Faculty Senate Minutes | November 16, 2022

Committee reports to the Senate. 
Guest presentations: Ande Thompson, Institutional Research

Faculty Senate Meeting

Note: To facilitate open discussion, the identity of most Senators making comments or questions is not recorded. Such comments as recorded here are generally not verbatim. The identity of comments from Senate Officers and Senate Ad Hoc and Standing Committee Chairs are given, as is the identity of persons commenting in their official administrative capacity (e.g. EVP, Provost, or College Dean.) 

Call to Order

President Tracey Banks called the Senate to order on Zoom.

Approval of October 19, 2022 Meeting Minutes (unanimous approval by affirmation)

Announcements and Updates

  • President Wente will give an address to the University on November 17 in Sutton Center
  • President Wente will give an address to the Faculty Senate in Spring 2023

Guest Presentation

  • Ande Thomspon from Institutional Research provided an overview of the new University Fact Book, available here: https://ir.wfu.edu/fact-book/

Committee Reports

  • Athletics Committee – Julie Wayne: see document in appendix.
  • Committee of Collegiate Senators – Olga Pierrakos: see document in appendix.
  • Compensation Committee – Katy Harriger: The committee met with Excutive Vice President Milam and John Wise (who oversees negotiated contracts with Aramark and Budd Group) and Dedee Johnston from Human Resources to discuss salaries of contract workers. Contract salaries are based on MIT cost of living calculation. In the next budget cycle, the plan is for contract workers to make $15. There have been summer reductions in employed contract workers in recent years which are linked to loss of youth camps that maintained summer activities on campus – there are now few students or campers on campus during the summer. These workers’ positions are retained so there is no need to reapply after summer – jobs are retained. University staff – not contract workers, but those employed directly by WFU – are operating in a fierce market where salaries aren’t matching those available outside of academia. 
  • Fringe Benefits – Melissa Jenkins: The in-person training required by Human Resources for new committee members by HR has been difficult. Some faculty have reported problems with finding access to Atrium health care providers for their specific needs: HR is working with Aetna to improve this situation.
  • Ad Hoc Committee on the Faculty Handbook – Brian Young: see document in appendix

New Business

  • Anti-Discrimination Policy: Mary Crosby, Associate Counsel, and Melissa Clodfelter, Human Resources, provided an update to the Executive Committee about the development of the policy. It was an interesting and positive discussion about the development of a comprehensive policy. The idea is to have a single office with a predictable and transparent system that applies to any type of discrimination in the workplace. 

Adjournment

Appendices

Categories: Minutes

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