University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate

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UC.04.03
December 8, 2003

University Senates Conference
November 19, 2003

University Senates Conference (USC) met as a videoconference from all three campuses with President Stukel and Vice President Gardner in the morning. Assistant VP Margaret Krol was available during the latter half of the morning to provide information about the implementation of UI Integrate. Discussions focused on external understanding of established university procedures, the university's projected budget situation, the tuition process, and UI-Integrate. A business meeting of USC followed in the afternoon.

The meeting with President Stukel and Vice President Gardner included discussion of the following:

- UIS and its Lincoln-related programs. The UIS campus was advised by state leaders that it may not use the name "Lincoln" in any of its academic programs since it conflicts with the new Lincoln Presidential Library. Changes to the name of one of their centers was implemented without campus Senate review. Transfer of some long-standing Lincoln-related programs to the new Presidential Library have also been suggested. UIS faculty members are very concerned about this intervention in shared governance.

- Administrative Services Review. President Stukel and VP Gardner shared a report given to the Board of Trustees about the status of items in the review of administrative practices. Three or four areas related to computing, finance, research and publication design are moving slowly while others are on target for their implementation dates.

- Mid-year rescission. President Stukel responded to a question about a mid-year rescission by stating that no information is available at this time. While the state clearly has a large deficit for FY04, no request for a rescission has been received to date.

- Tuition Planning Group. VP Gardner was asked to consider establishing a Tuition Planning Group that would include faculty as well as students and campus administrators. He and USC will explore this further with plans to have a group in place by April.

- OT-89. Evaluation of Ability to Work. University Legal Counsel has reviewed the proposed policy passed by the three campus senates and expressed concerns about Workers Compensation and ADA rules and how they would interact with this document. USC will discuss that further at an upcoming meeting.

The meeting with Assistant VP Margaret Krol focused on the implementation of UI-Integrate. She provided a document about background, budget, and implementation. One of the main areas of concern is the report function. Efforts are being made to improve the accessibility of reports. The HR and payroll segment will go live in January 2004, so emphasis is on having everything in place prior to that time. Fall-back plans are in place should the new payroll system not operate.

The business meeting covered a number of different topics. The following matters were addressed:

- Approval of the October 28, 2003 minutes.

- OT-203. Lincoln programs at UIS. USC will draft a statement regarding the principles of shared governance.

- OT-161. Non-Tenure-Track Academic Staff. After lengthy discussion of this topic, it was agreed that the USC Executive Committee will identify specific aspects of the use of non-tenure-track academic staff for instruction and bring a proposal to USC for discussion and fact-finding.

- Campus reports. UIC reported that there will be a forum on unionization on their campus in early January; UIS reported that the main topic of discussion at their campus is the controversy over the use of Lincoln's name in academic programs; UIUC reported that the Senate Executive Committee has been meeting with local legislators to discuss university interactions in Springfield.

The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m.

Nancy P. O'Brien
USC Representative to UIUC Senate Executive Committee