Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

Monday, December 6, 2010
2520B UCC

Attendees: Laird Addis, Lorraine Dorfman, Rose Friedrich, Al Hood, H.D. Hoover, Ken Hubel, Patricia Kelley, James Lindberg, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Jack Rosazza, Robert Sayre, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Guests: Brenda Bradley, Debbie Millsap 

The meeting began at 9:32 AM.

Brenda Bradley and Debbie Millsap, staff from the Provost's office, were introduced. They are available to assist Emeritus Faculty Council. After the introductions they left the meeting.

The minutes of November 1, 2010 were approved as printed, passing by unanimous vote. 

Website: Ray Muston presented and led the discussion on the new EFC website.

The website committee, Nancy Sprince, Ken Hubel, Jerry Rose, Lorraine Dorfman, Jerry Walker and Ray Muston met on November 10 to review the emeritus website and the proposed changes. The website is currently accessed under the office of the Provost site by clicking on faculty organizations under Information for Faculty and Departments. The proposed "header links" include News, Service Opportunities, Insurance, and Wellness Opportunities and are based on priorities identified in the 2010 survey of EFC members. 

Nancy Sprince and Ray Muston met with Tom Rice and his staff on November 22 to review recommended changes to the website. The meeting concluded with the agreement that the proposed revision would be posted for test and review by the EFC prior to the December 6 meeting, when final changes would be made. 

After reviewing the website, several suggestions for change included listing Emeritus Faculty Council as the first entry in the title on the Home page. Following discussion, it was agreed to make no changes to the title listing. Other suggestions were to include summaries of the guest speaker presentations; announcements of future speakers and topics; and links to EFC minutes.

It was moved by Laird Addis and seconded by Patricia Kelley to make the proposed changes to the website by the end of December if possible. This was passed unanimously. 

FRIC Issues: Nancy Sprince reported on her meetings with Sheldon Kurtz and Tom Rice regarding FRIC Issues.

She met with Sheldon Kurtz, Co-Chair of the Funded Retirement and Insurance Charter Committee (FRIC) on November 15, 2010 and presented the results of the 2010 Emeritus Faculty Survey showing that the emeritus faculty were most interested in receiving information about proposed or actual changes in health and retirement benefits. She asked if the Emeritus Faculty Association, which now has members of the Emeritus Faculty Council in attendance at monthly FRIC meetings, could have an enhanced role and involvement in the FRIC committee, either as non-voting members or voting members of the FRIC Committee. 

Professor Kurtz explained that any change in the composition or representation on the FRIC would involve approval by the faculty Senate, Staff Council, student governance body, VP Sue Buckley, and President Mason. If a retired faculty member were added, another staff representative would have to be added to maintain faculty/staff balance on the committee.

Professor Kurtz stated he did not support adding an Emeritus Faculty member to the FRIC Committee. He thought that the current mode of communication was the appropriate one. His view of communication between FRIC and stakeholders is that he is accessible via phone calls or e-mails from those concerned and he will bring these concerns or question to the FRIC Committee. He will also meet with any interested stakeholders. He thought a good avenue for communication with retired faculty was the existing one, with an EFC member attending FRIC meetings and reporting to the emeritus faculty through EFC minutes or other modes we choose to employ to communicate with retired faculty. He stated that EFC members and other audience members attending FRIC meetings were allowed to address the FRIC Committee after all FRIC Committee members had completed their comments and questions.

Professor Kurtz stated that he will report the request of EFC for consideration as either a non-voting or voting member of FRIC to the FRIC Committee for their input.

Nancy Sprince also met with Tom Rice on November 22, 2010 and outlined a summary of the meeting with Professor Kurtz. Tom Rice suggested that EFC not pursue the issue of formal representation of emeriti on the FRIC Committee at this time. 

Other options suggested by EFC faculty included forming an ad hoc committee of emeriti and possibly UIRA members to address health insurance issues. There was general consensus among EFC members that an ad hoc committee may be a viable option in the future. 

Guest Speaker: Susan J. Curry, PhD, Dean and Distinguished Professor, College of Public Health was introduced. The topic was: "Tackling public health challenges of the 21st Century".

Dean Curry presented an overview of the College of Public Health. There are 71 primary faculty; 68 secondary faculty; 381 degree program students; and 233 full-time staff whose primary responsibility is assisting with grants. The College of Public Health offers a variety of programs and degrees within its five departments including a Master of Public Health, a Master in Hospital Administration, nine MS degrees and eight PhD degrees. In addition, there are 3 certificate programs. External funding accounts for 56% of faculty salaries. Faculty were awarded 156 grants in 2010. Principal investigators based in the college received $39.5 million and faculty who were co-investigators on projects outside the college received $36.5 million in funding in FY2010. Departments include: Health Management and Policy, Community and Behavioral Health, Occupational and Environmental Health, Biostatistics, and Epidemiology. The new CPH building will be dedicated Fall 2012.

Community engagement is a critical component in the College of Public Health. Through a wide variety of programs and activities the college’s faculty, staff, and students are providing critical public health expertise in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. During the past year outreach to 12,000 Iowans was provided. 

Challenges and Opportunities for the College of Public Health include:

• To partner with undergraduate colleges to establish articulation between undergraduate and graduate programs
• To give attention to public health priority needs to prevent crises, including behavioral risk factors.
• To promote public health preparedness, which is essential for emerging infectious disease challenges. Examples include resistant strains of tuberculosis and zoonotic infections.
• To promote understanding of another challenge, foodborne illnesses that account for 76 million illnesses per year.
• To bridge the gap between what we know and what we do in health care.
• To assess the benefits and risks of biomedical advances for health care literacy.
• To promote the integration of health information technology. In the average health care system there are 40 information systems that don't talk to each other. The concept of "health records trust" integrates across systems -- take from disparate systems and put them together.

Committee updates via e-mail reports:

Faculty Council Meeting: Tuesday, November 16 (Bob Sayre report): Jeff Cox asked that the Agenda for a future Faculty Senate meeting include a report from FRIC on changes in health insurance benefits. He explained that this is an important matter, and people need to be up to date. Elizabeth Altmaier, the outgoing UI representative to the Big Ten, point out that the UI is lowest in the conference in measure of gender equity in sports and recommended the Faculty Council pay more attention to this issue. Cynthia Joyce and Susan Johnson reported on the year's action in the Ombudsperson office. There are growing numbers of complaints about a lack of civility in staff and faculty behavior. Promotion criteria for research track faculty was discussed.

UIRA board meeting: November 9 (Pat Kelley report): UIRA archives have been moved to the UI archives in the Library. Ken Kurtz, Program Chair, announced that the wellness in motion program was well attended. The date for the annual meeting will be either April 7th or April 14. It was suggested that a more complete financial report be given at the annual meeting. The newsletter is sent by e-mail, except to those who request US mail. This saves a considerable amount of money. Nancy Sprince, EFC president, will check into adding a link to UIRA programs on the EFC website.

Spring 2011 Senior College Courses (Al Hood report): The planning for 2011 Senior College Courses is completed. Nine sessions, offering a wide variety of topics, will be offered. The first session will begin February 3, 2011. Classroom space was arranged for all sessions. The cost/session remains unchanged at $30 per enrollee.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Rose Friedrich

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

Monday, November 1, 2010

Attendees: Laird Addis, Lorraine Dorfman, Claibourne Dungy, Carol Fethke, Al Hood, Ken Hubel, Patricia Kelley, James Lindberg, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Gerald Rose, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Guest: Gary Fethke

The meeting began at 9:30 AM. The minutes of October 4, 2010 were approved with a correction.

Ray Muston updated the status of the Webpage. He suggested that the Council’s speakers be included. He has found that the site was not always user friendly. He requested volunteers to review the site and to suggest changes that would make it easier to use and beneficial to the emeritus faculty or other users. Meals on Wheels have asked for volunteers, but their link in the website is not readily accessible.

Nancy Sprince reviewed the meeting room and time of meetings. She questioned whether 2520B UCC was large enough. The group thought it was the correct size for now. She believed that we did not have enough time for the business part of the EFC meetings with the time allocation of 30 minutes for business followed by 60 minutes for the speaker. The Program Committee who invites speakers thought that some speakers need a full hour to get their message across and some may be reluctant to come to our meeting to speak if only given 45 minutes. The group discussion led to a general consensus that we would hold the business part of the meeting from 9:30AM until10:15 AM and then have the speaker start at 10:15 AM and end at 11AM. If the speaker needed extra time, most members said they could stay until 11:15 AM to give more time to those speakers who needed it.

Nancy Sprince relayed the information that Associate Provost Tom Rice was interested in having an emeritus faculty member on an ad hoc committee to review the Global Scholars and Faculty Scholars programs. EFC members were asked to contact Nancy or Tom Rice if they are interested or know of an emeritus faculty member who would be interested and qualified for this committee. 

Carol Fethke reported on FRIC. There is the issue of emeritus faculty not being allowed to participate even though they are present. It may take a change in the charter document to obtain a voice. Nancy Sprince will follow-up with a conversation with Sheldon Kurtz about this issue. Neither Carol nor Jerry Rose will be able to attend the December 3, 2010 meeting of FRIC and Patricia Kelley will go to that meeting. 

Committee Updates: 

Al Hood, Senior College: Because of the increased undergraduate enrollment there is a problem obtaining classrooms for the spring Senior College courses.

The following report on the October Faculty Senate meeting was submitted by e-mail from Bob Sayre:

The first report was from Corinne Peek-Asa, Jane Caton, and Peter Berkson, members of the Threat Assessment Team (TAT) that tries to identify persons and situations that might endanger the University. It was established in 2008 and has looked at 400 cases since then. The message is: if you know of someone who might become violent, call upon the TAT’s services by contacting campus police, Human Resources, Student Services, or other authorities.

Second report was from Mark Hale, of Information Technology Service, who is leading the “Web Accessibility Project,” charged with making the UI web more accessible to persons with disabilities. Not being able to use the web today is like being locked out of your office, he said. The blind and people with poor eyesight are at a terrible disadvantage, and the UI website has received very low scores on this. But measures are being taken to have the visual matter on our website convertible to speech. Remaining discussion was of revisions of the Post-Tenure Faculty Review Policy.

The guest speaker was introduced: Gary Fethke, Professor; former Dean of the Tippie College of Business; Interim President of the University of Iowa from June 2006 – September 2007. Gary provided a comprehensive overview of the financial structure of the University of Iowa as a public doctoral university. He pointed out that 85% of UI funding comes from patient services, tuition, grants and contracts, and fees, with the remaining 15% coming from state appropriations. There has been a long-term decline in (real) state funding per FTE student. To offset this decline per student in state support, tuition has increased, and so has the proportion of non-residents. But, non-resident tuition and patient fees, the largest growing components of revenue, are both dependent on choices that consumers make in increasingly competitive circumstances; it is important to recognize that both students and patients have other alternatives. Gary provided one way to understand what the university has to do to attract paying students, using “The University Value Chain.” This framework reflects the highly integrated (complementary) nature of the activities of student recruiting/ advising, education/teaching/research, career placement, outreach, and alumni donors. He showed how these activities, which create an interrelated system when effectively coordinated, can enhance the value of higher education. Many colleges within the university do a rather poor job in this regard, with there being considerable room for improvement. 

Over the years, state funding has facilitated numerous forms of cross subsidies and associated compromises within the University. Cross-subsidies that lead to ineffective, even loss-producing units may no longer be allowed to continue, and some difficult choices face the university regarding what programs to invest in and what programs to eliminate. The making of these tough decisions is the essence of effective strategy. As state appropriations and other forms of revenue fall, the most likely source of cross-subsidies is academic units that have large enrollments, low delivery costs, and relatively inexpensive faculty; these units generate surpluses that should be carefully targeted to support a fewer number of high-priority but financially-weaker units. Areas with little student demand, low levels of funded research, or few patients are most vulnerable. Gary also discussed how public doctoral institutions, such as UI, have different missions than public non-doctoral institutions, and why Regent's policy of providing similar levels of state support and, particularly, setting of the same tuition for institutions that have quite different missions and cost structures can threaten our research mission. The biggest challenge facing public research universities in an era of declining state appropriations is finding new ways of sustaining basic research.

Before the meeting ended, Carol Fethke discussed future speakers and asked for suggestions for speakers on aging. 

Meeting was adjourned at 11:10 am.

Respectfully submitted,
Jerry D. Walker

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., October 4, 2010

Elected Faculty Council Attendees: Laird Addis, Lorraine Dorfman, Claibourne Dungy, Carol Fethke, Rose Friedrich, Al Hood, H.D. Hoover, Ken Hubel, Patricia Kelley, James Lundberg, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Jack Rosazza, Gerald Rose, Robert Sayre, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker.

Guests: Jean Hood, President UIRA and Ken Kuntz President-elect UIRA
The meeting began at 9:32.
The president asked for progress or problems regarding the update of emeriti faculty whose e-mails had bounced back. A brief discussion followed. 

Volunteers for taking notes at each meeting were arranged: November: Jerry Walker; December: Rose Friedrich; February: Al Hood; March: Jack Rosazza; April: Lorraine Dorfman; May: Ray Muston.

The program for the fall semester was announced: Gary Fethke on University Finances on November 1, Dean Sue Curry from the College of Public Health on December 6. There will be no meeting in January.

Jerry Rose presented a brief report on the FRIC meeting. Open enrollment for next year’s benefits is planned for 10/29/10 through 11/21/2010. The majority of the meeting was devoted to discussing key issues related to a new health insurance plan that would replace CHIP 2. Among the topics discussed were: coverage; competition among providers; catastrophic coverage as an option; co-pay issues; broadening coverage to currently non-covered items such as hearing aids or acupuncture; and whether costs should be based on the number of persons covered or a family unit. FRIC will work on this program at the next several meetings.

A brief discussion was held on the merits of asking for non-voting full membership on University Charter committees. There was support for this idea and the President was asked to explore further.

The EFC web page and its new format were shown. Members are encouraged to look at their profiles and make suggestions/corrections and to suggest persons for the outstanding fellow emeriti. Members were also asked to make suggestions for updates/changes in the Retiree Handbook.

Our guests from University of Iowa Retires Association (UIRA) provided a brief profile of their organization, its history, purpose, board and committees. They have an active program to encourage membership which now includes 631 individuals from 461 households. Retired faculty and P&S staff and their spouses are welcome to joint; dues after their first year of membership are $10 per year. They publish the Gray Hawks Newsletter regularly for members and have an active website. 
The organization has a monthly program. In September they visited Miracles in Motion (a therapeutic horse farm); October 20 will be Lisa Bluder, Iowa Women’s Basketball coach; November 16 is a tour of the UI Recreation and Wellness Center. The full year’s schedule is available on the web site.

The organization sponsors a flu shot day and the annual meeting with Richard Saunders about retire benefits issues. Note, this meeting will not be held in 2010. They also co-sponsor (with the EFC and the Alumni Association) the Senior College.

The remainder of the meeting was devoted to discussion of ways the EFC and UIRA could cooperate or cross-reference each other’s activities and programs. One suggestion was to co-sponsor a part-day conference on topics of interest to retirees that would build on a shorter program the UIRA had last year. The program committee of EFC was asked to explore this idea.

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., September 13, 2010
UCC 2520B

Elected Faculty Council Attendees: Laird Addis, Carol Fethke, Al Hood, H.D. Hoover, Ken Hubel, Jim Lundberg, Norbert Malik, John (Jack) Rosazza, Gerald Rose, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

The meeting began at 9:31 AM.

President Sprince introduced herself and requested that the other attendees introduce themselves.

Al Hood presented a brief history of the EFC.

Nancy Sprince reported the results of the summer survey of emeritus faculty. 632 email questionnaires were sent out. Of those, 189 came back as invalid addresses. 443 appear to have received the emails but only 158 responded (a 35.7% response rate). The most noteworthy results were:

• 50% are in the local area 11 to 12 months a year
• 64% live in the local area
• The main interests of retirees who responded are monitoring and understanding developments in the health and retirement benefits programs.
• Detailed results will be available on the EFC web site

Associate Provost Tom Rice briefly attended the meeting. He stressed:

• He would like to increase his office’s support of EFC and emeritus faculty activities.
• He expressed an interest in having emeritus faculty play a greater service role in U of I activities.
• Email notices to emeritus faculty about service opportunities are one possible way to involve more emeritus faculty.
• The interim Provost position will shortly be filled.
• The new five year strategic plan (that can be found on the web) is more detailed than past university’s plans.
• His office has provided some funds to support key EFC members’ travel to national meetings. He requested that the EFC tell him what is needed to support EFC activities.

It was agreed that there is no need for a regular EFC meeting in January. Otherwise regular meetings take place from 9:30 – 11:00 AM the first Monday of each month in UCC 2520B through April, 2011. The date of the annual meeting in May will be announced at a later date.

A discussion of officer and committee positions culminated in the following assignments.

Faculty Senate/Council Representatives: No volunteers yet. Will request that Robert Sayre, Rose Friedrich (Al Hood as alternate) serve again as liaisons.

Emeritus Faculty Council Secretary: Rotating position by month; Carol Fethke for October 2010; Jerry Walker for November 2010; December 2010, February, March, April, May 2011 at a date to be determined.

Emeritus Faculty Council Liaison Representative to UIRA: No volunteers yet. Will request that Rose Friedrich and Pat Kelley serve again.

Elections Committee: No volunteers yet. Will request that Pat Kelley serve again and try to identify 2 others.

Emeriti Listserv, Web Site, and Handbook: No volunteers yet. Will ask Ray Muston to lead this. 

Senior College Members: Al Hood, Claibourne Dungy, and HD Hoover

Annual Meeting/Monthly Program Committee: Carol Fethke, Jack Rosazza. Will try to identify a third EFC member from the “west side” of campus to help with programming.

Research Council Representative: Kenneth Hubel and Jack Rosazza

University Libraries Committee Representative: Jerry Walker and Laird Addis

Funded Retirement and Insurance Committee Representative: Carol Fethke and Gerald Rose

Hancher Committee Representative: Norb Malik, Laird Addis, Jerry Walker

Proposed new committee member/liaison: Recreational Services: Jerry Walker is interested in serving on this committee. Nancy Sprince will check into the possibility of having an EFC member on this committee.

It was agreed that EFC meetings should have a guest speaker. Jerry Walker suggested Nancy Baker, head of U of I libraries, and Harry Ostrander, head of recreational services. Carol Fethke suggested Gary Fethke be invited to speak on developments in university finances.

Funded Retirement and Insurance Committee Report: Carol Fethke noted that FIRC minutes should be linked to the EFC webpage. She reported that the flexible benefits programs will be ending. CHIP II will be ending and a new health care insurance program may begin as early as 2012. She requested EFC members and retirees let the EFC’s FIRC committee know what they feel is missing in the current U of I Choice program. Results of the Early Retirement Plan II: The plan that required that approval of the early retirement requests result in a savings for the University. A total of 257 persons applied. Of the 14 faculty applications, 7 were approved. Of the 243 professional and scientific applications, 88 were approved. The first year projected savings is $1.1 million.

The meeting ended at 11:05 AM.

The next Emeritus Faculty Council meeting will be Monday, October 4, 2010 at 9:30 AM in room UCC 2520B (2nd floor of Old Capital Center). Our guest speaker is to be announced. It was suggested that Jean Hood, President of the Grey Hawks (UIRA) be invited to speak.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Rose
Acting Secretary

Minutes for the AEF Annual Meeting 

May 17, 2010
2117 MERF

Elected Faculty Council Attendees: David Carew, Claibourne Dungy, Carol Fethke, Rose Friedrich, Tony Franken, Al Hood, H.D. Hoover, Ken Hubel, Pat Kelly, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Gerald Rose, Robert Sayre, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Tony Franken at 10:07 AM.

President Franken thanked David Carew and Carol Fethke for today’s program.

Welcome: Tom Rice, Associate Provost for Faculty, welcomed attendees and sketched his background and plans for better integrating emeritus faculty skills and interests with the university’s needs. He also thanked Renee Sueppel for her work on behalf of the emeritus faculty.

Minutes: The minutes of the May 3, 2010 meeting for the Emeriti Listerv, Website and Handbook Committee should have read “Norbert Malik pointed out that UIRA and EFC web pages both provide links to the Retiree’s Handbook.” There being no other corrections the minutes were approved as corrected.

Funded Retirement and Insurance Committee Report: Carol Fethke noted that the committee’s activities for the past year are available on the web. Issues that received attention included incentives to use UIHC for medical needs due to the higher copayment costs for non-UIHC providers, the likelihood that CHIP II will be gone within one or two years, new retirees will no longer receive subsidized life insurance from the university but will be able to purchase it, most applicants for early retirement are professional and scientific employees rather than faculty, leaving the university’s health and dental insurance programs precludes ever returning to them, representatives from the UIRA and EFC jointly monitor emerging issues such as the impact of the newly passed health insurance law, and retiree health and dental insurance premiums are experienced based (so rates go up as retirees’ health needs rise). UIHC survey data on patient satisfaction have been collected but not been made available to the FRIC.

President’s Report: President Franken recognized and thanked current Emeritus Faculty Council members for their service this past year. Last summer’s Big 10 Retirees conference was hosted by the University of Iowa retirees associations and focused on academics. The University of Iowa’s Senior College was of interest because it is unique in the Big 10. The rates for using the new Wellness Center are $300 for all faculty members and $360 for the public. Retirees will not have access to a $150 (taxable) subsidy given to active faculty members. All emeritus faculty members are invited to attend Elected Faculty Council meetings. This year’s guest speakers were John Streif, Men’s Intercollegiate Athletics Trainer, David Drake, president of the Faculty Senate, Crissy Canganelli, executive director of the Shelter House, Nicole Nisly, Co-chair of the UI Charter Committee on Diversity, Chuck Green Assistant Vice President and Director of Public Safety, Edwin Holtum, Curator of Hardin Library’s John Martin Rare Book Room, and Tom Rice, Associate Provost for Faculty.

Faculty Council/Senate Committee Report:  Robert Sayre reported that he and Rose Friedrich attended Faculty Council and Senate meetings and, thanks to Senate President Drake’s efforts, EFC representatives are now permitted to participate in the meetings as well as observe all but closed door proceedings.

EFC Secretary: No report.

UIRA Committee Report:  Pat Kelly said the committee works jointly with Penny Hall, president of the UIRA, to monitor insurance and Senior College issues. A subcommittee consisting of Carole Fethke, Rose Friedrich and Ray Muston from the EFC and Richard Stevenson, Joseph Joynt, and Nancy Williams from the UIRA has been formed to focus on insurance issues. The EFC and UIRA have links to each other on their websites. Both groups voted to remain separate from the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute (OLLI) but to cooperate with it. This past year’s UIRA’s programs were quite successful. They included the flu clinic, the health insurance benefits meeting, the meeting on managing living arrangements when aging, and the annual meeting featuring the Maia Quartet. UIRA will emphasize recruiting new members as early retirees become eligible to join. New members will receive one year’s free membership in the UIRA. Current members will be asked to volunteer as hosts and hostesses at meetings. The annual UIRA picnic will be June 9, 2010. For more details visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~uira/resources.htm

Elections Committee Report:  Pat Kelly announced election results. H.D. Hoover (Education), Kenneth Hubel (Medicine) and Jerry Walker (Dentistry) were elected for second three year terms. John Rosazza (Pharmacy), Laird Addis (Philosophy) and Lorraine Dorfman (Social Work) were elected for new three year terms.

Emeriti Listserv, Website and Handbook Committee Report:  Norbert Malik reported that the committee’s main purpose is to keep the EFC website current. That is done by selecting an individual for each segment of the site who is responsible for suggesting updates. There were over 8,000 accesses to the site in 2009, up 160% over the previous year.

Senior College Committee Report:  Al Hood reported that the eight courses taught this year had been quite diverse (e.g., opera, sports, legal issues) and very successful. More than 800 people attended the courses. He noted that, consistent with motions passed by the UIRA and EFC, the Senior College would cooperate with OLLI but the two organizations would remain separate entities. All emeritus faculty members were encouraged to consider teaching in the Senior College.

Annual Meeting Committee:  No report

Research Council Committee Report:  Ken Hubel reported the Research Council and Graduate Council met to discuss plans for a program on ethics in research that will be a requirement for those who receive support from NIH and NSF. Procedures for identifying centers and institutes that are little known outside their own department or college were initiated. CLAS officers were asked to provide an inventory of research, scholarship or artistic activities and the name(s) of leaders. A questionnaire based on responses will request more detailed information to be used by the Vice President for Research to create a web page summarizing the information. The Council also reviewed the three interdisciplinary clusters of excellence that are being developed. They are: arts and letters, sustainability, and clinical and translational research. The initial topics chosen are water resources and sustainability, developmental and aging studies, and public humanities. Vice President for Research Cohen said questions and comments about these initiatives should be directed to him and he will keep Provost Loh informed about them. Cluster concepts are preliminary and many questions remain to be addressed.

Hancher Committee:  No report

Libraries Committee Report:  Jerry Walker said the five meetings this past year were primarily informational. Budget cutbacks have received much attention. Gifts to the libraries totaling about $986,000 were down 51% in FY2009 from the previous year. Library closings and moves (e.g., Mathematics moved to Main and Psychology moved to Hardin; and soon Geosciences and Physics to be moved to Biological Sciences - to be renamed “Sciences Library”) were noted. The corridor from the new Wellness Center north to the Main Library, Hubbard Park and IMU may be developed to encourage more student use of the area. From July 16-18, 2010 the second book fair will be held at the Main Library, Gibson Square, and other venues. Volunteers are sought for the festival.

Questions or Comments from the Membership: There were no questions or comments.

Passing of the Gavel: Outgoing President Tony Franken presented the gavel to incoming President Nancy Sprince. Nancy thanked Tony for his service. She noted that the missions of the Elected Faculty Council are to advise and assist the emeritus faculty and the University of Iowa. She suggested that it would be a good idea to use the coming year to assess how well these missions are being carried out in view of the fact this is the 10th anniversary of the EFC.

Memorial Moment: Colleagues who died during the past year were honored with all attendees standing for a period of silence.

Guest Speaker: David Carew introduced Professor Lan Samantha Chang, Director of the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop. Among other accomplishments, she graduated from Yale, Harvard, and the IWW. She also has been a fellow at Stanford, Harvard and Princeton, taught at Harvard and Princeton, received Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and published a novel and a collection of short stories. Her work has also twice been published in Best American Short Stories. The IWW was founded in 1936, the first creative writing degree program in the United States. It has achieved distinction since then. Alumni have received seventeen Pulitzer Prizes, most recently this year. Three U.S. Poet Laureates are graduates of the IWW. The Truman Capote Estate selected the IWW to administer the annual $30,000 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism. The IWW is consistently rated better than other writing programs like the respected ones at Stanford, Michigan and Texas. Those and many other programs were founded by IWW graduates so that there are now about 300 programs in the country. One result is that the IWW now must vigorously compete for top students and faculty. A key reason for IWW’s successes is its selectivity. For an entry class of about 30 next fall the IWW received almost 1,300 applicants. Another reason is that students receive inspiration, the key to writing instruction Professor Chang noted, from professors and peers. The one required course in their two year program is a workshop in their area of interest (fiction or poetry). There each student’s body of work is intensively critiqued by peers, a process that is encouraged outside formal course work in settings like Dave’s Fox Head Tavern. The required course and all elective IWW writing courses emphasize the process of writing, revision, defining success internally (rather than, for example, by publication or income) and coping with “hard truths” (like negative feedback). When discussing peer and published writers’ work emphasis is placed on how and why the piece is effective. Graduates of the IWW now work in areas like publishing and television as well as literature. Professor Chang hopes that more financial aid will become available for students, post-graduate fellowships, and faculty time for writing. Two of the most challenging aspects of Professor Chang’s job are attracting funding and finding time for her own writing. As an example of the demands on her time, as part of the selection process this semester she read about 500 applicants’ writings all the way through at least once. For more information about the IWW visit https://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:58 AM.

Next Meeting: The next Emeritus Faculty Council meeting will be Monday, September 13, 2010 in room in room B5 Jessup Hall at 9:30 – 11:00 AM. Our guest speaker is to be announced.

Respectfully submitted,


Jerry Rose
Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., May 3, 2010
B5 Jessup Hall

Attendees: David Carew, Carol Fethke, Rose Friedrich, Tony Franken, Al Hood, Ken Hubel, Pat Kelly, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Gerald Rose, Robert Sayre, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Tony Franken at 9:30 AM.

Minutes: There were no corrections to the minutes of the April 5, 2010 meeting.

Old Business: The rates for using the new Recreational Services building were clarified by Tony Franken. All faculty members will be charged $300 annually but retirees will not have access to a $150 (taxable) subsidy given to active faculty members. The public will pay $360.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council/Senate: The Faculty Senate met on April 27, 2010. New officers are Edwin Dove (associate professor of biomedical engineering) president, David Drake (professor of microbiology) past president, Richard Fumberton (professor of philosophy) vice president, Jon Garfinkel (associate professor of finance) secretary. The discussion of the post-tenure review policy was deferred until next fall. A research track policy for the College of Public Health was approved. After extensive discussion it was decided the sexual harassment policy required further consideration. President Mason’s address to the Senate noted there would be a two percent pay raise for professional and scientific staff. She noted the $53 million increase in research grants and the dance marathon’s $1 million contribution to pediatric research at UIHC. David Drake was highly praised for his outstanding work as president.

EFC Secretary: No report

UIRA: Pat Kelly said the annual UIRA picnic will be June 9, 2010. Next year the UIRA will emphasize recruiting new members as early retirees become eligible to join. Members will be asked to volunteer as hosts and hostesses at meetings. Jean Hood is the new president.

Elections: Pat Kelly reported that ballots will soon be counted. Results will be announced at the annual meeting May 17th.

Emeriti Listserv, Website and Handbook Committee: Norbert Malik noted that UIRA and EFC web pages now have reciprocal links. Ray Muston suggested that an e-newsletter or blog for retired faculty should be considered to facilitate communication among retirees.

Senior College: Nancy Sprince and Al Hood reported that this semester’s courses had been very successful. The courses being planned for next fall look very interesting.

Annual Meeting: David Carew said that those who plan to attend should use the west (lower level) entrance to the parking lot across the street from MERF. (Spaces on the first level entered from the south entrance are limited to one hour.) Tony Franken requested that each committee prepare a brief written report of this year’s activities and prepare a short oral report for the meeting.

Research Council: Ken Hubel reported on the March 31 and April 14, 2010 meetings. At the first Provost Loh spoke, noting that the only funds available to him are from tuition. The last administration raised faculty salaries to the mid-level of the Big 10 using salary lines that were not filled. Loh plans to increase the percentage of students from outside Iowa because their higher tuition will increase faculty support. He expects that in the future in-state students may constitute less than half the student body. While the pool of students from Iowa is falling he expects Iowa State and UNI will be more affected than the University of Iowa. About 100 new faculty members must be recruited each year due to attrition. Three clusters of faculty will receive emphasis, water sustainability, aging in Iowa, and public humanities. Student retention will be encouraged by assigning freshmen to groups that comprise a living learning academic community in which they will share living accommodations, courses, and activities to help them feel less isolated and lonely. Communities will be advised by faculty volunteers and friends who will be recognized and rewarded. Twelve communities will be operating next year (more information is available at http://www.housing.uiowa.edu/departments/housing/communities [https://housing.uiowa.edu/communities]). Increasing numbers of in-state students are expected to study for two years at community colleges. Those electing to obtain a bachelors degree will have the option of taking extension courses in Des Moines, Sioux City, Davenport and two other cities. Once existing centers within the university are identified their directors will complete and return an e-survey. At the April 14th meeting of the Research Council discussion focused on the Council’s role in selecting and faculty for the three clusters and determining their functions. Vice President for Research Jordan Cohen will seek guidance from the Council on faculty selection, functions, and departmental affiliations.

Funded Retirement and Insurance: Carol Fethke reported the next meeting is Friday, May 7, 2010.

Hancher: No report

Libraries: Jerry Walker provided the Secretary with materials from the April 16, 2010 meeting of the University Library Committee. They focused on a proposal called “The Stretch.” It contains proposals for using land and facilities between the new Recreation Center, Main Library, Hubbard Park and the IMU to encourage student use of the area. Examples: holding the July 16-18, 2010 book fair on the area south of the library, installing electrical connections to facilitate performances and food carts (e.g., on the deck of the IMU), and adding events, programming and performances along “The Stretch.” The library will remain open 24 hours daily during finals. Volunteers are needed for the book festival. For more details see the Library’s web site.

Guest Speaker: Tom Rice, Associate Provost for Faculty, briefly described his background, his responsibilities, and two Provost initiatives before opening a discussion of how the Emeritus Faculty Association and Emeritus Faculty Council could serve the university in new ways. Tom is an Iowa native having graduated from and worked at Iowa State University. He has also worked at Northern Iowa University and is a faculty member of the University of Iowa’s Political Science Department. His current office deals with all faculty matters, including hiring, promotion, discipline, development, facilities used by faculty, and awards. The first Provost initiative involves creation of multidisciplinary clusters of excellence that are targeted for growth. Research and scholarship will be emphasized in three clusters, water sustainability, aging in Iowa, and public humanities (as exemplified in Michigan State University’s public humanities program that is described in its web site). The Provost’s second initiative stresses undergraduate success. Its goal is to make the first year at the University of Iowa the best first year in the Big Ten. The living learning communities (described above in the Research Council report) are central to this effort. Within two years it is hoped that every freshman will be in a community advised by a faculty volunteer who is serving as an advisor and mentor for a three year assignment. Additional information is available athttp://www.registrar.uiowa.edu/registrar/catalog/universitycollege or from Beth Ingram, Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education and Dean of the University College (e-mail beth-ingram@uiowa.edu or phone 335-0148).

Concern was expressed during the ensuing discussion about the fate of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies but there was no clarification of the issue. Ways that emeritus faculty could become more involved in University of Iowa activities were discussed. They included serving on campus committees, mentoring students, public speeches, conducting faculty development seminars, and evaluating faculty scholar award proposals. Several attendees noted that activities requiring long time periods may not be feasible due to travel commitments. At present the university does not have data on emeritus faculty activities, interests and skills. A survey of emeritus faculty was suggested as a way to remedy this problem. It was noted that emeritus faculty need a better understanding of the many opportunities to serve the university. No specific plan to help emeritus faculty learn of such opportunities was discussed.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:07 AM.

Next Meeting: The Emeritus Faculty Association’s annual meeting is Monday, May 17, 2010 in room in 2117 Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF) at 10:00 AM. Our guest speaker will be Lan Samantha Chang, Director of the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Rose
Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., April 5, 2010
John Martin Room, Hardin Library

Attendees: David Carew, Claibourne Dungy, Carol Fethke, Tony Franken, Al Hood, Ken Hubel, Pat Kelly, Jim Lindberg, Norbert Malik, Ray Muston, Gerald Rose, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Tony Franken at 9:32 AM.

Minutes: There were minor corrections to the minutes of the March 1, 2010 meeting.

Old Business: Everyone is encouraged to review the document distributed by Tony Franken, “Potential Volunteer Activities for Emeritus Faculty,” and send him suggestions for additional contributions emeritus faculty might make. A brief discussion on the issue followed. The next EFC meeting on May 3, 2010 with Associate Provost Tom Rice will give this further attention so Tony requests that ideas be sent to him as soon as possible.

The relationship between the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and the Senior College was discussed again. The EFC was requested by the UIRA to vote on a motion approved by the UIRA. It reads, “We agree that the Senior College cooperate with but remain separate from OLLI.” Following a review of past activities and views on this question a vote was taken on the motion. Twelve attendees voted for it and one abstained.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council/Senate: Report deferred

EFC Secretary: No report

UIRA: Discussion of Senior College and OLLI above.

Elections: Pat Kelly reported that nominations have been received and ballots will soon be mailed. Results will be announced at the annual meeting May 17th.

Emeriti Listserv, Website and Handbook Committee: Norbert Malik said that a memo on the retiree handbook had been distributed, the web page is in a new location (http://www.uiowa.edu/retiree/ [https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits/retirement]), and the handbook update is finished. Given the increased number of hits on the web page it was decided to continue to collect data on the number of hits.

Senior College: See discussion of Senior College and OLLI above.

Annual Meeting: Report deferred

Research Council: Report deferred

Funded Retirement and Insurance: Carol Fethke reported that the survey of patient satisfaction has had about 2,000 responses within the first week. She also reported that emeritus faculty have asked to pay the same fees as faculty and staff for admission to new exercise facilities. The university’s early retirement program has been made available to more people (Alt Phased Plan). About 3,200 now satisfy the criteria for participation in the program. Some units in the university are not participating due to staffing shortages. The impact of the passage of the health care bill was summarized. Children up to age 26 can be on their parent’s plan, lower limits on health care spending accounts will be imposed in 2013, employers will be required to have a default health insurance plan available to new hires, and the university’s plan is not a ‘Cadillac plan” that is subject to increased taxes. The Chip II plan will be terminated within a year or two. There has been no resolution of the extra $20 cost imposed on university employees who obtain health care services outside Iowa City and Johnson County.

Hancher: Report deferred

Libraries: Jerry Walker provided the Secretary with the minutes of the February 5, 2010 and March 12, 2010 meetings of the University Libraries Committee. There are no plans for additional meetings this academic year. Some of the major topics covered in the two meetings were use of the internet for scholarly communications, copyright procedures for faculty publications, movement of mathematics and psychology collections from departmental libraries to the main library, planed move of the geosciences and physics collection to the Biological Sciences Library building, and sources of information on how libraries keep up with technology.

Guest Speaker: Edwin Holtum, Curator of Hardin Library’s John Martin Rare Book Room provided a very interesting overview of the room and its contents. He noted that John Martin, a neurosurgeon in the military, collected rare medical books during his career and retirement (continuing until his death in 1996). In 1970 Dr. William Bean heard of Martin’s collection and suggested that it be donated to the University of Iowa where it would occupy a room in the Hardin Library. Dr. Martin agreed and endowed the collection, providing substantial funds for the maintenance and expansion of the collection. Currently there are over 5,000 rare books in the room. The collection is considered one of the best in the Midwest and nation. A number of books from the collection were presented. Their publication dates ranged from 1498 (for a book by Aristotle) to 1785 (for a book on the use of “Foxglove” for treatments). The presented books covered anatomy (Martin’s major interest), the seminal work on blood circulation, an encyclopedia of all seven liberal arts, a large medical dictionary, and surgeries of many kinds among other topics. An atlas from the 1820’s hung on one wall was also discussed. The value of some books exceeds $500,000 per book. Following the presentation attendees were invited to examine a large number of rare books that were on display.

FYI, the web page http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/rbr/ provides very interesting and extensive information about the room’s contents and services.

Adjournment: The formal meeting was adjourned at 10:10 AM to provide attendees to examine some of the books in the collection.

Next Meeting: Monday, May 3, 2010 in room B5 of Jessup Hall at 9:30 AM. Our guest speaker will be Tom Rice, Associate Provost.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Rose
Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., March 1, 2010
B105 Jessup Hall

Attendees: David Carew, Tony Franken, Rose Friedrich, Ken Hubel, Pat Kelly, James Lundberg, Norbert Malik, H.D. Hoover, Gerald Rose, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Tony Franken at 9:30 AM.

Minutes: There were no additions or corrections to the minutes of the February 1, 2010 meeting.

New Business: Tony Franken has been requested by Tom Rice to see what emeritus faculty might do for the university. A 2007 survey related to this issue will be electronically distributed to EFC members by H.D. Hoover. Tony reported that 70% of emeritus faculty live in the Iowa City area and provide about 12 FTEs of instruction. Beth Ingram has suggested that teaching the one hour introduction to the university course would be one useful emeritus contribution. During discussion it was noted that this would be more appealing to emeritus faculty if two or more people could team teach, reducing the need to be in Iowa City an entire semester. Pat Kelly suggested working with the speakers bureau. Tony welcomes all ideas about how emeritus faculty could contribute.

Committee Reports:

Library: No report.

Hancher: No report.

Elections: No report.

Secretary: No report.

Funded Retirement and Insurance: Rose Friedrich and Carol Fethke met with UIRA (Gray Hawks) representatives. They decided that no insurance issues needed to be forwarded to either UIRA or EFC for action. It is believed that if there is a tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans it will not affect U of I plans. An extended discussion covered several points including plan costs, Coralville outpatient services, and out of pocket rules. Pat Kelly reported that the university’s research and insurance committee is developing a questionnaire for all UIHC patients. She also reiterated that the CHIP plans will ultimately be eliminated as costs rise due to adverse selection. Pat noted that one disadvantage of the current health insurance financial incentives offered by the UIHC is the extra expense of using providers not in the UIHC system. 

Research Council: Ken Hubel said a questionnaire has been developed to help identify centers that exist within the university and faculty activities associated with the centers. It has been designed to encourage responses.

Annual Meeting: David Carew reported the meeting will take place on Monday, May 17, 2010 in the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF). The speaker will be L. Sam Chang, Director of the Writers Workshop.

Senior College: Nancy Sprince reported that of eight courses this semester two have finished and two will begin in March. Fall semester courses will be planned at the next meeting. Tony said that at Sam Becker’s request he had met with Senior College representatives and people from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) to consider a possible merger of the two organizations. After a long discussion, most of which consisted of reasons not to merge, it was agreed that there should be more study of the issue. A request was made that attendees draw up a list of reasons in favor of the merger.

Emeriti Listserv, Website and Handbook Committee: According to a document distributed at today’s meeting the update of the Handbook is finished. It is located at http://www.uiowa.edu/retiree [https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits/retirement] for those who would like to review it. Data were also presented showing substantial increases in “hits” on that web page, up 159% from the fall of 2008 to the fall of 2009.

Guest Speaker: Chuck Green Assistant Vice President and Director of Public Safety

Mr. Green provided an extensive and very interesting over-view of his experience, the nature of public and fire safety services his unit provides the university, and an historical perspective on how those services have changed since he assumed his responsibilities. He noted that those in his unit who are police officers have completed 13 months of training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy as well as extensive field training at the university. They currently work three shifts and a fourth will soon be added. Security guards have no police power but help assure buildings are secure among other duties. There is close coordination between Green’s people and local, regional, state and federal authorities. Coordination is particularly challenging when political candidates or public officials come to the university or there are night football games. Threat assessments are an on-going activity as is training of university faculty, staff and students on factors affecting their safety. A more extensive summary of these issues can be found in The Department of Public Safety’s brochure upon request.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 AM.

Next Meeting: Monday, April 5, 2010 in room B5 of Jessup Hall. The guest speaker will be Edwin Holtum, Curator of Hardin Library’s John Martin Rare Book Room.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Rose
Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30-11:00 A.M., February 1, 2010
B5 Jessup Hall

Attendees: David Carew, Carol Fethke, Tony Franken, Albert Hood, HD Hoover, Ken Hubel, Patricia Kelley, James Lindberg, Nancy Sprince, Jerry Walker

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Tony Franken at 9:30 a.m.

Minutes: There were no additions or corrections to the minutes of the December 7,2 009 meeting. 

New Business: None. Assistant Provost, Tom Rice requested that the Emeritus Faculty consider ways they could serve on committees and assist with fundraising.

Old Business

Committee Reports: Faculty Council/Senate: Bob Sayre, who was not present, shared that VP and Provost Wallace Loh presented to the Faculty Council that there had been 146 layoffs, about 100 of which were faculty. These were related to the strengths and weaknesses of various programs. There would be 100 new faculty for new programs in the future. Faculty Council went into Executive Session.

EFC Secretary: Rose (Walker and Friedrich as alternates)

UIRA: Carol Fethke reported that the December meeting was cancelled. At the January meeting, a sub-committee consisting of Carol Fethke, Rose Friedrich and Ray Muston representing the Emeritus Council and 3 others representing UIRA was formed to discuss insurance issues.

Elections: Kelley, Lindberg, Carew

Emeriti Listserv, Web site and Handbook: Nothing to report.

Senior College: Nancy Sprince reported that classes would begin today, February 1 and that there were vacancies for all of the courses. Approval for membership to the Senior College Co-coordinating committee was reviewed. The responsibilities and duties of this assignment should be serious considerations for the Emeritus Council members who take on this responsibility (such as providing course work and attendance at monthly meetings.)

Annual Meeting: David Carew (chair) and Carol Fethke reported that the lists of possible speakers included: Kevin Campbell, physiology and genetics; Bruce Gantz, oto, particularly in regards to cochlear implants in infants and children; Ed Stone, macular degeneration studies; L. Sam Chang, director writer’s workshop; Ethan Canin, M.D., turned fiction writer. The Council decided that the Writer’s Workshop might be the biggest draw. Because of commitments of some speakers there was a discussion regarding the dates. It was decided that it would be May 17, 2010. The location will be MERF.

Research Council Representative: Nothing to report.

Funded Retirement and Insurance: Patricia Kelley will attend the meeting of February 5, 2010 for Carol Fethke. Rose Friedrich will report the most recent meeting at the March meeting.

Hancher: Nothing to report.

Libraries: Nothing to report.

Guest Speaker: Jean Robillard, VP Health Sciences

Dr. Robillard reviewed the history of health care reform beginning in 1910 to present. It appears that numerous attempts have been made to provide some universal approach to this issue. By 2020, if nothing is done, 25 % of the income of medium income families will go for heath. Prescription drugs were reviewed and the United States leads the world in their costs. 

The UIHC budget revenues were reviewed and once again, there is a positive balance, in a great part due to a decrease of 1000 employees. Only a small number of these were layoffs though. 

The proposed ambulatory care facility in Coralville was presented. 

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.

Next Meeting: March 1, 2010, B5JH, Speaker: Chuck Green, UI Public Safety

Respectfully submitted, 
Jerry Walker