Faculty Assembly
THE FACULTY ASSEMBLY
THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN VIRGINIA:
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF TUESDAY APRIL 27, 1999
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 p.m. with 27 members present.
The minutes of the meeting of March 23 and the minutes of the annual election meeting of April 20 were approved as distributed.
I. Administrative Reports.
Provost Gillian Cell reported that, in response to faculty concerns about student fees voiced at the March 23 Assembly meeting, Vice President for Management and Budget Sam Jones was drafting general language to be included in the catalog about the kinds of things those fees cover and that Vice President Jones would present that language to the Assembly. In response to another faculty concern about newspapers reporting declines in enrollment, Provost Cell explained that because we were actually overenrolled last year, enrollments would continue to "decline" into the year 2004, as previous large entering classes graduate and our first-year enrollment returns to our target of 1290, a number she confirmed SCHEV has accepted. She announced that the non-academic leave policy would be presented to the Board of Visitors on April 30, with only a few minor changes, none of which were substantive. She presented the six- year capital outlay plan that BPAC had approved and that the BOV would review on the 29th: academic buildings to be renovated include, in order, Millington, Rogers, Andrews, Small, Tucker, and Morton. She also announced plans for new buildings for the Law School Library and for the Business School. Finally, she reported, in accordance with the Faculty Handbook , on specified-term appointments: there are presently eight full-time, non-tenure line instructors positions approved before the new Handbook took effect and "grandfathered" holding long-term appointments in Arts & Sciences. Other than these eight, only one other faculty member holds such an appointment, that one falling under the "critical/unusual circumstance" allowed by the Handbook . She noted more generally that non-tenure track full-time and part-time faculty made up about 30% of the total faculty, that these positions were widely-distributed around the College, and that the numbers of tenure-track faculty members had grown considerably over the past few years.
II. Reports of Standing Committees
A. Executive Committee. Assembly President George Bass announced that SCHEV Chair (and W&M liaison) John Padgett would be meeting with some members of the Executive and Academic Advisory committees on May 10th, and encouraged FA members to review the SCHEV Strategic Plan, accessible from the FA Web Page. David Dessler then presented a reform proposal, first noting that the 1994 Self Study as well as a 1997 ad hoc committee report on the Faculty Assembly suggested the need for significant reform. He identified the three basic features of this reform proposal: to reduce the size of the Assembly, to create an interlocking committee structure, and to ensure that every FA member was assigned to at least one committee.
He presented two motions, one to modify the Constitution, the other to modify the By-laws, and general discussion commenced. Some Assembly members spoke for the proposal, citing the need for a more active membership; others expressed concern about the charges of the new committees, about reducing the size of the Assembly and so possibly making it seem more "remote," and about the power still centered in the Executive Committee. Alan Fuchs then introduced a substitute proposal, maintaining the FA's current size and creating seven smaller committees with narrower charges. After some further discussion of Fuch's proposal, with Assembly members generally opposed to more committees but concerned still about reducing membership, a motion was made and seconded to refer both proposals back to the Executive Committee. The motion passed, 13 in favor, 10 against.
Assembly members then discussed generally what they would like to see in the new proposal. Overall, a slight majority preferred a smaller assembly, of no more than 3 or 4 smaller committees, with all members holding a committee assignment. A few members urged that revisions to the Constitution addressed an official role for alternates. Finally, one member urged, with much agreement from others, that the next discussion of the reform proposal come at the beginning of the meeting and that members be given sufficient time to discuss it.
B. Liaison Committee. Vice President David Lutzer reported that the Liaison committee was preparing a report on freshman seminars for the April BOV meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:25.
Respectfully submitted,
Colleen Kennedy
Secretary
