Ron Garet, Law
Jerry Gates, Keck School of Medicine
Steve Lamy, International Relations/College
Austin Mircheff, Keck School of Medicine
Marje Schuetze-Coburn, ISD-Special Collections
B) President Sample’s annual lunch with the University Park faculty on February 27, and his annual breakfast with Health Sciences faculty on February 28 President Nosco wishes to record his thanks to those who attended one or both of these events, and thanks to President Sample for continuing this important part of the rhythm of the academic year.
C) Archiving E-mail
President Nosco announced that the issue of the archiving—some would say deletion—of e-mail is under review by the Information Services Committee, chaired by Marje Schuetze-Coburn. He thanked Professors Mike Nichol from the Faculty Environment Committee and Gerald Loeb from the Research Committee for joining Marje’s group as they consider the ramifications of the proposed change. He went on to mention that he understood they were not ready to report to the Senate, but that he has heard there is now a healthy appreciation of the complexity of the issue.
Upon her arrival, Professor Schuetze-Coburn announced that Dr. Jerry Campbell has appointed a taskforce to make recommendations on the issue of email archiving and records retention.
D) Letter to the faculty reporting Senate activities to date
With the excellent help of the Senate Office staff, President Nosco sent a letter to the faculty earlier this month, reporting on some of the Senate’s activities this year. Extra copies were available at the meeting.
E) Follow-up on the Senate Resolution regarding USCare that passed in February
Administrative Vice President Ed McCann has diligently followed up on the Senate’s Resolution passed at last month’s meeting regarding USCare. A copy of Professor McCann’s most recent correspondence with Lisa Macchia and Tammy Capretta was distributed. Professor McCann reported he has had no luck in speaking with either Ms. Macchia or Ms. Capretta. It was suggested from the floor that he again correspond with them, but this time "cc" Dennis Doughty.
F) Distinguished Faculty Service Award
The Senate has a tradition of conferring the Distinguished Faculty Service Award at the last meeting of the academic year in May. President Nosco has asked Past President Dutton to head up a small group tasked with recommending to the Executive Board who should be honored this year, and Bill has kindly agreed. An invitation was extended to any Senator who wished to join Professor Dutton’s committee.
G) Provost’s Distinguished Visitor Program: Lecture on "Seismic Response of Mexico City Valley" by Professor Francisco Jose Sanchez-Sesma, Mexico National University
This lecture, in the School of Engineering, is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 11 in Mudd Hall of Philosophy. The lecture is preceded by a reception that begins at 5:00, and one is asked to call Maria Todorovska if one plans to attend.
Agenda item #4 Center for Distance Education and Distributed Leaning: Resolution 01/02-04 (Tabled at the February meeting)
Professor Dutton explained that the Information Pathways to Excellence report was an attempt to raise the priority of the University in establishing a mission driven library and informational service. Even though there was no reason for the Senate to pass the tabled resolution at this time, Professor Dutton encouraged all to read over the document and send him any comments. The report indicates that the libraries and informational services are information pathways and not just cost centers and that most faculty members do not understand there are serious problems. For example, in some schools the faculty must rely on traditional libraries more than the faculty in other schools. Professor Dutton pointed out that the report had six key findings: 1) improved access to a customer-driven collection, 2) physical and electronic interdisciplinary centers, 3) electronic infrastructures, 4) a defined federal structure, 5) web-based services, and 6) renovation of information in communication facilities.
Agenda item #5 Resolution 01/02-07: The Technology Business Incubator Policy
Professor Loeb presented the latest draft of the report (The Technology Business Incubator for USC) to the Senate. Discussion from the floor involved two topics. It was noted that issues of intellectual property stand outside of this document. One goal of an incubator is to facilitate compliance with the existing Conflict of Interest Policy at the University. Some questioned whether the existing conflict of interest policy is adequate and if conflict of interest necessarily lies just with the individual faculty member. There may exist a conflict of interest at the unit, departmental, school, and university levels. In most cases, conflict of interest will be handled at the departmental level. Finally, it was mentioned that Vice Provost Sullivan would be invited to address conflict of interest issues and policies with the Senate Executive Board in the near future.
The formal resolution by the Senate Research Committee was left out of the packets. Thus, Professor Loeb made a motion for the Senate to endorse the report, which was seconded and passed.
Senate Resolution 01/02-07: To adopt and endorse the report and request that the Provost send back to the Senate the policies developed from these guidelines for subsequent review.
Handouts at the Meeting
1. Draft Senate minutes from the February 20, 2002 meeting
2. Draft of the Technology Business Incubator for USC policy
3. Draft report of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee entitled: "Information Pathways to Excellence: Mission-Driven Strategies for Library and Information Services"
4. Copy of e-mail from Edwin McCann to Tammy Capretta and Lisa Macchia
regarding the USCare UPC clinic
Respectfully Submitted,
Jerry D. Gates, Ph.D.
Secretary General of the Academic Senate