Monday’s monthly Academic Senate meeting primarily discussed a proposed change to the document indicating requirements of promotion and tenure for university faculty.

The Promotion and Tenure Committee proposed four possible changes to the document, which will be permanently posted on the Provost’s Web site.

“The goal is to have one document for everybody on the Web site so that we are transparent about that process,” Provost John Pauly said.

The discussion centered on who should be able to approve faculty for tenure, what is required for a professor’s tenure possibility and how professors are evaluated.

The Promotion and Tenure Committee presented these changes in order to prevent confusion and maintain a standard policy, according to William Wiener, vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School, who presented the proposal to the Senate.

Pauly said overall, there needed to be a better job of performance reviews for faculty.

“We need to be tough with one another,” Pauly said. “We need to improve our faculty development and leadership as an institution.”

Each recommendation was considered separately, but the Senate approved all of them.

The Senate also thoroughly discussed the search for the university’s next president. Today at 3:30 p.m. in Zilber Hall, members of the Senate have the opportunity to meet with two members of the board of trustees, including Mary Ellen Stanek, who is the chair of the Search Committee.

Senate members were highly encouraged to attend the event.

“It will be a good opportunity for a constructive dialogue between the Senate and the representatives from the board of trustees,” said Edward Fallone, an associate professor in the Law School.

The Senate also approved the motion presented by the Faculty Council to approve the appointment of a faculty member to the Presidential Selection Committee.

“Tomorrow is an opportunity that acknowledges the benefit of listening to the faculty,” said Senate member Christine Krueger, an associate professor of English. “Faculty have high professional standards, and we want to act on those.”

Pauly reminded the Senate that this fiscal year will be tight with budgets.

“We’re committed to a balanced budget,” he said. “We really want colleges to not spend discretionary money. We’re trying to be prudent.”

Pauly also touched on the enrollment numbers for the 2010-’11 academic year. So far, 898 incoming freshman have submitted deposits. Pauly said the university is hoping for 1,950 students to enroll for next year’s freshman class.

“There are no colleges where we’re down since last year,” Pauly said.

The university has seen an increase in enrollment overall since last year.

Other meeting notes:

• Pauly made an offer to a candidate for the College of Arts & Sciences dean position, but no formal acceptance has been made. He said he was positive they would have a dean for next year and is not worried it has taken a while to find one.
• The university received a gift in excess of $1 million to support the Discovery Learning Complex.
• There is going to be a pilot program for “faculty activity reporting” online. There is going to be a task force involved in this process. The Senate was asked to provide three faculty representatives to this task force, which will take place during the August meeting.