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Senate Meetings
Meeting of January 4
The meeting reviewed the annual reports of the Senate Committee on Faculty
Affairs (SCFA), the Board of Graduate Studies, the University Library
Committee, the Academic Development Committee, and the University Research
Board. Discussion resulted in only one motion in the review of the SCFA:
The senate asked AUB to change "its benefits package to include a
short-term disability program, a long-term disability program, and a life
insurance program for benefits-eligible faculty and staff." The motion
passed unanimously. Under Other Business, Vice President Radulski congratulated
Dean Cortas on the University Medical Center's recent accreditation by
the Joint Commission International.
Meeting of January 25
Following approval of the minutes, one senator requested that the administration
inform the senate on a regular basis of actions taken on issues arising
from previous senate meetings.
Report of the President's Taskforce on Tenure: After a discussion
focusing on the important issue of tenure for current full professors,
the president recommended the discussion be continued at a special meeting
on February 1, 2008.
OSB Bylaws Amendment: An OSB motion was passed to grant non-professional
full-time faculty members, visiting professorial and non-professorial
faculty members, and a select number of part-timers the right to attend,
participate in, and vote in selected committees. The OSB dean explained
that such a change would help overcome the shortage of doctoral faculty
in business and the difficulty of recruiting business academics in competition
with industry and commerce.
Special Meeting of February 1
Discussion continued on the Report of the President's Taskforce on Tenure,
revolving around the granting of tenure to associate professors and current
full professors. The following motion was made and seconded: "the
senate endorses the Taskforce recommendation that the University reinstate
the tenure system; endorses the Taskforce recommendations pertaining to
transition for assistant and associate professors; recommends that upon
the unfreezing of tenure, full professors in post automatically gain the
tenure status; recommends the University take concrete steps towards developing
and offering adequate, if not attractive, retirement packages to tenured
faculty who opt for voluntary retirement, as thoughtfully recommended
by the Taskforce under Paragraph V. 6." After the defeat of three
substitute motions, a new motion was passed to form a committee to write
a senate statement for presentation to the Board of Trustees.
Meeting of February 29
After discussion, several new revisions and programs were presented. A
motion to adopt proposed revisions (previously circulated) to the Master's
in Public Health Program was defeated. Revisions to the URB funding guidelines
were approved. Undergraduate programs in the FEA (a BSc in construction
engineering, a BEng in Chemical Engineering, and a minor in petroleum
engineering) were also approved. Motions to approve the election of A.
Abdul-Malak and A. Abdelnoor to the Employee Benefits Committee for the
remainder of 2007-08 were carried unanimously. The annual election of
the senate representative to the Board of Trustee's meeting resulted in
the appointment of A. Abdel-Rahman.
Turning attention to the statement of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Tenure constituted
at the February 1 special meeting, after much discussion, a motion was
proposed and seconded recommending "the reinstatement of tenure,
subject to working out
Under other business, Provost Heath reminded the senate that faculty deans should hold bi-annual meetings with their senate representatives to account for their senate roles and consult their constituencies about matters to be taken up with the senate.
Meeting of March 28
The senate meeting of March 28 was extraordinary-with the exception of a vote granting degrees to students graduating in February 2008, no motions were made and no votes were taken. The meeting dealt with matters for information and discussion only, as follows:
Provost Heath read out a summary of the decisions taken at the meeting of the Board of Trustees (BOT) on March 21, 2008, adding that the board expressed appreciation for the work done on the problem of tenure, though no specific resolution was taken.
The most important decision was the board's election of Peter F. Dorman to take over as the 15th president on July 1, 2008. A number of trustees were reelected for three year periods, and trustees Ali Ghandour and Kamal Shair were elected to emeritus status. The election of Dr. Joseph B. Martin of Harvard Medical School to board membership and new committee memberships were announced.
The board approved three new undergraduate degree programs: BE programs in chemical engineering and construction engineering, a BS program in chemical engineering, and a minor in petroleum engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.
Appointments were approved for Friedmann Brock, PhD, as associate professor of mathematics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Shadi Saleh, PhD, as associate professor of health management and policy in the Faculty of Health Sciences; and in the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Omar Dabbagh, associate professor of clinical pediatrics; Dr. Ziyad Ghazzal, professor of medicine; Dr. Jamal Hoballah, professor of surgery; and Dr. Ayad Jaffa, professor of biochemistry. The trustees authorized the administration to hire up to fifteen new faculty members.
Budget revisions were announced, and the board noted that the University would have (projected) a balanced budget for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008.
The report on the means of implementing General Education requirements was discussed at length, with special attention focusing on the designation of courses as humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, or quantitative thought courses.
Discussion of a circulated list of all the 2006-07 motions emphasized the action taken on senate decisions and the role of the administration in rejecting or accepting those decisions.
The senate deemed it unnecessary to approve the reactivation of the MA in engineering with a major in applied energy, as the reactivation did not involve a new degree.
Under Other Business, the senate discussed the management of the Faculty of Health Sciences' MA in public health, concern for the current high rate of inflation in Lebanon vis á vis faculty salaries, and parking problems at the Hostler Center.
The meeting closed with a moment of silence in honor of Faculty of Medicine Professor Emeritus Salim Firzli, who recently passed away.
Meeting of April 18
Following a presentation by the chair of the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs showing an increase in the consumer price index of 67 percent from 1996 to 2008, the following motion was voted and approved: "The senate urges the administration to adjust faculty employees' salaries to compensate for the cumulative inflation of the last ten years."
Another motion on the amount of the adjustment ran into various snags in discussion of baselines to be used, calculation of the adjustment, and average salaries. Eventually motions to table, to substitute a motion, and the main motion were defeated.
Similarly, after much discussion, a motion and substitute motion on compensation for administrative work during the summer were also defeated.
The senate representative designated for the June Board of Trustees meeting requested items to be brought to the meeting. One senator urged coverage of two main issues: tenure and salary adjustment for inflation.
Much discussion revolved around the Provost's presentation of amendments to proposed changes in promotion policy on voting. Senators showed concern about the roles of members of appropriate rank, participating eligible members from outside the department to be appointed by the dean, and that of the department chair. The Provost said he would consult further with the Board of Deans on the matter.
To learn more about the University Senate meetings check the University Senate website: http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~websenate/