Minutes of 18 June 2007
Circulated 18 June 2007
Re-circulated 21 June 2007
Approved 16 July 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 18 JUNE 2007
Present: Fraser, Friedman, Frier, MacAdam, Potter, Smith (chair), Stark; Lehman; Carr, Schneider
Absent: Riles, Thouless
Guests: P. Courant (university librarian and dean of libraries), J. Gatewood (university library), K. Brown (University Record), M. Coleman (university president), T. Sullivan (provost and executive vice president for academic affairs), J. Ottaviani (Deep Blue archivist), D. Gershman (Ann Arbor News), J. Lee (AAUP State Conference)
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:
1. Draft agenda
2. Draft minutes of the SACUA meeting of 4 June 2007
3. Regents Communication for June, 2007 - Summary of the Budget Study Committee's 2007 Report.
4. Academic Program Group Report of May 22, 2007
5. List of Priority Items developed at the June 11, 2007 SACUA Retreat.
6. List of SACUA 2007-2008 member contact information.
7. "CIC Provosts' Statement on Publishing Agreements".
8. "University of Michigan Author's Addendum".
9. "The Library as Advocate for Authors' Rights", Internal Draft, April, 2007.
11. Faculty Ombuds Position - Selection Procedure, revised March 2007.
12. Chronology of events relative to the current search for a faculty ombuds.
13. "Know Your Copy Rights", Association of Research Libraries.
Chair Smith convened the meeting at 2:00 P.M. The proposed agenda was approved.
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES
The minutes of 4 June 2007 were approved.
VISIT OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN
The guest arrived at 2:00 P.M. Dean Courant reviewed recent trends and developments in academic publishing with particular attention to economics, legal constraints, and bibliographic control. SACUA members suggested that faculty from the Law School who specialize in intellectual property should be engaged in further discussions and deliberation.
Chair Smith proposed that SACUA set a deadline of 1 September for developing a proposal to the Senate Assembly regarding publication rights and authors' addenda. The guest left the meeting at 2:58 P.M.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair Smith called attention to the Materials Distributed.
VISIT OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
The guest arrived at 3:04 P.M.
The president reported that she is in the process of forming a search committee, and that a position announcement has not yet been prepared. She said that she would appoint an interim replacement for VP Krislov in August.
Human Resources has sent a letter to existing DPB holders explaining that a new benefit has been crafted that is believed to conform to all legal requirements. The president said that meetings held with the university community had been instrumental in developing the new policy.
Chair Smith reviewed the activities of the Council on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA). He asked whether relegation of the Advisory Board on Intercollegiate Athletics to advisory status violated the rules of organization and procedure of the Big Ten Conference. The president responded that the ABIA is entirely consistent with NCAA and Big Ten rules, and that intercollegiate athletic programs report to her, within her faculty status and executive authority.
The president pointed out that the structural deficit in the State budget presents an ongoing challenge to the prospects for the university budget next year. She pointed out that the research universities do function as an engine of prosperity for the state. Appropriate relationships need to be continually forged and that the state should make the necessary investments to continue to make education affordable. She noted that the U-M has been increasingly successful in promoting economic development.
The president left the meeting at 3:45 P.M.
LIAISON REPORTS
Chair Smith reported that this committee will meet over the summer with the goal of preparing a set of recommendations to the president regarding future design of university health benefits programs.
OLD BUSINESS
SACUA members discussed potential strategies for consolidating Senate Assembly committees in the interest of increasing efficiency.
VISIT OF PROVOST
The guest and K. Gibbons arrived at 4:05 P.M.
The provost reported that she has re-established a faculty budget advisory group with a number of subject matter experts as well as Professor Potter from SACUA. The first meeting will be 13 July. In addition, she said that she is thinking to develop a "budget academy" to create a cadre of staff members who are knowledgeable about budget matters. The APG has established a subcommittee to discuss budget issues.
The two State houses may be close to selecting a replacement for the single business tax. The state is withholding the August appropriation for the U-M, so the provost has called back those funds from the deans, meaning that spending of those appropriated funds has been suspended.
It appears that admission yield has exceeded expectations, to the extent that 6300 students have placed deposits, whereas only 5600 students were anticipated.
Chair Smith pointed out that the Senate Assembly has voted to revise faculty grievance procedures. The provost said that she thought it would be wise to constitute a working group to study best practices in dispute resolution. Professor Frier commented that the current system is so bad and is regarded with such disdain and cynicism that almost anything would be better.
Chair Smith commented that the current process of ombuds search commenced about one year ago, but that communications had been fragmented and incomplete. In particular, SACUA believed that a "short list" of four candidates had been developed for its review, only to learn later that the list was being winnowed to two by a group that included a SACUA member, as described in the procedures the provost had transmitted in writing to SACUA early in 2007.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The meeting entered executive session at 4:30 P.M. to discuss name-specific issues regarding the ombuds search, and to review policy regarding benefits changes.
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
John Lehman
Senate Secretary
University of Michigan Bylaws of the Board of Regents, Sec. 5.02:
Governing Bodies in Schools and Colleges
In each school, college, or degree granting division of the University, including those at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and at the University of Michigan-Flint, the governing faculty shall be in charge of the affairs of the school, college, or division, except as delegated to the executive committee, if any, and except that in the School of Graduate Studies the governing board shall be the executive board, and in the Medical School shall be the executive faculty.