NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY

MEETING OF THE FACULTY SENATE

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

4:00 P.M.

Workman 101

MINUTES

1. Call to order. Dr. Dave Westpfahl, Chair, called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.

2. Approval of the minutes of September 4, 2007.  A motion was made to approve the minutes, followed by a second. The minutes were approved as written.

3. Announcements.

a. Faculty Compensation for External Funding (see attachment)

Dr. Van Romero, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, told the Senate that at the 2005 Retreat, the Board of Regents voiced concern over faculty turnover, and how to better recruit and retain faculty who won't leave after a few years. One obvious answer is salary compensation; however, Romero said, Tech's "hands are tied" because the state of New Mexico funds academic salaries. When comparing Tech faculty salaries to its peers, the differential is 10- to 12 percent lower for Tech. Romero explained that Regents are considering a plan whereby faculty academic salaries would be viewed as salary earned from a tenure standpoint. Salary rates could increase by 20 percent when working on external funding. "The draft policy has been reviewed, and will pass muster with federal auditors," Romero said.

Romero said the Regents wanted feedback from faculty. The plan would be implemented on a trial basis for one year. "If it works out, we'll put the final policy in place," he said. Romero used as an example a faculty member with an academic salary who garnered NSF funding for the summer. That faculty member, he said, would be paid at a rate 20 percent higher than his/her academic contract. He then stood for questions.

In reply to the first inquiry from the floor, Romero said the new policy has nothing to do with Tech's consulting policy. In reply to a question about how the 20 percent figure was arrived at, he replied that the institute would like to see a 5- to 10 percent increase for faculty, hopefully for the three-month summer period. "The 20 percent looks big, but when you sum it all up, it's really not," said Romero. Tech President, Dr. Daniel H. López, said the figure was a Higher Education Department (HED) data point. "Research universities in New Mexico are 12 percent below their peers," Lopez said. "Anything that is going to increase salaries up to 12 percent is going to be better than what we have now."

Romero explained that Regent Richard Carpenter wanted to ensure that the policy not interfere with the tenure process. He asked rhetorically: "What if you're working on tenure, but not doing service? It would be up to the academic vice president to make the decision as to whether or not you qualify." Romero said a faculty member seeking external funding would need his request approved by the academic vice president and department chair. "It only works well when there are checks and balances between academics and research," explained Dr. Peter F. Gerity, Vice President for Academic Affairs. The governance was set up to ensure faculty are making satisfactory progress toward tenure, so that research activities would support rather than interfere with that progress.

"It sounds like a fine policy," commented Dr. Tom Kieft, who also thanked López for his continuing efforts to bring Tech salaries up to its peers. The salary issue is the number-one priority of the Council of Presidents, said López, who serves as the board's president. Five percent has become standard, he said. "It's not bad, but it's not a catch-up percentage," he added. If adopted, there would be some disparities in opportunities through no fault of the disciplines themselves. For example, it would be difficult for faculty in Humanities to get a large contract. Meanwhile, some employees of EMRTC, the Bureau of Geology and PRRC do teach, but are primarily researchers. "These are the kinds of issues that should be aired," López said.

When Romero was EMRTC director, the engineering staff would be given raises while there was money available to do so. But, he emphasized, he could not raise salaries higher than those of faculty. "As faculty salaries are raised, then others can be, too," he said. "Are all federal agencies going to buy in?" asked Dr. Brian Borchers. "DCAA is the only auditor," replied Romero. "The others will accept that." Dr. Rob Bowman asked why Gerity or a department chair would deny a faculty request. "Is this a way to punish (them)?" Responded Gerity, "It's a way to recruit good people.you can't buy a mineral or petroleum engineer - we need a competitive wage to recruit against that tide, and the markets keep changing." Gerity added that it's a "huge investment" to recruit new faculty.

When asked for an example of why the faculty request for external funding would be denied, Romero replied with the following scenario: The tenure committee for a young faculty member sees some problems with his/her teaching. The committee would like the member to focus more time on teaching rather than research. Or, said Gerity, most often the teaching is good, but the person needs to get the research going. "There are checks and balanced between the chair and the vice president, so we can keep a handle on things," Gerity said. Maybe a new faculty member isn't ready for the added duties. "There are lots of reasons to say no," he said.

"I'm all for people getting paid more, but are we now rating research 20 percent more than teaching?" asked Dr. Bill Stone. "No," replied Romero. "The state has a formula for equipment and the same thing for academic salaries," he said. "I'm just concerned about what that's saying," said Stone. The bigger issue, said Dr. Lynda Walsh, is that Humanities faculty teach a three-three load not designed to denigrate teaching. Romero reiterated: "For all the state's university presidents), the number one priority on their list every time is higher faculty salaries. .What comes out (of the Legislature) is disbursed across the board among faculty and staff," Romero said. "We control the level of buy-out," he continued. "There is no blanket approval." Romero added, to laughter: "You guys aren't here for the money anyway. . . .If you want to make more money, go to work for GE."

López told faculty this is his 15 th year trying to establish salary standards at Tech that are at last in the range of its peers. "If we don't do something, I'm afraid we won't demonstrate the critical nature of this issue to the Legislature," he said. Romero, addressing Humanities faculty, encouraged them to work with their colleagues, and become a part of their research efforts. The NSF, he said, likes to see cross- disciplinary efforts. "There's room for Humanities in a lot of this, especially TC, in purely scientific research grants," Romero said.

López said the policy won't go to Regents until sometime next year. "There ought to be a vote," he said, as to how faculty feel about it. Romero agreed. "We'd like to take a consensus back to the Board, along with what issues might pop up," he said.

b. Institute Software Support and Policies

Borchers spoke on behalf of Dr. Rick Aster, who was to speak on behalf of Library Director Owen Ellard, who was on leave. In their absence, the matter did not go forward.

c. Library Announcement - B. Borchers.

On behalf of the Library, Borchers announced a talk on Thursday, Oct. 18 at the Skeen Library featuring Dr. Thomas Bowles, Science Advisor to Gov. Bill Richardson. Dr. Bowles will deliver the keynote speech at the meeting here of the State Library Association.

d. Socorro Chamber of Commerce - C. Tiegs.

Tiegs was speaking on behalf of Aster on marketing Tech to diverse audiences, and raising awareness among potential students. The Chamber also can help departments recruit and retain faculty. Tiegs said the Chamber prepares packets with information on Socorro schools and other local amenities. Chamber representatives can even meet with individual families, and help set up meetings with the schools, or with Realtors, "to help them get a taste of the community," said Tiegs. "The information packets can be custom to your needs," she added. Faculty can contact either Aster or Tiegs, both members of the Chamber Board of Directors; or they can contact the Chamber directly.

e. Tanja Pietrass.

Dr. Pietrass announced a workshop on Nov. 8 on how to avoid bias in the classroom. Interested faculty are asked to RSVP to Pietrass by email.

f. Luz Barreras - Course Offerings.

Registrar Barreras reminded faculty that all course offerings are due October 1, and that she is awaiting a response from five departments. "Please submit course offerings ASAP," she said, adding that offerings would be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. P.J. Carter also is working on a final exam schedule, she said. No response from faculty on the schedule will be interpreted as a "yes," Barreras said. Otherwise, "let us know," she said. The schedule will be posted on the Registrar's website and sent to department secretaries. Barreras also reminded faculty that Tech has adopted a two-year catalog schedule, but that any changes would be posted online. Mid-term grades are open on BanWeb, and summer grade verifications are due soon, she said.

g. Dr. Gerity.

Gerity reminded faculty that final tenure packets are due December 15, and that ABET will be making a site visit to the Computer Science Department next week. He also thanked the faculty who had signed up for the Ray Landis teaching workshop on October 5. "We have 24 so far," Gerity said. "If you'd like to attend, let Debby (Olguin) know."

h. Richard Sonnenfeld - American Association of University Professors.

Dr. Sonnenfeld announced that non-tenured faculty can join the association for half-price. Sonnenfeld read the statement of purpose. "It's a really good organization," he said. "The main thing they do is censure institutes that do not respect academic freedom." New Mexico Highlands University was censured by the group, Sonnenfeld added.

4. Committee Reports.

a. Nominating Committee - Voting on Officers.

Dr. Tom Kieft, chairman of the Nominating Committee, cited a revised list of nominees for various committees. "We've taken care of the discrepancies," he said, referring to errors in the list of nominees presented at the Sept. 4, 2007 meeting. Kieft moved to accept the list of nominees, followed by a second from Borchers. Dr. David B. Johnson noted that he did not recognize any of the members of the Distance Education Committee as having served before. The motion passed.

Kieft then read four proposed changes to the Standing Rules of the Faculty Senate, with the last being the most radical, he said. This change would require certain committees to meet and report back to the Senate at least once a year. Kieft moved for approval, and again Borchers seconded the motion. Bowman made a motion to table the issue, with a second from Dr. Dave Raymond. Bowman's motion failed on a hand- count vote. Stone noted that the role of Ombudsman had fallen under the umbrella of the Institute Senate, but that "this group has taken over appointing them." Dr. Mark Topliff reminded the group that the Director of the Library should be added as an ex-officio member of the Committee on Campus Computing. The motion passed. (The updated Standing Rules were posted at: http://externalweb.nmt.edu/aaffairs/faculty%20senate%20officers_standing%20comm_2007-2008.htm

5. Old Business. None.

6. New Business

a. Graduate Council Meeting - Minutes

Graduate Dean Johnson introduced catalog changes, the first a proposal for a Graduate Certificate Program in Electrical Engineering. Johnson said the New Mexico Council of Graduate Deans has convinced the HED of the program's merit, and that Gerity would have to reassure the HED as well. The EE Department was first to respond, Johnson said, and on behalf of the Graduate Council, he moved for approval of the proposal. Borchers seconded the motion.

Proposal for a Graduate Certificate Program in Electrical Engineering

The Electrical Engineering graduate certificate program is aimed at practicing engineers wanting to increase their exposure to electrical engineering at the graduate level while not being tied to a degree program. The program is designed to provide a rigorous upgrade to the student's skills in electrical engineering while focusing on topics of interest to the student.

The certificate program requires a minimum of 16 credit hours of graduate course work. The course

requirements are:

. EE521 Measurement and Instrumentation (4 credits)

. One 4 credit electrical engineering graduate course

. One 3 credit or higher electrical engineering course at either graduate or upper undergraduate level.

. One 3 credit or higher graduate course in either mathematics, physics, engineering or computer science.

. EE590 Independent Study (2 credits) supervised by a member of the electrical engineering department.

During discussion, Johnson noted that the department chair would have to approve a student's two-credit Independent Study course as part of the certification program. "So the only channel for oversight is the department chair?" asked Dr. Penny Boston. "Correct," responded Johnson. "The department chair and faculty." Johnson said the EE Department planned to begin recruiting students immediately following HED approval. The motion passed.

The second change was to add two new catalog courses to the Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department. Johnson moved for approval, followed by a second from Borchers. The motion passed.

ADD: MATE 501, Foundations of Materials, 3cr

Prerequisite : Graduate standing or consent of instructor

This course introduces the fundamental elements of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites to graduate students with undergraduate degrees from disciplines other than Materials Engineering.

ADD: MATE 575, Introduction to Nano Materials, 3 cr, 3 cl hrs

Prerequisite : Graduate standing or consent of instructor

An introduction to physical basics of nanosystems, physics and chemistry of nanostructure synthesis and fabrication. Other topics include: semiconductor nanostructures, magnetic nanostructures and spintronics, molecular nanostructures, electron transport in nanosystems, optical effects in nanosystems, nanomachines,

nanoscale biological assemblies, nanocomposite materials.

Kieft returned to announce the results of the paper balloting. Faculty Senate officers for 2007 - 2008 are: Chairman, Dr. Dave Westpfahl; Vice Chairman, Dr. Tom Engler; and Parliamentarian, Dr. Richard Sonnenfeld.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Valerie Kimble