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A guest pointed out that since Chair Rye had been told something about her program, it sounds like a decision has been made. Regent McFayden noted that part of the context for this situation comes from when Beverly Downing was Provost. Regent McFayden reported that Dr. Downing pushed for the elimination of the program, but he had argued at the time that no resources were being put into helping it succeed. He believes the issue has now circled back around.

Chair Glass noted there has been work on Faculty Handbook by an ad hoc group that includes Dr. Jackson, Kim Sipes, Fariba Bigdeli, Ibukun Amusan, Joe Moffett, and herself. She explained the group had recently hit a problem with the resolution passed by the Board in November 2014 that gave then-President Burse all power in creating policies. This calls into question any action item coming from Senate over the last couple years and how they relate to changes that need to be recorded in the Handbook. Chair Glass asked Dr. Jackson if this issue had been addressed at the recent Board meeting, to which the VP replied that she had taken the issue to university legal counsel, but the Board agenda was too full to address the issue. Chair Glass then asked Dr. Jackson if she intended to bring the issue to the Board at the next meeting. Dr. Jackson replied that she planned to do so and that the 2014 resolution did not reflect the spirit of shared governance.

Chair Glass noted that PCC is still waiting on a response from the VP’s office about pay for coordinators, which is uneven across the university. Dr. Jackson replied that we have had some unexpected expenses that have cut into the budget, but she stressed the pay is a priority and that she wants it to be fair and equitable across the university.

Chair Glass discussed the presentation by Dr. Wheeler on academic advising at the previous Senate meeting. Dr. Wheeler had sent an email response to the issues on 10/12, but Chair Glass was left off the list of recipients. Chair Glass shared that her sense was that departments could opt in to the change in advising structure if they wanted to do so. President Sipes asked for Dr. Wheeler’s email to be sent to her. She could then disseminate it widely.

Chair Andries noted that faculty in CAFSSS would all being going up for tenure at the same time next year and therefore guidelines for their tenure process need to be in the revised Faculty Handbook. A senator pointed out the there is a problem with inconsistent faculty standards across divisions and that some standards are noted in the Handbook and some are not.

Regent McFayden noted that the Board meeting did not have many action items. He shared that Title III Director Christina Leath noted that Title III funds had been used inappropriately in the past decade; they should be used for capacity building. Regent McFayden will be asking for an external audit from the State Auditor. He is concerned with the Title III process for basic procurements, and he wants to know how we decide how consultants are paid.

The Board discussed the university reorganization chart, and many questions were asked about it. No action was taken.