CALL TO ORDER:

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Adrian Reuben, on Tuesday, October 3, 2000, at 7:55 am.
The meeting was held in Admin./Library Room 107.

Senators Present:

Basic Sciences:  Daniel Knapp, Kathryn Meier, Philip Privitera, Jerry Webb, Mike Schmidt

Clinical Sciences:  Linda Austin, Peter Carek, James Carter, Thomas Gettys, Leonie   Gordon, Mark Lyles, Timothy Lyons, Janice Key, Paul Pritchard, Maria Lopes-Virella, Subbi P. Mathur, Naren Banik, J. Philip Saul, Terrence O'Brien, Adrian Reuben

Dental Medicine:  Elizabeth Pilcher

Health Professions:  Gail Pashek

Library Science & Informatics:  Elizabeth Connor

Pharmacy:  Janice Hundley, Anne Spencer, Kurt Lorenz

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The September minutes were posted in the unapproved form on the Web site, and available for review prior to this meeting. The minutes for September were approved and passed.

TERM OF APPOINTMENT

Dr. Reuben submitted the Term of Appointment document to the Provost at the Deans' Council Meeting was approved by the deans and presented at the Presidentös Council where it was also approved.  The next step in this process will be to present the document to the Board of Trustees on October 13th, 2000.  If approved by the Board, it will then become official.

BOARD APPROVAL OF FACULTY HANDBOOK

Due to recently recognized mistake, the faculty Handbook as presented to the Board of Trustees in May 1999 was not actually approved. The Board reaffirmed its approval of the updated components but the incorporated form of the handbook was not actually approved. Dr. Rosalie Crouch will resubmit the 1999 Handbook to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting on October 13th, 2000. This process will legalize the Faculty Handbook.

PRESIDENTöS COUNCIL

Dr. Reuben referred to the section of the MUSC President's Web site http://www2.edserv.musc.edu/president/ which features meeting minutes for the President's Council. The Faculty Senate chair attends the President's Council meetings.

REVIEW OF SENATE OFFICES, COMMITTEES

Dr. Reuben explained the structure of the Senate, showed the Web site and suggested that Faculty Senate members download the Faculty Handbook and Faculty Senate Bylaws. In the future, the Faculty Senate should utilize its various committees in order to be more effective in protecting the rights of faculty.

Dr. Reuben explained the mandates of the various committees: Executive Committee, Governance Committee, Faculty Affairs Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, University Affairs Committee and the Electoral Unit Steering Committee, and distributed a sign-up sheet for committee membership. The responsibilities of these committees are outlined in the Senate Bylaws http://www.musc.edu/facsen/senate.htm.

Because of its myriad responsibilities including the elections and reviewing the Faculty Handbook, it may be necessary to ask more senators to serve on the Governance Committee, for example.

SENATE REPRESENTATION ON VARIOUS UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES

Dr. Reuben asked for volunteers to serve on various university-level committees as representatives of the Faculty Senate. Representation is needed on the Library Committee (Gail Pashek), Parking Committee (Dan Knapp, Jerry Webb), Communication Council, Research Council (Maria Lopes-Virella), Academic Council (Francine Margolius), Clinical Council (Phil Saul), Education Council, University Tenure Committee, Heathy South Carolina (Patrick Flume) and the President's Council (Chair/Vice Chair of the Senate).

ISSUES RELATED TO THE FACULTY HANDBOOK

Dr. Reuben enumerated several parts of the Faculty Handbook that need to be addressed in the near future: definition of "tenure" - rights and privileges; grounds for non-renewal of tenured and non-tenured faculty, due process, definition of mediation, which grievance process to follow; liability insurance; disaster preparedness; consultancy guidelines; annual performance reviews and post-tenure reviews; inclusion of letter acknowledging acceptance of Faculty Handbook as binding contract; and reference to "University Compliance Policy."

ISSUES RELATED TO BYLAWS

Dr. Reuben discussed aspects of the Senate Bylaws that need to be addressed in the near future: mechanism for changing bylaws; definition of alternates and their duties and rights; more precise definition of the elections process; resuming May elections; amending duties of standing committees; redefining eligibility for serving on the Senate such as excluding chairs, deans and other administrators; and definition of  "regular meetings of the senate with faculty."

SENATE FUNDS FOR LEGAL REPRESENTATION

Dr. Reuben presented a draft of a document written by Joe Good to formalize the process through which the Senate could solicit and collect funds for legal representation. We will post this draft document on the Web and send it to all senators for comments. Some of the wording (Senate president instead of chair) needs to be changed. Someone suggested that a good cover letter could be written to explain reasons for seeking legal advice. Several people emphasized the need to make personal contact with colleagues in our individual colleges to encourage contributions for legal representation.

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 a.m.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2000 at 7:45 am, Admin./Library Room 107.