Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: Earle Traynham, Interim Provost Academic Affairs
Is there going to be a waiver for ISQ response rates for this year as there was last year?
Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: John Delaney, President University of North Florida
I recently learned that UNF has established a Confucius Institute. In recent years there has been significant debate about Confucius Institutes at other US universities; in particular, many faculty have expressed concern about the extent to which financial support from China will pressure faculty to avoid studying topics that are viewed negatively by the Chinese government. In July, the AAUP issued a report that was highly critical of the funding model for Confucius Institutes, saying that they “sacrificed the integrity of the university and its academic staff.” The AAUP report recommended shutting down Confucius Institutes until issues of academic freedom could be appropriately addressed. Some US universities, such as the University of Chicago, have followed this recommendation and closed their Confucius Institute. In light of these issues, I would like to ask the administration to comment on the extent to which faculty and the Faculty Association were involved in the decision to open a Confucius Institute at UNF. I would also like to ask them to comment on what measures have been taken to ensure the academic independence of UNF faculty who are associated with the Confucius Institute or who study issues related to China and the Chinese government.
President John Delaney addressed that in regarding the Confucius Institute during the November FA meeting:
This was a 5-year process which resulted in the opening ceremony for it last Wednesday, October 29, 2014 in the University Center. There is a number of Chinese faculty excited about it. Along with that, UNF is aware of some of the controversy surrounding Confucius Institutes in general and will be opened to concerns or feedback from faculty.
Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: Mark Falbo, Director Center for Community-Based Learning
Is UNF charged either on a yearly basis or when we apply for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification?
Response from Mark Falbo, Director of the Center for Community-Based Learning:
There are no annual costs/dues for maintaining the Carnegie community engagement designation. At the time we applied in 2010 there were no administrative charges or fees. I have heard unconfirmed rumors within the community engagement directors network that there MAY be an administrative application fee for those reapplying in 2020. I can confirm that the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is transferring management of the designation to Indiana University Bloomington’s Center for Postsecondary Research by January 1, 2015. The classification will continue to retain the Carnegie name after the Center for Postsecondary Research takes over responsibility on Jan. 1.
On an annual basis we also apply and have received distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service who manages the President¹s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. There are no costs or fees associated with this designation/award process outside of the staff time to prepare the application.
In terms of recurring expenses, UNF does hold several institutional memberships eparticularly to facilitate faculty access to the community of scholars in engaged scholarship. One such organization is Florida Campus Compact,http://www.floridacompact.org, (which includes membership in the national Campus Compact organization). Because Florida Campus Compact is an association of college and university presidents, these dues are paid by the President¹s Office. We also receive considerable technical support from our state Campus Compact office, including funds for programs, like the community-based learning and STEM Institute offered in 2012. The President¹s office also maintains membership in the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU).
The Center for Community-Based Learning pays and holds membership in the Engaged Scholarship Consortium (http://engagementscholarship.org) and also maintains memberships in the Association for Experiential Learning, International Association for Research in Service Learning and Community Engagement (http://www.researchslce.org), and Breakaway, an organization dedicated to the promotion of alternative breaks programs (http://www.alternativebreaks.org).
I believe the College of Health or the School of Nursing also maintains membership in Campus-Communities Partnership in Health (CCPH) (http://ccph.memberclicks.net).
In the past few years, the CCBL has supported more than a dozen faculty members, students, UNF staff, and community partners to present peer-reviewed presentations or poster sessions at conferences sponsored by the six organizations referenced above. If needed, I can provide more ROI information related to our memberships in these organizations and the impact on faculty engagement scholarship.
I hope this information is helpful.
Questioner: Scott Hochwald
Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance
He noted that the Parking Committee said that they would not support providing faculty reference for parking renewals because the waiting list will be taken care of by the additional spots. Dr. Hochwald noted that he would like to suggest that a report be done annually to determine how many people are able to renew faculty/staff parking without issues. It was noted that eighty-one faculty members are on the wait-list and UNF will be getting 80 spaces in addition to possibly 20 more that are returned by employees.
Response from Paul Mason, Co-Chair for the Budget Advisory Committee:
Here it is. Also, I brought to the attention of the parking committee the recommendation regarding allowing more time for those holding a faculty staff pass from the year before to renew before opening it up to others. The consensus opinion was that doing so would be unfair to new faculty, but more importantly, the waiting list should be taken care of by expanded numbers of spots for faculty and staff beginning in January and some realignment that we proposed relative to the Arena parking garage.
Paul M. Mason, Ph.D.
Richard de Raismes Kip Professor
Coggin College of Business
University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive
Jacksonville Fl 32224
(904) 620-2640 phone
(904) 620-1300 fax
Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: Earle Traynham, Interim Provost Academic Affairs
It has come to the attention of a number of faculty that some faculty members are not actively participating, such as by only Skyping or phoning in for planned meetings, even ones where they have a say in the date and time of such meetings. These meetings have included hiring committees, promotion committees, and the review of doctoral candidates as they make their final presentation after approximately five years of dedicated work. If indeed our tenant is that there is “no one like you, and no place like here” how does such faculty’s behavior in lacking in propriety, follow such a motto. While these behaviors have been brought to the chair of the department, no actions have yet occurred. What is the response from administration of a faculty member who has taken to such “phoning” in their required work with the university?
Responses by FA president, Dr. Chip Klostermeyer on the floor:
Please note that for the following question, that I answered it from the floor as follows. “It is important that faculty follow through on service commitments they make so that the work does not fall only to a few.”
Questioner: Scott Hochwald
Posted to: Edwin Harris, chair Academic Standards Committee & Megan Kuehner, University Registrar Registrar’s Office
He noted that the metrics used for the 2nd year GPA can be impacted by WP/WF grades. He asked the group how many were in favor for late withdrawals with WP/WF grades rather in just W. Three faculty said that they preferred the WP/WF option be kept.
Edwin Harris answered the question about WP/WF grades and noted that the WP/WF are available as an avenue for faculty when students drop after the deadline.
Questioner: Scott Hochwald
Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance
He presented the clock from the department office and noted that the clock has not been set to daylight savings time and that there was not a way to manually set it from what he could see. He requested that the clocks be adjusted.
Archived:
Given the timeline for relevant responses and the availability of personnel, this question was archived without response.
Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: Thomas Serwatka, Vice President & Chief of Staff to the President
A question was asked on February 6th regarding the over-administration of UNF. Dr. Serwatka responded on March 13th that the title of “director” had been used too freely. He indicated that the UNF HR department and Institutional Research department needed to make a change so that administration is accurately counted. As a follow-up to this, 1) Has this process been started in an effort to resolve the misperception that Dr. Serwatka identifies? 2) Should the Budget Advisory Committee be involved in this process?
Response from Vice President & Chief of Staff to the President, Dr. Thomas Serwatka:
October 22, 2014
Dear President Klostermeyer,
Based on our correspondence, I understand that you received a question about what progress we had made in readjusting the use of the title director, differentiating those directors whose role is 75% or more administrative from those directors who are direct service providers, and whether faculty could help in resolving this issue.
I am happy to report that, with the help of Human Resources, we have resolved the different interpretations of director, separating directors who hold administrative positions and those who hold direct service provider positions.
In examining the responsibilities of the 229 employees who were classified as directors or assistant directors under an administrative code, we were able to determine that 110 should be classified as program directors or under other non-administrative titles. These changes in classification have been made and are reflected in the latest files we have submitted to the Board of Governors staff.
If any faculty committee is interested in greater detail on our review process, we will be happy to meet with them.
Respectfully,
Tom
Questioner: Peter Magyari
Posted to: Dr. Michael Bovenzi, Chair 2014-15 Academic Programs Comte
A question for the AP Committee and CIRT. Dr. Magyari thanked the APC committee for the online tutoring guide and noted that it was a big help in preparing APCs. He asked if it was possible for APC to partner with CIRT to work with faculty to make sure forms are correct the first time they are submitted to avoid delays?
In responding question for AP Committee from Dr. Michael Bovenzi, Chair, 2014-2015 Academic Programs Committee:
Here is my response to Peter Magyari’s question:
The Academic Programs Committee is in the process of expanding the online APC “how-to” page to include relevant information for completing online packages correctly as well as adding a Frequently Asked Questions section to address common APC mistakes. In addition, package authors are encouraged to contact their department or college APC representatives for assistance in completing packages in the APC Workflow System.
MB
Dr. Michael Bovenzi
Associate Professor of Music
Woodwind, Brass, Percussion Area Coordinator
University of North Florida
Department of Music
1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224
Phone: (904) 620-3846
Fax: (904) 620-2568
Email: mbovenzi@unf.edu
Questioner: Anonymous
Posted to: Earle Traynham, Interim Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs
This past June the University received an email message from a visiting instructor from the College of Computing, Engineering, & Construction Management, who was frustrated with the re-hiring process. Though we all probably agree that his method to communicate his frustrations was inappropriate, this does not mean that we should ignore his message. Visiting instructors throughout campus face job insecurity and a lack of opportunity. Some have suffered in this position for many years. Is anyone looking at this?
In responding re-hiring process from Dr. Earle Traynham, Interim Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs:
My response to the question is below.
Since the beginning of the recession in 2008 and the ensuing state budget cuts to state universities, UNF made increasing use of visiting faculty in order to avoid the possibility of laying off regular faculty and other employees. Thankfully, the goal of no layoffs was accomplished. At the same time, we were able to maintain the quality of educational services to our students because of the efforts provided by dedicated visiting faculty. Over a period of five years, a number of visiting faculty were added. Beginning last year, the process of reducing dependence on visiting faculty was begun by authorizing searches for permanent faculty on some of the positions covered by visitors. This process will continue this year and beyond until we restore the appropriate balance between regular and visiting faculty. There will, of course, always be a need for some visiting faculty for such purposes as replacing faculty on sabbatical or other leave, filling positions funded by non-recurring sources, and to meet other temporary needs. The UFF-UNF collective bargaining agreement governs the use of visiting faculty under normal circumstances, and Academic Affairs has been working with UFF as we restore the use of visiting faculty to normal. We are very grateful to all of our visiting faculty for the critical services that they have and continue to provide to our students and to the University.
Sent from my iPad
