Academic Senate
Minutes
November 21, 2001  

Present: M. Apostolos, B. Brown,  R. Clark,  E. Cooper, W. Dutton, R. Garet, .J. Gates, E. Heikkila, C. Jacob, M. Jorgensen, B. Knight, R. Labaree (alternate for J. Toscan), W. Mack, J. Manegold, E. McCann, J. Moore, S. Murphy, M. Nichol,  P. Nosco, J. Nyquist, P. Pattengale, M. Renov, M. Safonov, G. Siegel, M. Stoner, D. Stram, W. Weber, M. Weinstein, W. Wolf

Absent: F. Clark, R. Guralnick, W. Handley, D. Larsen, D. Mayer, V. Nguyen, M. Omar, J. Peters, B. Sarter, D. Sloane, N. Troy,  R. Zemke, F. Zufryden 

Guests: L. Armstrong, C. Julienne, B. Kosko, C. Sullivan, C. Zachary

Senate called to order at 2:46 p.m. by President Peter Nosco.

Meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m.

Action taken by the Senate

The Senate renamed the Committee on Undergraduate Education.  A motion to rename the committee passed with one member abstaining.  New name is now the Committee on Academic Programs and Teaching. 

Agenda item #1  Approval of October 17, 2001 Senate Minutes

Minutes approved as written with one member abstaining.

Agenda item #2  Comments by Provost Lloyd Armstrong

Provost Armstrong announced that an offer has been made for the position of Vice Provost for Admission and the candidate has verbally accepted. He expects that person to begin work in March, 2002.  Freshman applications are ahead of last year’s rate. International applications are up significantly from last year; however, the major question facing the University regarding international admissions is whether or not visas can be obtained.

An extensive discussion with the Provost followed his remarks.  Issues discussed were the following.

1)   International students  What plans does the administration have regarding meeting the educational needs of its international students and responding to the demands of the federal government at the same time? 

      Provost Armstrong mentioned they have had little contact with the F.B.I. and the rest of the federal government.  This is a little surprising given the fact that only NYU has more international students than USC.  While there has been much speculation about what the federal government is planning to require from colleges and universities regarding the tracking of international students, no guidelines have been developed to date.  The Provost also stated that the University, along with other AAU schools, is working with members of Congress (especially Senator Feinstein) to be sure that the anticipated federal guidelines do not become unreasonable.

2)   Office of International Affairs  The concern was the perception that this office has not been very effective or responsive to students and faculty needs, and whether it will be capable of dealing with the demands that will be placed upon it as a result of the events of September 11.

      The Provost stated that the administration is planning to gear up this office.  He also pointed out that part of the problem with international admissions is the fact that the individual schools have varying application and admission cut-off dates.  His office is working to standardize this process as much as possible.

3)   Annual evaluation of faculty performance  The concern was that, in a memo dated August 17, 2001, the Provost stated that is unacceptable to rate more than half of a unit’s faculty equally.  It was argued that this is unfair.  Some departments (especially small ones) may have an entire faculty that is exceptional.

      Provost Armstrong said he feels that even excellent faculties can be differentially evaluated.  Not everyone is producing at the same level; some may be coasting on their past accomplishments.  Those faculty members who are doing more should receive larger salary increases.

Agenda item #3  Announcements by President of the Faculty, Peter Nosco

a)   Public Safety Questionnaire  Steve Ward, Chief of the Department of Public Safety, has asked permission to distribute a questionnaire to Senators regarding on-campus threats, their assessment and emergencies, and the Executive Board has authorized this distribution.  Senators should be receiving the questionnaire within a couple of weeks and the hope is that each will take a few minutes to complete and return it.

b)   Update on the last three resolutions passed by the Senate last year  President Sample has signed off on all three resolutions (extending the tenure clock, dismissal language, and personal conflict of interest) and the language of the Handbook will be modified accordingly.  All three of these important resolutions were passed toward the end of Bill Dutton’s presidency of the Senate, and President Nosco recognized Bill’s accomplishment.

c)   Nominating Committee  The current nominating committee includes Profs. Margo Apostolos, Ron Garet, Jerry Gates, Eric Heikkila, Philippa Levine, Wendy Mack, Ed McCann, and President Nosco and will meet on the afternoon of Monday December 10 to begin the creation of a slate of candidates to fill four at-large vacancies on the Executive Board, and the Senate officer positions of Academic Vice President and Secretary General.  Senators were encouraged to submit names to Connie at the Senate office by Friday December 7.

d)   Honors awarded to members of the Senate Executive Board  Members of the Executive Board continue to garner major honors.  Florence Clark has received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Occupational Therapy Association of California.  Philippa Levine has been invited to spend part of her Spring at the Villa Serbelloni at the Rockefeller Study and Conference Center in Bellagio Italy.  Nancy Troy has been elected chair for 2001-2002 of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts of the National Gallery of Art.  Hilary Schor, who would be the current President of the Faculty, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.  Finally, President Nosco received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to direct a five-week Summer Institute for College Teachers here on the theme of “Modernity, Early Modernity and Post-Modernity in Japan.”

e)   Status of the Faculty-Staff Clinic  The Faculty-Staff Clinic is about to be moved to a downtown location, where it will be serviced by a shuttle from this campus.  It is unfortunate that the decision to move the Clinic appears to have been made without any faculty input, and it also appears to have been made without the involvement of either the University’s chief academic officer Lloyd Armstrong or its chief administrative officer Dennis Dougherty.  Dennis authorized President Nosco to tell the Senate, that had he known that this was in the works, he’d have insisted that the Senate be consulted.  Tammy Capretta, Sr. Vice President of USC Care will be scheduled to meet with the Senate so that the Senate can learn more about the decision making process, and what it portends for subscribers to the USC Network Plan.

f)    Provost Armstrong’s decision to cancel the early retirement program  At the Executive Board’s request, Provost Lloyd Armstrong has written a letter explaining the circumstances that resulted in the last-minute decision last summer to derail the early-retirement program.  This letter is part of the Senator’s packet, and it is now also available at the Senate’s web site: http://www.usc.edu/academe/acsen/calendar/provost_retire.html

g)   Update on the efforts to achieve improved wording on the contracts issued to RAs and TAs, or the so-called AB60 matter.  Profs. John Choma (Electrical Engineering—Electrophysics) and Bill McClure (Biology—Neuroscience) have kindly accepted the Executive Board’s request that they join the same working group of administrators that addressed this issue last year.  President Nosco is confident that their input will result in an improved final document.

h)   Senate listserv  Professor Robert Labaree has done yeoman service to the Senate as moderator of its listserv.  Robert has requested that he be relieved of this service at the end of this semester, and so with thanks to Robert from a grateful Senate, it is with pleasure that President Nosco announced that Ed McCann has kindly agreed to assume this responsibility.

Agenda item #4  Brief Reports

a)  Faculty Assembly on October, 31, 2001   Provost Lloyd Armstrong joined the Academic Senate’s Executive Board in calling a three-hour Faculty Assembly (an all-University faculty meeting) on the afternoon of October 31.  The Assembly featured brief presentations by the Provost, his Vice Provosts and University Librarian Jerry Campbell regarding their current projects, as well as question-and-answer sessions that contained some lively but always civil exchanges.  The event was attended by over sixty faculty from units across the University, many of whom commented on the refreshingly forthright nature of the presentations.  Accompanied by refreshments, informal discussions between faculty and administrators continued well into the evening.

b)  John Elliott’s memorial service on November, 2001 the Academic Senate joined the Department. of Economics and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in sponsoring a memorial service for Professor John Elliott on the afternoon of November 7.  Professor Elliott, who passed away during the summer, twice served as President of the Faculty, and tributes were offered by Professors. Jack Beierle, Solomon Golomb, Henry Slucki and Walter Wolf.  At the end of the formal presentations, the Senate’s Academic Vice President, Prof. Philippa Levine (History), unveiled a plaque which reads, “In Memory of John Elliott, Citizen of the University, Champion of Its Faculty.”  The plaque will go on permanent display in the Senate’s offices on the 4th floor of United University Church.

c)  Senate Speaker Series    Professor Bart Kosko (Electrical Engineering) delivered the first lecture of the new academic year in the Senate’s Speaker Series.  His exceptionally well-received lecture, titled “Fuzzy Logic and Language,” was attended by nearly forty faculty, drawn from units across the University.  Since the presentation was accompanied by a sandwich lunch, all enjoyed tasty food as well as excellent food for thought. 

      The next presentation in this series will be at midday on January 30 by Prof. Bruce Zuckermann (Religion), on “Technology and Texts: Case Studies from Biblical Times.”

Agenda item #5  Update on the progress of the Committee on Information Services
by Professor Schuetze-Coburn

The committee has had two meetings to date.  This joint Administration-Senate committee has thirteen members from Health Sciences, University Park, and ISD.  The committee is addressing the issues of computer support for faculty and wiring of classrooms.  The overarching concerns of the committee members is to what extent will the higher ISD administrators be responsive to faculty questions and concerns?  A flyer will be sent to faculty to raise awareness of ISD services. 

Discussion from the floor centered on the perception that Dr. Campbell doesn’t listen to the faculty and that ISD, in general, has not been responsive to the needs of the faculty and the students.  A lack of funding appears to be one reason why ISD has not lived up to expectations. 

Agenda item #6  Update on the Strategic Planning Steering Committee
by Professor Dutton

This is a joint Administration-Senate Committee with the charge of advising the Chief Information Officer (CIO) about future services.  Membership includes not only faculty and administrators but also deans from several schools.  The University has received a $295,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support the work of this committee. June is the target date for the completion of the strategic plan.  To date, 30 focus groups have been scheduled (28 were actually conducted) (N=130 individuals).  Professor Dutton stated that we should suspend judgment on blame for the time being, focus on the future and wait and see what the focus group discussions will produce.  Information about the committee’s work can be found at http://www.usc.edu/isd/strategicplan/.

Agenda item #7  Update on the Faculty Environment Committee
by Professor Nichol

This committee advises the Administration regarding faculty benefits.  Professor Mike Nichol distributed a handout which included the committee’s work plan, list of the fringe benefits and their rates, and a summary of the 1998 HEDIS quality utilization report.

Agenda item #8  Update on the Committee on Undergraduate Education
by President Nosco

President Nosco pointed out that this committee is now addressing graduate and professional education.  He entertained a motion to rename the committee; this motion passed with one abstention.  The renamed committee is now to known as the Committee on Academic Programs and Teaching. 

Discussion centered on concerns that undergraduate education should not be ignored by the committee, and that post-doctoral education should also be addressed by the committee.  Further, it was suggested that the committee membership should include faculty from the Health Sciences Campus.

Agenda item #9  Comments by Vice Provost Sullivan

Vice Provost Sullivan mentioned that an incubator policy is being reviewed by the Research Committee. 

Handouts at the Meeting

1.  Draft Senate minutes for October 17, 2001 meeting.
2.  Letter dated November 12, 2001 from Provost Armstrong regarding decision not to offer a subsidy for post-retirement health coverage.
3.  Environment Committee Report, November 21, 2001

Respectfully Submitted,  

Jerry D. Gates, Ph.D.

Secretary General of the Academic Senate