Minutes of 8 January 2007

Circulated: 9 January 2007

Approved: 29 January 2007

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs

6048 Fleming Administration Building

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1340

Phone: (734) 764-0303

Fax: (734) 764-6564

Internet Address: http://www.umich.edu/~sacua/

Approved minutes: http://www.umich.edu/~sacua/sacmin/sacuaminutes.html

MINUTES OF THE SACUA MEETING OF 8 JANUARY 2007

Present: Frier, Giordani, MacAdam, Potter, Riles, Seabury, Smith (chair); Lehman; Carr, Leu, Schneider

Absent: Combi, Meerkov

Guests: President Coleman, R. Ortega, G. Nelson, J. Lee, D. Gershman

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:

1. Draft Agenda

2. Draft minutes of the SACUA meeting of 18 December 2006

3. Draft minutes of the portion of the SACUA meeting of 11 December 2006 attended by President Coleman and returned with her annotations

4. Draft minutes of the SACUA meeting of 11 December 2006

5. January 2007 Faculty Governance Update to the Regents

6. "Cashing In on Virtual Courses: At Eastern Michigan U., professors can double their pay by teaching online, but some of their leaders find that unfair" by Piper

Fogg in The Chronicle Daily News: 01/05/2007, THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION with an e-mail from B. Seabury to SACUA dated 3 January 2007

7. Memorandum to Charles Smith from Glenna Schweitzer, Assistant Provost and Director of the Office of Budget and Planning, dated 11 December 2006

regarding data displays: financial activity tables

8. Memorandum to Charles B. Smith from Teresa A. Sullivan dated 20 December 2006 regarding refreshed cognate panel with a list of current faculty on the

Cognate Panel for Faculty Grievance Review Boards and faculty nominated by their respective deans to serve in this capacity effective

01 January 2007 through 31 December 2009

9. Draft Senate Assembly Resolution on Diversity from the Committee for a Multicultural University for Senate Assembly action on 22 January 2007

10. 01-26-1998 Senate Assembly Statement: THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY

11. 10-27-1997 Senate Assembly Resolution in Support of Diversity

12. 05-20-1996 Senate Assembly Statement on Diversity

13. "Court Backs Affairmative Action Ban In Michigan" by Tim Martin, Associated Press, 30 December 2006

14. SACUA/Senate Assembly Planning Schedule updated 8 January 2007

Chair Smith convened the meeting at 2:30 P.M. The proposed agenda was approved.

CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES

The minutes of 11 December 2006 were approved with editorial corrections offered by the president to the account of her visit.

The minutes of 18 December 2006 were approved as submitted.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/UPDATES

The chair met with the university president earlier in the day. Discussion topics included the agenda items slated for her meeting with SACUA today.
The Diversity Blueprints task force held its first meeting, an organizational meeting, in late December. The provost announced that the Federal District Court granted a stay of compliance with provisions of Proposition 2. Four subcommittees were established; the SACUA chair was assigned to opportunity programs and how to attract students. There are very few faculty on the subcommittees; the subcommittees are dominated by administrators. Abbreviated minutes are being maintained, and members have been instructed to keep deliberations confidential.
The Chair proposed that Senate Assembly meetings be moved to Palmer Commons.

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ACTION OF SACUA 010807-1

Multiple members moved that the Senate Assembly begin meeting at Palmer Commons, starting 22 January 2007.

The Active Motion was approved by unanimous vote.

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The Chair has scheduled meetings with Regents McGowen and Darlow.
The Chair and office staff met with university personnel from Deep Blue to discuss digitization of Faculty Office records.
Various distributed items are provided for SACUA information and review.

Privacy Oversight-

Professor MacAdam reported (1) that the committee developed a set of privacy principles, and (2) asked the university library to draft a position description for someone dealing with privacy concerns. She said both documents would be available for SACUA in the near future.

Budget Study-

Professor Riles reported that the BSC met in December and discussed future agendas.

Student Affairs-

Professor Potter reported that revisions to the Student Code are going forward and should be available shortly.

CESF-

Professor Smith reported that CESF met and discussed on-going activities.

AAAC-

Professor Potter reported that AAAC met with the provost and discussed responses to Proposition 2.

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ACTION OF SACUA 010807-2

SACUA voted unanimous approval of nominations proposed for the Grievance Cognate Panel (distributed item 8).

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VISIT OF MULTICULTURAL COMMITTEE CHAIR ROBERT ORTEGA

Professor Ortega joined the meeting at 3:08 P.M. He presented a Resolution on Diversity that his committee is offering for consideration by the Senate Assembly (distributed item 9). SACUA members suggested that the language of the resolution would benefit from being prospective rather than retrospective. Professor Riles expressed reservations about statements in the proposed resolution, especially those that seemed to imply that the faculty commend the administration for seeming to oppose implementation of the ballot initiative.

Professor Seabury pointed out that there has been a history of racism at the University of Michigan, and that past presidents has to be pressed very hard to redress it.

SACUA worked as Committee of the Whole to draft a revised statement. They proposed the following language:

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Whereas the University of Michigan is among the leaders in global research, education and service, with numerous educational and service agreements and over 14,000 graduates beyond the United States;

Whereas the University of Michigan has achieved a nationally recognized stature as defender of the value of diversity in higher education:

Whereas voters of the State of Michigan have amended the State Constitution to [quote statute verbatim];

Whereas for diversity to be maintained at the University of Michigan, strong faculty support is required;

Be it resolved that

The Senate Assembly reaffirms its 1998 Resolution on the value of diversity. Further, it urges that faculty, students, and administration work together to develop new approaches to maintain diversity as a critical component of student education, research and service at the University of Michigan.

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Members expressed consensus approval of the language, but no vote was called.

PREPARATION FOR MEETING WITH UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

SACUA discussed the fact that undergraduate admissions have been suspended pursuant to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals. Professor Riles inquired why it is so difficult for the U-M to suspend reliance on gender and race in the admissions process. Various members suggested that the admissions materials may have to be re-drafted in order to remove all identifying information about gender and race.

VISIT OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

The president arrived at 4:02 P.M. The guest and members exchanged New Year's greetings. The president then reported on a series of topics:

President's challenge for endowed chairs-

Vice-president May has reported that 5 chairs have been established and 4 more are in process. There were originally 401 endowed chairs at the U-M, and the capital campaign has added many more.

President's challenge for need-based aid-

Total gifts are close to $4 million, and they will be matched one for one.

Health Care Initiatives-

The Michigan Healthy Community initiative has started a number of programs, including Active U, diabetes care, and depression programs. There is also ongoing effort to achieve parity in mental health care among all health programs, increased availability of athletic facilities, and the addition of a counselor for pharmacy drugs. The administration is moving to institutionalize the Healthy Community initiative by moving it into Human Resources, and to have it headed by EVPMA Kelch, Laurita Thomas, and the U-M chief health officer. These actions have not yet been taken, however. .

MCare-

Final approval for sale of MCare has just been announced. The U-M is self-insured, and will determine its own benefits structure in 2008. The new design will be called "MCare Blue" or something similar. By 2009 there will likely be a new advisory group established to craft a new design, but what the external influences will be are unknown. Professor Giordani remarked that there is concern across campus that BCBS does not see things the way MCare does, and does not respond the way MCare does. The president replied that she appreciated the input, and that the administration needs to hear such concerns as it continues to make these agreements.

Questions about Proposal 2-

Faculty who have questions about how Proposal 2 affects the implementation of any of their activities should call the provost's office for information. The deans are also knowledgeable in these matters. In terms of provisions under Federal grants, there is a "carve-out" in Proposal 2 that concerns federal mandates.

Proposal 2 Status-

The aftermath of passage of Proposal 2 has left a complex legal environment, as expected. The administration is working hard on the issues. There are two lawsuits now before the courts. One is in State court and is brought by Eric Russell and Tort Affair Michigan. Another is the lawsuit brought by BAMN in Federal District Court. Judge Lawson originally granted the U-M a stay in response to this lawsuit, but on 29 December a 3 judge panel from the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned Lawson's ruling. As a result, U-M student admissions have been halted. In addition to these cases, there is a third lawsuit in federal court contesting the constitutionality of Proposal 2 in relation to federal law. The U-M has not received an interpretation of the executive order given by Governor Granholm to review affirmative action state-wide. Differences in laws between Michigan and California is creating uncertainty of interpretation. There is pressure to decide how to respond in admissions and financial aid. The president hopes to have an announcement by late Wednesday, 10 January.

1. The president said that her overriding concern was to be fair, and to maintain the quality of the incoming class. She noted that over 19,000 applications had been received before the holiday break, and over 50% of the undergraduate class has already been admitted. She repeated that questions about the futures of individual programs could be addressed to the provost’s office, and that deans are also good sources of information

2. Professor Riles asked whether the university community should expect on Wednesday an announcement saying that the U-M will comply with the amended constitution. The president replied that she has stated from Day 1 that the U-M could comply with all applicable law. Professor Riles said that it seemed that the "carve-out" for federal grants could not conceivably affect undergraduate admissions decisions. He asked what conceivable argument could be advanced to justify not proceeding with undergraduate admissions under the new provisions of the constitution. The president pointed out that, for one example, there is an executive order in process that could affect the university. Professor Riles asked for some insight into the logical explanation or rationale for not complying with the law; the president replied that she hoped to have more information on Wednesday.

OLD/NEW BUSINESS

There was no other business.

The meeting adjourned at 4:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

John Lehman

Senate Secretary