Minutes of the UMKC Faculty Senate

MINUTES UMKC FACULTY SENATE

January 27, 1998 (Approved 2/3/98)

3:00 PM Kathy Loncar called the meeting to order.

3:05 Minutes of January 13, 1998 were approved with minor corrections.

3:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the Chair, KathyLoncar.

Announcements

The Chair announced that Carol Davis, Asst. Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations, would not be able to attend today's meeting but would attend the meeting on February 3, 1998 to share with the Senate information on the Graduate Assistance Fund of the UMKC Women's Council. The GAF Fund has approximately $50,000 to award this spring to women graduate students at UMKC. The Senate asked that Ms. Davis not attend the February 3rd meeting since the applications for the GAF Fund are available through the Deans' Offices.

Two Motions

The following two motions were made:

1. That the following sentence be added to the minutes of January 13, 1998:

Many senate members strongly expressed that representation on grievance committees concerning regular faculty consist of regular faculty whose duties include less than 50% administrative duties.

This was approved unanimously with no abstentions. There was a minority opinion that the phrase "full time faculty" be substituted for “regular faculty" in the text of the grievance procedure.

2. That the administration and the Informational Technology Executive Council (ITEC) be urged to do whatever is necessary to provide each regular faculty member on this campus with a computer that meets current campus standards. This motion was passed with no abstentions.

Campus Master Plan

A presentation was made to the Senate on the campus master plan by Becky Zahner and Kevin King, of Mackey, Mitchell and Zahner Associates. The presentation was given to provide the senate with information and to solicit ideas about campus development and expansion. The information presented and the discussion recorded do not imply consensus or approval of the Faculty Senate.

Mackey, Mitchell and ZahnerAssociates is a architectural firm that is helping the Campus Master Plan Committee develop a plan for the growth of the campus. The faculty has two representative on this committee, Ed Mills of the School of Education and Ashim Mitra of the School of Pharmacy.

The presentation was made using maps and aerial overview of the campus and the surrounding area. The current planning does not include the Hospital Hill campus only the Volker campus. The Campus master Plan Committee meets monthly and will have a plan ready to present to the Board of Curators when they meet on the UMKC campus this coming May. The committee has been meeting since last October and is currently engaging various groups on campus and in the community in discussion about the needs of the campus as it plans for future development.

Zahner and King presented the following as goals for the master plan:

1. To provide a physical environment that will promote and enhance fulfillment of the university's mission.

2. To create a student oriented campus.

3. To enhance the image and visual impact of the campus.

4. To enhance community and university interaction.

5. To implement the master plan once it is approved by the Curators.

Questions asked by the Senators included:

What is the reaction from UMKC's neighbors, particularly in the Crestwood area?

The neighborhood association president is involved in the discussions. They are

concerned about whether the university will be a good neighbor but they view the

campus as an asset to the city.

What is meant by student oriented?

The intent is to arrange campus open spaces that are closer to student

housing areas. Areas that sit next to dense parking areas and heavily

used pathways can be made "green spaces."

Are multi-tiered parking structures being considered?

Yes, this is being considered and could open up some green spaces.

Will the campus master plan he filed with the city or is it an internal document?

The master plan is strictly an internal plan but the city is being informed about its progress. The

university is subject to some city regulations. The plan will identify potential sites for buildings,

but not specific buildings.

Are you addressing changes that need to be made to the shuttle bus system on campus?

This is not under discussion presently but it will become more important as the campus expands

and student population increases.

Other Comments from Senators

1. The School of Education needs a laboratory school. It is anticipated that the School of Education's enrollment will increase in the next 5 years.

2. The university should consider where to put a faculty club and central eating facility.

3. The campus needs to feel much "safer" considering the area into which the campus will expand. The perception of a safe campus is important to our recruiting efforts. There are areas on campus that are unlit at night.

4. Rockhill Road has some dangerous intersections in the area of our campus and Oak Street is now more hazardous. Both of these streets are major traffic arteries and cannot be closed. The campus needs to consider using overpasses and underground walkways.

5. The Volker campus library services need to be expanded and the science and medical collections need to be improved.

6. Linda Hall Library has to be included in any consideration of campus development.

7. There needs to be access from campus to the walkways along Brush Creek.

8. The campus should consider using fountains in green spaces to link us to the City of Fountains image.

Other Issues

Electronic Directory

The Chair asked the senators if they felt that a mechanism was needed to allow a faculty member to have his/her name removed from the electronic directory temporarily or permanently. The Senators felt that removal of one's name should be an option and suggested that a form be used for this. Perhaps the one used each year to update the printed directory could have a box to check for inclusion orr exclusion in the electronic directory.

Informational Technology Executive Council

Jerry Place reported that the council has reached the point of addressing critical issues about technology on campus. Some ideas being considered are the creation of a Vice Chancellor position for technology concerns. Such a position would make it easier for the campus to have an on-going, focused, and global examination of technology issues and the ability to prioritize them. The creation of such a position is fairly common in both the corporate sector and in higher education. Jerry assured the senators that he has made this point to the council and will continue to argue for such a position.

Grievance Procedures

The Intercampus Faculty Council (lFC) will be discussing changes to the grievance procedures. During this academic year the IFC has gotten many suggestions for changes to the procedures and will try to incorporate them as the changes are drafted. The most important issue on our campus is the inclusion of non-regular faculty in the process. The IFC will consider an initial draft of the changes at its next meeting on February 24th. The drafts will be brought to the senates on each campus for discussion this spring. Any changes in the grievance procedures must ultimately be approved by the Board of Curators.

UM System Staff Benefits Committee

Robert Willson, English Department and Robert Downs, School of Law are the UMKC representatives to the System Benefits Committee. They will be attending a meeting on Tuesday, February 3, 1998 in Columbia. Any questions or concerns regarding benefits should be given to them as soon as possible.

Next Agenda

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 3, 1998 and Chancellor Schwartz will attend. The discussion will center around the NCAA program.

Present: Greg Arling, Charles Cobb, Ray Coveney, Robert Downs, Ann Dykas, Rafael Espejo-Saavedra, Alfred Esser, William Fredrickson, Barbara Glesner Fines, Robert Groene, Ashok Gumbhir, Joseph Hughey, Steve Krantz, Kathy Loncar, Janet McKinney, Tony Manzo, Ed Mills, Jerry Place, Tim Richards, Nancy Stancel, Don Thibeault, Hans Uffelmann, Jakob Waterborg, Nancy Weatherholt, Robert Willson, David Yourtee.

Excused:Valerie Blanco

Absent: Dennis Pyszczynski, Jan Russsell, Khosrow Sohraby.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy D. Stancel

Secretary, Faculty Senate