USVI Public Records

Document text

UVI Senate Meeting Minutes TED 213 (STT) and EVC 807 (STX) Friday, March 22, 2013 MEMBERS PRESENT David Hall Tina Koopmans Nancy Morgan Haldane Davies Maria Fleming Joshua Edwards Dayle Barry Raquel Santiago-Silver Kevin Dixon Bernard Castillo Paul Jobsis Frank Mills MEMBERS ABSENT/EXCUSED Judith Edwin Dionne Jackson Leslyn Tonge Daniella Henry Cherise Burton Noreen Michael Camille McKayle Patricia Harkins-Pierre Kimberlee Smith Shirley Lake-King OTHERS PRESENT Dannica Thomas CALL TO ORDER Senator Morgan called the meeting of the Senate to order at 3:05 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013. Chair Morgan notified the Senate that Senators Lake-King and McKayle will be late; however, there previously scheduled meeting ended later than anticipated. ROLL CALL A quorum was not established. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Senator Barry made a motion to electronically approve outstanding senate minutes for January 18th and March 22nd. Senator Jobsis seconded the motion. REPORTS March 9th Board of Trustees Meeting Recap Senator Hall stated that recruitment efforts are top priority for the university. Presidential awards were presented to Ms. Nerieda Washington and the Emergency Response Planning team on their report, which was very critical. The Board of Trustees passed a resolution indicating the seriousness of the budget reduction and requesting an exemption from the additional five percent budget reduction. The resolution was submitted to the Governor. The replacement Board of Trustees member from the Education Board was selected. Staff Trustee Marthious Clavier term expires this year, in which he is not obligated to continue an additional term. University Budget Committee Update During the week of March 11th, President Hall convened a town hall and faculty meeting to discuss the $1.4 million (5% percent) budget reduction. President Hall met with Governor deJongh on March 14th to request an exemption from the proposed additional five percent budget reduction. Cabinet members and component heads were charged with reducing operating budgets by five percent. UBC discussions continue. Senator Jobsis inquired about sharing the town hall meeting information with outside constituencies. Dr. Hall emphasized the importance of delaying all communications with outside entities until official word is received by the Governor and/or Legislature. Even though, persons may choose to communicate with outside parties, it is highly not recommended at the moment. Shadow our Students/President for the Day Update Student Marsha Laurencin was selected as the President for the Day on the St. Thomas campus. Ms. Laurencin did a wonderful job. She was very professional and responsive. A ten minute compilation video will be created of Ms. Laurencin’s President for the Day and President Hall’s Student for the Day experiences, which will be shared with the university community and other external entities. The selection for the President for the Day on the St. Croix campus is forthcoming in Fall 2013. Senators Edwards and Dixon inquired about recruitment and revenue strategies currently undertaken by the university. Senator Edwards suggested that students be motivated to help UVI move forward. Senator Hall’s intentions are to continue the President for the Day initiative and similar students activities. Students are urged to work alongside UVI to provide inspiring presentations to prospective students. Student representatives are urged to contact Dr. Xuri Allen in Admission office at extension 1150 for further guidance. Senator Hall met with Antigua’s Government and State College to encourage students to attend UVI at a reduced rate. UVI is considering entering into a memorandum of understanding with Antigua’s government. The Recruitment Open Houses that took place on February 27th and February 28th on the St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses, respectively, were well attended. More outreach efforts are highly likely. Charter Day Activities Senator Castillo stated that Charter Day activities on both islands went well. Alumni shared their UVI experiences with those attended, to include how UVI helped them to get where they are now. The 5k mile on St. Croix was part of the activities, which had 100 participants. Letters were requested from Cabinet indicating where they expect UVI to be in the next 50 years. Senator Davies thanked co-chairs and the committee on the success of the charter day activities. UVI has urged more current and former students to share their UVI experiences. Center for the Student of Spirituality and Professionalism (CSAP) Activities CSAP has been in operation for approximately one year under the leadership of Dr. Wendy Coram. The first year symposium is scheduled for April 18th 2013 as a videoconference event. The theme is Spirituality and Higher Education. Monthly regular gatherings continue each month. A location on St. Croix has been identified; the St. Thomas office is in the Penha House next to WUVI radio station. Two free ethics workshops took place on St. Thomas and St. Croix with 75 and 50 attendees, respectively. The forum panel consisted of Vice President Shirley Lake-King, Dr. Nancy Morgan, Tamika Archer, Esq, Carol Jacobs, Esq, and Claudette Young Hinds, MCP. Respondents provided favorable feedback about the workshop. CSAP was created as an income generating initiative. More CSAP activities will take place in the upcoming months at a minimal fee. Academic Units Activities Senator Mills stated that Research Day is scheduled for April 6th. Fifty abstracts were received. There will be round table events on both campuses. Senator McKayle was not present; so therefore, her agenda item was tabled. Furlough Question Senator Barry submitted a question to President Hall to inquire about a voluntarily furlough. Senator Barry suggested an additional two percent taken from employees’ salaries in exchange for one day off every two weeks. The voluntarily furlough will be highly unlikely for faculty due to their 10 month contracts. Senator Hall indicated that no decision will be made on the voluntarily furlough until the final response is received by the Governor and/or Legislature. Discussion occurred. Senator Santiago-Silver made a motion to table the voluntarily furlough question until official word is received. Senator Jobsis seconded the motion. All were in favour, with one abstention. Senator Jobsis abstained. Senate Schedule Senator Jobsis agreed to send a survey to all senators for their feedback on the best days and times to conduct senate meetings. Responses will be shared with the senate accordingly. Other Senator Koopmans provided updates on ITS customer service survey and the user creation policy. The customer service survey will be sent to the University community in April 2013. The Techqual survey instrument has been identified. User creation formal policy will be put into place. New employees are entered into Banner first before access is granted to UVI’s resources. An alternate display name has been implemented into Banner to display aliases, per users’ request. A change in name is recognized as a new user, and as such, users will log in accordingly. Restoration of access to systems is required. The new policy for part-time faculty terminates access to UVI’s resources three months after their contracts expire, while students will be granted access up to two years after their most recent enrollment or graduation, whichever comes first. Users will be manually removed from their respective groups in the portal. Users are encouraged to log out, when needed; a forced log out however will be in place. Implementation of strong passwords is forthcoming for security purposes. Senator Fleming indicated that the Center for Student Success shared its first newsletter with the University community on March 20th. Senator Fleming thanked Dannica for her assistance. Senator Castillo stated that UVI Choir presentation is scheduled for April 13th in the Great Hall. OLD BUSINESS Chair Morgan stated that the new members will be sworn in at April’s meeting. Senator Michael has agreed to distribute an iPad to new members. The iPad policy will be discussed at April’s meeting. NEXT MEETING The next Senate meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 19, 2013 at 1pm. ADJOURNMENT Senator Barry made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Senator Santiago-Silver seconded the motion. Chair Morgan adjourned the meeting at approximately 4:42pm.