At its Feb. 22 meeting, the Urbana-Champaign Senate continued discussion of the budget-review process, and approved a change in university statute language defining the president’s position.
Senators also talked about a Web-based version of the Instructor and Course Evaluation System.
Senate chair Joyce Tolliver, in her opening remarks, noted that the UI is not alone in its financial struggles.
The University of Iowa, the University of Michigan and others are in similar situations, she said.
“There is a loss of a sense of control,” she said, “but we must not allow our anxiety to control us.”
The best way to move forward through the review process is to follow the shared campus governance system – a key aspect of the review process called “Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois.”
Some discussion ensued regarding the senate’s role in the process.
It was noted that the four areas chosen for review – the Institute of Aviation, undergraduate scholarships, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Public Engagement and Information Technology – were chosen by the steering committee in consultation with the Senate Executive Committee.
One senator voiced his concern that administrators could hold too much power regarding the recommendations of the project teams.
University statutes require a Senate review of such proposals, which includes a public hearing and a secret ballot for faculty in affected units.
Interim Chancellor and Provost Bob Easter also spoke at the meeting.
“We’re in a time of great ambiguity,” he said, adding that the decisions made now will set the course for decades at the UI.
He said there is no new budget information, but relayed some positive observations, including the fact that more than 300 employees had expressed interest in the separation incentive programs.
He also noted that foundation support remains strong for the UI and early fall admissions information showed that a record number – more than 27,000 students – have applied for admission.
Senate members approved a recommendation by President Stanley O. Ikenberry to add the word executive to the statutes describing the university’s president.
In a Dec. 15 letter to the senate chair, Ikenberry said the recommendation was intended to “clarify the roles of the president of the university and the campus chancellors. This recommended amendment is intended to dispel any implication that the president’s role is anything less than the chief executive officer of the university.”
The language change is important as the UI continues its search for its next president, said Ikenberry, who is serving on an interim basis.
The language also clarifies the role of the president as it relates to chancellors. The letter describes the president as being responsible for executing the duties given to him or her by the UI Board of Trustees. The chancellors, in turn, answer to the president. Bill Maher, university archivist and chair of the University Statutes and Senate Procedures Committee, researched the use of the word executive and found it was in the original 1868 Statutes. The word was removed sometime in the mid-1950s.
Senators also discussed a recommendation that will be up for a vote March 29 that amends language to specify that tenure-track faculty members have a tenure home and that a restructuring proposal for an academic unit involve faculty input by secret ballot.
ICES
John Ory, the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, and Chris Migotsky, the head of measurement and evaluation in the CTE, gave a presentation on the pilot program for an online version of the Instructor and Course Evaluation System.
Several senators voiced their hesitation for adopting the online version of the instructor evaluation forms because fewer students seemed to voluntarily go to online surveys.
Fewer students filling out the online surveys could skew data so that very high evaluations or very low evaluations were more common, and these could lead to poor reviews and possibly affect tenure decisions.
Some senators also were concerned that the online forms could be easily accessed and dispersed online.
Some changes already had been made to the online surveys, which include not offering them during finals, sending out extra e-mail reminders and changing the rating system. The open-ended comments section also has been deleted.
Ory pointed out that the key to making the online surveys more effective is to get more student participation. Other institutions that put the evaluations online initially had low response rates, but they generally go up over time, he said.
Many senators, however, remained unconvinced that the online version should replace the paper surveys.
Entomology professor Bettina Francis said the online system was “unacceptable” because she didn’t have a way to opt out of the survey.
She opts out of the paper versions, but the online system sends her students e-mail prompts by default.
The ICES evaluations are not required of faculty, and for instructors like her, who don’t require lecture attendance, it is difficult to ensure students participate.
