OSU

Faculty Council Meeting

250 Student Union October 14, 1997

Minutes

President Halligan called the meeting to order with the following members present: Ackerson, Arquitt, Bertholf, Bice, Bierman, Buchanan, Cole, Dawson, Edgley, Farr, Finn, Gedra, Horn, Hsu, Kimbrell, Krenzer, Lawry, Locy, Martin, Miller, Moder, Montgomery, Richards, Robinson, Schwarz, Scott, Sisson, Warde, and Wilkinson. Also present: Birdwell, Cortez, Eastman, Hays, Hoffman, Holmes, Keener, Knottnerus, Marks, Matoy, Minson, Mitchell, Najd, Vitek, Vuong, and Watkins. Absent: Smith

HIGHLIGHTS

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Dr. Buchanan moved the approval of the appointment of Kenneth Bierman to fill the Group III Physical Sciences position left vacant by Khaled Gasem's resignation. Dr. Warde seconded the motion. Dr. Buchanan said that the bylaws prescribe that in the case of a vacancy a person is appointed to fill the position until the next regularly scheduled election. Motion passed. Dr. Warde moved acceptance of the September 9, 1997, Minutes. Dr. Lawry seconded the motion. Dr. Bertholf pointed out a correction on page 6 under GSA report. Troy Pierce is Immediate Past President not the Vice President as stated. The Minutes were approved. Dr. Warde moved acceptance of the, October 14, 1997, Agenda. Dr. Moder seconded. The Agenda was approved.

SPECIAL REPORT: MY ROLE IN THE NEW EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE - John D. Vitek

Dr. Vitek's first duty is to be Dr. Keener's deputy. This entails representing Dr. Keener at many different kinds of meetings. He has recently been made chair of a committee to look into term limits for administrators. A new office flow chart shows the Honors Director, the Director of University Academic Services, the Director of University Assessment, and Student Services Director for student athletes all report to him. He will also be in charge of the Instruction Council which will replace the old curriculum committee and will have a new wider range of activities. The Curriculum Committee just accepted changes in the curriculum voted on them and passed them along. The Instruction Council will consider questions like what should web based curriculum look like and what constitutes a 16 hour commitment for one credit hour for a web based course. The Instruction Council is made up of the Associate Deans in all the colleges and a few other people and is the place that many of the questions about instruction and curriculum can be addressed. The General Education Council will also be headed by the Dr. Vitek. The General Education Council will continue to update the list of General Education Courses and to look at what General Education is and how it needs to be changed. The Academic Appeals Board will also report to him. The Regents Professor committee will also be chaired by Dr. Vitek. This committee has just completed a new check list on how to become a Regents Professor and what needs to be done to renew a Regents Professor appointment. Dr. Vitek will also chair the University Assessment Committee. Assessment must be taken very seriously since it is mandated by the NCA. It has been kept in the background but must now be brought into the foreground in order to get the evidence that is needed to document our effectiveness. He will also be a member of the Honorary Degree Committee. This committee is looking for good people to nominate for an honorary degree. Dr. Vitek is the university's representative to the Articulation Committee for the OSRHE. This committee has created a web page giving an equivalence matrix for the one and two thousand level courses in the State System. This allows a person to determine how a course from a different university will transfer before enrolling in the course. Most complaints that come to either the President or Executive Vice President about teaching, or any other problems in the university are referred to him. Dr. Vitek views the position as one of service to faculty, students and administrators in terms of getting the correct policies in place and carefully handling complaints as they arise in order to make this a good environment for our students. Dr. Lawry asked about a proposal last year to do something programmatic in terms of faculty development. Dr. Vitek said that it had come up in this mornings staff meeting and would be part of his duties. Dr. Halligan pointed out that Dr. Keener is an Executive Vice President and that is significantly different than being a Provost. The President has an ever-increasing obligation to do fund raising and those responsibilities take him away from campus regularly and when the President is gone the EVP is the senior officer of the university and makes a lot of decisions.

SPECIAL REPORT: PRESCRIPTION CARD UPDATE - Anne Matoy

Ms. Matoy distributed a handout summarizing the financial status and possible changes in the prescription card plan which was implemented July 1, 1995. This information has also been posted to the bulletin boards. This plan has been well received by most employees. During the past year the Prescription Card Service has incurred a 32% increase in total amount paid, a 17% increase in average amount paid/claim and a 21% increase in amount paid per month per member which out paces the normal medical inflation rate of about 8%. Since the OSU/A&M Health Care Plan is self-funded an increase in claims must result in an increase in premiums. Some changes are being considered for Jan. 1, 1998 in order to minimize the increase in health care premiums July 1, 1998. These changes are: 1. Change the maximum allowable cost to the price of the generic drug equivalent. 2. Add an option to purchase drugs by mail. The centralized data bank to keep track of all current drug use would still be in effect. 3. Increase the minimum co-pay to $10 a prescription from the present minimum of $5. 4. Limit the maximum refill quantity on local sales to 34 days but allow 100 day refills by mail order. If all the above changes were implemented, PCS estimates the plan would save approximately $488,000 next year. Please send any comments to one of the following members of the Health Care Committee: Ed Arquitt, Leo Blakley, Carol Bradley, Greg Fox, Clyde Knight, Steven Marks, Bob Oehrtman, Helmer Sorenson, or Sharon Whitney. Mr. Locy asked about the number of people in the system. Ms. Matoy said that there is a slight increase in the number of people covered. Dr. Halligan pointed out that if all these options are implemented then the costs would be 20% lower but spending is running 32% higher. Is this wise? Ms Matoy said that this is a midyear change and other changes would be considered for July 1. However, Health Care International is currently analyzing all of the claims that have been processed in the past two years to see if there are any preventative measures that could give big savings. Stillwater Medical Center was approached about reducing the PPO costs to those offered to the State System. They immediately agreed to give the Cimarron Medical Plan a deeper discount. The Health Care Committee is currently monitoring the PPO plan. Dr. Lawry asked if it could be shown that ordering a 100 day supply from a local seller was cheaper than mail order would it be possible to wave the local limit? Ms. Matoy replied that she did not know if there would be an appeal process or not. Dr. Krenzer pointed out that the limit of 34 days places a real hardship on people that are traveling for extended periods of time. Ms. Matoy suggested using mail order and said that this has been one of the major complaints about the plan.

REPORT OF STATUS OF FACULTY COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS: President Halligan, Executive Vice President and Vice Presidents

President Halligan distributed a report on the status of the current recommendations and on the disposition of former recommendations. 94-12-01-SALR Composition of Future Information Technology Committee: Under review. Some input regarding committee charge and membership has been received from the Deans, and Drs. Moretti and Buchanan. Final draft is being prepared for final reviews. 96-12-04-FAC Changes in Appendix D: Under review. Legal Counsel has reviewed. Dr. Keener will work with Legal Counsel to draft wording changes to more clearly delineate the role of Ombuds and provide additional specifics regarding membership to the Informal Review Committee. Requires Board approval. 97-02-02-ADHOC Patent Policy 1-0202: Under review. Dr. Collins is coordinating review by Research Council, Dean's Council, and Legal Counsel. Draft including incorporated changes from initial reviews will require another round of reviews. Final revisions require Board approval. 97-03-02-FAC Faculty Appointment Periods: This recommendation is not accepted, in that there is an objective to have similar faculty on the same appointment periods. Those faculty currently on a 10-month appointment will be allowed to continue. 97-04-03-ASP Guidelines for Scheduling Common Evening and Final Exams: Under review. Dr. Vitek is coordinating this review with the Registrar and is interacting with the FC Academic Standards and Policies Committee on this issue. Draft revisions are being considered by the committee. 97-04-04-ASP Guidelines for Requesting Common Evening and Final Exams: Under review. Dr. Vitek is coordinating this review with the Registrar and is interacting with the FC Academic Standards and Policies Committee on this issue. Draft revisions are being considered by the committee. 97-09-01-FAC Policy and Procedure Letter on Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure: Under review. September 9, FC approved the draft P&P as revised by the Faculty Committee. The draft has been forwarded for review, to include Deans Council. 97-09-02-FAC Return of Policy and Procedure Letter on Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure to Faculty Council Before Action by the President: Pending review of draft P&P Letter. 97-10-01-ASP Change in How Grade Point Average is Accumulated in Establishing the Eligibility of Part-time Students for the President's and Dean's Honor Rolls: To President Halligan. 97-10-02-ASP Preparation of Common Exams for Multiple Sections of the Same Course with Multiple Instructors: To President Halligan.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES:

A. ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND POLICY - Gerald Horn

The AS&P committee brought two recommendations for consideration. The first, Change in How Grade Point Average is Accumulated in Establishing the Eligibility of Part-time Students for the President's and Dean's Honor Rolls, stems from a recommendation the committee brought to FC last spring. One of the components of the previous recommendation was that a new recognition, "Honor Roll" be established for part-time students. For various reasons that recommendation was tabled. The committee has dropped the idea of establishing a new recognition since its members felt that a new recognition could lead to ambiguities relative to the various honor rolls and that it would lessen the distinction of the President's and Dean's Honor rolls. Dr. Horn moved that: The Faculty Council recommends to President Halligan that: 1. The manner in which grade point average of part-time students is calculated in establishing their eligibility for recognition on the President's or Dean's Honor Roll be changed so that credit hours used for honor roll designation (i.e., minimum of 12 credit hours during the most recent consecutive semesters of enrollment) are not used in succeeding designations. Credit hours used for honor roll designation should be based on distinct blocks of 12 credit hours or more. Once a designation of honor roll is made for a student, the "slate should be wiped clean" and a new accumulation of hours should begin. 2. If and when part-time students reach full-time status, credit hours previously earned by part-time students should not be included in this calculation. Dr. Horn gave an example showing how the current rules allow a part-time student to be included on the President's or Dean's Honor Roll many more times than a full-time student making exactly the same grades. Dr. Ackerson asked if a student accumulates 12 hours but does not make the honor roll then is a line drawn so that the student must start over on a new 12 hour block or can some of those hours be used in a subsequent calculation. Dr. Eastman replied that as long as no designation is met the appropriate hours can be used in subsequent calculations. A "rolling" calculation is used until a designation is reached. Mr. Najd stated that it is unfair to lose the part-time hours when a student becomes full-time. Dr. Horn said that the committee had looked at ways of carrying over part-time hours but felt it made the system to hard to manage. Dr. Montgomery said that it works both ways since if it carries over and the student does badly during a part-time semester then it would count against him/her in the calculation. Motion carried. Dr. Halligan congratulated the committee for its work.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS AND POLICY Coninued on Page2....

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