UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

                                    SENATE

 

Minutes of April 8, 2003 Meeting

 

  1. WELCOME BY THE CHAIR

The meeting began at 11:05 a.m.  The Chair, Dr. Leon Coursey, greeted the senators and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

  1. MINUTES OF MARCH, 2003

The minutes of March, 2003 were amended to indicate that the furlough plan, which Dr. Holden had presented to Senate, applied only to faculty members.  Thereafter, the minutes were approved unanimously.

 

  1. COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

a)      Athletics

The Chair of the committee, Dr. Robert Walther, reported that the NCW accreditation process was going very well.

 

b)      Safety

The Chair, Ms. Hermetta Hudson, reported that she had met with Chief Bell.  She also reported that she planned to meet with the Resident Assistants and would report the outcome of their discussion to Senate.   

 

c)      CUSF

Drs. Noonan and Chapin presented their reports jointly.  In their presentation, they indicated that their last meeting was dominated by concern about the state budget. They also reported that the delegates’ trip to Annapolis to lobby the legislators was successful.  Consequently, we were spared much of the budget reduction proposed earlier.  However, Drs. Noonan and Chapin warned that we should still be on our guard, since the Governor had not announced his ultimate decision on the matter.

Furthermore, Dr. Chapin remarked that since the legislators were very responsive on this occasion, it was in our interest to deliberately cultivate them at all times. In his view, this strategy would yield better dividends than continuing our present practice of rushing to Annapolis only when we were in trouble.  During the discussion that followed, it was agreed that members of the university community who had legislators either as friends or neighbors should be encouraged to make special effort to nurture such beneficial relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

d)      Academic

The Chair of the committee, Ms. Michel Demanche, reported that only one program had been submitted for review.  In addition, she warned that the implementation of both the new catalog and the People Soft program had made it necessary for the university to scrutinize all existing programs to ensure that they reflected the current requirements. Senate accepted her recommendation and directed that faculty be involved in the exercise.

 

e)      Diversity

The Chair of the committee, Ms. Katherine Harting, reported that at the suggestion of Dr. Coursey she had contacted the Chair of the Diversity Network Faculty Group.  Thereafter, she discussed with Dr, Coursey the work of the Senate Diversity committee. In addition, Ms. Harting reported that she planned to meet with Dr. Marie Billie, Director of Human Resources, for background information. Furthermore, she announced the date and venue of the committee’s next meeting: April 22, Library Study Room, Ist. Floor, at 11 a.m. In closing, Ms. Harting remarked that new members were welcome to the April meeting.

 

Old Business

None

 

New Business

 

i.                     Dr. Brigid Noonan invited everyone present to the next Faculty Assembly meeting to participate in the election of officers for the 2003/2004 academic year.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

i.          Dr. Bass was admitted to  PRMC , Salisbury.

 

ii.                   University Spring Fest

 

iii.                  Any faculty member, who wished to attend the Tom Joyner Sky Show, should inform Dr. Colston.

 

iv.                 4 UMES students had already received the Tom Joyner scholarships.

 

Adjournment

12:15 p.m.

 

 

Submitted by

 

Dr. Clement A. Okafor

Secretary, UMES SENATE