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President Thompson noted that, as Chair Moffett found, typically the Provost is given final say for which classes run. VP Jackson concurred, noting that several issues have an impact on decisions that are made, such as whether certain courses are needed to keep students on the path to graduation or if a course includes a graduating senior. President Thompson suggested that a policy would need to be flexible based on these and other factors.
Chair Glass said PCC is still working on the Faculty Handbook. She noted that all Instructor positions were eliminated a couple of years ago, but they are still in the Handbook. PCC feels faculty should come in as Visiting or Assistant Professors; Instructor positions keep people dangling, hoping for permanent work that often doesn't come.
President Sipes asked VP Jackson about plans for Instructor positions. Dr. Jackson said she would want to review the situation further before making a decision. President Thompson added that nationally and statewide instructor positions are on the increase. They offer a university flexibility.
Discussion then ensued about what the university means by Instructor versus Visiting Professor. President Thompson noted that the former is unranked whereas the opposite is true of the latter. He said that a Visiting position cannot be renewed. A guest responded that this is the problem with what the university has been doing: it hires individuals into Visiting positions and then strings them along, sometimes for years.
PCC also looked at grant compensation and noted that the policy’s language is limiting. Regent McFayden responded that the policy had changed some time ago. Chair Glass noted that PCC had spoken with the Director of Sponsored Programs, Derrick Gilmore, and he seemed unaware of a policy different than what is in the Handbook. Regent McFayden agreed to look for the update policy for PCC.
Regent McFayden reported that the reorganization model calling for the reinstatement of Deans was rejected by the Board, but the move of Criminal Justice to BSS was approved.
The university’s food service contract has been reviewed and this is important due to health insurance premiums. Providers base rates on the food served on campus.
Regent McFayden said that the university had located a much less expensive ($25k) consultant from EKU to work on improving the website.
He was pleased to report that the university’s portfolio has been doing well, although he was not happy with how it has been managed. Regent McFayden would like to see the financial advisors pursue equities more aggressively rather than their present cautious approach of reacting to Fed rate changes.