[Lu_faculty] Faculty Updates

[James Showalter]

2-19-16  Fri // 10:34 a.Colleagues,I have been remiss in writing to you and keeping you informed of the doings of the Senate and of the University.  As Chair of the Senate I've dropped the ball:  My apologies.  You should have by now received minutes from our last (February) Senate meeting and we will hopefully have all minutes posted on the Langston University website in the Faculty Senate area by the end of the semester.
The President has not met with his Administrative Council that frequently in the 2015-16 school year. In the Administrative Council meeting held in late January we spent forty-five minutes discussing a letter I'd written as an individual faculty member addressed to Dr. Kent Smith, and with copies to Drs. Burnett and Moffett.  In the letter I noted that after the Teacher's Workshop presentation by Dr. Burnett, V.P. for Fiscal Affairs, in January,  many faculty and staff had approached me about what they saw as near-hypocracy.  Dr. Burnett had basically told us we were in dire fiscal straits and all would have to suffer,  but directly before her speech she'd introduced ten new hires, all in her area, Fiscal Affairs, or in Student Affairs.  In my letter I noted that the University community rightly asked why they should bear burdens if administrators were hiring freely.  And I pointed out that the Langston University community is one that's educated and deserves to be treated with transparency.   In truth, nearly all the new hires were replacements, and two were to new positions replacing our contracted housing management company which was let go.  
In the discussion in Administrative Council there was recognition of the fact the matter could have been handled better,  and that there has to be transparency.  But we then ran into the problem of how to keep the University community informed, especially in light of the low rate at which faculty and staff open emails sent out by the Administration.  Dr. Smith later discussed this matter when he met with the Faculty Senate in the first meeting of the Senate this year (February 4).  I feel there will be a much greater effort at transparency by the Administration going forward.
Our most recent Administrative Council meeting (February 11) was largely devoted to the problem of hover boards, the little electronic "skate boards" that people stand on.  There have been national reports about their batteries catching fire while being charged,  and in my own experience they can represent a safety problem if used in buildings.  Like OU and OSU, we will likely ban hover boards, though this has to go through the Regents' lawyers.  Because this is not yet policy, don't broadcast it abroad.
The Budget Advisory Commission is now meeting and will do so nearly weekly until late May.  The materials distributed to, and the discussions occurring in, the Commission are confidential.  What I can say is that we are currently learning the workings of the budget and the budgetary process,  and are working under the assumption that the worst case scenario -- a 15% cut -- will occur.  I personally don't think that bad a cut will occur, but it is nearly certain that we will be getting more cuts.   
The Faculty Senate will be contacting faculty to vote on a motion passed by the Senate that would request that adjunct pay not be diminished in classes with less than 13 students.  We will also be coming to the faculty for elections in April to the Faculty Senate. Each year one third of Senate seats are up for election.  Please be thinking about people who might be interested in serving on the Faculty Senate.
If you have questions, please contact me (jlshowalter at langston.edu).    
Jim ShowalterChair, Langston University Faculty Senate 		 	   		  
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