MINUTES
FACULTY SENATE

September 8, 2008

Once approved, these minutes may be accessed electronically at:

http://fp.arizona.edu/senate/minutes.htm

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair of the Faculty Robert P. Mitchell at 3:05 p.m. in the College of Law, Room 164.

2. OPEN SESSION

Caren Jung and Jan Sturges of Life and Work Connections presented information and handouts about the variety of work/life support services including childcare, eldercare, and counseling, which are available to all UA faculty, staff and students.

Senator Silverman informed the Senate that the UA will be hosting the next annual meeting of the Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) March 6-8, 2009. COIA is a coalition of sixty faculty senates that brings a faculty voice to the issues of intercollegiate athletics. A panel of President Shelton, Athletics Director Jim Livengood, and former President Likins will speak on that Saturday morning about integrating intercollegiate athletics with the mission of academic institutions.

3. REPORTS

3A. ASUA President Tommy Bruce

ASUA President Bruce has launched the "new ASUA" in order to streamline the office and make ASUA more efficient and effective in serving and reaching more students. In the Programming and Services branch of ASUA, ASUA has added a Family Weekend Program and a University Activities Board, both of which are completely student-run. The Clubs and Organizations offices are now all housed in the same area, Club Resource Center. President Bruce announced the "UA Votes 2008 Campaign" which includes voter registration, education and mobilization. On Saturday, September 13, UA will be hosting a Congressional District 8 debate between candidates Tim Bee and Gabrielle Giffords at 7:00 p.m. in the SU Grand Ballroom. A block party on University Boulevard will also be held with performers and politicians. From October 8-31, 2008, ASUA will host an early polling place for all registered voters in its Student Union third floor offices and voter shuttles will be available on November 4. President Bruce asked faculty to invite ASUA representatives to their classes to make a five-minute presentation about this campaign, which encourages students to be informed voters.

3B. GPSC President Stephen Bieda

GPSC President Stephen Bieda said that Graduate Student Orientation was a phenomenal success with positive responses from the almost 600 attendees. GPSC itself is also experiencing a surge in student interest and participation with a number of contested elections for empty seats on the Council. On behalf of the UA, President Bieda and Boris Glebov will travel tomorrow to Washington D.C. to advocate for legislative action on federal funding and tax issues for graduate students, as well as visas for international students. GPSC will again host the Student Showcase or student research projects on October 24-25 on the Mall as part of the Homecoming event. Graduate and undergraduate students are invited to participate and judges are needed.

3C. Faculty Officers’ Report

Vice Chair of the Faculty Robert Mitchell welcomed the new and returning Senators and noted that the Faculty Senate meetings will be held in Law 164 through November, but it is yet unknown whether the Senate will meet there in December or for the Spring semester. He also noted that this room is occupied by a class until 2:50 p.m. He asked for faculty volunteer members for several Senate Standing Committees. Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell is recruiting faculty mentors for the Arizona Assurance Program and asked every Faculty Senator to mentor two Arizona Assurance Scholars. With the Senate’s permission for today’s agenda, Presiding Officer Mitchell rearranged the information item from Vice President for External Affairs Stephen MacCarthy up to item 7.

3D. President Robert N. Shelton

President Shelton announced several achievements that are bringing attention to the UA. The NASA/UA Mars project has brought tremendous international attention to the UA and NASA has just extended this scientific mission indefinitely. National Public Radio will broadcast "Science Friday" from the UA a week from Friday. Among colleges and universities that are welcoming and supportive of Hispanic students, Hispanic Business Magazine recently ranked UA’s College of Law as fourth in the nation and Eller College of Business in the top ten. President Shelton also thanked the faculty for its mentoring support for the Arizona Assurance program, which has generated an extremely high interest level and response with over 600 scholars registered. This fall’s freshman class is the best academically-prepared, most diverse, and largest incoming class ever. He also welcomed about 70 new faculty members to the UA. President Shelton is also pleased for the national attention that the COIA meeting will bring to the UA next spring. UA’s homepage has a new "UA Green" feature, which highlights UA’s sustainability and environment al efforts. UA recently received a National Wildlife Federation award for actions and programs. President Shelton commented on the September 4 memo that went to all employees on a UA Transformation Project, emphasizing that this project will only work with faculty involvement, wisdom, buy-in, and leadership. A number of faculty committees are already looking at how to focus resources on research and scholarly activities to promote the strongest programs; how to incentivize teaching; and how to ensure that tuition dollars track the growing enrollments; and possible curriculum reforms to make optimal use of faculty time. SPBAC will play an integral role in this effort and President Shelton thanked all of the faculty leaders who are providing their time and thinking on all of these issues. He also announced that Provost Hay is unable to be at the Senate meeting because she is attending the annual AAU Provosts’ conference this week.

4. QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD FOR AGENDA ITEM 3

Senator Silverman asked President Shelton what the involvement of the faculty and the whole campus might be in the "Transformation Project," particularly given the lack of faculty involvement in the recruitment and selection of the new Vice President for Health Affairs position. President Shelton affirmed, for the record, his strong belief in the necessity and value of Shared Governance. Any interactive process includes collaboration, interaction and discussion, but a time factor is also involved. Considered input is needed in a timely manner. Faculty groups have been charged with developing an initial set of recommendations by November 1, for implementation by FY 2010.

The minutes of May 5, 2008 were approved with two abstentions.

University Information Security Officer Sylvia Johnson presented information pertaining to her office’s major initiative to protect personal identity information data on faculty and University computers. The "Personal Information Sweep" procedure intends to clear or protect personal information on all UA computers that identity thieves are likely to target. This information includes an individual’s name along with a Social Security number (SSN), driver’s license number, or a credit card account number. The Payment Card Industry’s Security Standards require all credit card numbers stored on computers to be encrypted. A breach or violation may mean that an individual department will be fined and/or lose the ability to process credit card payments, or the University could lose the ability to process credit card payments. Another requirement involves disposal of electronically stored information beyond the required retention period. Failure to dispose of such records can be problematic if the UA is involved in litigation and individual computers need to be searched. Large amounts of data can be costly to search plus handling large electronic files can be difficult and lead to missteps which may result in harsh sanctions. Destroying information outside of the regular retention schedule can be viewed as improper, as some Enron lawyers and accountants did when they expected to be subpoenaed. If University information is stored on a home computer or Personal Digital Assistants, home computers and PDAs are also subject to these requirements and can be subpoenaed and searched. The greatest risk for campus departments, however, stems from the statutory mandate to notify everyone whose personal records on a computer are lost, stolen or hacked. Statistics show increasing numbers of breaches and the cost for basic discovery, response and notification is about $50 per record. The UA has spent a good deal of time mitigating the risk by eliminating student ID numbers that are the same as social security numbers, but some faculty may have old class lists or grade reports stored on their computers which have SSNs attached to them. Therefore, a Personal Information Sweep is required to be in compliance with University’s Information Security Policy. Individual users can perform the sweep on any computer that stores University information with a program called "Spider" which will scan hard drives and jump drives for personal identifiers. If the information cannot be deleted, it must be secured via encryption. The sweep is scheduled for October through December and departments will be asked to document and certify their compliance. Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) Is the Spider software free? Ms. Johnson responded that the software is free and all of the information and assistance are available on the information security website. 2) Faculty who think they don’t have any personal identifiers on their machines may be surprised to find old vitas and grant proposals that used to have SSNs attached to them. 3) Remember to run Spider on backup files as well as current hard drives. 4) Who makes the decision that the responsibility for a breach rests with the department? Ms. Johnson responded that this decision was issued in a memo from the President several years ago after a breach occurred here. President Shelton indicated that the alternative would be for UITS to take over the computers.

Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell asked UA Vice President for External Relations Stephen MacCarthy to share with the Faculty Senate four new marketing efforts from his office. Just last week he launched a billboard campaign in Phoenix to raise awareness and the profile of UA in Phoenix. This campaign will help make Maricopa residents and state legislators more aware of the UA, will aid in reaching alumni and donors living in the area, and will help to reach prospective students and their parents. The campaign began with four billboards in San Diego in July, and one electronic board located in Chicago. He showed fifteen billboards that will appear in Phoenix with "view a fact" or "good move" messages rotating to different locations every two months, targeting a total of sixty locations. Mr. MacCarthy has also showed a new half-time, thirty-second public service announcement video that focuses on some of the selling points for the UA which include the beautiful campus, athletics, the uniqueness of the Southern Arizona area and the sun. His office has also produced a fifteen-minute video for recruiting

16-18-year-old students, which emphasizes fun, friends and freedom, which are important to that age demographic. Mr. MacCarthy shared his thinking and market testing on UA’s overall brand strategy which is to change from the "Arizona’s First University" campaign to an emphasis on UA’s quality which is "World-Class." The campaign will develop the notion that UA is "Arizona’s World-Class University". Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) How does the Office of External Relations evaluate impact? Mr. MacCarthy responded that he doesn’t have as much funding for research as he would like, but the number of people reading stories about the UA has doubled to about 4000 since his office began UA NOW, a daily news wire. His office is also tracking the number of stories about UA that are appearing worldwide and the number of stories have increased from 800 to 1100 from last fall to this past spring.

Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell engaged the Senate in a discussion about the UA Transformation, which is intended to improve quality and reduce expenditures, increase revenues and institute focused reallocation of resources. She has been asked by the media "What is the difference between this UA Transformation effort and the "focused excellence" of President Likins’ era?" She explained that "focused excellence" tried to imagine reallocation of resources focusing on programs and initiatives that were excellent, but it lacked a sense of urgency and a commitment at the highest levels of the administration. "Focused excellence" failed because of external constituencies that became involved at the point of proposing program alignments and eliminations. This restructuring effort will attempt to resolve such issues with faculty involvement and collaboration. Chair Howell displayed several overheads describing the various committees that are working to develop vision and strategies for the restructuring. A Tuition Fund Flow Task Force is focusing on the flow of money to where the teaching is. The Provost’s Advisory Council on Strategic Advancement/Investment is a group of faculty responsible for generating large grants and does much of the world-class research here at UA; they are considering ways to increase both quality and indirect costs revenue. A "Vision Group" began from a discussion among the Regents’ and Distinguished Professors to generate alternatives for restructuring. Chair Howell asked Senators to offer ideas to their department heads and deans. The Deans will be bringing their ideas to one of four Deans’ Council workgroups: Liberal Arts; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Area Studies; and Biomedical. These groups will then generate "white papers." She also asked faculty to report directly to her if they are not hearing any discussion about the transformation efforts, because communication and faculty vetting of ideas is a requirement of the process. The last group to be formed is a Curriculum Reform Group to look at alternatives to traditional instructional methods. Chair Howell will provide the membership of the various committees and groups to all Senators. Chair Howell displayed a list of the College Advisory Councils which indicates three college councils: Engineering, Medicine, and Social and Behavioral Sciences are inactive at this time. She reminded Senators that it is the faculty’s responsibility to keep these councils both active and meeting regularly. Chair Howell asked for a show of hands from the Senate to indicate agreement with a major restructuring effort. Almost every Senator indicated agreement and none disagreed.

Secretary of the Faculty J.C. Mutchler referred Senators to a document on the Coalition for Solutions through Higher Education public awareness campaign to address problems of a national concern about the crisis in higher education and reverse the downward trend in funding for universities. The SPEED plan that the Arizona Legislature passed this year to fund new building and building renewal for the university system is a directly-linked successful outcome of this campaign. The Arizona Faculties Council, which Secretary Mutchler is chairing this year, has become actively engaged with and is transforming how the faculty work with the Regents at the state level. Regents Boice and Duval have asked the AFC to increase faculty involvement with the Coalition by increasing its membership. Secretary Mutchler asked Senators to join the Coalition today, and to ask colleagues, friends and family to join. The more members in the Coalition, the stronger it appears to legislators. Members are merely obligated to receive occasional emails. It is permissible to use a UA email account to join. Secretary Mutchler indicated that former Colorado governor Roy Roemer will speak at 5:30 p.m. at ASU on Thursday, September 11, 2008 and a special screening of the film, "Two Million Minutes," which refers to the amount of time a high school student has to prepare for college will take place. This film compares U.S. high school students’ preparedness with those from other countries.

INFORMATION ITEM: REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLANNING AND BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SPBAC) (attachment)

SPBAC Chair Miranda Joseph distributed copies of a memorandum dated August 20, 2008, that she wrote to President Shelton and Provost Hay describing SPBAC’s Academic Program Prioritization Guidelines, as well as the Senate’s "Guidelines for Reorganization" process. The prioritization takes into account the full diversity of contribution that various units make to the UA’s mission as well as the very urgent need to make use of limited resources in the most effective and efficient way. She described a timeline for the transformation with most groups reporting on either September 23 or October 1. The Deans’ Council groups will be required to establish planning teams with every constituency (staff, students, administrators, faculty, appointed professionals) represented. The Deans’ groups will draft the White Papers of the various proposals which will then go to SPBAC for an initial vetting. Later in October, the Deans should be engaged in formal, deep conversations with their college faculty and staff. In November, the surviving proposals will begin the formal process following the Guidelines for Reorganization. Chair of the Faculty Howell reminded the Senate of the Shared Governance Memorandum of Understanding and explained that this transformation effort is following the shared governance structure, and that nothing will happen by "edict." Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) How will you know faculty have been involved? How will that be monitored? M. Joseph reminded the Senate that the Guidelines for Reorganization require that formal proposals specifically document the consultation process. 2) How many Senators here today have heard anything at all from their deans or department heads about this transformation? (Very few Senators raised their hands.) 3) When are the white papers due? October 13, 2008. 4) Our Provost, at the interview stage, was struck by the number of programs/units here at the UA. How much of a reduction is she really looking for? Chair Howell said the Provost initially challenged the Deans to think big and offer restructuring proposals that would consolidate or eliminate administrative units down to half the current number. 4) What accountability mechanisms are in place for the shared governance process related to the Guidelines for reorganization? The Dean of Eller College announced to a group of faculty last Friday evening around 5:00 p.m. which programs he has decided to cut. Chair Howell and President Shelton agreed that it is both premature and inappropriate for any dean to make decisions about program eliminations and announce them publicly before engaging the faculty in an earnest discussion of the pros, cons and implications of each proposal. Deans are not allowed to decide unilaterally: all of the consultation must be documented before a proposal can be implemented. President Shelton added, however, that he is relying on the Senate’s partnership, which is critical to this effort, to realize the importance of the faculty’s wisdom in structuring change to create a higher quality institution. He cautioned that continuing business as usual will trigger a slide into mediocrity. It is also important not to announce proposals publicly until they have been initially vetted. 5) How will ideas be fed into this process? Senator and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Gail Burd explained that initially, the Deans were asked to begin talking within their colleges and also across colleges. Ideas and proposals can emanate from individuals, departments and units, provided they come forward from at least two or more units. Competing proposals may also come forward. The Provost will activate a website for the UA Transformation. More information may be coming to faculty following the Provost’s meeting with the Heads Up group later this week. 6) Provost Hay will need to keenly understand the balance between providing for consultation and enabling change when change needs to happen. 7) President Shelton’s observations about change are well-founded. External pressures from alumni and community members can stop a reorganization in its tracks. 8) How are cross-domain proposals being addressed? Senator Burd explained that some of those ideas are coming from the Deans. Senator Cusanovich added that the Vision Group does not feel restricted by college boundaries.

GPSC President Bieda asked what mechanisms will be in place for student input for the UA Transformation effort. Chair of the Faculty Howell assured him that every attempt will be made to involve students at every level.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

J.C. Mutchler, Secretary of the Faculty

Pamela S. Bridgmon, Recording Secretary

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