Senate called to order at 2:50 p.m. by President William Dutton.

Meeting adjourned at 4:37 p.m.

Approved without dissent (Motion by Prof. Nyquist and seconded by Prof. Manegold).

2. Approval of Resolution: 00/01-01 (Distance Education and Distributed Learning) (Agenda Item #5) http://www.usc.edu/academe/acsen/about_senate/resolutions/res000101.html

Approved unanimously (Motion by Executive Board). Resolution recommends the establishment of a joint Senate-Provost committee on distance education and distributed learning to advise the Provost and the Senate. Full resolution is attached.

3. Letter to President Sample: The Senate recommended, with no objections, that President Dutton will write a letter to President Sample congratulating him on the recent Los Angeles Times Magazine cover story.

 

• Senate Retreat: Thanked those attending and participating in the Senate Retreat of 24 September. Attendance was 50-plus, somewhat more than the last two years. He noted that the discussion was very constructive and a variety of major issues were raised. President Dutton will be exploring the possibility of convincing a number of panelists to put their remarks in writing for the Forum Newsletter. The agenda for the retreat is available on the Senate web site.

• Senators: Senate Rosters will be kept up-to-date on the Senate web site.

• Unfilled Senate Positions: The Annenberg and Music Schools are not currently represented. The School of Business seems to have one unfilled position, having a total of three. There is some question about the status of Fine Arts. President Dutton will ask the Committee on Rules and Elections to look into these cases to see if this is a reflection of poor communication on the part of the Senate, lack of interest in the Schools, or what, so that the Senate can address this problem.

• Senate Meeting Schedule: The schedule is in the packet and will be kept up-to-date on the Senate web site, under the Calendar Section. President Dutton noted that Senators invite an alternate to attend meetings they are personally unable to attend.

The • Senate Web site: Executive Editor is Eileen Flick, Center for Scholarly Technology at the University Libraries. The structure and style of the web site has been revised, with the help of the Executive Board, which reacted to early versions, but comments are welcomed (See: http://www.usc.edu/academe/acsen/). President Dutton thanked Arthur Asa Berger, a professor emeritus at San Francisco State University, for the drawings on the Senate web site, and an undergraduate student from Japan, Makiko Muranushi, who spent a year visiting USC as a student in fine arts, for the black and white photographs of USC.

• Senate Listserve: Robert Labaree, University Libraries, former Executive Editor of the Senate Forum Newsletter, has taken on the role of moderator of the Listserve. President Dutton thanked the past moderator, Joseph Zernick, who began the Listserves and moderated the USC Forum list for the past 3 years.

• The Forum Newsletter: The Executive Editor is Douglas Thomas (Associate Prof., ASC) and the Managing Editor is Francesca Gardini (a doctoral student, ASC). A call for proposals letters, essays can be found in the current issue.

• Senate Research Associate: Paz Oliverez is a doctoral student in the School of Education, and recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz in sociology. Paz will be working on the Senate Issue Grid, among other tasks.

• Authenticity of Senate Document: Craig Ottavelli, departing Research Associate for the Senate, reviewed the accuracy of the Senate Constitution, Standing Rules, and Bylaws and made corrections, by redlining documents, which have been reviewed and accepted by the Executive Board. The Executive Board also reviewed a procedure that is now in place for ensuring the authenticity of documents, both hard copy and Web facsimiles, including Senate Minutes, the Constitution, and Bylaws. The Senate web site has been updated with corrected and up-to-date versions of all Senate documents (See: http://www.usc.edu/academe/acsen/about_senate/index.html).

• Mapping Project for USC Committees: Professor Walter Wolf raised concerns over the clarity and structure of Senate and University committees at USC, which struck a chord with many Senators who do not feel that they know what committees exist, much less who appoints them, and to whom they report. The Executive Board agreed to create an effort to map the landscape of committees at USC.

• Professor Castells’ Lecture on 26 October: A forthcoming speaker in the Senate Speaker Series is Professor Manuel Castells, City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley and author of a trilogy on the information age, published by Blackwell. He is completing a book manuscript on the Internet and the Network Society, which will be the topic of his talk on 26 October from 4-5 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by the Annenberg School, with support also from the Office of the Provost. Information about the lecture is available on the Web (http://www.usc.edu/academe/acsen/).

• Senate Speaker's Series: Professor Hilary Schor will be picking up this responsibility. Please forward any suggestions to her.

Los Angeles Times Magazine of 17 September: Last Sunday, President Sample was on the cover and the lead story. The article reminded Los Angeles readers that we were selected as College of the Year, chosen by the Newsweek/Kaplan Guide as one of America’s nine hottest schools, and that our entering freshmen class SAT scores surpassed those of UCLA. This was excellent press and the Senate should congratulate President Sample, and the faculty, for creating the foundations for this great coverage.

 

• Administration was set to approve the benefit package as approved by the Academic Senate last Spring before learning of a court ruling striking down a similar benefits package. Administration is now reviewing options.

• The Provost office will soon be posting the Faculty Handbook on a new secure web site.

• Faculty contracts are almost ready and may be issued earlier than last year if the new system for printing the contracts works as anticipated. He praised Dr. Solomon for her previous efforts regarding timely issuance of faculty contracts while she served as a Vice Provost.

• Drew attention to the recent Los Angeles Times Magazine cover story about President Sample. He also noted the university has been receiving higher rankings by other publications and organizations and the faculty are "common denominator" regarding these higher rankings.

• Mentioned that the Provost Office is now conducting reviews of all academic programs at the University. These reviews will, in part, measure the success of each program against its 5-year goals. Peer and external reviewers will be used.

• Mentioned how important it is now for the University to deal with the issues surrounding distance learning, especially if we want to be a leader in the field.

Questions to the Vice Provost:

1. Issue of extending the tenure clock. The Vice Provost stated that the committee to deal with this issue, a tenure clock task force, had not yet met.

2. Would the 96/97 Senate resolution on "mail box privacy" be included in the Faculty Handbook? The Vice Provost stated it was not. Prof. Moore stated it was his understanding that the original omission was accidental.

 

• The committee has made appointments to the Senate and joint Senate-Administration committees and has made recommendations for University Committees. A list was distributed at the meeting.

• This committee is undertaking a "mapping" of all University level and senate committees that affect the faculty. This mapping will include 1) committee function or charge, 2) who established the committee, 3). to whom the committee reports, and 4) membership. Prof. Crigler thanked Prof. Wolf for bringing this issue to the Executive Committee.

• Prof. Manegold reported that the proposed USC early retirement benefit plan was in conflict with a recent federal court ruling and that the Benefits Committee is now discussing alternatives. In the interim, there is not a University wide policy on early retirement.

• Ms. Macchia reviewed the changes in the benefits package to be offered during open enrollment. She noted that health care costs have increased, which will result in larger employee deductions starting next January.

3. Report from the Environment Committee (W. Webber, J. Manegold, M. Nichol, and W. Wolf)

Prof. Webber noted that the Network Health Plan does not include a "gatekeeper," thus, a few very costly cases would result in increased future premiums. This past year the Network had to cover several costly cases. He also noted that the average age of those enrolled in the Network Plan is 5 years older than the other plans. He further mentioned that premiums are based upon past (usually 5) year's experiences.

 

 

Discussion regarding benefits:

Prof. Weinstein: Did the Benefits Committee look into reinsurance as a way of covering unexpected costs? Answer: They did and will continue to do so.

Prof. Soloman: Does Medicare cover faculty and staff over 65? Answer: Medicare doesn't cover individuals who are still working over 65.

Prof. Webber: Stated that the Network Plan costs more because the mean age of enrollees is 5 years older than enrollees in the other plans.

Prof. Wolf: Stated he hoped that the Administration would not increase the faculty and staff co-payment percentage in the future.

Prof. Kosko: Questioned whether a ruling by the 9^th Circuit Court was binding in this district?

Ms. Macchia: Stated that benefits are budgeted from year to year and there is no reserve funds from which to draw.

4. Information Services Committee Report (S. Lamy)

Last year’s committee report by Peter Starr was distributed by Prof. Lamy who is the new chair of the committee. He stated he would welcome comments and suggestion (via e-mail).

General Discussion of the Report:

Discussion centered on the chronic under funding of the library and information services and the plan to shift informational service costs from the central administration to the schools. Dr. Campbell stated that the administration covered Ethernet connection costs in order to help to get it started, but now the cost for theses services will need to be covered by the users, much like telephone usage is covered today. Prof. Kaslow suggested that a system be developed to charge on a user basis instead of charging for Ethernet port outlets.

 

Agenda Item #5. Distance Education and Distributed Learning Resolution (W. Dutton, E. Horowitz, and J. Campbell)

President Dutton introduced the resolution, stating that now is the time for the faculty to move on this issue and establish a joint Senate-Administration policy level committee. Dr. Campbell stated such that he would find such a committee to be very helpful. He further mentioned that the University is in the process of recruiting for an individual who can create a business plan and help the University create a "Distance Learning Company." He stated that the Administration wants this to be a joint effort of the faculty and administration.

The resolution passed the senate unanimously; the resolution is attached.

President Dutton stated that he has identified and been made aware of several unresolved issues from the past. Issues are often not resolved because the Senate has not had a good method of maintaining an institutional history. Thus, President Dutton has created a "Senate Issues Grid." A list of issues that will appear on the grid was distributed at the meeting. They will be posted on the Senate Website.

Discussion:

General discussion supported the idea of an Issues Grid. Prof. Soloman mentioned that some issues on the grid should also be considered by the individual school councils. Immediate Senate Past President Tierney stated that the Senate should be careful not to repeat past work on these issues and should take up an issue where it was left.

 

1. May 10^th minutes

2. Meeting Schedule for 2000-01

3. Academic Senate Representatives for 2000-01

4. September 20, 2000 Memorandum from Academic Senate Sub-committee on Faculty Retirement

5. September 20, 2000 Memorandum from Chairs of Employee Benefits Committee and Health and Dental Benefits Subcommittee

6. Distance Education and Distributed Learning resolution as proposed by the Senate Executive Board.

7. Distance Education and Distributed Learning at USC: Guiding Principles. Prepared by the Academic Senate Task Force on Distance Education and Distributed Learning, April, 2000

8. Distance Learning at USC. A report of discussions of the Senate White Paper Committee on Distance Learning, 1998

9. Report of the Presidential Commission on Distance Learning, 1999

10. May 24, 2000 Memorandum from Chair of the Academic Senate Committee on Information Services

11. September 20, 2000 notes on Senate Issues by President Dutton