Faculty form two groups to oversee handbook policies

By Heather McCutcheon, The Herald Staff

Members of Arkansas State University Faculty Senate voted Friday to form two new committees, both to address recent discrepancies with the Faculty Handbook.

According to Dr. Richard Wang, associate professor of political science, the purpose of the Reapportionment Committee will be to examine and revise the current method of faculty reapportionment, and report back to the senate with proposals for reapportionment for spring 2002.

The process of reapportionment involves counting the number of faculty receiving university contracts from each college, and using that number to determine how many senator seats will be available to each college.

Due to problems with the current method of reapportionment in the Faculty Handbook, the faculty senate voted at the April 6 meeting to keep the number of senator seats available to each college at status quo with the exception of one additional seat for the College of Communications.

Jeff Bailey, Faculty Senate chair, told The Herald at that time the decision to keep the number of senate seats the same was made because of confusion in how to count certain faculty members.

According to Bailey, this confusion was caused by discrepancies in the terminology used in the Faculty Handbook, which made the current method of reapportionment uncertain.

The Oversight Committee was formed in order to make sure that all rules stated in the Faculty Handbook are upheld.

Dr. Bill Maynard, associated professor of history, said that the American Association of University Professors has become aware of many handbook violations.

"There are people being hired on campus with inappropriate degrees," Maynard said. The legally binding document is being repeatedly violated on this campus, he said.

"Since the handbook has become a legal document, these violations are very serious," Maynard said.

Faculty Senate member Dr. Bill Rowe, professor of art, said according to his research, it also has been confirmed that a member of the Physical Plant staff is retiring at age 52, and still receiving full retirement benefits when the Faculty Handbook states that in order to receive these benefits, one must retire at age 55.

"It seems there are different sets of rules for different people," Rowe said. "It is our obligation to faculty to go by the handbook, and when we go against it, we set a precedence that the handbook isn't valid."

"We have to be guardians of this document," Maynard said.

Senate members also discussed the athletic budget.

Following a request made by senate members at the April 6 meeting, Bailey invited members of administration, including ASU President Dr. Leslie Wyatt, to meet with the senate Friday to discuss the Athletic Department's planned use of university cash reserves. Bailey said that Wyatt and the other members of administration were unable to attend Friday's meeting.

According to Bailey, the Athletic Department budget report verifies that the auxiliary reserves used by the Athletic Department have been depleted. The department will be loaned $1.7 million from the university cash reserves.
Maynard said the faculty should reexamine at their priorities.

"We've already learned from the finance committee that the money spent on academics is less than 30 percent, and the number of faculty is also declining," he said.

Rowe said the university is having difficulty hiring people because of better salaries offered by competing universities.

"We're hiring people with less credentials to fit a budget line," Rowe said. "If we're going to be competing on a PhD level, we need to be hiring the right people."

"If we had half of what the Athletic Department receives, we would have an outstanding advising center and an outstanding mentoring program," Dee Layton, instructor in developmental studies, said.

This money also could go into a health program for faculty, Maynard said.
"I'm not necessarily saying we shouldn't have athletics on campus," he said. "It's a question of what it does to the rest of the campus."

"If we can justify tapping into university cash reserves for football, then why not for health care and salaries," Wang said.

No action was taken regarding this discussion.

In other business, the Faculty Senate:

discussed the results of the Profession Committee's faculty survey for spring 2001. The committee did not make any specific recommendations from the survey results.

"We felt the senate could look at the report and see what options can be pursued," said professions committee member Dr. Joanna Grymes, associate professor of early childhood education.

Grymes said the committee made the survey simpler this year in comparison with past surveys. The survey consisted of four basic questions and a final question that allowed the faculty to elaborate on what types of rewards they would make them feel most valued by the university. Answers to this question varied.

voted to appoint Dr. Richard Freer, assistant professor of social work, to the University Teaching and Learning Center Board.