Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., December 4, 2006

Present: George Lance (President), Carl Orgren (Vice-President), Tom Conway, Al Hood, Marion Johnson, Jim Lindberg, Russ Noyes, Bob Sayre, Keith Thayer, Tony Franken (Secretary)

Absent: David Carew, Phillip Cummins, Bill Hausler, Dick Hoppin, Susan Johnson (Provost’s Office), Hyman Joseph, Patricia Kelley

Call to Order: President Lance called the meeting to order.

Speaker:

President Lance then introduced our speaker, Ms. Lynette Marshall, President of the University of Iowa Foundation since August 2006.  President Lance noted that Ms. Marshall was for many years at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.  The group introduced themselves and discussed their previous and emeritus positions with the University.  There was also some discussion regarding the nature and the activities of the Emeritus Council.  Ms. Marshall noted that the University of Iowa Foundation has been quite successful, despite having only about fifty percent of the development associates of other Big Ten institutions.  She is quite pleased with the investment side of the foundation, thinking it is quite a success.  She plans to add additional development associates, on the presumption that the average development officer should raise $1-1.5 million per year.

She discussed some activities to be developed or expanded for additional associates.  These included:

1. Chicago.  We have about 34,000 alumni there.  She plans to have an office with a general associate there.
2. Corporate and foundation relationships.  There is currently only one person in that activity at the foundation.  She sees a need for much more activity and contact with foundations and corporations, both inside and outside of Iowa.
3. Assignment of more development officers in those colleges with the potential for considerable increase in donations.
4. Another area to be developed is addressing the role of students in philanthropy in their careers.  This is especially important in regard to leadership and its relation to philanthropy.  As an example, she is working with student groups now in existence and assisting other organizations associated with philanthropy among students.  These activities will be expanded.

Ms. Marshall thinks much of her activity in the last several weeks has been learning more about the institution and the people associated with it.

Introduction of New Member:

Russell Noyes, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, was introduced as a new member of the council, replacing Ian Smith.  Dr. Noyes will assume a role as backup liaison to the Research Council.

Minutes of the November 6, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Miscelaneous Reports – George Lance:  President Lance mentioned he had sent a letter to Ian Smith thanking him for his service to the council.  An email was sent to the Board of Regents regarding the items of concern in the presidential search (current circumstances are now beyond the situation of last month).  President Lance noted he had received no response from the regents.

President Lance indicated he had information from the University of Southern California Retirees Association regarding a survey on Medicare Part B programs.  The survey showed that there are many complexities of the various plans and uncertainty regarding their value.  He noted that the Humana program had 79% client satisfaction and the AARP 43% satisfaction.

There was an informal discussion regarding changes in the Manual of Procedures.  There seemed to be group consensus that the current method for determining terms of office and the ad hoc procedure for replacing retiring members could be followed without a formal change in the manual.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council/Senate:  Carl Orgren noted that a symposium is being organized on governance of the faculty.  It was recommended there be one member on the committee representing the Emeritus Council.  Names suggested for such a representative included Dee Norton and Jerry Lowenberg.  Carl indicated he would contact these individuals.  Carl Orgren noted that the Faculty Senate had tabled the item regarding a vote of lack of confidence in the regents in the search process.  A secondary item was approval of the idea of early adoption of textbooks for students.  The violence policy of the university has been changed in that third parties can now be complainers regarding violence.  On December 6^th, select members of the Senate will meet with area legislators.

Liason to UIRA:  Marion Johnson indicated there was some discussion on how to handle money on hand in the UIRA, with a plan to develop enough resources to host the Big Ten Conference of emeritus staff in two years.  There was some suggestion that there is reduced attendance in the spring semester for the Gray Hawk program.  Marion Johnson will work with President Lance to identify a member of the UIRA to discuss changes in the Retirees Handbook.

Elections:  No report.

Listserve:  Al Hood has talked to the archivist at the University Library regarding an oral history of the University of Iowa.  Transcription of such interviews is a big dollar item.  They will probably develop a TV interview system, which can be archived.  The ad hoc committee on this activity will work on further developments.

Retirees Handbook:  Bob Sayre had recently talked to Susan Johnson regarding the retiree section of the University of Iowa website.  She thinks that perhaps there could be further development through the Provost’s Office.  There was further discussion among the group that there is now some difficulty in navigating to the retirement site.

Senior College:  Al Hood noted that last month he had failed to mention a course by Karen Baker on non-traditional healthcare.  The group is always open for suggestions for new courses.

Annual Meeting:  President Lance indicated that Bill Hausler had suggested Lynette Marshall as the speaker for the annual meeting.  The group consensus was very favorable for this proposal.

Research Committee:  No report.

Hancher Committee:  No report.  There was some informal discussion regarding the spring course being offered on “How Hancher Works”.

Library Committee:  Carl Orgren attended a recent meeting regarding changes in the search structure of the new catalog at the library.  The changes will allow expanded access beyond the library to extramural sites for searches.  Carl Orgren had attended a discussion on principles of how to retain individual ownership of published articles and royalties from books.  A handout was provided.

Retirement and Insurance Committee:  No report.

Web Page Committee:  No report.

New Business:

The president announced that Bob Downer, a member of the Board of Regents, will be the speaker at the January meeting.

There was some informal discussion of the presidential search and the role of the Board of Regents.

Another suggestion made for future speakers including an individual from or responsible for the Hygienic Laboratory to speak regarding its role and status within the University.

Respectfully submitted, Tony Franken, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., November 6, 2006

Present: George Lance (President), Carl Orgren (Vice-President), David Carew, Tom Conway, Phillip Cummins, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Marion Johnson, Hyman Joseph, Patricia Kelley, Jim Lindberg, Bob Sayre, Ruth Thayer, Tony Franken (Secretary)

Absent: Bill Hausler, Susan Johnson (Provost’s Office), Ian Smith

Call to Order: President Lance called the meeting to order.  The minutes were accepted as amended (a corrected copy is to be placed in the records).

Old Business:

Manual of Organization and Procedure: George Lance pointed out some deficiencies in the manual, including article IV, paragraph 3B, “No one may hold two offices simultaneously or serve consecutive terms in the same office.” That provision has been ignored in the past for continuity purposes, particularly for the secretary.  He also pointed out that there was no clear-cut mechanism for appointment of members to the council to replace a member who has resigned.  President Lance distributed copies of the Manual of Organization and Procedure, and asked that council members send him suggestions for revisions.

Committee Reports (Faculty Council/Senate): Patricia Kelley noted two recent activities at the Faculty Council meeting:

1. A resolution to stop the strategic planning process until a new president is appointed at the University of Iowa was carried with near-unanimous consensus.
2. A resolution was passed to adopt the early textbook rule.

It was suggested by the student association that the latter resolution would be of particular value to students with disabilities.  The council agreed, but felt that special exceptions might be allowed.

Carl Orgren reported on a recent session of the Faculty Senate that had the same theme, that is, a halt in strategic planning at the Regents’ Office until a new president is appointed.

A draft resolution was made by Marion Johnson for the Emeritus Faculty Council to go on record as supporting the Faculty Council and the Faculty Senate in requesting delay of the strategic planning process.  President Lance agreed to send such a letter promptly, probably by e-mail.

It was also mentioned that Professor Reed had reported on a survey of “Working at Iowa”, which had a 43% return rate among faculty, scientific, and merit staff.  This is available on the University of Iowa website.

UIRA: Marion Johnson reported on the last meeting of the Gray Hawks. The organization is losing some members, related to dues payment and deadlines.  Mentioned were problems with TIAA/CREF and the new computer system.  There is to be a November 17 meeting with Richard Saunders of the Benefits Office regarding changes in Medicare Part B Premium.

Elections: George Lance announced that Ian Smith had resigned from the Faculty Council.  There was sentiment among the council to send a letter to Dr. Smith thanking him for his service.  President Lance will ask an individual candidate from the last election for this post to serve in Dr. Smith’s place.

Emeriti Listserve: Al Hood reminded us of an oral history project at the University of Iowa.  Approximately fifty people indicated they were willing to be interviewed.  A group from the Archivist’s Office at the library has agreed to do the interviews, or train individuals to do so.  They noted that typing of the interviews would be delayed until sufficient funds were obtained.  Al Hood asked for volunteers to be trained for these oral interviews, and several members indicated their willingness.

Retirees Handbook: A discussion was led by George Lance on updating the handbook.  There remain financial and administrative barriers to redoing the manual.  Apparently, this has been assigned a low priority by the Staff Benefits Office, although they are in favor of a redo of the retirees handbook.  Marion Johnson will talk to appropriate individuals in the Gray Hawks regarding their willingness to participate in updating the handbook.  Bob Sayre indicated he would investigate further actions, including having an updated handbook, limited to faculty, and published by the Provost’s Office or available on the web site.

Senior College: Al Hood indicated a recent discussion with Interim President Fethke regarding the Senior College.  President Fethke was supportive of this activity, and suggested that team teaching might bring in more lecturers.

Al Hood listed several courses to be available this spring (an early December brochure will be available): Astronomy; Understanding Music (with Dick Caplan); Kent Park activities including Migratory Birds with Tom Kent and Flowers, and Herbs with Brad Freish; Digital Photography (which will be expanded to two courses to allow more participants); Mechanics and activities of preparing a presentation at Hancher Auditorium (Hancher has agreed to make forty tickets available for purchase for participants in this program); Discussion of King Lear by Marion Gilbert; and a June program on literature by Marilyn Robinson, our recent Pulitzer-Prize faculty member.

The group was very positive, with many compliments regarding this year’s program.  It was noted that the program will be available on the Iowa Alumni website and signing up can be done through that site.

Annual Meeting: No report.  It was noted the meeting will probably be the third Monday in June.

Research Committee: There was discussion of the nature of this committee, that the members be a liaison with the “Research Council” of the University.  The minutes of the October Research Council meeting were available.  Among items discussed at that meeting were the appointment of three new associate vice-presidents for research, problems with keeping security of Social Security numbers at the University, and the creation of a subcommittee to review the composition of the Research Council.

Hancher Committee: Jim Lindberg noted that a major problem, which will be passed on to the administration at Hancher, is the extraordinarily high volume of the acoustic speakers.

Libraries: Carl Orgren noted there was a new face coming to InfoHawk, which would be similar to Google and more user-friendly.

Retirement and Insurance: Hyman Joseph informed the council of recent changes for retirees, including a new resolution that, starting in 2008, would change hearing aid benefits to 80% of the cost of a hearing aid, up to a maximum of $2000 per person for up to five years.  (The current benefit is approximately $1000 per person for three years.)  Some other items mentioned in the discussion were that individual flex credits are reduced after divorce.  There has been some discussion regarding reducing benefits to be able to keep insurance rates from increasing as much as might occur.  The group was reminded that the health insurance is self-funding and that there was a considerable loss in the last year.  One example of benefits cuts that may occur would be an increase in the amount of coinsurance.  The University has made a decision not to become involved with consumer-driven health plans (health savings account).  Such plans have a maximum out-of-pocket expense of $5,000 for singles and $10,000 for families, and also do not accept gay partnerships.

Web Page Committee: Al Hood and David Carew noted that the minutes of the Faculty Council are on the web, through the Provost’s Office.

New Business:

AHROE (Retirees in Higher Education): George Lance attended a two-day meeting of this organization.  He shared some brochures from the meeting with the group.  He indicated that some universities have extensive activities, but those that do so generally have a paid staff.  Minnesota has a volunteer program working with talented high school students and senior faculty: this is one of the few that does so without significant staff support.  Another point from that meeting was that emeritus faculty are substantially involved in fundraising.  A number of schools have two organizations, as does Iowa (a faculty group and a “general” retirees group) while others have a single organization.  Activities of these groups vary among educational institutions: service, educational, and social aspects were mentioned.

Relationship with the Chamber of Commerce: George Lance had a discussion with the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Quellhorst (a speaker at our last meeting).  There are positive feelings between the Emeritus Faculty Council and the Chamber of Commerce but no clear way to progress at the moment.  Ms. Quellhorst is open to any of our suggestions for increasing interaction.  It was again noted that retirees could join the Chamber of Commerce for $75 a year.

It was announced that Lynette Marshall, the President of the University of Iowa Foundation, will be the speaker at the next meeting of the Emeritus Faculty Council.

Next meeting: December 4, 2006, 9:30-11:00 a.m., 3111 Seamans Center

Respectfully submitted, Tony Franken, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., October 2, 2006

Present: George Lance (President), Carl Orgren (Vice-President), David Carew , Tom Conway, Bill Hausler, Dick Hoppin, Jim Lindberg, Susan Johnson (Provost’s Office), Tony Franken (Secretary)

Absent: Robert Sayre, Ian Smith, Phil Cumins, Marion Johnson (Past President), Al Hood, Hyman Joseph, Patricia Kelley

Introductions: President Lance introduced our speaker, Nancy Quellhorst, President of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce.

Presentation of Ms. Quellhorst:

Ms. Quellhorst reminded the group that the Chamber of Commerce represents not only Iowa City, but adjacent areas, including Coralville, North Liberty, and Solon.  She has been on the job since February 2006.  Ms. Quellhorst indicated five items, which were early priorities:

1. Analyze the budget, including development of a financial committee and an accurate statement of income and expenses.
2. Evaluate human resources: the Chamber of Commerce staff
3. Develop a customer service orientation among the staff.
4. Participate in the reorganization of the COC already started, including reconfiguration of the board.
5. Improve internal communication through reporting mechanisms for various committees.

In addition to these things, the Chamber is proud of two other accomplishments over the last six months.  The Lead Off Your Day With Leadership series began, which allows Chamber members and others to meet a CEO in their place of business and hear the CEO's story.  In the public policy area, the Chamber coordinated a visit to the Hygienic Lab for legislators and took a large group to Des Moines to lobby for construction of a new lab.  The legislature awarded $36 million for this purpose.

A strategic planning session for the new board of directors (just one month ago) outlined priorities for the Chamber, including: increased public policy work federally, state wide, and locally; capturing increased input from members and directing initiatives/efforts based on member feedback; and improved web site/services.  

There were several questions after Ms. Quellhorst's presentation.  She noted that there is considerable coordination with the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce, for example, a common lobbyist at the State House.  Several board members noted that Iowa City is becoming a retirement community, creating a big need/opportunity for business groups in the area.  Ms. Quellhorst indicated that there was a special membership fee ($75) for retirees.

President Lance thanked Ms. Quellhorst for her fine presentation.

Action on minutes: The minutes of the September 11, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Speaker Response: Jim Lindberg proposed the council send a letter to the Chamber of Commerce proposing increased interaction with senior citizens, with the Emeritus Council being one such mechanism of interaction.  This was approved by all.

Emeritus Office Policy (Bill Hausler): The current general policy is that office space for emeritus faculty is at the discretion of individual departments.  Susan Johnson indicated that further suggestions for changes to the policy will be coming soon from the Provost’s Office.

Miscellaneous Reports (George Lance): In response to previous discussions, President Lance indicated a discussion he had had with officials in the Graduate College regarding grievance procedures for graduate students and faculty.  He found there is no standing committee, as it changes according to the problem to be addressed.  If members of the Emeritus Council wish to submit their name for possible consultants to any ad-hoc grievance committees, the Graduate College would be glad to hear suggestions.

President Barnes discussed the annual survey of emeritus faculty regarding their voluntary activities.  He indicated there was not great interest among the faculty not currently involved in voluntary activities in becoming so.  The only exception was that there were some potential volunteers for senior college presentations.  There was some discussion of a possible change in the bylaws regarding the length of time individuals can serve in offices on the Faculty Council.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate (Orgren, Kelley): There had been concerns regarding the mechanism of funding for the new Recreation Center, specifically, whether student fees would be involved.  Susan Johnson responded that it has been determined there will be an annual student fee of $219, and that a $9 million one-time contribution has been made from the Department of Athletics.

It was reported there may be an update in the violence policy of the Faculty Council.

The faculty outreach programs to western Iowa were quite successful, with good exchange between the faculty involved in these activities and individuals in the community served.

Liaison to UIRA (Johnson, Franken): No report.

Elections (Lance): No report.

Emeriti Listserv (Hood, Lance): No report.

Senior College (Hood): The report given by Tom Conway indicated the Senior College was becoming even more popular, and that every course is now filled.  The principal problem is finding space for the classes.  There was some discussion regarding offering Senior College activities beyond the Iowa City area.

Annual Meeting (Hausler): Bill Hausler asked that individuals send suggestions to him regarding the annual meeting.

Research Committee (Smith, Cummins): No report.  It was mentioned that there is an upcoming meeting regarding research that either Phil Cummins or Tom Conway will attend on October 18^th.

Hancher Committee (Lindberg, Thayer): No report.

Library Committee (Orgren, Lindberg): Carl Orgren reported that a new storage facility for the library has been funded, which will take much of the pressure off for disposal of books.  A contract was let with an outside vendor regarding sale of old books; this is considered more cost effective than local sales.  There will be journal cancellations this year in the library.  Carl Orgren encouraged members to visit the new Art Library, part of the Art Museum.

Retirement and Insurance Committee (Joseph, Kelley): No report.  Bill Hausler noted that University of Iowa people with military ties have kept some tie with the University Retirement Insurance Program as “insurance” if the military program is reduced.  However, the option for military retirees coming back to the University has now been cancelled.  Negotiations are underway to see if such an option can be resumed.

Web Page Committee (Hood, Carew): No report.

New Business:

Report on the Big Ten Retirees Association Conference (Carl Orgren): The meeting was held at Purdue University from August 25-27, with Iowa represented by Carl Orgren of the EFC, and by Carol Fuller and Richard Stevenson of the Grayhawks.  Some points of emphasis included:

• Individual philanthropy is increasing and will probably do so dramatically.
• Trends in senior living, including levels available and illustrated by examples at Purdue, were discussed.  As elsewhere, access to these facilities is limited by the retiree’s resources.
• Retiree healthcare: The group was made aware of a new rule indicating there will be decreased Medicare Part B reimbursement for those with incomes above $80,000 annually ($160,000 joint reports).
• Michigan has a host website providing linkage to all Big Ten retiree’s websites.
• The 2007 Big Ten meeting will be at Penn State.

Handbook procedure: George Barnes indicated there is no funding available for an update of the retirement brochure, but the Benefits Office is working on making new information available on the website.  George Barnes noted that the group will work with the Grayhawks on coordinating efforts to get new information on the website.

Speaker Suggestions: It was announced that Annette Marshall will speak at a future meeting.

Public Policy Committee: George Lance asked the Council to send him suggestions for this committee.

Next meeting: November 6, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 A.M., 111-Jessup Hall.

Respectfully submitted, Tony Franken, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., September 11, 2006

Present:  George Lance (President), David Carew, Phil Cumins, Marion Johnson (Past President), Bill Hausler, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Hyman Joseph, Patricia Kelley, Jim Lindberg,  Carl Orgren (Vice President), Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  Tony Franken, Susan Johnson Provost’s Office), Robert Sayre, and Ian Smith 

Introductions:  President Lance introduced our speaker, Michael Barron, Assistant Provost and Director of Admissions.

Presentation of Mr. Barron:

Director Barron described the organizational chart for the Office of Admissions, which includes a large staff for the annual admission this year of over 4,000 new undergraduate students selected from an inquiry list of almost 79,000 and a pool of over 14,000 who actually applied for admission. His Office also handles and coordinates inquiries from students interested in programs in the Graduate College or the professional schools and colleges. In a typical year they answer over 100,000 phone calls, 150,000 e-mail messages, and process 83,000 transcripts.

The Office also directs the Orientation Services and is heavily involved in recruitment and in dealing with the scholarships available for outstanding students. Other activities are the planning and execution of student and family visits to the campus, diversity recruitment.

Statistics of the class of 2010 are interesting in that the mean high school GPA is 3.56 out of 4.00. Fifty-seven percent are Iowa residents. The average size of their high school class is 324. Fifty-four percent are female. Fifty-nine percent aspire to a graduate or professional degree, and the same percentage is very sure of their major.

President Lance thanked Mr. Barron for his fine presentation, which stimulated several questions and comments from Council members.

Action on Minutes: Minutes of the July 10, 2006 meeting were approved as amended.

Old Business: 

Committee Assignments: The committee assignments for this academic year were distributed with the agenda.

Regent’s Website Report: Phil Cummins reported that the Regent’s website described the background and history of the Board. It also included a number of frequently asked questions such as, “Who are the Regents?”  However, there are few details about specific duties, nor limitations on their actions. Mark Schantz letter of June 2006 to the editors of the Des Moines Register suggested a full scale review of the Board, as is done for other governmental and university units. It is unlikely that such a review will occur until an overwhelming demand for it requires it.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Orgren, Kelley) Carl Orgren made rather complete notes on the August 22 Senate Meeting and the September 5 Council Meeting, but because of the late hour there was little discussion of these. Details will be summarized in the Minutes of the October EFC meeting.

Liaison to UIRA. (Johnson, Franken) No report.

Elections. (Lance, chair) No report.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance) No significant changes.

Senior College. (Hood, chair) Six of the eight Fall Semester courses are already full.

Annual Meeting. (Hausler, chair)  No report.

Research Council. (Smith, Cummins) The first meeting is September 15 and the following meeting October 18, 1:00-2:30 p.m., 201 Gilmore Hall.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  No report.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Lindberg)  No report.                   

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Joseph, Kelley) The Funded Retirement pathway for payment of providers will apply only to the UI Select program. Insurance costs for 2007 are expected to be up significantly.

 New Business:

Report on the 2006 Big Ten Retirees Association Conference. Carl Orgren attended the meeting at Purdue University and will report to the EFC at our next meeting.

Next Meeting: October 2, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5-JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., July 10, 2006

Present:  George Lance (President), Phil Cumins, Marion Johnson (Past President), Bill Hausler, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Hyman Joseph, Patricia Kelley, Jim Lindberg,  Carl Orgren (Vice President), Ian Smith,  and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  Charles Barfknecht, Tony Franken, Susan Johnson Provost’s Office), Robert Sayre, and Keith Thayer. 

Introductions:  President Lance introduced our speaker, Rod Lenhrtz, Director of Campus and Facilities Planning.

Presentation of Mr. Lenhertz:  The Executive Summary of the Campus Master Plan that was recently presented to the Board of Regents served as an introduction to campus and facilities planning underway at the University of Iowa. Mater planning at UI started in the late 19^th and early 20th centuries. The first formal plan was developed in 1905. More recently a campus plan of 1972 has been updated in 1978, 1990, 1995 and 1998. The present DRAFT of the 2006 update builds on past efforts and takes a fresh look at current and future needs. This master plan grew out of over 100 meetings in 2005 and 2006 with a broad spectrum of campus leaders and civic leaders that included all of the deans and representatives of many campus constituencies.

The land area of the University of Iowa that was considered includes the Main Campus of 1400 acres and the Oakdale Campus of 330 acres. In projecting the needs of the University now and for the next 20 years, it will be necessary to use and maintain most of the existing facilities. The location of new facilities must include plans for using perimeter lands and to recognize needs for utilities and parking in both the perimeter and on the Main Campus. This must be done to protect and enhance the quality of the campus landscape and open spaces.

Projects now in the planning stage include a Campus Recreation Center (200,000 gross square feet, GSF), College of Public Health (130,000 GSF), Seashore Hall additions (85,000 GSF), Library Storage Facility (25,000 GSF), Hygienic Laboratory, Oakdale (110,000 GSF), Environmental Management Facility, Oakdale (15,000 GSF). Together these planned facilities represent a total of 565,000 GSF.

Potential future projects, in addition to those now in the planning stage, might add as much as 1,830,000 GSF over the next 20 years for a grand total of about 2,300,000 GSF. This growth is similar to the growth seen at other peer institutions of the Big 10 such as Illinois, Michigan State and Penn State.

President Lance thanked Mr. Lenhertz for an outstanding presentation to the Emeritus Faculty Council.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the June 5, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance) No meetings since April.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) The picnic of June 22 was a success. The next meeting will be in September.

Elections. (Lance)  Carl Orgren will serve as Vice President for the 2006-07 academic year.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes.

Senior College. (Hood) No report. The Fall 2006 program is set.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  No report.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) No meeting.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  No report.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) No report.

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Hyman, Norton) A new UI Select plan, which has been discussed at earlier meetings, will be available next year as an option.

New Business:

1. President Lance asked members to volunteer for committees of their choice.
2. Members were asked to look over the Manual of Procedure of the Emeritus Faculty Association and Council to see if changes are in order.
3. A draft of a letter to new emeriti was distributed for comment.
4. At the June 2006 Annual Meeting a request was made for the EFC to study the role and procedures of the Regents in making appointments.
5. Members were asked to suggest speakers for our next meetings.
6. Activities for the coming year. Acting UI President Gary Fehtke suggested the use of College of Business off-campus facilities as venues for courses of the Senior College. Al Hood described a rather new Senior College offered by institutions in the Des Moines area.
7. Copies of the EFC Meeting Schedule and Listing of the members of the Emeritus Faculty Council were distributed. Several corrections are needed.

Next Meeting: September 11, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in 111-JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

MINUTES OF THE SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING

June 19, 2006

University Reports are found under the Provost Office.

Questions concerning AUDITING OF COURSES by emeritus faculty led to a firming up of the standing policy that the individual must speak to the course’s instructor concerning possible arrangements. A fee is charged for formally auditing courses, but mere attendance may be allowed by the instructor.

E-MAIL access can be arranged through your individual department. A small monthly fee may be charged.

RETIREE’S PRIVILEGES of various sorts (e.g. parking) are available. An “outdated” handbook for retirees has been prepared by the Gray Hawks, who have expressed little interest, however, in keeping it updated. The EFC is considering various options to help provide this service.

REPRESENTATION of emeritus faculty on University Committees has been of continuing interest, and requests for such representation (usually non-voting) have often been approved. For example, the EFC currently has representation on the following committees: Faculty Council; Faculty Senate; Research Committee; Hancher Committee; Libraries Committee; Retirement and Insurance Committee. In addition, there is a liaison to the UI Retirees Association (UIRA or Gray Hawks).

The very successful SENIOR COLLEGE was initiated and continues with strong participation by the EFC. Thanks go to Al Hood for his creative and continuing efforts in this endeavor.

A letter was sent to each member of the Board of Regents encouraging the appointment of a faculty member to chair the UI Presidential Search Committee.

Two requests for confirming emeritus status on faculty members with unique circumstances were handled.

The EFC assisted in promoting presentations on creative aging by Dr. Gene Cohen when he was an invited guest to Iowa City.

Provided feedback to Associate Provost Johnson on two committees underway: One to consider extending the time for earning tenure, as is being done by some other universities – the longest being 10 years. The second committee is to identify successful mentoring techniques, which might be applicable in future training.

SPEAKERS AT EFC MONTHLY MEETINGS FOR 2005-2006 INCLUDED

July – Professor Kelly Donham (Occupational and Environmental Health)

September – Dr. Mary Gilchrist (Director, State Hygienic Laboratory)

October – David McCartney (Special Collections, UI Libraries)

November – Barbara Bennett (Human Resources)

December – Tom Dean (Director of the Year of Engagement)

January – Meredith Hay (Vice President: Overview of UI research goals)

February – Susan Johnson (Associate Provost)

March – Tom Baldridge (International Center)

April – Joan Troester (Human Resources Specialist on UI Wellness Program)

May – Jack Lilien (Professor, Biological Sciences)

June – John Keller (Dean, Graduate College)

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE MEMBERSHIP.
James Spratt (Professor Emeritus, Pharmacology) raised the issue of whether the UI Association of Emeritus Professors or the Emeritus Faculty Council should take a stand concerning apparent innovations by the Board of Regents, especially in the selection of a new UI president, possible conflicts of interest for appointees to the Board, and general micromanagement. After lengthy discussion, a decision was made that a committee of EFC members will study the tradition, procedures and responsibilities related to the appointment of the Board of Regents by the Governor of the State of Iowa, and the sources of duties and powers of the Board of Regents itself. Of use also would be the investigation of how other state universities compare in this respect.

MEMORIAL MOMENT, IN HONOR OF COLLEAGUES WHO DIED DURING 2005/2006

PASSING OF THE GAVEL TO THE NEW EMERITUS FACULTY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: GEORGE LANCE.

ADDRESS: JERALD SCHNOOR (Professor, College of Engineering) 
TOPIC: “GLOBAL WARMING AND SUSTAINABILITY”
Introduction by Val Lembke, Chair of the Annual Meeting Committee

Professor Schnoor addressed the problems of increasing global warming and suggested possible solutions for now that might be sustainable in the future. The audience greatly appreciated his enthusiasm, experience, deep understanding, and creative insights as revealed in his thorough, thoughtful and convincing presentation.

THE 2006 (SEVENTH) ANNUAL MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT NOON.

LUNCH AND FELLOWSHIP HOUR CLOSELY FOLLOWED.

Respectfully submitted,
Hal B. Richerson, Secretary Pro Tem

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., June 5, 2006

Present:  Marion Johnson (President), Susan Johnson (Provost’s Office), George Lance (Vice President), Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Dee Norton, Carl Orgren, Hal Richerson, Robert Sayre, Ian Smith, Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  Charles Barfknecht, William Hausler, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, and Gene Spaziani.

Introductions:  President Johnson introduced our speaker, John Keller, Dean of the Graduate College.

Presentation of Dean Keller:  During his tenure as Dean, John Keller has seen a major shift in graduate education towards new degrees in interdisciplinary programs. More students are interested in degrees for training in professions, for example, degrees such as the Master in Accounting, similar to an MBA degree, or a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. The new College of Public Health has taken a major lead in training students in the latter program. Iowa has also taken a lead in coalescing degrees, for example eligible students in their junior year can initiate a curriculum leading to BS and MS degrees over a total of five years. There are now joint degree programs that combine the subject matter of Master of Public Health, Master of Business Administration and Law.

The Graduate College has academic oversight of 10 interdisciplinary programs. For some of these, the Graduate College participates in the selection of new faculty for the programs, whereas the older programs, such as those leading to Ph.D. degrees in Genetics, Neuroscience, Molecular Biology and Immunology, are only administered by the Graduate College.

The Office of Graduate Ethnic Development within the Graduate College oversees programs that support diversity initiatives. This office is headed by an Associate Dean. One aim is to increase to 10% the diversity of students in the Graduate College. Last year, the Summer Research Program brought 25 underrepresented students, including 10 prospective graduate students, to the University. Of these, eight were admitted to UI graduate programs.

The old Bloc Allocations for TA’s has been eliminated and the funds put into a fellowship fund to support “strategic initiatives” and summer fellowships for mostly non-science students.

Presently there is a review of the manuals and rules for graduate students. The committee is considering whether it is useful to require the Graduate Record Examination for entering students. Presently the Graduate College does not require the Graduate Record Examination; although admittance to several departmental graduate programs does require the GRE.

It was expected that oversight of university graduate colleges by the National Research Council would occur every five years; however, the UI Graduate College has not been reviewed since 1995. During the coming academic year a task force will assemble material for a review. The new criteria now include evaluations by graduate students who have passed their comprehensive examinations. Not all doctoral programs will be evaluated. The five disciplines selected for evaluation are economics, physics, chemical engineering, history and biochemistry.

Negotiations with the graduate student union, COGS, in respect to tuition and stipends are aimed at trying to match the opportunities afforded students at peer institutions.

President Johnson thanked Dean Keller for his presentation to the Emeritus Faculty Council.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the May 1, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance) No meetings since April.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) There has been no meeting; however, a picnic is set for June 22.

Elections. (Johnson)  New members will be announced at the June annual meeting of the Emeritus Faculty Association.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes.

Senior College. (Hood) No report.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  It is set to go.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) The May 11 meeting discussed a draft of the Internal Funding Initiative (IFI) Programs. In the Fall of 2005, VP Meredith Hay asked the Research Council to review four of the IFI programs to determine if these are the most effective use of funds for supporting research in (1) Biological Sciences, (2) Mathematical and Physical Sciences, (3) Social Sciences, and (4) for the research experiences of undergraduates. Several recommendations were made to improve the oversight of these programs. The Research Council endorsed the report. The Council also conducted a 30 minute interview of one of the two finalists for the position of Associate Vice President for Research: Economic Development, a Mr. Mark Wdowik.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  No report.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) No report.

 Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) There was no quorum for the last meeting.

Next Meeting: July 10, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., May 1, 2006

Present:  William Hausler, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Marion Johnson (President), Dee Norton, Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Carl Orgren, Hal Richerson, Robert Sayre, Ian Smith, Gene Spaziani, Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  Charles Barfknecht, Susan Johnson (Associate Provost), and George Lance (Vice President).

Introductions:  Gene Spaziani introduced our speaker, Jack Lilien, Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences.

Presentation of Professor Lilien:   In the summer of 2005, President Skorton, Provost Hogan and Vice President for Research Hay formed a blue ribbon ad hoc committee to study the future development of the Natural Sciences at the University. Jack Lilien is head of this committee of approximately 10 members. The committee was charged with (1) determining where the UI stands in relation to its peer institutions in respect to funding from state, federal and private sources, and how Iowa compares with other states in respect to resources devoted to higher education; and (2) recommending how we can improve our position in respect to our peers, especially in the Natural Sciences.

Presently the committee is gathering information from about 20 institutions including the Big 10, the top 10 public universities, and a few other state institutions similar to Iowa. They will also examine how UC, Berkeley, Texas and North Carolina have reorganized their natural sciences to increase their productivity.

The per cent of the state budgets that go to higher education will be matched with demographics such as population density, personal income, and the state’s tax base. The websites for individual states give the tax base and the per cent to higher education, but the data are complicated by some states combining community and two-year colleges with four-year schools. There also is variation in what disciplines are considered to be natural sciences. For example, Iowa includes the Departments of Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, and the so-called basic science departments in the College of Medicine, but does not include the geosciences or computer sciences. In measuring research support, funds from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health will be summed and divided by the number of faculty in the natural sciences to determine the average grant accrual per investigator.

Much of the data collected will be useful in comparing the overall support of higher education in Iowa with that of other states, even though the primary emphasis is on how the natural sciences at Iowa rank against the natural sciences in peer institutions.

It was interesting to learn that 20% of the UI operating budget comes from tuition, 47% from state appropriations, and 24% from the indirect cost components of externally funded research grants. Consequently, any improvement in obtaining external research funds might reduce the per cent of operating funds coming from tuition and from the state; although, the total cost of operation from tuition and the state also might increase.

Professor Lilien’s presentation was followed by discussion of past problems of departmental reorganizations. 

    Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the April 3, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Clarification of time for annual meeting.

The annual meeting of the Emeritus Faculty Association will be from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 19, 2006, followed by lunch in Room W401 of the Pappajohn Business Building.

A draft of a letter from President Marion Johnson to members of the Emeritus Faculty Association was distributed. It described details of the annual meeting and an enclosed ballot for election of new members to the Emeritus Faculty Council. A Survey and Reservation form will be part of the mailing.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance)

Spaziani reported on the Faculty Council meeting of Tuesday April 11, 2006.

Address by President Skorton:

Dr. Skorton made a few general remarks and then opened the floor to questions. When asked, he said that he could say nothing definitive about the budget. In answer to another question, he assured the Council that shared governance would survive at UI after he leaves because it works well here for both faculty and staff.

 Commission on Intercollegiate athletics (COIA) Report:

The report now includes comments by COIA’s Steering Committee in response to reports from the individual study groups. The report has been circulated through the UI administration for comment. It is not amendable. The Council voted unanimously to transmit the report to the Faculty Senate for an up or down vote of approval. The result will be transmitted to COIA.

Presidential search update: (President LeBlond)

Communication between the Faculty Council and the Regents has improved. Dean Fethke of the Business College has been appointed interim co-president of the committee, but the faculty was not consulted. Composition of the committee was still not clear, nor has there been a statement from the Regents about what they are looking for in a President.

New Business:

Professor Steve Collins, Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Faculty Policies and Compensation, asked for discussion on what should be University policy on economic development-based ideas and products arising from entrepreneurship on campus. How does the University decide which projects to support? The question arose as a result of controversy surrounding a student business, funded through a UI entrepreneurial lab that notified students about bar drink specials through portable electronic devices. Questions of intellectual freedom also are involved. The Council agreed to set up a committee to explore the nature and scope of commercialization activities on campus.

Conway read notes by George Lance on the Faculty Senate meeting of April 25, 2006.

This was the last meeting of the academic year. Pam Trimpe welcomed the Senate to the first official group meeting in the newly remodeled Old Capitol building.

Reports:

Faculty Senate President Richard LeBlond.

1. The Ethics Education roundtable will be held on May 9.
2. The Faculty Council/Administration retreat will be held on August 11.
3.  Presidential search activity: Selection of the search committee will be finalized the week of May 1. The number of members has not been determined. Regent Teresa Wahlert, Chair of the Search Committee, discussed procedures and criteria for selection to the Committee. Balance between academic, gender and ethnic issues is important. President LeBlond indicated that communication has been noticeably improved.
4. A listing of Faculty Senate motions during the academic year and their status was distributed.

New Business:

1. The proposed honorary degree policy was endorsed. An excerpt: “Honorary degrees are conferred by the faculty of the University of Iowa. They are awarded to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary achievements in such areas as research, scholarship, education, artistic creation, social activism, human rights, humanitarian outreach, etc., or as recognized by the faculty as being consistent with the values of higher education.” Recipients are selected by a faculty committee and approved by the Provost, President, and the Board of Regents. A listing of the awards granted by a number of comparable institutions was distributed.
2. A report from the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) to the NCAA Presidential Task Force was endorsed.

Announcements:

1. Seven Regents Awards for Faculty Excellence were announced. Of particular interest to the Emeritus Faculty Council was an award to Lee Anna Clark.
2. Three Michael J. Brody Awards for Faculty Excellence were announced.
3. A report from a 12-member Faculty Governance Committee is to be forwarded to the President on April 28.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) In attempting to get an error corrected in the Retirees Handbook, it was discovered that the Handbook will not be reprinted because there have been too many changes. To view the Handbook, go to the uiowa.edu benefits web-site.

Elections. (Johnson) There will be one candidate from the College of Business but no one from the College of Law.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes.

Senior College. (Hood) Spring semester courses are ending this month. The program continues to be very well received. Nine courses will be offered in the 2006 Fall Semester.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  It is set to go. See Old Business above.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) There was no April meeting.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  No report.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) A 4% increase in the budget for materials will not be enough to cover the cost of the present journal collection after 2008. The Art Library will double in size to 11,000 sq. ft. following its move to the new building.           

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) There was no meeting on April 14 because the University was closed following the April 13 tornado. Nevertheless, those who showed up discussed reduction in the number of health care plans to be offered. There is a proposal for two tiers of UI Select coverage. One will be the present program, but a second tier will add out-of-area coverage.

Next Meeting: June 5, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., April 3, 2006

Present:  Dick Hoppin, Dee Norton, George Lance (Vice President), Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Carl Orgren, Gene Spaziani, Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  Charles Barfknecht, William Hausler, Al Hood, Marion Johnson (President), Susan Johnson (Associate Provost), Hal Richerson, Ian Smith, and Robert Sayre.

Introductions: Vice President Lance introduced our speaker, Joni Troester, Human Resources Specialist, Organizational Effectiveness, University Services Building.   

Presentation of Ms. Troester:   Joni is the Project Director of the UI Wellness Program, liveWELL, a program that was started in 1999. Partners of liveWell are the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing, Public Health and Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as UI Benefits, UI Health Plans, U I Wellness and UI Hospitals and Clinics.

The overall goal of liveWELL is to enhance the health and well-being of UI faculty and staff by using the program’s partners in an integrated way. The process for doing this starts with a 20 minute online questionnaire to assess the health risks of each member of the faculty and staff. Those who complete the questionnaire are paid for their effort.

Individuals are scored at low, medium and high risk. All are given an individually tailored report and plan for personal health development. Those at medium and high risk are assigned to a health coach who may refer them for disease management, behavior change programs, or to a long-term health coach.

The liveWELL program is patterned after successful programs at private companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Union Pacific Railroad as well as a program at Duke University that employs the “health coach” model for 35,000 employees and their dependents. Johnson & Johnson has seen a decrease in medical care expenses of $224.66 per employee per year. Union Pacific estimates savings of $53 million in 2201.

Expected benefits to individuals are better health, feeling better at home and at work, a support system to make and maintain healthy lifestyle changes, and improved communication with their personal physician. Benefits to the organization include cost savings for health care, reduced absenteeism, improved recruitment and retention, and improved performance.

It will take some time to measure the health risks of all the faculty and staff. When that has been completed, the program may be opened to UI retirees.

For more information, search for “liveWell” on the UI website, or contact Joni Troester at joni-troester@uiowa.edu.

Vice President Lance thanked Ms. Troester on behalf of the Council.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of both the February 6, and March 6, 2006 meetings were approved as corrected.  

Old Business:

1. Emeritus status for Adjunct Professor of Dentistry, Dr. C. Frederick Fuller. Keith Thayer reported on discussions with the Dean of the College of Dentistry and others in the College about the request for emeritus status for Dr. Fuller as an honor for off-campus service over a period of several years. After considerable discussion, the Council unanimously agreed not to support the request for emeritus status for Dr. Fuller.

2. Discussion/comments of a Committee Report on Special Compensation will be considered when more information becomes available.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance)

Spaziani reported on the Faculty Council meeting of March 28, 2006.

 Honorary Degree Policy (Prof. Cathie Ringen): Part of Dr. Ringen’s report was a list of the honorary degrees presented by several schools including all of the Big 10 institutions. Of the latter, only UI does not give honorary degrees. Goals of the revised policy include minimizing micromanagement and to have an all-faculty committee make the selections. One problem is where and when to present the awards, given the numerous graduation ceremonies and venues. The policy was passed and sent to the Faculty Senate for consideration.

Presidential search update (President LeBlond) The Search Chairperson, Regent Teresa Wahlert, wishes to have a faculty member as Search Committee Vice-Chair. Likely an Interim President will be appointed. She is currently exploring the makeup of the Search Committee, but no decision has been made on its size or composition. It is remarkable that, thus far, there has been no public discussion of these matters. Decisions are worked out informally in private, and then announced publicly. President LeBlond expressed astonishment that he has had informal conversations with the Regent’s Executive Secretary and individual Regents in his capacity as President of the Faculty, but he has had no formal communication from the Regents on the Search.

Smoking Policy (Associate Provost Susan Johnson) this is an interim report, as all issues are still under discussion. Currently smoking is prohibited inside buildings, but not outside. However, there are three exceptions for smoking indoors: the Iowa House (two rooms), on stage for artistic purposes, and in University Housing. The proposed new policy would retain these exceptions but otherwise ban smoking both inside and outside on University property. A councilperson pointed out that the ban could not include the sidewalks bordering streets as those are City rights-of-way.

On July 1, 2006 UI Hospitals and Clinics will institute a total ban on smoking, both inside and outside buildings including parking ramps.

If the proposed total ban is passed, the UI would be the first major research university to do so.

Lance reported on the Faculty Senate meeting of March 7, 2006

1. Vice President for Research Meredith Hay discussed some of the focus areas as she settles into her position. Research is, of course, the major emphasis and relies on attention to student welfare, but collaboration leading to interdisciplinary efforts is becoming increasingly important, and community engagement is of major importance.

1. The Office of Undergraduate Research will provide Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awards with stipends of approximately $3,000 for research.
2. Two Associate Vice President positions will be filled from faculty ranks. These will be half-time appointments. Duties include seeking funding sources for interdisciplinary research.
3. Efforts are being made to organize groups representing science and humanities interests in addressing global problems. Both academic and outside interests would be represented.

2.  A report from the Presidential Committee on Athletics (ex Board in Control of

Athletics) was of a site-visit last month in connection with the NCAA 10-year review. No major problems are anticipated. A fact sheet identifying activities and services of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics was handed out.

3.  A Campus Work Climate Survey was described. This is a web site survey that  

takes about 8 minutes. The site will be up in April and is intended for both Faculty and staff. The intent is to determine a sense of the work environment, i.e. communication, supervision, etc. The survey will be refined following an analysis of results.

4.  A Shared Governance Task Force proposal is being developed with a report expected at the end of the semester. Faculty, staff and students will be involved in an attempt to improve communications.

5.  The final meeting of the Senate this academic year will be held in Old Capitol.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) The fiscal problems have been straightened out. Now there is a problem with storage space for the UIRA archives, which have become quite large. They are trying to improve their list of current retirees.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes. See New Business below.

Senior College. (Hood) No report.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  The nomination form for new members to the EFC was corrected and the time for the annual meeting was removed because it is not yet clear when the meeting will start on June 19.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) Research Council meeting of March 23, 2006. The February version of a report by the Interdisciplinary Research and Shared Credit Task Force was presented by Vicki Grassian, who chairs both this committee and the Research Council. Her committee is trying to clarify the old problem of how to assign credit for the academic work of faculty or staff who are engaged in research and teaching that crosses conventional departmental and collegiate boundaries. Two other topics of importance were presented. One was presented by Jack Lilien, Chair of the Biology Department and Chair of a Blue Ribbon Committee that is trying to unify research in the natural sciences as a separate organizational unit. This has been done successfully at other major research universities. The other was a report by David Wynes on security of the Animal Care facilities following the break-in of Seashore Hall last year. More information on these topics can be found in the Minutes of this meeting at: http://research.uiowa.edu/vpr/rcouncil. There will be no April meeting. The next meeting is May 11.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  Hancher’s gift to the State in celebration of its 35^th anniversary will be off-campus performances of the Joffrey Ballet in July 2007. The Ballet in residence will perform in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Muscatine.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) The March 10^th meeting continued efforts to address the high prices of journal subscriptions. Organizations representing the Graduate Student Senate and the University Staff Council have passed resolutions similar to those passed by the faculty. A national effort (Bergstrom/McAfee) to have universities charge journal publishers for the editorial and refereeing work done by faculty and staff was discouraged. Baker indicated that most library directors are not encouraged by this effort, as publishers will simply add these expenses to the cost of journal subscriptions. Although no large scale journal cutbacks have occurred since Baker became director, there are such cutbacks in the offing.   Ruthann McTyre described services and trends in the music library. Here again space limitations and electronics are the news.

 The annual libraries book sale was described. Some 6000 books are to be sold, first to students and then to individuals and dealers. These come from gifts that are not added to the collections or are duplicates removed from the collections.

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) The next meeting is Friday.

New Business:

1. A series of lectures called “Conversations with Gene Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.”, Director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University, will be held in Iowa City in May 2006. An announcement giving summaries of the talks, their time and place will be put on the listserve.
2. A letter requesting nominations for the EFC will be mailed soon.
3. Suggestions for speakers are: Jack Lilien for May and John Keller for June.

Next Meeting: May 1, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., March 6, 2006

Present:  Charles Barfknecht, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Marion Johnson (President),  Dee Norton, George Lance (Vice President), Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Carl Orgren, Hal Richerson, Ian Smith, Gene Spaziani, Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  William Hausler, Susan Johnson, and Robert Sayre.

Introductions: President Johnson introduced our speaker, Tom Baldridge, Project Assistant, International Programs, International Center. 

Presentation of Mr. Baldridge: Tom is the Project Director of two non-government organizations that operate out of the International Center. These are the Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities (CIVIC) and the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC). He circulated leaflets that described both programs.

CIVIC, a non-profit organization, is one of 102 similar groups nationwide that are members of the National Council for International Visitors. It receives funds from the parent organization and the University of Iowa, but for the most part depends on financial support from members of the community. CIVIC acts as host to international visitors to eastern Iowa who have been invited by U.S. embassies to participate in the International Visitor Program. A similar organization in Des Moines hosts visitors to central and western Iowa. CIVIC offers residents of eastern Iowa the opportunity to act as “American Ambassadors” to future world leaders with a wide variety of interests. CIVIC arranges meetings and field trips to give visitors an excellent view of the cultural, educational and economic life of eastern Iowa. Notable past visitors included Tony Blair, Anwar Sadat and Oscar Arias. For more information see: https://www.iowacivic.org/.

ICFRC, founded in 1982, is a non-profit association of community and university people interested in learning about U.S. foreign policy, world affairs and global issues that affect us all. Events from August to June feature lunches or dinners with local speakers. All programs are broadcast statewide over WSUI and local cable television channel 4.

CIVIC is an active program where members participate in the visits, whereas ICFRC is more passive in that members generally listen to speakers.

 President Johnson thanked Mr. Baldridge on behalf of the Council.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the February 6, 2006 meeting were approved as corrected, and the corrected version was submitted to the Office of the Provost.

Old Business:

1. President Johnson reported on the meeting of the Regents with the Faculty Senate.

The regents were present to gather information. Questions directed to them were cut off. No clues were given as to the composition of the search committee for the new President of the University.               

1. Sympathy cards for the families of recently deceased faculty members have been ordered. Debbie Millsap will monitor the sending of the cards and will send a note to all Deans asking for the names of faculty who have died during the year.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance)  Spaziani reported on the Faculty Council meeting of February 21, 2006. Claibourne Dungy gave a presentation on a meeting of the Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) on December 2-3, 2005. Representatives from twenty-four member senates met at Washington State University to discuss recent work of the NCAA Presidential Task Force. Separate committees produced eight draft reports covering 1. Fiscal Responsibility, 2. Financial issues of coaching staffs, 3. Presidential Leadership, 4. Purpose and nature of the collegiate model, 5. Commercialization, 6. Conferences and national competitions, 7. Integration of athletics into campus life,  8. Admissions, diversity and eligibility standards.

Various member senates are examining these reports to make recommendations for approval by COIA. Reports submitted by Professor Dungy will be examined by the Faculty Council and then submitted to the Faculty Senate for approval.

Professor Katherine Tachau presented a University-wide policy to unify how program reviews are conducted that was passed to an oversight committee headed by Prof. Steve Collins from where it will go to the Provost for comment and approval.

A Civility Policy document was presented by Prof. Richard LeBlond. No action was taken but to refer the policy to Steve Collins’s committee for refining.

A Sick leave policy was presented by Richard LeBlond and Susan Johnson that generated lengthy discussion. A substantive change requires that faculty report sick days directly on line monthly to the Dean. Formerly it was once-a-semester to the DEO. The problems arise in trying to conform academic jobs to the requirements of state law in reporting sick leave based on a 40-hour/week wage model. A motion was passed to recommend that the Faculty Senate rescind the new rules and go back to the old rules in the Operations Manual.

The next Faculty Senate meeting is tomorrow, March 7.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) There are more members of the UIRA than last year. Lapsed members were contacted by e-mail and urged to submit annual dues.  

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes.

Senior College. (Hood) The Senior College Committee has a list of several courses for the Fall Semester of 2006.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  The announcement and reservation forms for the annual meeting are being assembled.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) Neither of us could attend the meeting of February 16, 2006. Minutes of this meeting were distributed, and they can be found at: http://research.uiowa.edu/vpr/rcouncil. The next meeting is March 23.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  The next meeting is April 7.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) There are still financial problems and cuts to journal subscriptions. Electronic subscriptions will be shared by the three libraries of the regent institutions. Instruction and outreach are being used to debunk the Google myth by students who have the impression that they do not need the library.

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) The phased retirement program will be renewed and merit staff will be included. The 5-year limit on phased retirement will be replaced to allow a longer period on phased retirement to continue the employment of research staff paid from grants that continue beyond five years.  New changes will allow withdrawals from TIAA-CREF if the phased retiree is under 55-years of age.

There was discussion of a plan to save $40 M on health care by reducing the number of programs such as CHIP III. There is high enrollment in the UI Select plan.

New Business:

1. A 4-page list of organizations for retired faculty and staff at other universities was distributed. The list gives the names of contact people and websites.
2. A report of the Faculty Council Committee on Special Compensation was tabled.
3. Request for Emeritus Status for Dr. C Frederick Fuller, Adjunct Professor of Dentistry was tabled. Keith Thayer will gather more information.
4. Joan Troester will speak at the April meeting.

Next Meeting: April 3, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., February 6, 2006

Present:  Charles Barfknecht, Al Hood, Dick Hoppin, Marion Johnson (President), Susan Johnson (Office of the Provost), Dee Norton, George Lance (Vice President), Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Carl Orgren, Hal Richerson, Bob Sayre, Ian Smith, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  William Hausler, Gene Spaziani, and Keith Thayer.

Introductions: President Johnson introduced our speaker, Susan Johnson, University of Iowa Associate Provost for Faculty. 

Presentation of Associate Provost Johnson: Two task forces addressing issues important to the faculty are just getting started. One deals with the mentoring of young faculty by their more experienced colleagues. The other is studying whether there is a need to lengthen the maximum time limit for faculty to attain tenure.

Decisions on tenure affect all faculty at one point in their careers, whereas mentoring may be appropriate for some but not others. Consequently, there was more discussion of the tenure “clock”. The maximum time to achieve tenure at the University of Iowa is six years, since an allowed seventh year is generally terminal. Most large research universities also have six year limits; however, a trend is developing in many institutions to extend the tenure limit. The longest is ten years; however, eight years in not uncommon.

Extensions may be granted at UI for a number of reasons. For example, if a child is acquired, a one year extension is possible and an additional year for two children. Such extensions may apply to each partner. A serious prolonged illness can justify an extension, as can an impediment imposed by the University, for example failure to provide a promised laboratory. The use of extensions at Iowa has increased, but it is hard to tell by how much. Some departments have more than others, e.g. perhaps half of the medicine faculty have been granted tenure extensions.

If the tenure task force recommends an additional year to reach tenure, it is likely that it will affect individual colleges but will not apply university-wide.

The task force on mentoring is studying the variety of ways in which this is accomplished. If the task force can identify features of mentoring that can be applied to most or all mentoring relationships, they may recommend that mentors are trained in these skills. Presently awards are given to outstanding mentors. This is judged to be important because there are few tangible rewards for mentors.

EFC president Marion Johnson thanked Associate Provost Susan Johnson for her presentation.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the January 9, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

1. The Council discussed whether emeriti faculty should be allowed to register for course work for no credit and without payment of fees. Such registrations are possible for full-time faculty and staff if they meet several criteria outlined on a University Audit Form. Among these criteria are whether such courses further institutional goals. After discussion, the Council voted unanimously that no special provisions be made for auditing courses without payment of fees by emeritus faculty or their family members. The motion was proposed by Barfknecht and seconded by Orgren.
2. The revised EFC membership list (1/25/06) was distributed. The only correction is that Charles Barfknecht is in his 1^st not 2^nd term.
3. University protocol on the death of a faculty member is handled by the Human Resources office when a death is reported by a department or is seen in the newspaper. Human Resources needs to know when the death occurred and who are the survivors in order to deal with legal issues. We will continue to honor the memories of deceased faculty at the annual June meeting of the Emeritus Faculty Association.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate.  (Spaziani, Lance)  Faculty Council meeting of 1/17/06.  Notes of G. Lance:

A draft report from the UI Faculty Senate Awards & Recognition Committee was distributed and discussed. Pilot programs in the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry are too new to evaluate. Based on discussion, he Committee was asked to rework the report and report back.
A report of the Ad hoc Special Compensation Plan Committee, previously presented to the Provost and to the Faculty Senate on 12/9/05 was discussed. The report was referred to the Committee on Compensation for consideration and resubmission to the Council.

Notes of E. Spaziani:

A draft proposal on Policy on Honorary Degrees awarded by the UI was presented by John Scott.

Our honorary degrees should be awarded to those who have demonstrated extraordinary achievements in activities central to the University’s mission.

Selection criteria:

• Achievement of an entire career, not for a single achievement.
• No more than two honorary degrees per year.
• No requirement to give degrees each year.
• No degrees to present or prior employees of the UI.
• Not given for financial contributions alone.
• Not given to politicians while in office.
• Selection by an Honorary Degree Committee composed of five Professors selected by the Senate, two Professors selected by a designee from the Provost’s office and the Dean of ;the Graduate College. Selections of recipients are finally approved by the Provost and the President.

This proposal was discussed but not forwarded to the Senate.

Proposal for University-wide Policy on Review of Academic Programs was presented by Catherine Tachau. This is an attempt to unify procedures across the University. Departments and programs may use more specific procedures, but they must conform to this overall policy. Deviations from policy when justified must be approved by the Provost. The proposal contains the following sections:

• Criteria for Evaluation of Academic Programs.
• Student Outcomes (Outcomes desired by a program must be identified and assessed on an ongoing basis.)
• Program Review at the Collegiate level (must include two independent reviewers from outside UI.)
• Program Review at the Department level.

The Vice-Provost will be responsible for oversight of program reviews. When the Deans and the Faculty Senate approve this policy, it will be added to the Operations Manual.

This proposal was discussed but not passed to the Senate.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) Several members (150) have failed to renew their memberships. Art Canter is no longer archivist. It is not clear what material should be retained.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance)  There have been no changes since December.

Senior College. (Hood) The Senior College Committee is assembling a list of courses for the Fall Semester of 2006.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  EFC members are asked to review the announcement and reservation forms that were distributed today (2-6-06) and submit suggestions to Val Lembke.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) Minutes of the January 19, 2006 meeting of the Research Council can be found at: http://research.uiowa.edu/vpr/rcouncil. A copy of these Minutes is attached.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  Several items were discussed in confidence that they will not be reported here.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) The next meeting is in February 10.

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) Several people are enrolled in Chip III, which will be phased out. There was an increase in the numbers of people choosing the UI Select Plan that now represents 50% of all enrollees. The Committee voted NOT to allow loans against TIAA-CREF accounts by people below the age of  55 ½ . A proposal was made to the Regents to continue the phased retirement program and for indefinite time limits, not the present 5 year maximum.

New Business:

Dee Norton submitted the following draft of a statement representing the opinion of the EFC on the UI presidential search to be considered for submission to the Board of Regents.

Regarding the upcoming search for a new president for the University of Iowa, the Emeritus Faculty Council urges the Board of Regents to continue the manifestly successful tradition of giving a committee of faculty, staff and students the responsibility for bringing to the Board for final selection a short list of well-qualified candidates.

We believe that this procedure best reflects the mutual trust and respect between the Board and the campus community so essential to a successful search.

The Council accepted the statement unanimously.

Next Meeting: March 6, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Conway, Secretary

Emeritus Faculty Council Minutes

9:30 – 11:00 A.M., January 9, 2006

Present:  Charles Barfknecht, Dick Hoppin, Marion Johnson (President), George Lance (Vice President), Valdean Lembke, Jim Lindberg, Carl Orgren, Hal Richerson, Bob Sayre, Ian Smith, Keith Thayer, and Tom Conway (Secretary)

Absent:  William Hausler, Al Hood, Susan Johnson (Office of the Provost), Dee Norton, and Gene Spaziani

Introductions: President Johnson introduced our speaker, Meredith Hay, University of Iowa Vice President for Research.

Presentation of Vice President Hay: Problems associated with the recent decrease in funding for research was the focal point for most of her remarks. Decreases in state funding across the board have affected the entire University, but the greatest impact in terms of dollars lost for research comes from cutbacks in both existing and new grants sponsored by the federal government. In particular, losses from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been, and will continue to be, critical. Some Institutes have cut yearly renewals of existing non-competitive grants by as much as 10 to 18%. New grants and competitive renewals of ongoing projects require exceptionally high scores. Large numbers of excellent proposals will not be funded.

When existing projects are not renewed, research must come to an abrupt stop and staff may need to be let go unless “bridging funds” can be found to support the work until the principal investigator can re-apply or find other support, that is to “bridge” the gap between grants. The protocol for obtaining “bridging funds” starts with the investigator’s Department, which must determine whether the “pink sheets” suggest there is hope to win support by re-applying.. The term “pink sheets” refers to the color of the paper on which the NIH prints a summary of the comments made by the scientists who reviewed the proposed research and the assigned priority score. These decisions are especially difficult to make considering the present research climate and the very small amount of available “bridging funds”.

Vice President Hay responded to a number of questions from Council members. These included progress of the institutional review of the Office of the Vice President for Research, the impact of funding on University research centers and the review of these centers, changes in the administration of the University of Iowa Research Foundation, and an explanation of the “Four Corners Research Alliance” between research universities in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

EMF President Johnson thanked Vice President Hay for her excellent presentation.

Action on Minutes: The Minutes of the December 5, 2005 meeting were accepted.

Old Business:

1. George Lance reported on his investigation of the EMF University Support Committee. This committee was set up some time ago but has not reported to the Council since October 2003. This was a joint committee of the EFC and the U I Retirees Association. Sam Becker was the chairman. The mission of this committee is rather obscure, but encompassed review of a large number of non-profit organizations with possible connections with the University. The Council agreed by consensus to discontinue this committee.
    
2. The occasion of the death of Stow Persons prompted the consideration of some way the EFC, on behalf of the emeritus faculty, could express our feelings on the loss of a colleague. Further discussion of this is needed.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Council and Senate. (Spaziani, Lance) There were no meetings.

Liaison to UIRA. (Hoppin, Norton) Dave Triplett, liaison from the UI Foundation indicated that in the future the Foundation will make public the salaries of some  Foundation staff.

Emeriti Listserv. (Hood, Lance) No report.

Senior College. (Hood) The Senior College Committee is assembling a list of courses for the Fall Semester of 2006.

Annual Meeting. (Lembke)  The annual meeting will be on Monday, June 19^th  at 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in room W401 of the Poppajohn Business Building.  Jerry Schnoor will speak on Global Warming.

Research Committee. (Smith, Conway) Minutes of the December 8 meeting of the Research Council can be found at: http://research.uiowa.edu/vpr/rcouncil. A copy of these Minutes is attached because they contain a list of possible agenda items for the Spring semester of 2006. Conway will attend the next meeting on January 19.

Hancher Committee. (Lindberg, Thayer)  Has not met.

Libraries Committee. (Orgren, Richerson) The next meeting is in February.

Retirement and Insurance Committee. (Lembke, Norton) Dee Norton who attended the last meeting is in Florida.

New Business:

Susan Johnson will be the speaker at our next meeting.

Next Meeting: February 6, 2006, 9:30 to 11:00 AM in B5 JH.

Respectfully submitted by Tom Conway, Secretary