Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
November 13, 2002
Jill Olmsted called the meeting to order at 1:50 p.m.
Present: Professors Ahrens, Brenner, Burke, Doolittle, Douglass, Forst, Hakim, Heintze, Irvine
Belson, Jennings, Jernigan, Kehoe, Kravetz, Langbein, Olmsted, Riddick, Riley, Rosenbloom,
Rubenstein, Schaeff, Williams. Provost Kerwin.
Absent: Professor Sha
The minutes of the October 16, 2002 meeting were approved.
Report of the President
Benjamin Ladner began his comments by congratulating the Faculty Senate for constituting itself
as the new faculty governance body. He said he was proud of the faculty’s ratification of the new
governance structure and pleased that the senators were willing to take time from commitments
in their own academic areas to take responsibility for developing a system that is more open,
more deliberative, and more consultative.
President Ladner then spoke in very positive terms about the status of the university. He said
there appeared to be a feeling among people, across the board, that somehow American has
pushed itself to a level of quality and a level of prestige that makes it a delight to be associated
with the institution. He cited the following indicators as evidence of a more positive climate on
the academic level:
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the huge strides the university has made on the international front, including the creation
of a new Office of International Affairs, under the direction of the vice president of
international affairs, Robert Pastor;
the number of individual academic units that have been ranked highly in reports such as
the one published by U.S. News and World Report;
the widespread recognition of faculty accomplishments in scholarship, research, and
creative work.
President Ladner also reported on two recent developments, which he said were indicators that
the university is also in good financial health. They were:
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the recent approval of a $45 million bond issue for the construction of the Katzen Arts
Center and other projects in the Campus Plan;
an upgrading of the university’s Standard & Poor’s rating from A- to A.
As a second major theme, President Ladner spoke about the challenges that the faculty face as
they grapple with key decisions about the future of the university. He acknowledged that many
members of the faculty have deep feelings about certain issues, such as the review of graduate
education. He also emphasized, however, the importance of maintaining an atmosphere where
individual views can be heard, where questions can be raised and arguments put forth, and where
the process allows for broad consultation. In addition, he noted, more the once, the challenges
that higher education in general faces, given the uncertainties and the anxieties of a post-9/11
world.
President Ladner also shared his views about a number of issues that are slated to come to the
Faculty Senate for consideration. His comments follow:
Graduate Program Review - Graduate education will always be a hallmark of the university, but
the emphasis will be on quality, not on numbers. It is possible for the university to move to the
top ranks of graduate education in some fields, but not in all fields. The issue of how to get the
balance right and how to expend resources is going to be a difficult charge.
University College - The University College concept has real potential for allowing the
university to rethink how freshmen and sophomores are introduced to the academic life of the
community. But what the college will be and how it will attach itself to, or distinguish itself
from, the General Education Program is an important issue.
The reduction of adjunct faculty in the curriculum - Achieving the right mix of full-time faculty
and adjunct faculty is a complex issue, closely related to equally weighty questions regarding
course loads. The two issues together will have enormous implications for the university’s
budget.
The course load question – As a separate question, course load itself has wide ranging
ramifications. The university needs to adapt a model that will allow American to remain
competitive in recruiting and retaining high-quality faculty.
Responding to questions and comments from the senators, President Ladner announced that he
did plan to hold further Campus Conversations, perhaps as early as December, but certainly in
the spring semester. He also noted that the president’s cabinet was going to join with the deans in
a public session; each member of the cabinet will also have a public session on his or her unit. As
a final comment, President Ladner said he would be glad to return and talk further about his
views, upon the Senate’s request.
Report of the Provost
The first part of Neil Kerwin’s report covered the following topics: the Board of Trustees
meeting; the Middle States self-study process; the re-accreditation visits in the School of
Communication and in the Kogod School of Business.
Board of Trustees – Provost Kerwin said he had made a report to the Finance and Investments
Committee of the Board, in which he outlined four academic priorities for the coming fiscal year:
(1) the commitment to maintain salaries for tenure-track and tenured faculty at AAUP Level 1;
(2) the financial implications of the interaction between the commitment to reduce adjunct
faculty presence in the curriculum and the whole issue of course loads; (3) an increase in
graduate financial aid; (4) support for faculty, in terms of technology. He said the Academic
Affairs Committee of the Board also met and approved faculty actions that had been taken by
respective units since the May meeting; this included faculty appointments and some late
promotion and tenure actions. In its meeting on November 8th, the full Board established the
general parameters with which the community will work in formulating the budget for FY 2004.
Middle States – The liaison officer from Middle States visited campus on October 31st. He met
with several constituencies and, following those meetings, he indicated that the university had
made good progress to date on the self study. Provost Kerwin said that one issue, still to be
resolved with Middle States, is the composition of the site team that will visit AU in 2004.
Re-Accreditation Visits – The Kogod School of Business successfully completed a reaccreditation visit by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, and the School
of Communication successfully completed a re-accreditation visit by the Accrediting Council on
Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Both schools were commended for the
quality of their self-study documents, the overall quality of their academic programs, the
engagement of their faculties in the process that led to the reaffirmation of degrees, and, in
general, the satisfaction level expressed by students about the quality of education.
As the second part of his report, Dr. Kerwin reviewed issues that he said will have implications
for the longer-term agenda of the Senate. He spoke first about the Graduate Program Review,
noting that at that stage, the Educational Policy Committees should be actively engaged in
reviewing recommendations that were percolating through the units. One issue to be considered
by the Senate, he said, is the role the Senate will play in the review process.
After hearing comments from several senators, Dr. Kerwin said he would work with Cathy
Schaeff to convene the Joint Committee on Curriculum and Academic Programs, in order for the
committee to talk about their role in the review process. He said he would also consult with the
deans in terms of their sense of what the procedures do, or do not, empower them to do.
Provost Kerwin then reported that despite the efforts of the past two years, academic integrity
still remains a serious problem on campus and an issue that the Senate will need to address in the
coming year, including a possible rewrite of the code. A third issue, he said, and one to be
addressed by the Committee on Faculty Development, will be how to stimulate more sponsored
program activity on campus.
Report of the Chair
Jill Olmsted brought the Senate up-to-date on her activities since the October Senate meeting.
She reported that she had participated in the faculty roundtable that met with the Middle States
liaison officer. She also participated, as chair of the Senate, in the first meeting of President
Ladner’s new University Council. In addition, she attended the Board’s Academic Affairs
Committee meeting and was also present for the full session of the Board. She said her written
report to the Board reviewed what had occurred with the governance system since the spring
semester and alluded to some of the challenges the Senate was facing in identifying new
leadership.
Approval of the Senate Calendar for AY 2002-2003
The Senate approved the schedule of meetings for the remainder of AY 2002-2003. A copy of
that schedule is appended to the record copy of the minutes.
Election of Senate Officers
The Senate unanimously elected Pat Kehoe, Washington College of Law, to serve as chair, and
John Douglass, School of Communication, to serve vice chair for AY 2002-2003. Terms of
office were to begin immediately. Professor Kehoe will serve as chair until the end of the spring
semester.
Election of Members of the Committee on General Education
and the Honors Advisory Committee
The Senate unanimously elected the following members of the faculty:
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Committee on General Education
Deborah Payne-Fisk – CAS Literature
Christin Chin – SIS
David Rodier – CAS Philosophy and Religion
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Honors Advisory Committee
Lenny Steinhorn, SOC
Richard Linowes, KSB
Mark Walker, SIS
Larry Medsker, CAS Computer Science, Audio Technology, and Physics
Joe Soss, SPA
John Hyman, CAS Literature
Report from the Committee on Instructional Budget and Benefits
John Douglass, chair of Instructional Budget and Benefits, presented the committee’s report with
regard to the budget development guidelines. He outlined the following as the budget priorities
for FY 2004: (1) maintaining salaries for tenure-track and tenured faculty at AAUP Level 1; (2)
reducing the number of adjunct taught classes; (3) an increase in graduate financial aid. The
committee also recommended that the range for tuition and residence hall increases be set at 3.56.5 percent.
Elaborating on the second priority, Professor Douglass reported that the committee had raised a
number of questions related to the commitment to reduce the number of adjunct faculty. He said
the committee raised a number of questions, including the following:
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What percentage of classes in the curriculum should adjunct faculty teach?
Conversely, what percentage of classes should full-time faculty teach?
Should the university consider differential teaching loads?
Should the student-teacher ratio be raised in some classes?
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Can the university make life for adjuncts more attractive on campus and have them
participate in campus life in a more meaningful way?
As a final item, Professor Douglass noted that the committee had also expressed strong
sentiments about the plan to make AU a smaller university by reducing the size of the
undergraduate class. He said that given the university’s dependence on tuition income, the
committee felt it was prudent to demonstrate that the university has sufficient funds prior to
cutting the size of the class.
A copy of the report from Instructional Budget and Benefits is appended to the record copy of
the minutes.
For the Good of the Order
John Douglass expressed appreciation to Jill Olmsted for her service as chair during the
transition period.
Katharine Kravetz announced that Robert Egger, Interim Director of the National Capital Area
United Way, would speak in Kay Lounge on Thursday, November 21st at 12 noon. She urged
faculty to come out to hear Mr. Egger discuss his efforts to reform and revitalize the United
Way.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.