Senate Council

Minutes

University of Pittsburgh
Senate Council Meeting
Minutes of November 11, 2002

1. President Cassing called the meeting to order at 3:01 PM.

2. The minutes of the Senate Council meeting on October 7, 2002 were approved as written.

3. President Cassing asked for new items of business for the meeting. There were none.
4. Remarks of the Chancellor, Mark A. Nordenberg:
Chancellor Nordenberg reported on some recent examples of high performance of faculty at the University.
· Drs. Karen Matthews and James Roberts were two of the 75 people elected to the Institute of Medicine.
· Dr. Freddie H. Fu received the Chinese Hospital Annual Award from the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco.
· Professor Graham Hatfull of the Department of Biological Sciences was selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as one of its 20 “Million Dollar Professors” to create inventive science education programs.
· Professor Rory Cooper won the Olin E. Teague Award granted to a VA employee, or employees working as a team, whose achievements benefit veterans.
· Professor Eric Beckman won the Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
Chancellor Nordenberg observed that these awards reflect the kind of achievement that distinguishes the very best universities. He also announced awards to teams of researchers.
· A team of researchers centered around chemistry won a $9.6 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to create a national Center of Excellence in Chemical Methodologies and Library Development.
· LRDC received a $35 million National Science Foundation grant to co-manage a five-year NSF-funded project to reform math and science education nationwide.
· School of Medicine and Magee-Women’s Research Institute received a $2.2 million NIH grant to expand women’s health research and training.
· The Supercomputer Center will share with two other national centers a $35 million NSF award to create a new technological infrastructure that will harness the nation’s most powerful supercomputing center for open research into a seamless grid.
The Chancellor noted the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Johnstown Campus, the 30th year of Women’s Studies, Homecoming Weekend, and the annual Jazz Seminar.
The Chancellor also announced the appointment of Jack Daniel as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students as part of an effort to better align academic and student life.

5. Report of the President of the Senate, James H. Cassing
· President Cassing reported that the Senate Officers met with Mr. William Dietrich, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, for a frank discussion. He hopes to institutionalize these meetings. He suggested that it might be useful to have annual meetings with the officers of the Staff Association Council and officers of the various student governments.
· The officers have received a draft of an expedited grievance procedure from the General Counsel and it is being reviewed by members of the Tenure and Academic Freedom Committee as well as the Senate Officers.
· A Senate plenary session will be held in the spring. Topics are being considered. One might be how the University should deal with financial shortages.
· A review of the planning and budget process is underway and Professor Holland will report on it at the November 26 Faculty Assembly meeting.
· Nancy Brown, Editor of the University Times, would like faculty to know that the newspaper can be accessed on-line. Professor Cassing commented that the University Times is a very important method of communication for the University.
· President Cassing said the Senate would become involved with other universities with the goal to strengthen faculty leadership on intercollegiate athletics and to open up faculty discussion for long-term athletics reform.
· A Harvard survey on governance in higher education is now available on the web at ksg.harvard.edu/2001survey. Pitt participated in this survey.
· Professor Cassing observed the importance of Veterans’ Day.
Questions and Answers
· Professor Hershey noted that the governance report also covers interaction of students, staff and the Board of Trustees. It should be read.

6. Report of Student Members of Senate Council
Student Government Board
Ms. Culliton reported that the SGB worked to get students out to vote. About 500 voted at Soldiers and Sailors. Next week the SGB will meet with students from Penn State regarding Commonwealth budget cuts. They are working with Dr. Daniel on a forum for campus safety. Once the Board is formed, SGB will survey students on their concerns.
CGS Cabinet
Ms. Costigan announced that CGS volunteers raised $15,000 for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). She attended the meeting of the Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and also the meeting of the Board of Visitors of CGS. “Friends and Family Day” was held the previous Saturday. There will be a CGS networking event in December. The CGS Cabinet and the Safety Committee will hold a Women’s Issues Forum on the next Saturday.
Graduate and Professional Students Association
SCHOOLS OF THE PROFESSIONS
Mr. Amoe announced that Diversity Week was being held in the Law School. Seminars are being held on topics such as same-sex adoption, medical privacy, and joint security related to the Korean conflict. Mr. Amoe commented that he thought a meeting between student leaders and Senate officers was a good idea.
GPSA
Ms. Langton reported the memorial for John Carney, a deceased law student, will be now be held in the spring at the Law School graduation. The GPSA held a soccer game recently despite the rain. Their annual party will be held at the Attic on Friday. GPSA is having a raffle for free tickets to the Chamber Music Society concert to be held on November 25. They will also have free tickets for the symphony later in the year. They are developing a website for their organization.
HEALTH SCIENCES
Ms. Miller reported that her organization is working with the Health Sciences programs to improve recruiting and increase the number of higher-quality student applications. Outside universities are looking at our research programs related to the usage of computers at Pitt and the simulation centers at the Schools of Medicine and Nursing. Ms. Miller said this was her last meeting and she would be replaced by Beth Holmes of the School of Nursing.
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Mr. Tarpley reported that he was retained as President of his organization for another year. He thanked the Provost for the help that Ms. Sparks of the Provost’s Office provided regarding health insurance applications.

7. Report of the President of the Staff Association Council, Ms. Barbara J. Mowery
Ms. Mowery reported that the staff workshop on the topic “Who Moved My Cheese” attracted about 150 people. On December 4, Human Resources will hold staff recognition day. They are working with the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns to develop five staff awards in addition to the Chancellor’s awards. Book awards for staff children will be made in December. On December 3, the Staff Craft Show will be held in the William Pitt Union.

8. Reports by and Announcements of Standing and Special Committee of the Senate
Bylaws and Procedures Committee
Professor Beatrous, Chair of the Committee, said that his committee was recommending a change in the way bylaws are revised. He explained the present manner for revising bylaws, which requires a mailing to all Senate members and a 15% response rate, is expensive and, because many of the changes are small and technical, it is difficult to get 15% or more of Senate members to reply. The new procedure would eliminate a Senate-wide vote unless Faculty Assembly or Senate Council requests it or unless 50 Senate members petition for such a vote. His committee’s amendment to Article VII, which was approved by the Faculty Assembly, reads as follows (the entire report is available in the Senate Office):

(4) If the proposal is approved by both the Faculty Assembly and the Senate Council, it shall then be circulated to the membership. the proposed changes shall be published on the Senate Web Site. The Senate Officers will inform the Senate membership of the location of the proposed change(s). The Senate Officers may include explanatory material with the ballot, and Senate members may include brief position papers discussing the proposed changes. The changes shall become effective 45 days after publication unless Faculty Assembly or Senate Council recommends a mail ballot or the Senate Office receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of the Senate requesting a vote of the full membership. If a majority of the members voting, and at least fifteen percent of those eligible to vote, approves the changes, the proposal for Bylaw change becomes effective.

(5) If a vote of the full membership is required [see (4)], the Senate Office will distribute ballots to the full Senate membership. The amendment shall become effective immediately if approved by a majority of the ballots returned within three weeks from the mailing date.
Section 2. Effective Date: An amendment which is passed shall take effect ten days after the ballots have been tabulated, as determined by the Executive Committee.

Questions and Answers
· Mr. Amoe raised the question of how Senate members would be notified when a proposed amendment was on the website. Professors Beatrous and Cassing said that the notification method is still being determined, but a method would be developed.

The above amendment was approved by the Senate Council.

9. New Business—There was no new business.

10. Announcements.
Professor Cassing announced that a Teaching Excellence Day would be held on Friday, November 15, from 9AM to 1PM in Alumni Hall. Provost Maher noted a couple of reasons why faculty might want to attend this program. Faculty who won small grants for teaching innovations will be there to discuss their new ways to approach teaching. CIDDE will also show the ways they can help faculty with their teaching.

Professor Manfredi said that he has been taking a course offered by the Katz School on Academic Entrepreneurship, which deals with technology transfer, patents and the like. He would like to get faculty input on the topic and asked what the appropriate committee was to discuss the issue and provide faculty input to the administration. Professor Pinsky said he took the course when it was first offered. He also attended a symposium on how technology transfer in the Medical School can be capitalized on and thought it would be useful to the rest of the University. He also mentioned that the new NIH federal law allows patents developed with federal money to be kept within a university. This is a win-win situation for faculty and the university. Professor Cassing recommended that Professors Manfredi and Pinsky work with the Tenure and Academic Freedom Committee.

Professor Metzger reminded everyone that the initiative for Teaching Excellence had come from the Educational Policies Committee of the Senate.

11. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 3:52 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Josephine E. Olson, Secretary