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Excom Review |
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2008-2009 Budget |
9/22/08 |
10/1/08 |
Economic Status of the Faculty Libraries |
10/13/08 |
11/5/08 |
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Athletics Policies Honorary Degrees |
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10/20/08 |
11/5/08 |
Academic Calendar Admissions & Financial Aid |
Preliminary Report Fall Admissions/ Resolutions |
11/10/08 |
12/3/08 |
Academic Calendar |
1/19/09 |
2/4/09 |
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All-University Finance Economic Status of the Faculty |
2/9/09 |
2/18/09 |
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All-University Finance Information Technology |
Response to 2009-2010 Budget |
2/23/09 |
3/4/09 |
Libraries All-University Finance |
3/23/09 |
4/1/09 |
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Student Policies Athletics Policies Faculty Benefits |
4/6/09 |
4/15/09 |
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Academic Policies Admissions & Financial Aid Faculty Ethics and Tenure |
4/13/09
4/20/09 |
5/6/09 |
Committee and Subcommittee Reports AY 08-09
Reports of Admissions and Financial AidDecember 3, 2008 TO: The Faculty Senate FROM: Christine
Buchanan Attached is a profile of the 2008 first-year class along with some historical data. The data were assembled with the help of Mr. Marc Peterson, Executive Director of Enrollment Services. The number of completed applications is essentially unchanged from last year, but their quality continues to improve. Building relationships with some of the best high schools nationwide is an ongoing effort by SMU admissions staff. As these relationships mature, the number of applications from their students is expected to increase. The yield was higher than expected this year, resulting in a class size greater than the goal of 1350. The staff knows a lot more about each of our applicants than in the old days. Most applicants are interviewed at some point and a personal relationship is established that provides better information. This allows enrollment services personnel to be more aggressive in their recruitment and financial aid support, and to shape the class. The continued improvement in the average SAT score for the entering class is no accident. Our recruitment efforts are partly driven by the purchased lists of PSAT scores for the demographics we specify. In addition, 38 President’s Scholars enrolled this fall compared with only 28 in fall ’07 and 20 in fall ’06. Furthermore, SMU increased the size of its merit awards, as the previous amount had lost much of its purchasing power and was no longer yielding as many of the top candidates as it once did. There are 352 (or 25.2% of the total) first-year students who are legacies. Their average SAT score is 1226. There are 16 students in the first-year class who are faculty/staff dependents and their average SAT score is 1216. These data were provided by Ms. Nancy Peterson, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Admission. The increase in unrestricted spending is primarily due to an increase in merit aid. Need-based aid was $4.5 million and merit aid was $8.0 million. Projections for fall 2009 are cautiously optimistic. Early applications (deadline Nov. 1) are up by at least 12%, which may reflect a national trend to apply earlier. There is increased diversity in the early applicant pool, which perhaps is due to SMU’s expanded PSAT search. Almost 40% of our early applicant pool was generated this way. The great unknown is what the numbers will look like for regular applications (deadline Jan. 15). Last year it was a zero sum game with the total number of completed applications (early plus regular) nearly equal to the year before. Ultimately, the economy may play a role in our yield. Marc Peterson, Director of SMU’s Financial Aid Services, believes that “we have a more aggressive need-based model relative to other institutions in our endowment range”. In addition, we have expanded the number of payment plans, and there is an institutional loan available with a very competitive interest rate.
PROFILE OF 2008 FIRST YEAR CLASS I. Undergraduate Admissions Data. The application and acceptance data are summarized below.
II. SAT Data
III. Ethnicity and Nationality.
The numbers are as accurate as possible. The category “other” is chosen
by students who are multiethnic and/or do not identify with any more
specific category, including white. The category for “foreign” students
does not include international students with a U.S. passport who were
educated outside the U.S.
2006 57
77 88 8 230
(16.8%) 66 (4.8%)
IV. Geographic Representation.
One of the goals of Enrollment Services is to increase geographic
diversity in the student population. SMU has regional recruiters in CA,
FL, LA, and Houston.
V. Gender. The gender
imbalance is a nationwide phenomenon. Currently, approx. 61% of
first-year college students in the U.S. are female. SMU’s goal is to be
closer to 50%.
VI. Transfers. Minorities
(incl. “other”) account for 34.6% of transfer students this Fall.
VII. Unrestricted spending:
The amounts listed below include merit plus need-based aid.
Reports of Subcommittee on LibrariesNov. 2008 Recent Changes in the Central University Libraries (CUL).
New Data Available
Conclusions
Observations and Recommendations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reports of Subcommittee on Faculty BenefitsFall Faculty Senate Status Update Report October 1, 2008 1. Follow-up on retired faculty and staff concerns about Emeriti from our May 08 UBC meeting (action summary attached). Current Status: Progress being made, but ongoing monitoring is in place by UBC retired reps and SMU HR to continue quality control improvement. 2. 2009 Health Insurance Updates A. Employee 2009 premiums will increase 8% on average. This increase measures up well compared to the nationwide increase rate of 10% for medical expenses. Depending on the 2008 claims history for a given program, some of the deduction level programs will have minimal or no premium increase. B. There will be NO increase for 2009 dental and vision coverage premiums. C. The Emeriti employee premium and SMU matching contribution will both increase as planned, from $50 to $52 a month (a 4% increase). D. The SMU PPO program will continue to offer the expanded comprehensive preventive care program. Part of this program is the $500 allocation with 100% cost covered for routine physicals, medical screenings, and immunizations. The second part of the expanded coverage is the 100% coverage (no co-pay) for in-network screenings via mammograms, colonoscopies, and prostate exam. You can review the age appropriate guidelines used for preventive care at the SMU Preventive Care Guidelines section at the following link: http://smu.edu/hr/Benefits/Medical.asp E. Our most significant challenge is making decisions about the ongoing viability of the Aetna HMO program. The SMU PPO Plan is a form of self-insurance by SMU with the support of BCBSTX as a third-party administrator---with this plan design, SMU has significant control over pricing. The Aetna HMO program is a purchased insurance program and our rates are determined by Aetna based on our claims history. Given that many with significant medical expenses tend to migrate toward the HMO program, our rates will continue to escalate more steeply than the SMU PPO. 3. 2009 benefits program enhancements A. Supplemental retirement contribution opportunity--- your 5% mandatory SMU contribution will no longer count toward the $15,500 ceiling for the supplemental retirement program. B. On-Line Benefits Open Enrollment---For the 2009 benefit enrollment process, you will be able to make your choices online. Those without computer access will be provided alternative opportunities for enrollment. C. Health & Wellness Week---see the attached card with details. The most significant change for this event is an increase with a more proactive, educational focus to help faculty and staff most effectively get the maximum benefit of our healthcare programs. 4. Planning for future UBC meetings A. The Roth 403 (B) option will be added during the Spring 09 semester. This option will be a significant opportunity for those wishing to manage their tax liability profile during retirement. B. Young faculty and staff (26-35) participation---the Senate’s Economic Status of the Faculty Committee Chair has asked us to review this issue. C. Health Lifestyles Program--- SMU is now piloting a healthy life styles program. The results of a pilot program with the Business Affairs staff are very positive. The Student Affairs division is now in the pilot phase. The core strategy is to move from the traditional treating illness mindset to a preventive-wellness focus. Such a focus can help SMU to stretch health care dollars and to also help enhance the quality of life for employees with better health. A presentation by Bill Detwiler for the Senate in Spring 2009 is recommended. D. Development of additional programs to help faculty and staff with financial decision making. Sincerely, Don VandeWalle, Chair
From:
Regan, Helen Hi John & Polly, I wanted to follow-up with you on the issues we have addressed with the Emeriti team, particularly Aetna. We recently had a conference call with senior members of the Aetna account team, including several people responsible for the Aetna Rx operation in Florida. We provided specific examples of the problems our SMU retirees have had in getting accurate Rx cost information; customer service reps that are not knowledgeable about SMU-specific coverage; rude or abrupt treatment by customer service reps; failure to receive a call-back in a timely manner; the difficulty (for participants and their MDs) in complying with the Rx pre-approval and step-therapy requirements), etc. We have been given assurances that the necessary steps will be taken to educate the customer service reps and reinforce the need to take whatever time is necessary when a participant calls, to answer all questions thoroughly and accurately – and to return a follow-up call within a very specific period of time. In addition, Aetna has promised to step up assistance for MDs with step-therapy and pre-approvals. At our request, Aetna has initiated a call tracking procedure to identify specific problems experienced by SMU retirees. We have scheduled monthly conference calls to review the call tracking reports so that any and all problems can be addressed immediately. Between the monthly conference calls, SMU HR will immediately address any problems that we are made aware of. Please continue to refer your colleagues to me directly if they experience any problems. It would be most helpful if they could provide specifics regarding the problem, and, when they speak with a customer service rep - the questions they asked and the responses they were given. It will also help if they can provide the name of the customer service rep they spoke with. We are trying very hard to address and resolve these problems and greatly appreciate your patience and your feedback. Please feel free to call me any time. Helen
Helen A. Regan
Benefits Manager
Reports of Athletics Policies CommitteeFall, 2008 Athletics continues in the pattern of recent semesters. There is still much hope around the football program despite the team’s losing record. We continue to do well in the non- revenue sports. Women’s and Men’s Basketball have started practice for the season about to begin. Academic performance of student athletes continues to be very good. Statistics again show that athletes in the lower categories (five and below) perform at a level similar to all other students in those categories. The Department of Athletics and A-LEC report that coaches are now doing an excellent job of supporting academic discipline and performance. Graduation rates (GSR) and APR (reminder- based upon retention and eligibility) performance are high (top 10 % in Football, for example). In the case of the APR, we will be significantly above the national norm for sanctions in all sports save Men’s Golf, where the problems have been addressed. The Summer Transition Courses offered in the School of Education and Human Development were launched successfully- and it is hoped that the 25 student athletes who completed these courses are having an easier time in their first semester at SMU. Summer courses were offered in writing, math and psychology of learning. The plan is to open these courses to all students in the near future. NCAA re-certification is now underway. Marc Peterson is chairing the university’s committee. SMU reported 28 secondary violations to the NCAA- a sign that our compliance The budget remains a problem. Revenues are down and expenses are up. The deficit for the past year was 7.4 million (a figure agreed upon by the Athletic Department and the Central Administration). 5.1 million had been approved as the deficit (or subsidy) for the past fiscal year. The target for next year is 6.1 million (deficit/subsidy) and a five- year plan has been put in place to reduce the deficit to 4.0. The Budget Sub-committee of the Athletic Council will be meeting with University Finance and Athletic Department Officials this month to discuss the budget. There is concern that pledges to the so- called Football Transition Budget may not be honored given the current national and global financial crisis Dan Orlovsky Library Committee Report, April. 2009Surveys conducted in Spring 2008 indicated that the primary interest of the SMU faculty in the library was for its ability to provide resources to support research and teaching, including, but not limited to, electronic subscriptions to journals. Usage data, accumulated in Fall, 2008 verify heavy faculty usage of electronic subscriptions (> 200,000 dowloaded articles per year). In this regard, I am pleased to report that, despite hard economic times, the coming year’s acquisition budget has received sufficient funding (net $110,000) to adequately cover inflationary increases. Thus, at the present time, the total number of subscriptions (both electronic and print) and other acquisitions is expected to remain relatively stable. I would propose a resolution of the Senate thanking all administrators, particularly Provost Ludden, for his support for this critical resource. To comply with required budgetary cutbacks, the library had eliminated one staff position and is also cutting back on supplies and travel. Respectfully submitted, John D. Buynak Chair, Library Subcommittee Admissions and Financial Aid Report, Spring 2009Introduction. The Provost formally appoints members of the University Admissions Council (UAC). The practice is for the members of the Faculty Senate Subcommittee on Admissions to receive appointments to the UAC and for the Chair of the UAC to be chosen from the faculty. The Senate Subcommittee usually does not meet as a separate body. The following faculty members served in 2008-2009: Christine Buchanan (Chair), Leslie Brott, Jaime Clark-Soles (Senate liaison, Fall term only), Sean Griffin, Robert Howell, Eli Olinick, and Raj Sethuraman. Also on the Council were Gary Moskowitz (Associate Dean-Cox), Jennifer Haden (Associate Dean for Student Records-Dedman College), Kevin Hofeditz (Associate Dean-Meadows), Kacee Carter (Director of Undergraduate Enrollment-Engineering), Robb Pocklington (Associate Dean-Dedman I advising), Marc Peterson (Director of Financial Aid), Ron Moss (Dean of Undergraduate Admissions), and Tom Tunks (Associate Provost). The student members were Jay Ryan Johnson and Tyler Matthew West. Meetings. The University Admissions Council met on the following dates: September 9, October 21, November 11, January 27, February 24, and April 28. A special session has been scheduled for May 13. Most members also participated in the reading of student files to select President’s Scholars candidates during December (early decision) and February (regular selection). Profile of the 2008 First-Year Class. This information was submitted to the Faculty Senate in December. The full report is on the Senate’s website. There were 1398 students in the class with an average SAT score of 1241. The class size exceeded the target of 1350 because our 34% yield was higher than expected. Retention from first to second semester was 96.9%, which is slightly higher than for any time in the past ten years. Status of Activity for Fall 2009 First-Year Class. Enrollment Services is given the goal to enroll an entering class of a specific size, which is determined annually after a review of educational and net revenue needs. The challenge is to meet this goal while also improving diversity and the overall profile of the entering class. This requires growing the pool of highly qualified applicants, aggressively recruiting them and having sufficient financial support to offer. This year the economic situation is making the challenge that much more difficult to meet. The deadline for deposits was May 1, but there are a number of cohorts whose deposits are not expected until later (student-athletes, late admits, international students, and Academic Prelude students). It looks like we may fall slightly short of the target goal of 1375. Data available as of May 5 suggest a profile slightly better than last year with regard to diversity, gender balance, and average SAT score. Schools above us in the pecking order made more offers this year and did not leave as many as usual on their wait lists. Some of these were students who also had an offer from SMU. In addition, we found ourselves in competition for the admitted students in our lower admission rankings, who were offered attractive merit awards from other schools and nothing from us. Consequently, SMU had to dip more than once into its wait list to build the class. Although our wait-listed students are higher quality than they were a few years ago, the need to make more offers to fill the class will reduce our acceptance rate this year, which is one measure of an institution’s selectivity. Transfer Issues. Transfer students are an important cohort from a number of perspectives. They are more diverse than our first-year students coming to SMU straight from high school and they partly replace tuition lost by attrition of the first-year class. The goal is to admit transfer students who can move into their majors and our advanced courses without competing for classes at the first-year/introductory level. This requires some advising of prospective students ideally before they apply and certainly before they matriculate, so they can be sure to complete the appropriate courses first. To this end, there is an initiative underway to provide a Degree Progress Report (DPR) to all admitted transfer applicants prior to receiving their nonrefundable deposit (the deadline is July 1). Also, SMU advisors will be available on Open Advising Day this May 26 to meet with admitted transfer students to determine any deficiencies prior to their matriculation at SMU in the fall. This will give students the opportunity to take additional courses at their current institution in the summer. To improve coordination with all the campus offices, faculty, and staff that serve and interact with current and prospective transfer students, a new position has been created. Mrs. Nancy Skochdopole has accepted the job of Director of Transfer and Articulation Services (“transfer czarina” for short) and is expected to be the “go to” person for all transfer issues. Besides the new directorship position, a variety of other initiatives are underway to make SMU more transfer friendly for new and current students. For example, this year the Faculty Senate approved two significant changes: SMU now recognizes the equivalency of courses from different Texas schools that are listed or cross-listed with the same Texas common course number, and the number of transferable hours post-matriculation was increased to 30. Nancy Skochdopole and her colleagues in the Division of Enrollment Services are pursuing formal articulation agreements with our main feeder schools in Texas (local community colleges) to attract more well-prepared transfers to SMU. Reports from Satellite Admissions Offices. Each year the University Admissions Council must receive reports from all satellite admissions activities on campus, which include athletics, international students, Academic Prelude, all graduate schools, and the evening bachelor's degrees programs. Normally the chief administrator of the program attends one of our Council meetings to give the report. Only a few findings will be presented here. 1. Admission to Undergraduate Evening Degree Programs. These are Bachelor of Humanities and Bachelor of Social Sciences degree programs that are offered to the Dallas community. Three students enrolled in Spring 2008 and 12 more enrolled in Fall 2008. These are almost all students with a minimum of 45 transferable hours who are employed fulltime. Their average age is over thirty, and over 60% are female. Their incoming grades were all well above the required minimum 2.5 GPA. 2. Admission of Student-Athletes. The annual report on admission of student-athletes was scheduled for April 28, the last meeting of the University Admissions Council. The individual whom everyone was relying on for the data collection was one of the employees of the Athletic Department who was fired the week before. Things are in disarray right now. A special meeting of the University Admissions Council has been scheduled for May 13 and we have been assured that the report will be ready by then. If not, we’ll keep pushing. The Senate’s Executive Committee asked that we track the success rate of new student-athletes who were placed in “developmental” courses designed especially for them and taken as free electives through the Simmons School of Education and Human Development last summer. Vicki Hill argues persuasively that this is a two-year experiment. She has promised to provide us with a report from two summers of data in the fall. 3. Academic Prelude. This summer program provides conditionally admitted students the opportunity to earn full admission to the university. Participation is offered to students identified through the normal application review and committee process. One might refer to them as “underachievers”. Their high school records, along with test scores, generally show an aptitude and capability for success, but there is an uneven pattern of academic achievement. Many Prelude students come from high-profile families and high-profile schools who, in regular admissions, send their best students to SMU. Some are legacies. The Prelude program mainstreams these students into the regular summer school student body and provides support services on a voluntary basis. A total of 50 students were enrolled in summer 2008, 46 successfully completed the program and 44 enrolled for the fall term. This is the largest group ever enrolled in SMU’s summer college prep program, but despite some misgivings, it was manageable. Perhaps because the group’s size was expanded last summer, there were so many Prelude students with weak verbal skills that it was necessary to enroll them in a specially-created section of ENGL 1300. This was unprecedented and a cause for concern among members of the Admissions Council, when they learned of it. It is contrary to the approved curriculum for the program (ENGL 1301 plus one other regular course) and consequently, not all the Prelude students had to meet the same standards for earning full admission to the university. Associate Provost Tunks has declared that ENGL 1300 will not be an option for this coming summer. 4. Admission of Undergraduate International Students. The top countries of origin for our 110 first-year and 27 transfer international undergraduates in fall 2008 were India (12), Mexico (11) and Saudi Arabia (8). Thirty-seven of the international students were U.S. passport holders with 12 holding dual citizenship. Twenty-six of those with a U.S. passport were educated abroad in schools that taught in English. Only 5 of the 26 had SAT scores above the average for the entire first-year class, and some were significantly below the average. It looks like this cohort benefited from the less standardized admissions considerations applied to international students. Perhaps fewer of them would have been admitted if they had been included in the regular decision process. The Admissions Council will be tracking the academic progress of this group to learn if adjustments should be made for consideration of similar applicants in the future. 5. Graduate and Professional Programs. The number of applicants for graduate programs in Dedman College dropped from 580 in 2007 to 543 this year, but more students enrolled (112 in fall 2008, 90 in fall 2007), probably because there was an increase in the stipends. It was suggested that in addition to more tuition and fee waivers, we could get more applicants if we could afford to bring prospective graduate students to our campus for a visit. The number of applicants was also down in the Lyle School of Engineering. They attribute this in part to cohorts from Lockheed Martin graduating from the Master’s programs and no new cohorts being enrolled. The Lyle School is reexamining its application process, the length of which can extend to months and discourages some applicants. Graduate applications in the Cox School of Business have increased after a 5-year dip. Nationwide applications to fulltime MBA programs are up 40% while those to Cox are up 70%. And these are high quality students. An increase in enrollment is not uncommon during a recession. Graduate programs in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development are also growing. Since a new director was hired for the Master of Liberal Studies, there has been a 35% increase in enrollment. One of the School’s goals is to increase the number of students pursuing secondary teaching certification, since most of the current students are pursuing certification in the primary grades. SMU is partnering with Teach for America, by offering a Master’s degree program that will incorporate a student’s experiences with Teach for America. The Master in Bilingual Education has lost its federal funding and is in transition. The MS in Counseling is growing so quickly that they had to cap the enrollment. Likewise, the MA in Dispute Resolution can afford to be very selective. Students working for the PhD in Education Research are 100% supported by federal research grants. Dean Chard wants to increase the research output from the School and so he plans to limit the growth of programs. Joe Hoselton is the new coordinator for graduate admissions in Meadows School of the Arts. His goal is to streamline the admissions protocols for the 8 very diverse divisions into one cohesive effort. A year ago the School began accepting applications online through Collegenet. Automation has increased the number of applications and reduced the number of random inquiries. An endowed MA in Advertising will be launched this fall in four disciplines: Creative, New Media, Planning, and Management. The Division of Cinema-Television is still getting organized under new leadership; it faces a lot of competition from schools on the East and West coast. This spring the Division of Theatre held a call-back weekend on campus for its most promising acting and design candidates, which should help applicants and the School make the best decisions. Dedman School of Law and Perkins School of Theology were not asked to report this year. They will be invited next year. Faculty Ethics & Tenure Committee Spring 2009 Report to the Senate1. The chair of the committee for 2008-2009 stepped down in March 2009. At that point the committee had not yet convened. Ken Springer, a current committee member, agreed to serve as ad interim chair. 2. The committee reviewed the case of an assistant professor who had been denied tenure in 2009 and who had then approached the committee with various grievances. The committee was unable to identify any grievance that called for further investigation on the committee's part. 3. The committee is currently following up on two cases in which a Dean made decisions concerning junior faculty that appear to be inconsistent in substance with university policy. Ken Springer, chair Faculty Ethics & Tenure Committee Academic Policies Committee Report, April 27, 2009Faculty Criminal Background CheckThe procedures for a criminal background check for faculty hiring were installed this academic year (08-09). Ellen Jackofsky identified all chairs and division heads involved with the hiring process this year, and sent them the following email: “As you are aware, this year SMU installed a criminal background check as part of the hiring process. The Academic Policies Committee of the Faculty Senate has been charged with oversight of the implementation of this new policy. Please let me know about any negative ramifications of this new policy, including such things as a) potential job candidates who decided not to apply for a job at SMU because of the policy, or b) difficulties encountered after the results of the background check were received by SMU. Also, if you have any suggestions about how the procedures could be improved, please pass these along.” At this point, no complaints or suggestions have been received about these procedures. Ellen Jackofsky also informed me that Valerie Parker has not had any problems connected with the faculty criminal background check. Academic Titles A sub-committee of the APC, formed by the Faculty Senate in Spring 2008, was charged to rewrite the University Policy and Procedures Policy Number 6.24 which describes academic titles. The revision was passed to Legal Affairs in March 2008, where it remains more than one year later. This delay is most likely due to the leadership transition from Leon Bennett to Paul Ward in January 2009. After their review, it is our expectation that the edited document will be returned to the sub-committee for re-examination. It will then be passed along to the Faculty Senate for approval. Guidelines for Concurrent Appointment The Guidelines for Concurrent Appointment was presented to the APC by Dennis Foster on October 22, and subsequently approved by the Faculty Senate on December 3, 2008. The general topic of joint appointments with the Bush Institute continues to be an important issue, and this document is intended to assure that an adequate fire-wall exists between the university and the institute. Some of the information contained in this document is also covered in the revised academic titles document (see above), but the Guidelines for Concurrent Appointment provides a more detailed documentation of this specific portion of the policy. Transfer of Texas Common Course Number Courses A resolution to standardize and streamline the course transfer procedures was presented by Christine Buchanan to the APC on October 22, in her role as a member of SMU’s Strategic Enrollment Management Group. The current limit of 15 post-matriculation transfer hours constrains students who a) desire to study abroad at non-SMU sites, and b) elect to take advantage of the university’s new leave of absence policy. The resolution recommends allowing students to transfer up to 30 hours after they matriculate at SMU, and was approved by the Faculty Senate on November 5, 2008. Faculty Disposition Form For matters of Academic Dishonesty, the faculty disposition form is an alternative to referral to the Honor Council, where a faculty member can fill out a document on a particular incident related to academic honesty. Given the general lack of awareness about this procedure among the general faculty, all Chairs were informed about the faculty disposition form at the Chairs’ Retreat in Fall 2008. Responding to a question brought up at a Faculty Senate meeting in Fall 2008, I asked DeWayne Blundell (Assistant to the Dean of Student Life) to clarify what happens following a second filing. When a Faculty Disposition Form is received by the Honor Council, it is kept in the student’s file but no action is taken. Upon receipt of a second Faculty Disposition Form on that same student, this matter is automatically referred to the Honor Council. An investigator then meets with all parties involved to collect information. Following this, a hearing occurs involving both student and faculty member(s). A decision is made at that time regarding the student, and all parties are informed about the outcome. Respectfully submitted, Alan S. Brown, Chair Academic Policies Committee Faculty Senate Benefits Subcommittee University Benefits Committee, April 15, 2009 ReportSTANDING CHARGES:Review, and forward faculty suggestions regarding benefits: Ongoing monitoring in place. Review changes in benefits proposed by administrative offices or others and make recommendations concerning the proposed changes: Ongoing monitoring in place. Review existing benefits plans and make suggestions for improvements: Ongoing monitoring in place. Present faculty recommendations concerning benefits to the administration prior to the time of budgetary planning: Ongoing monitoring in place. Engage in an over-all evaluation of the benefits package: Ongoing monitoring in place. ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOR AY 08-09: Monitor progress on the university’s child care facilities and report the findings to the Senate: Ongoing status in the discussion/committee phase under the guidance of the associate provost. Pursue the addition of Roth 403(B) to retirement account options: Mission accomplished---- the Roth 403(B) account option starts this summer with TIAA-CREF and will be expanded to Fidelity and Vanguard in the year ahead. Monitor developments of benefits changes and methods for communicating benefits information: A quarterly meeting of the UBC Chair with the Director of Human Resources and the Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Business Services is now in operation. Collaborate with the university committee on retirement oversight to ensure adequate retirement benefits: The chair of the UBC has been added to the SMU Retirement Plans Advisory Council to provide coordination between the two committees. Monitor and assess implementation of Emeriti program: Ongoing monitoring in place. Helen Regan, HR Manager for Benefits, has worked closely with the UBC retiree representatives to address service issues with the Aetna Life Insurance Company. Investigate the possibility of having an ombudsman to assist faculty in making retirement decisions: For initial progress, a Financial Care Day was sponsored by SMU HR on April 6. The SMU Faculty Senate Executive Committee has discussed the idea of SMU retaining a fee-based financial planner for employees. Conceptually, the financial planner would develop fluency in the SMU benefits program and could be hired by an employee for an advisory session. ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF NOTE: Successful implantation of the Naturally Slim Healthy Lifestyles program (see attached). Bill Detwiler will provide a review of this program at the April 15 Faculty Senate Meeting. Special open enrollment for long-term care insurance between April 6-24, 2009. During this period, employees may enroll without any evidence of insurability as to medical questions and acceptance is guaranteed. To further enhance representation of the staff, the past president of the SMU Staff Association, Bill Dworaczyk, has been added to the UBC. The updated organization chart of the SMU Department of Human Resources is attached. The SMU HMO plan provided by Aetna is under review for future viability. The principal challenge is that our participant pool is now down to 107 employees, and the premium rates continue to rapidly escalate based on the claim history of that participant pool. Sincerely, Don Vandewalle UBC Chair Student Policy Committee of the Faculty Senate, Annual Report 2008-09The SP Committee met five times this academic year to discuss and implement some of the charges set forth by the Faculty Senate. In particular, we worked on points 1 and 4 of the additional charges for AY 2008-09: 1. Identify Senate actions that might be taken to support the work of the First Year Experience Task Force, the Honors Task Force, and the International Task Force. 4. Meet with the Director of International Students to discuss the experience of international students on the SMU campus. Some background information on the three Task Force Reports mentioned in point 1 above: Task Force on Honors Programming; Report submitted to Provost: April 25, 2007 · 187 pages, 5 major goals, 27 specific recommendations · Report is not available from Provost website but can be found here: http://blog.smu.edu/forum/2007/10/task_force_links.html · Members of Task Force: Harold W. Stanley, Chair Janis Bergman-Carton Mark Chancey Praseetha Cherian Dennis Cordell, ex officio David Doyle, ex officio Maggie Dunham Tom Fomby Jim Hopkins Bonnie Jacobs Sterling Morriss Ellen S. Pryor, ex officio Miguel Quiñones Nina Schwartz Willard Spiegelman Patty Wisian-Neilson Rick Worland Task Force on International Education; Report submitted to Provost: April 25, 2007 · 118 pages, 5 major goals, 22 specific recommendations · Report is not available from Provost website but can be found here: http://blog.smu.edu/forum/2007/10/task_force_links.html · TBA Members of Task Force: John Mears, Chair (Dedman College, History Department) Ruben Habito, Vice-Chair. (Perkins School of Theology) Johan Elverskog (Dedman College, Department of Religious Studies) Nina Flournoy (Meadows School of the Arts, Department of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs) Robert A. Hunt (Perkins School of Theology, Global Theological Education) Linda Kao (Cox School of Business, Director of MBA Global Education) Ndiva Kofele-Kale (Dedman School of Law) Jose Lage, (School of Engineering) Olga Lopez-Valero Colbert (Dedman College, Department of Foreign Languages) Daniel Orlovsky (Dedman College, Department of History) Carolyn Sargent (Dedman College, Department of Anthropology Greg Warden (Meadows School of the Arts, Division of Art History) Stephen Wegren (Dedman College, Department of Political Science) Janet Pollman Kafka (Honorary Consul of Spain) John Hunninghake, Student Representative Michael Clarke, ex officio (SMU International Office)
Task Force on First-Year Experience; Report submitted to Provost: n/a (most likely sometime in 2003) · 10 pages, 7 major goals, 29 specific recommendations · Report was never available on Provost website (and is currently not even mentioned on Provost website) but electronic documents containing the report were made available to our committee per our request though the office of Associate Provost Tom Tunks · Members of Task Force: n/a Due to the lack of information on the First-Year Experience Task Force, we only worked on the first two reports (Honors and International Education). Honors Task Force Report (HTFR) We met with Harold Stanley (Political Science) and David Doyle (General Education) to learn more about the experience of the Honors Task Force. Some of the highlights from our discussion: - Obvious link between the HTFR and the Centennial Campaign - One of the common goals: Increase the number of Presidential Scholars - Sense that SMU lagged benchmark universities in attracting top students - Lack of central offices for SMU Honors Community o Basement of Clements Hall would be a suitable location - There is an Honors Website and Honors Convocation at SMU, but no Honors Week - HTFR recommends creation of Residential Community (inspired by Vanderbilt’s residential college system) in the context of providing a second year of on-campus housing for UG students - Residential Community could be an alternative to SMU’s Greek System (in comparison, Rice University has no Greek system but has residential colleges) - Unclear whether there will be an Honors Residential College (right now, SMU has Honors Dorm) - Consensus among task force members that residential college system benefits all students, not just Honors students - HTFR recommends more undergraduate research opportunities (particular interesting for Honors students) as well as capstone course for Honors students - To improve retention of Honors students, SMU must improve its out-of-classroom experience (as most Honors students who leave SMU early cite this as their primary reason) - Starting in the fall of 2009, there will be an Honors Advisor for all undeclared majors (mostly 1st year students) - So far, no additional funding for the honors program at SMU has been noticed as result of the HTFR - Implementation status of the 27 recommendations listed in the HTFR (based on survey of select task force members): o Implemented recommendations: n/a o Implementation in progress: n/a o Not yet implemented: n/a International Education Task Force Report (IETFR) We met with Dan Orlovsky (History) and Michael Clarke (International Office) to learn more about the experience of the International Education Task Force. Some of the highlights from our discussion: - Clear link between IETFR and Centennial plan - One of the common goals: Make SMU more international - IETRF attempts to address needs in two areas: o Improving the international education of domestic students o Making SMU more attractive for foreign students - Deficits/goals for domestic students: o Only 26% of undergraduate students at SMU have some foreign education experience due to: § Fear of the unknown/Not willing to leave comfort zone § Greek system (fear of losing friends or missing social events) § Cost of studying abroad (enrollment is down by 20% for summer 2009) o Foreign language education at SMU is not very strong compared to benchmark schools o Difficulties in expanding SMU Study Abroad Program: § SMU’s study abroad program is faculty-led (as opposed to using local teachers) § Few faculty are willing to offer study abroad courses in summer o Possible model: University of Minnesota and Michigan State § Designed advising sheets that fit in study abroad plans during early stages of curriculum planning - Deficit/goals for foreign students o In 2008, there were 375 international undergraduate students (4.6% of total) and 525 international graduate students o In addition, there were 50-60 international undergraduate students with dual citizenship (not included in 375) o SMU’s foreign undergraduate students come from a large number of countries o Most popular countries of origin: § India, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Central America o International undergraduate students are only eligible for merit aid (at most $10,000) § As a result, there is no socio-economic diversity among this group - Since spring of 2007, SMU has an Education Abroad Council (with members from all 5 undergraduate schools; current chair: Dan Orlovsky) - Implementation status of the 22 recommendations listed in the IETFR (based on survey of select task force members): o Implemented recommendations: 2 o Implementation in progress: 14 o Not implemented: 6 Report submitted to SMU Faculty Senate: April 2009 Thomas Osang, Economics (Dedman), Chair Doug Reinelt, Mathematics (Dedman); Luigi Manzetti, Political Science (Dedman); Alice Kendrick, Advertising (Meadows); Ed Fox, Marketing (Cox); Rajani Sudan, English (Dedman) Report of Athletics Policies Committee, Spring, 2009
In terms
of competitive success, SMU athletics continues in a familiar pattern.
Success in the highest-profile sports, football and men’s basketball,
remains elusive, but we are regionally and nationally competitive in a
range of Olympic and “country-club” sports. The recent regular-season
Conference USA championship won by the women’s basketball team is a
highlight of this year’s athletic season. |
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