19 February 2004
Loyola Marymount Universit
Faculty Senate Minute
February 19, 200
2:45 p.m.-5 p.m.
Present: Marta Baltodano, Matt Dillon, Charles Ervin,
Victoria Graf, Lily Khadjavi, Chung Lee, Edmundo Litton, Marc Lony,
Patricia OliverEdward Park, Damon Rago, James Roe, Leland Swenson,
Walter Walker, Thomas Zachariah
Excused: Jok Madut Jok, Omar Es-Said, Suzanne O' Brien, K.J.
Peters, Susan Scheibler, Patricia Walsh
President Roe called the meeting to order at 2:58 p.m.
President Roe read a selection from the Spirituality Annual: "
Human relationships are often difficult, but working towards
reconciliation is always worthwhile." This was followed by a moment
of silence.
Approval of minutes from the January meeting was postponed.
I. Report by the President of the Faculty Senate:
-The Town Hall meeting with Fr. Lawton will be held on March
30th at 4:00 pm. Please send any topics for discussion to
President Roe so he can forward them to the President.
-The Chairman of the Board of Trustees Chad Dryer will meet with
the Faculty Senate at the March meeting. This meeting will be held
March 18th in the McIntosh Center.
-The Budget Committee has passed on it recommendations to the
Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Finance
Committee will have a retreat to make its final recommendation on
March 7.
-The Jesuit Social with the Faculty Senate will be held in the
Fall.
-Lynne Scarboro, Vice President of Administration, is changing
the structure of Operations and Maintenance in order to integrate
all components of the campus. Additional activities include a
review of the contract with Collegis and an evaluation of space
allocation.
-The Dating Policy Committee has met twice and expects to
complete its work by April 30th. The Committee's
recommendations will be brought to the Faculty Senate.
-Edward Park reported on the 4 Credit Course Committee.
Committee members are concerned that there aren't any students on
the committee and that Edward Park is the only faculty member. The
Committee has reviewed policies at USF, Claremont, Occidental, and
Westmont and found both negative and positive implications of
having 4 credit courses. There are also diverse responses
from various Colleges and Schools at LMU including skepticism from
some departments and restrictions regarding state mandated courses
in the School of Education. Ultimately the Committee will make a
variety of recommendations regarding the implementation of 4 credit
courses given the diverse needs of the various Colleges and
Schools.
III. Reports of the Senators
-Matt Dillon (Revision of the Faculty Handbook)
The review of the Handbook is being conducted in two phases. The
first phase has included making updates to existing policies. He
will present a rough draft of the first four sections to the
Senate. The next area of attention will be the External Review
policy related to Procedures for Promotion in Rank and/or
Advancement to Tenure. He will meet with Vicki Graf to prepare any
recommendations regarding this policy. These recommendations will
be distributed to Senators during the week prior to the next Senate
meeting.
-Edmundo Litton & Lily Khadjavi (Benefits for Domiciled
Adults)
They will not introduce a resolution at the present time given the
work that is continuing on this issue.
-Patricia Oliver (Handicapped Parking)
Patricia spoke to Raymond Hilyar, Director of Public Safety,
regarding how decisions are made related to Handicapped
Parking. The Senate asked that Raymond Hilyar be invited to a
Senate meeting to discuss issues related to public safety and
parking.
-Thomas Zachariah (Faculty Senate Elections)
Thomas reviewed the proposed Faculty Senate Elections
schedule. The elections will be held prior to Spring
break. They will be conducted in order to fill 7
positions. The results will be announced at the April Senate
meeting. Each position has a maximum of a 2 terms back to
back. Senators may be re-elected to an additional term after
a 1-year break.
Discussion-
Edward Park asked if the Faculty Senate had grown too
large. The current Senator represents 20 faculty members. He
asked if a smaller Senate would have more influence on policy
decisions. President Roe responded that there are schools that have
one Faculty Senator per every hundred faculty member. Charles Ervin
expressed concern regarding the number of vacancies in the Faculty
Senate and asked whether this said something about the
effectiveness of the Senate. Matt Dillon stated that the
Faculty Senate is the only opportunity for faculty as a whole to be
heard and that it is an important conduit for information
IV. Discussion on the Proposed Reform of Merit and Evaluation
Procedures
-President Roe reviewed the history of the proposal and then
asked for input from the Senators from their various
constituencies. Input from the Senators was generally negative with
great concern being expressed regarding how the policy would be
implemented regarding evaluation of faculty.
The following resolution was introduced:
Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate receives and endorses the
procedures for the implementation of the Report of the Committee to
Implement the New Merit Evaluation Process concerning the method of
evaluation and the time period for which faculty are evaluated.
Moved and seconded. Call for the question. 1 in favor, 11
opposed, 2 abstentions. Motion defeated.
It was moved and seconded that a new committee be formed
including faculty and departmental chairs in consultation with
other appropriate administrators to develop a new merit and
evaluation process.
Call for the question - Motion passed unanimously.
IV. Report on the Sodexho Food Services
-Damon Rago introduced two students from ASLMU, Jazmin Jimenez,
Vice President for Social Justice, and Sam Heindl who spoke on the
issue of fair trade coffee. . The issue of fair trade coffee
involves paying coffee farmers fair trade ($1.26/lb) versus 20-30
cents/lb. The students addressed the Faculty Senate hoping to have
support regarding in requesting that Sodexho provide the University
with fair trade coffee. The issue at LMU concerns the use of
flavored coffee that Sodexho will not provide using fair trade
coffee. The students surveyed other Jesuit
universities and found that Georgetown, USF, Loyola of Chicago
and Marquette are using 100% fair trade coffee. Surveys of LMU
students indicated that 73% of those surveyed would be willing to
pay an extra 30 cents per cup for fair trade coffee. The students
see this issue as one of social justice regarding the contract
between the University and Sodexho.
Moved and seconded that the Faculty Senate fully endorse the
students' efforts to have Sodexho provide the University with 100%
fair trade coffee.
Call for the question. Motion approved unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 4:55pm.
Next meeting: March 18th at 2:45pm in the McIntosh
Center.
Submitted by: Victoria Graf
Prepared by: Paul Jimenez