Members present:   Wilson, Harp, Wascovich, Miskevich, Starnes, Ballotti, Creider, Espinoza, Vinaja, Dang, Smith, Seminet, Basham (Odom), Dorsett, White (Druhan), West, Schroeder, Clinton (Sun), Singh (President), Hammack & Openshaw (Secretary)

November 4, 2008 minutes approved with corrections.

Approved via e-mail by senate members.

Approval of Minutes from June 24, and July 15 meetings

New Business:

Dr. Singh explained that Serge von Duvillard had resigned as Senate President because of health reasons.  Dr. Singh who was President-elect will assume the role of president this year. 

Elections for President-elect

Election of Budget Development Committee Members

Faculty Senate Committees have been named. All senators must serve on at least one senate committee.  Chairs may add other members if they so choose to do so.

Amber Malloy is serving as GA for the Senate. She can be reached at (903) 249-3254 or at amaloy@leo.tamu-commerce.edu

Senate President Singh met with the University President and Provost.  They discussed the following issues:
Meetings with Provost Hendrix included discussions about the A&M System policies on:  1) tenure, 2) promotion, 3) annual evaluation for merit, and 4) post-tenure review.  The changes were sent to all faculty members and have been approved by the regents. They will be enforced by attorneys.  Texas A&M University-Commerce must align our procedures with the new policies.

The other addition to the policy is a new professional track for faculty with renewable 3-5 year contracts.  There will be three ranks within the professional track:  assistant, associate and senior ranks.   These positions will be for someone not eligible for tenure track.  The positions can be for either a research or teaching track.  So far no details are given on how promotion will take place on each track.  The details must be developed.

Senators were encouraged to take this information to their department and discuss possible ramifications for hiring, teaching assignments, and number of classes taught each semester.  Is the merit evaluation criterion going to be the same for the non-tenure track faculty?

Committee Reports

Academic Life Committee held open hearings on November 17 & 18, 1:00 p.m. Faculty Lounge.  President Singh indicated that the hearings addressed the new Tenure Implementation Policy, Post-tenure Review Policy, and the Faculty Workload Policy. The faculty members who attended the hearings had concerns about the language in procedures on terminating faculty.

New Business

The Senate approved all December graduates that meet the requirements for their respective degrees.

Approved via e-mail by senate members.