University of Nevada, Reno Faculty Senate
1-19-12 Meeting Summary
Visit with Athletic Director Cary Groth:
Athletic Director Cary Groth gave the senate an update on Athletics:
 Over 400 student athletes in 30 majors – less than 25 in the General Studies Major
 78% graduation rate of student athletes
 July 2012 move to the Mountain West Conference
 With the move to the Mountain West Conference the TV revenue would increase
substantially
 16 sports that consistently rank in top 3 for Title IX
 Athletics stimulates the Reno economy
 Athletics supports 261 jobs outside of athletics
 Fundraising brought in approximately $36 million over the past seven years
 Athletics provides 2500 hours of community service.
Oftentimes there was a disconnect between athletics and academics how could this be
fixed? By offering to have faculty and staff participate more.
What about discontinuing alcohol consumption in the stadium? That would be a very political
issue with many donors and unless it came from the NCAA it would probably decrease ticket
sales. Fan behavior has gotten much better in the past few years.
Visit with President Marc Johnson:
 Board of Regents Meeting on 1-20-12 was a strategic planning session and UNR
was to present the regents with the 8% increase and $5.5 million one-time money
proposals. The regents would also be looking at a proposal to change the funding
formula. The proposed formula could include output measures rather than input
measures.
 Administration anticipated a budget shortfall, but they were not sure of the amount or
what that would entail. Johnson said there was a possibility of a 1% tax for units.
Administration would look at spreading any budget deficit across the board and try to
use a mechanism that would not impact employees.
 A debt reduction plan would be prepared for the March 1 & 2, 2012 Board of Regents
Meeting. The Fire Science Academy closure was approved by the regents and the
sale for $10 million was completed. 100% would go against the debt, but there would
have to be some remediation to the property.
 The rezoning proposal of 104 acres of the farm was approximately 10% of the farm.
Approximately 200 people showed up at the rezoning hearing to oppose the
rezoning. Administration was planning on talking with those opposed to the rezoning.
They have developed a FAQ regarding the issues. Administration would be
developing an RFP to see if someone from outside the university would like to lease
Wolf Pack Meats.
 Johnson said that the Provost has the Math and Statistics Department on the list to
get them out of Temporary Administrative Governance (TAG)
General Education Task Force – Scott Mensing:
Link to their site: http://taskforce.blogs.unr.edu/
Chair Scott Mensing said their charge was to look at the learning outcomes and alternative
means of effective and efficient delivery for all UNR students across disciplines. The
committee was to get the idea up and running for a discussion across campus. The
committee had appointed representation from every unit that had a teaching mission, and
CLA and COS had two representatives. A survey was conducted in the spring of 2011 and
the results were on their website. This year the committee was looking conceptually at
different ways to define the core, by looking at what the university currently is doing, looking
at defining key outcomes and certain fields of study. Once the committee has finished their
work, their recommendation would become part of a greater conversation.
Chair’s Report:
Chair David Ryfe reported that the Academic Standards Dismissal Policy was implemented
and approximately 200 students were notified via mail.
President Johnson had scheduled a TownHall meeting February 1, 2012
New enrollment deadlines have been established, June 1 for new students and July 15 for
transfer students. This was expected to increase the graduation rate of students.
The Presidential Search Firm was scheduled to meet with several groups on campus, the
senate’s time with them was scheduled for February 7, 2012 at 12:40 pm in the Rita Laden
Senate Chambers of the JCSU.
The Code Review Committee was looking at the Curricular Review Process. The Council of
Chairs was hoping to add faculty input at each step of the process. The chairs would give
input to the committee. There appeared to be more interest from the regents regarding this
instead of the presidents.
Chairman Jason Geddes has been leading the regents through strategic planning and the
funding formula. The funding formula has not been used in the past 2 biennium and is a very
complicated formula. The chancellor has presented a simpler formula. Discussion included
measuring learning outcomes and metrics.
Commission update: the commission has met and divided up into 2 subgroups for their
work.
The fiscal year 13 budget will start with a $3.5 million hole. Health care cost and increases
of $1.5 million and an underestimation of $2 million from last time.
Consent Agenda:
Link to the Consent Agenda:
http://www.unr.edu/facultysenate/meetings/11-12/Agenda/1-19-12%20consentpkt.doc
12-14-11 Meeting minutes
5,410 Core Research Facilities Policy for the UAM
Passed unanimously
New Business:
Faculty still needed complete their WebCampus training.
Construction around campus
President’s Town Hall