Interinstitutional Faculty Senate (IFS) Meeting
Minutes - Approved 8 June 2002
April 4-5, 2002
Present: Elizabeth Boretz (EOU), Marc Levy (SOU), Duncan Carter (PSU), Bill Danley (SOU), Elaine Deutschman (OIT), Peter Gilkey (UO), Jim Lundy (OSU), Bruce Sorte (OSU), Bob Turner (WOU), Jim Tooke (EOU), Steve Teich (OHSU), Marye Hefty (OIT), Mary Anne Linden (WOU), James Earl (UO), Scott Burns (PSU)
Absent: Craig Wollner (PSU), Dan Edge (OSU), Jim Isenberg (UO), Elizabeth Furse (PSU), Marie Brown (OHSU)
I. Welcome from Elisabeth Zinser, President, SOU
A. Stressed the importance of helping the State make more of an investment in higher education, which is even more important during economic downturns.
B. Should be cautious about making significant structural changes in the State system simply as a way of seeking a panacea.
C. On the other hand, we need to remain optimistic. If we make a continuous assumption that we are in a helpless, downward spiral, it can breed low motivation to do the things that are necessary to help things turn around.
D. We can do more together in collaborative fashion – the more we can partner, the more leverage we can have in influencing
II. Welcome from Sara Hopkins-Powell, Provost, SOU.
A. Re: Budget at SOU – We’ve been trying to preserve the “core,” and not lay off any tenure or tenure-track faculty. Looking at classified administrative positions, and limiting adjunct faculty.
B. Budget cutting at SOU is nothing new, but this one has been the hardest. Regarding academic affairs, she cannot see any more places to cut.
C. Have moved to collaborative bargaining as a model for handling the salary negotiations between SOU faculty & administration.
D. Thinks that as we look for solutions, we need to look closely at what is really most important to each of us. Rather than let others, including the Board, decide solely for us.
E. Need to be more proactive with what we really care about.
F. Have reformed general education and restructured it after 9 or 10 years of planning.
G. Have a yearlong freshman “Colloquium” course – classes of 25 – have seen a significant improvement in retention, about 14%. Many benefits for both the students and faculty.
H. Have some new Masters programs, and hope to add a few more.
III. Rep. Alan Bates
A. A primary care physician.
B. Lives in Ashland, State Representative. Before redistricting, covered strip from Ashland to Eagle Point where he used to live.
C. Trying to put focus on K-16. The State appears to have privatized higher education, and now moving to do that with K-12.
D. What’s happened in the last 11 or 12 years, the policy decisions have been largely a partisan fight.
E. We rank last in the country in beer & wine taxes, and near the bottom of cigarette taxes.
F. Agrees we need to keep a positive attitude.
G. Doesn’t see higher ed on capital hill speaking with one, unified voice, much as K-12 does. Too often sees separate institutions lobbying for their respective interests. Believes we need to:
1. Set up clear goals with buy in from all parties;
2. Consider a lobbyist group to unify and represent us with one voice;
3. Consider more targeted campaign contributions, because the fact is that legislators are affected by financing from third parties – until such time as we get some form of campaign finance reform.
H. Sara Hopkins-Powell reminds us that we are in a different structural position than the Oregon Education Assn. We are part of the executive branch of government, and cannot always put forth the same types or levels of legislative activity because of limits put upon us by this position.
I. What we basically have is privatized higher education partially funded by the State.
J. Believes a sales tax for education could take care of a lot of our problems.
K. Concerned that with the continued reduction in revenue sources, and a continued lowering of support for education, Oregon might end up as the “Appalachia of the West.”
L. Be good if we disconnected from the Federal Income Tax schedule.
M. Measure 88 will be an important part of the next election – the issue of raising the deduction of $5,000 rather than $3,000 of Federal taxes from the State Income Tax Return.
IV. Chancellor Joe Cox
A. Re: the search for a new Chancellor. Down to about 30 candidates, working toward about 9 or 10 – hope to have these by May.
B. “We are knee-deep in the ‘big muddy’” – and no one knows where this is going to go. I think there’s the possibility of a train wreck around the corner – e.g., if Measure 13 does not go through.
C. For the first time recently, The Oregonian came out and combined K-12 and higher education, and stated that this does not call for an all-cuts solution.
D. One side still sees this as an all cuts solution with no revenue – that’s impossible.
E. I get my first amendment rights back in 84 days <smile>.
F. Appears to be a national problem – a growing demand curve – more and more people want to enter higher education to help them move up the socioeconomic scale. At the same time, legislatures are backing away from funding public education. A third factor is that legislatures are putting caps on tuitions so that institutions can make up the difference.
G. Reflected on his career…
1. My favorite seven year period of my career were right here as President.
2. We have never been able to rally the grassroots support the way that K-12 has been able to do.
3. Does Oregon want to be an economic “colony” or a “contender” in the national spotlight?
H. Presented Joe with a plaque thanking him for his years of support, and announced that we would be making a donation in his name to The Oregon Historical Society.
V. Senator Lenn Hannon (R-Ashland)
A. Special session was frustrating.
B. This problem is not going to be solved in June, July, or even next January. This problem should have been solved 25 years ago.
C. Has proposed in a recent speech that it’s time for alternative forms of revenue in order to free K-12 from the general fund limitations, and in turn, not threaten other programs that depend on the general fund, including higher education.
D. I don’t care if you call it a sales tax, a value-added tax, or whatever other kind of tax – it’s necessary and I’m supportive of any of them.
E. The only way to make a sales tax more palatable is to take it out of the hands of the politicians. If you’re going to invoke a sales tax, you need to reduce the income tax from 9% to 6%, remove k-12 from the property tax, and other measures.
F. We don’t lack funds if we can get k-12 out of the general fund. From 1963 to 2001, allocation for k-12 grew from ~$63M to $5.2 Billion. Higher education has been decreased over the same time period.
G. The current lottery has little to do with education – it goes for every pork barrel project in this state.
H. In December, Supreme Court threw out term limitations as being unconstitutional – because it appeared on a double measure ballot – and needed to be on it’s own ballot. Term limits make voters lazy – we have term limits – it’s called voting. 17% of our populace votes, the rest stay home and complain.
I. It’s really demagoguery to say that we ought to have a sales tax on cigarettes and alcohol but not have a sales tax on all products.
J. Won’t support a cigarettes and alcohol unless it was allocated solely for issues related to cigarettes and alcohol.
K. Mindset of politicians is that if you give ‘em a dime, they’ll spend it. If you give ‘em a dollar, they’ll waste it.
L. Probably take a 5% sales tax in the long term to get k-12 out of the general fund.
M. Oregon was the first state in the nation with a sales tax - on gasoline.
N. We have leaders who lack the integrity to get the job done.
O. Short-term solution is to pass 2% retroactive income surtax.
P. Senators Hannon and Courtney (a Democrat) are considering a press conference within about a week to offer some alternatives to the problems – “we’re willing to give up our legislative careers if need be.”
Q. Question – understanding that PERS recipients are guaranteed 8% return on their money. Passed this in 1973. When the economy was good, this was not an issue. Now, people are starting to question this as being fiscally responsible. It was an arbitrary level picked out of the air at that time, in addition to the 6% contribution – was created to offset no salary increases and relatively high taxes. The new “Tier 2” has taken care of those.
VI. Roger Bassett – OUS Board Member
A. Chancellor Search – There’s a “secret box” that surrounds the OUS process on the search. Within the pool are two nodes of candidates – several representatives of each. One of those consists of University Presidents; the other consists of administrative personnel in higher education.
B. Roger is chairing the WOU Presidential search.
C. Doesn’t believe the Oregon fiscal situation will make it impossible to attract and keep good people.
D. “I’m optimistic.”
E. Acknowledged the value of having student representation on the Board of Higher Ed.
F. There is not anything destined to happen between now and January to help stabilize the situation for the long term.
G. Have to keep this issue high on the screen in order for the public to start to get the picture.
H. Within the Board, the Strategic Planning Committee is looking at what it would take to develop some policy basis for whatever is sustainable.
I. The current six gubernatorial candidates seem more oriented toward how to reorganize the system than how to support it.
J. Superintendent of Public Instruction – included in the primary election – usually don’t talk about this, but there is a candidate in there who is a strong advocate of school voucher programs and the charter school concept.
K. Some surprise that the Board is not putting forth public opinions about the nature of the difficult impasses between the legislature and executive branch around the budget problems.
L. The Board does not apparently have an effective structure and protocol for their meetings – unable to get necessary work done. “We tend to sleep through those meetings.” The schedule sequence is not well organized, and does not promote productive interaction.
M. Erin Watari, Student Rep. to the Board – Struck by the lack of public input that is solicited at these meetings. Not only not solicited but not possible – the way the meetings and day-long schedule is structured. It’s no wonder that the public avoids coming to these meetings.
Present: Elizabeth Boretz (EOU), Marc Levy (SOU), Duncan Carter (PSU), Bill Danley (SOU), Elaine Deutschman (OIT), Peter Gilkey (UO), Jim Lundy (OSU), Bruce Sorte (OSU), Bob Turner (WOU), Jim Tooke (EOU), Steve Teich (OHSU), Marye Hefty (OIT), Mary Anne Linden (WOU), James Earl (UO), Scott Burns (PSU)
Absent: Craig Wollner (PSU), Dan Edge (OSU), Jim Isenberg (UO), Elizabeth Furse (PSU), Marie Brown (OHSU)
I. Approval of Feb. Meeting Minutes – Approved unanimously.
II. Board report from March 15th Meeting
A. Proposal is coming from the Chancellor’s office to raise the Presidents’ salaries.
1. Concerns expressed by several IFS senators about the idea of raising Presidents’ salaries while most institutions are actually looking at reducing or eliminating faculty salary raises.
2. Recommended that, during this time of uncertainty, we suggest the Chancellor table this idea pending a look at new initiatives during the next year.
3. Can also talk about “shared sacrifice” – when we are cutting student services and raising class sizes, is it fair to talk about benefiting university administrators more.
B. Handed out a summary of this and other issues.
III. Academic Council Report(s) – Bob Turner handed out and reviewed reports from both February and March.
A. Discussion ensued over ideas to move more toward a per credit hour tuition model rather than the simple grouped full vs. part-time model now in place. Argument is that students taking only 12 credit hours should not have to “subsidize” students who can take 6 additional credits at no further cost.
IV. Update on Chancellor’s Search
A. When Elaine requested that there be faculty membership on the search committee, she was “politely,” but directly told that that was not going to happen.
B. Elaine continues to stay close to the issues, and “they know we’re watching.”
V. Debrief of Friday’s sessions
A. Of particular interest and importance is a pending press conference that Lenn Hannon and a top ranking Democrat are planning to hold – confronting the state revenue problems and suggesting a look at new taxes – also from yesterday, the removal of k-12 from the general fund.
B. We need to capitalize on our excellent relationship with Roger Bassett and continue to build closer, more collaborative strategies.
C. James Earl pointed out that if we keep getting faculty to focus on money problems, we take attention away from the very real impact of cuts on the quality of the academic enterprise: increased class sizes, over-reliance on adjuncts, loss of tenure, etc.
VI. Campus Reports
A. PSU - Scott Burns reported movement to increase standards for entering freshmen. Duncan Carter reported that the increasing % of non-tenured faculty is threatening tenure. In the middle of a large capital campaign. Working on a new vision and mission statements. Just completed development of Native American Long House. Duncan Carter reported that they have been considering a review process for fixed-term faculty – to do an annual review for the first 5 years, then a major review, and if they pass through, offer extended contracts for 3-5 years at a time.
B. OSU – Have a 2002-2007 initiative – trying to do strategic planning. Just hired a CEO for the Bend campus. COCC and OSU are working together well.
C. WOU – Presidential search going on. Movement afoot to move from 3 to 4 credit classes. The use of adjuncts was increasing, but now looking to reduce their utilization to deal with budgetary restrictions.
D. OIT – Privatization is off the table. George Kartsounes, Provost, has resigned effective the end of this year. Dean positions are being eliminated and schools will come under an Associate Provost.
E. EOU – Chancellor search meeting was successfully attended. Elizabeth reported that distance education is big at EOU, and continues to grow and is being successful in producing degrees. Struggling with growth – a lot of faculty members are taking on overloads and being paid well for the overload work. Jim Tooke reported that there are not a lot of adjunct instructors probably due to the fact that there aren’t that many people in the area. But they are looking at a new category called “Senior Instructor,” someone who’s been teaching as an adjunct for at least 5 years, and gain status and higher pay. This category actually exists in the OARs and there are some in other institutions. Also, these faculty members are eligible for tenure. Have a new Provost about whom they are excited. Seriously considering moving to semester system.
F. SOU – New President – Elisabeth Zinser – being invested today. Has been working on several initiatives:
1. Moving graduation ceremonies out of Lithia Park and into the stadium to reduce liability
2. New vision and mission statements – has been inclusive in soliciting feedback and input.
3. Recently had awareness raised about the need to look at other possibilities with graduate programming.
VII. IFS Funding Issue
A. Policy Option Package – Bruce Sorte handed out and reviewed a draft proposal that has not been previously disseminated. Bob Turner suggested we share these ideas with Roger Bassett to receive input. Most of these initiatives are ones we would want to collaborate on and endorse.
1. The draft contains the following ideas:
a) Establishment of a “Scholars’ Network” – to offer consultation to legislators and other policy makers.
b) Collaboration with k-12 and community colleges to work on a K-16+ Oregon Education Plan.
c) Creativity Through Diversity Fund – Extra funding to help supplement institutions’ diversity initiatives.
d) Support for an IFS Office in Salem, including a stipend for the IFS President to have them working more consistently on policy issues.
2. To begin discussions related to point ‘b’ above, we would facilitate the planning of a conference to bring all the parties together.
B. Ideas were discussed about how best to start – Bruce Sorte will rewrite the draft of some sections, Elaine and Marc will work on point #2 (‘b’ above), then representatives from each school will begin a discussion with their respective presidents.
VIII. Senators shared the current state of support for IFS representatives’ attendance at meetings from their respective institutions.
IX. IFS and Oregon Student Association (OSA) – reconnecting. Peter noticed that we had dropped off their distribution list for their newsletter – so contacted them and we’re back on. Also, Peter recommended that we start inviting them to attend our meetings and make presentations like we have in the past. Also ask that the IFS president be invited to their annual meetings. These efforts should help us include them in our “one voice” efforts.
X. Remarks to the Board – April 19th
A. Already have discussed several important issues to put forth – concern over the presidential salary issue, keep us in the loop around the Chancellor search.
XI. Upcoming Meetings
A. June – EOU
1. Kevin Mannix has agreed to attend.
2. Working on getting Gordon Smith.
3. Elaine has written to all 6 gubernatorial candidates to invite them – and has received no response from any of them.
4. A van will be made available to pick folks up from the airport in Pendleton.
5. Marc will not be attending the La Grande meeting, and Mary Anne Linden will serve as Secretary for that meeting.
B. October – OIT –
1. Partly based on the unanticipated views Elaine heard when she visited Bend for the Chancellor search discussion, Elaine has recommended that we hold the October meeting in Bend.
2. Will want to invite Central Oregon Campus and Central Oregon Community College officials to begin building more collaboration.
3. Discussed possible partnerships in that area.
4. Everyone agreed to meet there for that meeting.
XII. Joint meeting between IFS, AAUP, and OAF will be held on April 27th at OSU.
XIII. Sharing of budget cut fallout at respective institutions.
XIV. Adjourned approximately 11:45am.