Bob Howe Memorial Fund. He indicated that he was still following up on the Bob Howe Memorial Fund.

Contract Status of Faculty. He reported that he passed on the Senate’s concerns about the contract status of faculty on to the Academic V.P., David Manuel as well as the request that the yearly contracts contain a notation which incorporates the Faculty Handbook.

Academic V.P. Search. President Hampton reported on the status of the Search Committee for a Vice President of Academic Affairs. He indicated that the Committee had received 50 applications as of October 31st. Of the applicants, 7 had Spanish surnames, 6 were women, one applicant appeared to be a professed Marianist, and several of the applicants were serving or had served in Catholic institutions of higher education. He reported on the response by Search Committee Chair, Dean Tony Kaufman, to the requests of the senators. Dean Kaufman indicated that: (1) other than the publication of the job opening in minority and women academic journals, he had not taken any additional measures to specifically designed to produce minority or women applicants; (2) he did not feel it was appropriate or necessary to extend the deadline for applications; and (3) the evaluative tool was comparable to the tools used in previous searches. The President noted that 50 applications was pretty much on par with previous searches.

Task Force on Ensuring an Enduring Marinist Presence and Voice. President Hampton reported that he had passed the Senate’s opposition to the creation of a Vice President for Mission on to the Task Force and that the Task Force indicated that the proposal would be subject to a process of consultation that would include a meeting with faculty to hear their concerns.

Board of Trustee’s Meeting. The President reported that the Board of Trustees received a report on the status on the consolidation of the three United States provinces of the Society of Mary into a single consolidated province.

University Budget Committee. The President reported that the Budget Committee has reviewed the departmental goals and objectives as submitted and reported by the University’s Vice Presidents. No budget numbers have yet been produced but this is to take place on November 28th.

Academic Affairs Committee. The President reported that the Academic Affairs Committee had discussed: (1) the results of a questionnaire on technology that was distributed to students; (2) the establishment of a Health Care Opportunities Program affiliation with the University of Texas School of Allied Health; (3) the site inspection of the distance learning program and; (4) the establishment of a letter of agreement with a Taiwanese university.

Allocation of Faculty Senate Representation. The senate considered a report from Senator Lene regarding whether to reallocate senate representation among the Schools in the University. This report was produced by last year’s Committee E. Senator Lene moved to reapportion senate representation. Senator Harston seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 9-2. Thereafter a discussion ensued as to which reapportionment should take place and whether voting should be restricted by school. Following this discussion Senator O’Connor moved to undo the vote on reapportionment and Senator Moras seconded the motion. The motion carried. Next the senate discussed the issue about whether voting should be limited by school as opposed to the present system of voting campus wide. Senator Harston moved to adopt committee E’s proposal that voting be limited by school and Sen. Lene seconded the motion. This motion failed by a vote of 9-2-2 . Vice President Pallansch moved to reject committee E proposal # 3 (dealing with reapportionment of senate representation by school). This motion was seconded by Senator Harston and passed 10-2-1. The end result of this was that the allocation and voting for the faculty senate will remain the same.

Benefits for Part time Faculty. The discussion of benefits for part time faculty was tabled due to the excused absences of the committee members who were to deliver the report.

Sabbatical Leave Policy. The senate discussed the fact that it had previously recommended to the Vice President of Academic Affairs that there be no changes to the Sabbatical Leave Policy until the Senate has had an opportunity to review sabbatical leave policy in its entirety. A discussion ensued as to changes the Senate would like to see in the policy. Suggestions included: (1) more flexibility and consistency in how sabbatical leaves are structured.(e.g., currently sabbatical leaves are offered at ˝ pay for a an academic year or full pay for 1 semester. Some senators would like to pursue a ˝ teaching load for one year at full pay and they indicate that this form of sabbatical leave has been approved in the past but inconsistently)

Motion To Extend Time. Senator Harston moved to extend the time of the meeting by 10 minutes. Senator O’Connor approved the motion and the motion carried.

Sabbatical Leave Policy (continued). Senators also discussed a desire to loosen the emphasis on "production" necessary to support an application for a sabbatical leave. The senators noted that the notion of "sabbatical" was associated with the Sabbat, which is a day set aside from work for the purpose of worship (the 7^th day). The emphasis on production loses sight of the spiritual underpinnings of sabbatical leaves, particularly for religiously affiliated institutions of higher education. President Hampton agree to assign Committee A (Abney, Bolin, Castaneda) the responsibility of making recommendation regarding the Sabbatical leave policy.

University Policy on Human Research. President Hampton assigned Committee E (O’Connor, Scott, Talarski and Telepak) the task of reviewing the University’s proposed policy on Human Research and making a recommendation to the Senate.

Linking Tenure and Promotion. Vice President Pallansch reported that faculty had expressed a concern about the fact that promotion to tenure status and promotion to associate professor status are separate issues. Faculty wants to have these changes in status combined in one application process to be considered together. President Hampton assigned Committee C (Haddock, Harston, Lene) the task of looking at this issue.