Saint Anselm College Faculty Senate Minutes
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Dana Center Conference Room
6:00 p.m.

Present: Holder, McKeon, Tobin, Weinreb, Wierda, Perrone, O’Reilly, Michael Smith, Mahoney, David George, Meoghan Cronin, Dubrulle, Latona, McKenna, Schnick

I. President’s Remarks

• President Weinreb met with Fr. Jonathan last week.  The Governing Board has been unable to meet at this point.  Hence there has been no action on the changes proposed to the Tenure By-laws or the Promotion By-laws passed by the Senate last April, as is the case with the calendar. 
  
  
• The President of the College has chosen not to forward the Sexual Harassment Policy to the Governing Board until the “Dual Relationship”/”fraternization” statement has been worked out. 
  
  
• Governing board appointments are Fr. Peter to tenure and Bro. Andrew to Promotion.  Six faculty are up for tenure this year.
  
  
• Fr. Augustine has asked that the Senate investigate procedures, which would allow tenured faculty at other institutions to join the Saint Anselm faculty with tenure.  After the tenure committee has finished their work, would you please look into this.
  
  
• The campus master plan was presented in 2 sessions to the campus community last Friday.  The plan can be viewed outside the EVP’s office in Alumni Hall.  The administration is requesting feedback, specifically related to the circulation patterns.
  
  
• The Director of Instructional Technology has been on campus since August.  She is anxious to meet with faculty to determine faculty needs.
  
  
• A faculty member approached President Weinreb regarding co-pays through our present healthcare system.   It seems that some non-elective screening procedures carry co-pays of $500.  Can the benefits committee inquire about our current healthcare policy.

II. Approval of Minutes of May 5, 2004

Moved to approve by Sen. Wierda, seconded by O’Reilly.   Unanimous

III. Committee Reports

A. Tenure (M. Cronin)
The committee has met and has assigned resources persons to tenure candidates.

B. Promotion (Hugh Dubrulle, Acting Chair)
Will hold its first meeting September 17.

C. Information Technology (Jeff Schnick Chair)
No report

D. Benefits (Maria McKenna, Chair)
No report

E. Grievance (James Mahoney, Chair)
No report

F. Social (Val McKeon, Chair)
The committee is planning as series of functions.

G. Elections (David George, Chair)
No report

H. Academic Procedures (Maureen O’Reilly, Chair)
No report

I. Academic Freedom and Faculty Welfare (Ward Holder, Chair)
No report

J. Planning and Budget (Derk Wierda, Senate Representative)
A  Financial Aid Policy for Senior Citizens as well as a Merit Policy for Staff were approved.

Fr. Jonathan will not forward the Harassment Policy to the Governing Board until it is revised to include appropriate protection for the students.

The Fall census for ’07-08 enrollment will be 25 September.

It is reviewing a Draft Planning and Budget Calendar for this year

It is also looking at  the Action Plan submission form and process in general to see if it can be improved.

Academic plan
The Trustees had some constructive comments that are being added to the draft master plan.  Also a  timeline is being added.

NEASC
The first meeting will be this Friday.  The subcommittee memberships are being filled

K. Handbook Committee (Wierda)
Version 2.2. with revisions from last semester was distributed and will be reviewed next month.  Fr. Jonathan wants to remove the nondiscrimination statement from the Faculty Handbook and have it promulgated elsewhere.  The Handbook would then just refer to it.  It was noted that if the Senate were to agree with this then we would have no say on the policy.  That would be moved elsewhere.  The issue seems to be over including religion as a protected class.  Fr. Jonathan says that he understands the Senate’s concern but disagrees.  Many Senators felt that it they could not support the Handbook without a discrimination statement.  Many others were troubled that the administration would like the Senate to give up our voice such as it is. 

Discussion turned to the procedures that we were following for approval of the Handbook.  Some noted that we had the following agreement with the administration:

Once the Senate has completed its deliberations, a draft version will be
shared with the faculty for review prior to final consideration and
possible approval by the Faculty Senate. The Governing Board of the College also must approve any and all changes to the handbook.

IV. Old Business

A. Copyright Compliance Policy
Moved that we accept the policy by Holder, seconded by Wierda
Discussion followed.   Amid corrections of typos and infelicities, a number of issues were raised.  Some thought it would be better to have a more explicit list of what is and is not acceptable. Others argued that setting out general principles and trusting to the good judgment of our colleagues to apply the principles.  
The motion passed 11 yea, 3 nea, 1 abstention. 

B. Intellectual Property Policy
Moved that we accept the policy by Wierda, seconded by Holder
Discussion followed.   Amid corrections of typos and infelicities, a number of issues were raised concerning the distinction of work for hire and work that arises from one’s duties as a faculty member.  The faculty member owns any work that they produce teaching and research unless the faculty member is expressly contracted to produce something (a document, a webpage) for the college.

The motion passed unanimously.

V. New Business
Questions were raised about the true depth of the relationship between Admissions at the College and Citizen’s bank that was noted in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Boston Globe. 

VI. Adjournment