Faculty Senate

Next Action: Minutes will be posted on the Faculty Senate website.

Presentation: Chair Ramond thanked the Faculty Senate. He thanked council members, committee members and senators for their efforts this year. He announced that Christie Hennigan will be leaving her position in the Senate office on May 13th. He thanked her for her outstanding service and presented her a gift certificate on behalf of the Senate Steering Committee.

Chair-Elect Tanzer stepped forward to present Dr. Ramond with a gift of appreciation for his service and dedication as chair of the Faculty Senate.

Presentation: President Machen thanked Pierre Ramond for the dedication he has given to the Senate, university and shared governance. President Machen said he wished to address four topics during his remarks.

• The Legislature - Now is the time where UF is advised of which bills are going to move and which will not. The administration is cautiously optimistic about the budget at this time. The key for the universities is to be included in what is called administered funds which are funds that the state supports. The governor's budget for those entities that are in administered funds includes the 2.5% merit raise and full reimbursement of the increased cost of health benefits. These are currently the focus and seem to be progressing reasonably well at this time. The funding for buildings looks to be on track with what UF has projected. President Machen stated that this could be the biggest year for UF in over a decade. The matching gifts issue has not been settled yet, however the president stated that he feels the result will be fair. There are a number of bills that are not of financial interest, but are very troublesome. President Machen feels that they will die for lack of support in one house or the other. UF is currently and will continue to track them as closely as possible.
• Tonight faculty will receive an e-mail announcing that next week the faculty survey will be available on the web. Faculty members will receive the web address and password in an additional email from the President's office. The survey has not changed from the previous version distributed. President Machen hopes to receive the same level of response as the last survey.
• The search committee for the provost is beginning to schedule dates for on-campus interviews. The Committee will meet to identify up to six candidates that will be interviewed the following week. The faculty will be fully advised of the details. The interview process will be open. The committee is considering a web broadcast. President Machen hopes the committee will then turn over two or three candidates to him for a final interview the following week.
• The president said that when he arrived at UF a year and a half ago there were significant issues to address, none more complicated than the changing higher education governance model that had been in effect for several years prior to his arrival. One specific issue related to the court case over faculty unions at the various universities and the return to the previously existent structure and whether they will be abolished and essentially started over. This has been a difficult process, lacking a clarity that is needed to sort it out. According to the information he has, that debate is near an end. The appeals court has issued a ruling that should be final in the next week or two and will clarify for both the union and all the universities what the relationship is one to another. Whatever that final decision is, President Machen is ready to bring any uncertainty about this issue to an end and is prepared to move as quickly as possible.

Presentation: Pierre Ramond outlined the voting procedures for the election of the 2005-2006 chair-elect. Each candidate - Reza Abbaschian, Frank Bova, Mike Katovich, Saeed Khan, Jack Mecholsky and Danaya Wright - addressed the Senators for five minutes. (Jack Mecholsky was unable to attend. Rick Ragan read Dr. Mecholsky.s mission statement.)

The vote was taken and tabulated. No candidate received a majority of the 82 votes. A second round of voting followed. Danaya Wright was elected, receiving 40 of the 78 votes cast.

Presentation: Pete Hanley spoke about the branding initiatives at UF. The primary goal of the branding effort is to help the university meet its goal of moving into the top ten. After speaking with faculty and others, the branding team determined that the faculty and the university do not receive full exposure for their accomplishments. To remedy this will energize the faculty.

Mr. Hanley shared five stories of shining faculty accomplishments. The branding team will soon be meeting with each college to ensure that their stories are told.

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Presentation: Ken Gerhardt presented a proposal to move Animal Molecular and Cellular Biology from a concentration to a major at the MS level and the Doctorate level.

Ken Gerhardt presented a proposed new degree, Master in International Taxation.

Next Action: Faculty Senate will notify the Provost's office as well as the Department that submitted proposal.

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Presentation: Chris Snodgrass reported on the recent proposed university rules. All rules that were not previously withdrawn were approved by the Board of Trustees.