Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting

September 12, 2007

The regular meeting of the 2007-2008 Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by President LouAnn Simpson.  The following senators were present for all or part of the meeting. Allen, Bohorquez, Conley, DeLaet, Dore, Esposito, Houle, Keefer, Nelson, Reincke, Sanders, Saylor, Simpson, Swilky, Torry, Vandegrift, Vitha, Walker, Younger

Absent: Harvey, Parsa

The April 2007 minutes were accepted.

President Maxwell Report

-- There is an increase in new students both transfer and direct from high school this fall. There was a Task Force which met often since May to prepare for this class.  He offered his thanks to those Task Force members who worked hard making the campus ready. The group had a goal of “Keeping the Promise”.  Likewise there have been several major construction issues completed this summer, such as the residence hall renovations.  President Maxwell thanked Jolene Schimdt and Vicki Payseur for their work on these projects.

-- The Planning Council is functioning and there will be seven working committees formed.  This process will involve a larger base of persons from the institution.  There will be communication on these efforts both on the public web pages and in the portal.

-- The feasibility study for a capital campaign was presented (a 104 page report) to the Board. The report identifies Drake’s strengths and challenges for such an effort.  He made the point that any expenses which are incurred for the campaign are paid by the campaign, like the stadium renovation project.  There was a portion of the report which also identified the length of service of the President as a possible issue.  Would he still be around for the next five years?  He indicated that he has two years left on the contract and that is being reconfigured to be for five more years.  He stated that the next campaign will be transparent, broad based and looking for current dollars not deferred gifts.  The goal will be between 200-250 million but sincerely the target is not yet set.

 Provost Troyer Report

-- Provost Troyer presented a handout of enrollment numbers for Fall 07 and several years past.  These are the official enrollment numbers and more detailed information will come later.  He highlighted various growth areas. He noted that numbers have meaning when in context. While the increase in fulltime new students is wonderful, it is not without costs.  He urged the campus to not assume there is more money in the budget simply due to more new students.   He continued that even though the Task Force and Dean’s Council had managed to pull together additional FYS sections, there must be equally aggressive planning for second semester courses.  Also, the effort will start now to plan for the sophomore year and beyond.  Provost Troyer cited the experience which Drake had with the 1988 large entering first year class and decisions made then were not fiscally healthy for the long term. 

Senator Nelson asked is there was any clue as to why the ‘bump’ in enrollment happened and thus knowing how to avoid or enhance it in the future.  Provost Troyer responded that at this time there are only antidotal comments including Zach Johnson winning the Masters last spring being a factor.  The data does not indicate that there has been any change in how Drake is valued.  The programs we offer are very important, especially within Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The increase in enrollment is focused into majors which are career oriented.  Our financial aid offers are important and yet those numbers are not fully reviewed. He referred to the capacity report of a few years ago which concluded an ideal entering class of 850 students when there was an 83% retention rate.  That rate has risen such that 825 may be more appropriate.  We may use an earlier cutoff date for applications for Fall 2008.

Senator Bohorquez asked if more students were studying abroad.  The reply was that those numbers are not exceptionally different than last year.

President Simpson Report

President Simpson welcomed everyone and expressed to all that the Senate Executive Committee is eager and interested in having an active and involved 07-08 Faculty Senate.  There will be efforts to make the Senate and its work known around campus. 

Daniel Alford, from Student Senate was introduced to give a report.  He indicated that so far Student Senate has dealt with housekeeping matters. Some of their issues include, podcasting their sessions, enhancing recycling and offering a financial literacy program geared to First Year Students.

Associate Provost Sue Wright was introduced to present to the Senate the Salary Task Force Report.  The issue of long term monitoring of faculty salaries was raised and the group was formed at President Maxwell’s request.  The Task Force members were recognized, Dan Alexander, Rachel Boon, Venessa Macro, David Miles, Charles Nelson, LouAnn Simpson and Sue Wright (Chair).

The report outlines a series of principles and procedures.  It is not a report which needs to be adopted by Faculty Senate, but she indicated an interest in hearing from faculty about the report.  President Maxwell thanked Sue and the Task Force for their efforts.

Ms. Wright continued by presenting the Drake Salary Analysis (Fall 07 Update). Such a campus wide presentation on this topic has been given for several years.   There was a brief powerpoint presentation with background information (since 2002).  The methodology and procedures were documented.  Another major factor in the process has been the Board of Trustee’s request to have merit become an important factor in figuring faculty salary measures.  The process started with 40% as the goal and then the goal moved to the median.  The actual distribution of salary monies is done within the Dean’s office.

She noted that progress has been made towards the goal of Drake having competitive faculty salaries using three basic criteria for judging progress.  They are: a) AAUP salary levels, b) ranking comparisons with peer institutions via CUPA data and c) the percentage above the median for faculty groups within their rank and discipline.  Ms. Wright cautioned the group to remember to keep in mid which percentages of faculty fall within each of the three groups, Assistant, Associate and Full Professor. 

There were several questions asked and addressed.  The first concerned what is the difference between salary and compensation.  Compensation equals salary plus benefits.  Other measures of progress were mentioned: a) the increased bonus which comes with faculty rank promotions, b) faculty development support has increased and c) the teaching and learning environment has been upgraded.

One question asked about the next steps.  Ms Wright and President Maxwell both noted that Drake has not reached the goals and needs to work to protect the gains achieved.  It was also indicated that the dollars presented are not adjusted for inflation nor benefits changes.

Other questions included whether progress within particular units will be presented.  Ms Wright indicated that some unit breakdowns are being distributed, without compromising individuals’ information within smaller departments. Also, noted were that some of the schools which have been used in the benchmarks have had changes.

Provost Troyer noted that the amount of work which goes into this process is extensive.  Each year the inequities are examined and the peer school comparisons are out of Drake’s control.

The original peer group had institutions with a range of disciplines which Drake offers.  If any one area is not fully represented within these schools, then Ms. Wright examines other sources of data which can then provide comparisons.  She looks for a set of schools which will give a realistic set of comparative data.

Senator Nelson indicated that as a member of the task force he experienced difficulty making sense of the data.  He noted such issues as finding the right statistics to compare or finding the right breakdown to publish and yet respect privacy.  He noted that the Task Force wanted to set up a philosophy and a mechanism to follow that philosophy.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.  Secretary, Nancy Geiger