GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

MEETING OF THE GENERAL FACULTY

Combined with a meeting of the

GENERAL FACULTY ASSEMBLY

Tuesday October 10, 2000, Student Center Ballroom

MINUTES

1. Said Abdel Khalik, Chair of the Executive Board, brought the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. and introduced the President for delivery of the State of the Institute Address.
2. President Clough first commented that the numerous achievements of the last year were summarized in the brochure distributed to the attendees. Tech has advanced from being a good regional school to national prominence. To establish us among the world’s best we must define the future and not emulate the past. As we enter the 21st century we must make it our century.

Quality of students continues to rise. Applications are up by 25 percent in the last two years. There is a demand for our services. For example, GTREP has 300 students and there has been a recent donation of $10M worth of land to establish a Campus in Savannah. Forty percent of our athletes were on the Dean’s list last Spring.

We need to invest in people and are reshaping campus-training programs which last year experienced a four-fold increase in enrollment. Last year we gained 10 young faculty CAREER awards; two faculty members were elected to the National Academy making a current total of nineteen. Research expenditures exceeded $274M, the sixth consecutive increase. Invention disclosures numbered 175 in the past year.

The Master plan involves partnership with the surrounding communities. For example, the Fifth Street project which is a $15M undertaking. The South side will house programs connected with the Atlanta community including the DuPree College of Management and the Executive Training Center. The North side will have a building for the Yamacraw project. Attention has been given to parking problems with the new State Street decks providing 850 places, decks planned for the SAC complex 500 places and eventually 1,500 places at the Fifth Street complex.

The Capital Campaign has gone well. The original goal was $350M and the amount raised to date is $574M. We shall continue to follow up events in order to cultivate the new friends secured through the campaign.

Clough stated that he saw four challenges to meet in the 21st Century. Undergraduate education, improvement of diversity, cultivation of faculty entrepreneurship and communication of our plans to those we wish to influence.

In recent years the graduate programs have expanded at a very rapid pace. Undergraduate programs have also increased in size and quality but undergraduates are not fully satisfied. One third of Tech’s matriculating students fail to graduate. MIT and Stanford graduate 92% and Michigan graduates 82%. Undergraduates feel that there is too little interaction with faculty outside the classroom. Emphasis on research is perceived as the reason why faculty are not available to students. There is a lack of engagement of undergraduate students in research. Faculty also have their concerns and cite the poor level of class attendance which diminishes the educational process. There is a need to form bridges between faculty and students. An excellent undergraduate experience is an integral part of a world-class research institution. Research and Education must be integrated. The President announced initiatives related to undergraduate programs.

• Creation of a $250,000 fund to promote undergraduate participation in research activities
• Closer connection of faculty to the classroom and to student laboratories. The President stated the goal of having every Regents Professor and every Endowed Chair, engage once per year in undergraduate instruction
• Recognition of Faculty efforts in teaching activities. Formation of a core curriculum oversight committee
• A special funding of ten new TA positions per year for three years to be based on proposals from schools. Extra resources for CETL to prepare TAs for roles as teachers
• Diversity on the campus must be promoted and welcomed. Currently 28 percent of students are female, 34 percent minorities and 48 percent white males; the proportion of African Americans is, however, far too low. The President is setting up an Institute-wide diversity management group which he will chair

We seek a better transfer of ideas to society. ATDC is the best of such institutions in the country. The percentage of our research that is performed with industry is the highest in the nation.

We must also improve our strategic communications. What do we want to be known for? Who is our audience? How do we communicate the message? We plan for an improvement in the Institution’s Communication strategy. For the first time we have issued an annual report. There needs to be an improved co-ordination of our communications efforts.

The presentation concluded with a five-minute video on the Fifth Street projects.

In answer to a question about the lack of a "College Town" environment, the President responded that the Fifth Street project includes retail activities and will drive development around the campus.

3. Said Abdel Khalik introduced a proposed procedure for the award of Emeritus status (see attachment) and moved that this be adopted for inclusion in the Faculty Handbook. In response to a question it was stated that the "Faculty Advisory Committee", referenced in the procedure, was that body required in each school by the Statutes. He stated that the procedure was formulated to cover only Academic Faculty, that the minimum period of service remained at 10 years (a Board of Regents requirement) and that the procedure would not preclude nominations by faculty. In response to a question concerning Emeritus status for "General Faculty" he agreed to modify the procedure to cover procedures for other campus units. Further, if the award was denied, a person then has the right to appeal to the President. Abdel Khalik accepted a request to change the word "will" to "must" in provision #4 of the policy and agreed to develop language to cover also non-academic cases. With these provisions there was a vote in favor and no dissent.

4. The President called for brief annual reports from Standing Committees of the General Faculty.

Faculty Benefits Committee Goetschalckx reported that the principal activities of the committee were:

• Discussion of the new Health Care Benefits plans
• Concerns about IRS audits of TDAs which will require Tech to revise the contracts with providers and which may lead to some carriers discontinuing activities at Tech
• Payment of parking costs from pre-tax income
• New child care facilities in Home Park
• Voluntary insurance benefits payable through payroll deductions

In response to a question, the President commented that the Governor understood the need for the next year pay raise to be higher than the previous year.

Faculty Honors Committee. LeBlanc reported that they intend this year to provide more information on awards and how to create effective nominations packages.

Faculty Status and Grievance Committee. Muzzy stated that the committee met in full session only four times and that most grievances were handled by two-person sub-committees. They had spent some time considering the "Alternative Dispute Resolution "process and problems in the definition of the faculty status of certain persons.

Statutes Committee. Marc Smith reported that they had worked on the following:

• A Statute covering "Parking" (rejected by the faculty)
• A Statute covering extension of probationary period for tenure (passed)
• Elimination of specific titles for administrators (passed)
• Provision for administrators to designate substitutes to sit on committees (passed)
• Changes to election procedures (work in progress)

Academic Services Committee. Bohlander reported that they had met monthly to consider infrastructures issues related to research and teaching. These included assistance for proposal preparation and class room technology. Their Library Subcommittee had been principally concerned with the issue of serials costs and subscriptions.

Welfare and Security Committee. Moore reported that they were considering parking enforcement, advocated the family-leave policy and considered child-care policy. They were also addressing concerns with security in the work place and building air quality matters. The committee has a concern about "follow through" mechanisms and will be bringing this to the attention of the Executive Board.

5. The President invited further business. He was asked whether, in his opinion, it is possible for Tech to move towards international prominence without a formal sabbatical policy. He replied that we needed to be creative in this matter. Our international connections are enhanced by Tech campuses in Metz and Singapore; also by the Study-Abroad experience.
6. There being no further business the President adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m. 

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Respectfully submitted

Edward W. Thomas

Secretary of the Faculty

October 11, 2000 [Corrected December 20, 2000]

……………………………………………….

Attachments and notes.

(1) Copy of agenda (Attached to the archival copy of the minutes)

(2) Attendance List (Attached to the archival copy of the minutes)

(3) "2000 State of the Institute" (A pamphlet-- attached only to the archival copy of these minutes)

(4) Emeritus Title Policy. (As approved at this meeting)

Emeritus status is an honorific title signifying distinguished service to Georgia Tech. Consistent with Board of Regents policy, the President may recommend to the Board that an employee be granted "emeritus" status upon retirement. The President’s recommendation will be based, in part, upon the recommendation of the unit in which the employee has served. The following procedure will be used to develop recommendations form Academic units.

1. Employee seeking the "emeritus" title shall submit a written request to the unit head prior to the planned retirement date.

2. The unit head will forward the request along with a detailed vita of the employee to the unit’s Faculty Advisory Committee.

3. The unit’s Faculty Advisory Committee will submit a written recommendation (either positive or negative) to the unit head.

4. The unit head shall prepare a written recommendation (either positive or negative), and shall forward such recommendation, along with the unit’s Faculty Advisory Committee’s recommendation and the employee’s vita, to the President for final action.

5. The unit recommendations should be conveyed to the President and the candidate no later than three months after the request date.