Whereas two student candidates for SGA offices reported threats of violence, and

Whereas one student candidate for SGA office reported the defacing of campaign materials with racial slurs,

Be it resolved that the faculty senate denounces the use of threats of violence in any context in the strongest terms and denounces the use of any spoken or written material designed to be or which can be anticipated to be offensive based on group membership in any context in the strongest terms.

Be it further resolved that the conduct of political campaigns involves some degree of confrontation but does not justify the use of threats of violence or the use of offensive materials based on race or any other group identity.

Be it further resolved that the Faculty Senate joins the administration of the University of Alabama in denouncing these activities and encourages the administration to act forcefully and promptly to counteract the effects of these events on the University community. In addition, the Faculty Senate calls on the entire University community—faculty, students, staff, and alumni—to endorse and join in this effort.

Adopted by Faculty Senate
Margaret Garner, President
24-Mar-99

WHEREAS, by long honored and well established tradition, a Tuscaloosa resident of the 6th Congressional District has been appointed to the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees; and,

WHEREAS, said Board of Trustees consist of two members for each of the State's congressional districts, except for the district in which the University of Alabama In Tuscaloosa is located, which traditionally is represented by three members to Insure a Tuscaloosa resident is on the Board; and,

WHEREAS, currently two 6th Congressional District Board members reside In Birmingham and not In Tuscaloosa, and the third Board member who was a resident of Tuscaloosa recently resigned; and,

WHEREAS, the Legislative Agenda Committee has been advised that the System Board of Trustees has appointed as a replacement for the resigning Tuscaloosa Board member, a resident of Birmingham rather than a resident of Tuscaloosa.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA COMMITTEE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA that the Tuscaloosa County Legislative Delegation take whatever steps necessary and available through confirmation procedures to defer or delay confirmation and/or to pursue a substitute nominee who represents the Sixth Congressional District as a resident of Tuscaloosa County.

Adopted by the Legislative Agenda Committee Endorsed by the of the University of Alabama Steering Committee of the April 13, 1998 Faculty Senate April 14, 1998

---B. Scott Bridges, Chairman
--- Margaret P. Garner, Faculty Senate President

In recent years, the State of Alabama has lacked adequate resources to properly fund higher education and salaries of our faculty are at least 12-18% below the average salaries of faculty at peer institutions in other states.

At this time, the State finds itself in the position of having the financial resources to correct this situation. Therefore, the Faculty Senate Steering Committee of the University of Alabama urges the State to use this opportunity to provide from all available sources substantial increases in funding to institutions of higher education to bring funding levels up to the norms of peer institutions in other states.

Specifically, we request an 8% salary pool increase in 1998 and that the current retirement funds now in our budget be retained by the institution.

9-Dec-97 

The Faculty Senate at The University of Alabama expresses its deep appreciation to Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith for his proactive stance in working for a substantial increase in the legislature appropriations for higher education in the State of Alabama. Further, the Faculty Senate strongly endorses Chancellor Meredith's letter of December 5 to our colleagues in the University of Alabama System and encourages the following of its recommendations.

9-Dec-97 

The Faculty Senate recommends that the current +/- grading policy not be changed at this time. Implemented in the Fall of 1994, the policy has not been in effect long enough for the first class which entered the University under the policy to graduate. Further, any change in policy should be initiated by a University standing committee which has examined the issue in detail.

21-Oct-97 

Be it resolved that:

• the University Benefits Office staff and the Faculty/Staff Benefits Committee be commended for their efforts in providing additional health care coverage to University faculty and staff with no increase in premium levels; and
• that the University Benefits Office should provide information that clearly lists all details of the extent and conditions of our BC/BS Health Plan's coverage (the most recent Group Health Care Plan booklet distributed to the faculty is dated January 1, 1992, and changes in coverage made since that time need to be included); and
• that the University Benefits Office staff be reminded that in addition to being facilitators and interpreters of BC/BS policies, they must also serve as advocates for faculty/staff concerns to BC/BS. The University is self-insured and should therefore help establish the policies by which claims are evaluated and, whenever possible, serve as advocates of the policy holders when reasonable claims are rejected by BC/BS; and
• that the faculty believe Benefits Office staff should, while striving for responsible fiscal management of the health care plan, hold the health care needs and concerns of the faculty/staff as their highest priority.

The Faculty Senate strongly endorses the decision by the President and Provost to keep the University of Alabama Press quarters on campus. This decision - see the attached letter from President Sorensen and Provost Barrett to Prof. Barbara Chotiner, Chair of the Editorial Board (Attachment A) - certainly affirms the centrality and significance of the Press to the academic life of the University.

21-Oct-97 

While supporting the efforts of the State Articulation and General Studies Committee to articulate a general studies curriculum that will transfer for core credit at each state institution, in order to insure the quality of educational offerings at our universities:

1. We oppose the effort to extend the charge of the State Articulation and General Studies Committee beyond a 41 hour general studies curriculum.
2. We oppose the effort to standardize the general studies curricula at all state colleges and universities by imposing the state general studies curriculum on the native students of degree granting institutions.


Adopted by the Faculty Senates of

University of Alabama, May 29, 1997

University of Alabama at Birmingham, June 6, 1997

Auburn University, June 3, 1997

WHEREAS it is important that students transferring to the University of Alabama from junior colleges be well prepared,

AND WHEREAS the criteria endorsed by the Articulation Committee tend to promote uniform quality,

THE FACULTY SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA endorses the Articulation Committee's goal of establishing an approved forty-hour inventory of general studies at two-year colleges that would be accepted for credit by all public four-year colleges in Alabama,

BUT WHEREAS extending the general studies curriculum to sixty hours would necessarily require increased appropriations to provide competent instruction at junior colleges in numerous additional disciplines at a time when postsecondary education is seriously underfunded,

AND WHEREAS any such extension would hinder the ability of the four-year institutions to develop their own curricula in the context of developments within each discipline and complex and mutable accreditation constraints,

AND WHEREAS requiring the University of Alabama to submit its courses to the Articulation committee for approval undermines the constitutional autonomy of the University and its right and responsibility to develop new courses and curricula in response to continual developments in knowledge and changes in pedagogy,

AND WHEREAS in requiring the University of Alabama to submit course descriptions and syllabi for roughly one third of its undergraduate curriculum (some forty semester hours) for its approval, the Articulation Committee has already violated Article XIV, Section 264 of the Constitution of Alabama, 1901, which provides that "The state university shall be under the management and control of a board of trustees,"

AND WHEREAS the expressed intention of some members of the Articulation Committee to require submission of course descriptions and syllabi for roughly one half of the University’s undergraduate curriculum (some sixty semester hours) would be a further violation of the same article and section of the Constitution of Alabama,

AND WHEREAS the regulation of textbook selection on this campus by the Articulation Committee, which has already been contemplated by at least one of its disciplinary committees, would be a further violation of the same article and section of the Constitution of Alabama,

AND WHEREAS the statute creating the Articulation Committee enables any six of its members to approve or disapprove courses and syllabi to be offered by the University of Alabama, in clear violation of the same article and section of the Constitution of Alabama,

THE FACULTY SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA urges the administration of this campus and of the University of Alabama System to protect the University's constitutionally established autonomy by every means possible, including appropriate efforts by the UA System's representative to the Articulation Committee, in addition to appropriate efforts in the press, in the legislature, and if necessary, in the courts.

15-Apr-97 

To make the operation of The University of Alabama Faculty Senate more productive and efficient, and to streamline and strengthen the Senate's relation to the University's standing committees, each committee of the Senate, other than Senate Operations, shall be aligned with the appropriate University standing committees. Each Senator appointed to a University standing committee by the Faculty Senate will serve on the appropriate Senate committee, and choices of both committee assignments will be made immediately after the Senate elections. The Steering Committee will construct a roster relating Senate and University standing committees, which must be approved by the 1996-97 Senate, and this resolution will be implemented with the Senate elected in Spring 1997.

18-Feb-97 

18-Feb-97 

The Faculty Senate of the University of Alabama expresses its approval of and support for the efforts of Faculty Athletic Representative Gene Marsh to care for the academic welfare of our University's scholar-athletes, to implement President Sorensen's standard that no collective GPA of the scholarship athletes on any of Alabama's athletic teams be below 2.0, and to encourage the coaches of those teams whose scholarship athletes do not at present meet this standard to develop a meaningful strategy to achieve the standard. We agree with Professor Marsh that "we owe it to our students and their families to set standards at a level which will allow most of them to get their degrees

18-Feb-97 

Whereas, faculty salaries at The University of Alabama have not kept pace with the rate of inflation since 1988; and

Whereas, faculty salaries at The University of Alabama historically have been below both the mean for the Southern University Group (SUG) and average national salaries at all ranks; and

Whereas, the statement that "It is cheaper to live in Tuscaloosa" is no longer valid with respect to the cost of housing; and

Whereas, administrative salary data show that many University administrators receive salaries that are at or above the means for the SUG and Nation; and

Whereas, given The University of Alabama's stated goal of attaining Carnegie Research II status, which will require attracting and retaining faculty at salaries that are competitive within the SUG and Nation; now therefore

Be it Resolved, that the University of Alabama reaffirm, and take immediate steps to achieve, the goal of raising faculty salaries to the 75th percentile for the Southern University Group.

21-Jan-97 

Whereas, the Faculty Senate applauds the recent effort of the University Administration to make further serials reductions unnecessary this fiscal year by making special provision for the use of endowment funds, but

Whereas for many years the University Libraries materials budget has not kept pace with inflation, because of a lack of increase in continuing monies, and

Whereas, the cost of periodicals, books, and computerized database resources has risen faster than general inflation over the last decade, and

Whereas, the University Libraries is forced to allocate an ever-increasing proportion of its budget to maintain the serials collection, even after canceling some $250,000 worth of serials this past year, and

Whereas, departments which are serial dependent are especially adversely affected, and

Whereas, due to the decrease in purchasing power for all materials because of inflation, the University Libraries is not able fully to support academic programs, and

Whereas, the demands for a full range of traditional and electronic services are continually increasing, and

Whereas, with the high cost of electronic access our capability has lagged behind other research universities, and

Whereas, the University Administration aims to make this University a research institution of higher rank, and

Whereas, the University Libraries is ranked near the bottom of the members of the Association of Research Libraries, and its membership could be endangered with this continued low level of support, now therefore

Be It Resolved, that the University Administration should explore all possible avenues for revenue by which increased continuing funds are made available to support teaching and research with the acquisition of both traditional and electronic materials and with the expansion of library service and information technology capabilities at a level consistent with a research university, and

Be It Further Resolved, that the University Administration should aim to advance the ranking of the University Libraries among the members of the Association of Research Libraries.

19-Nov-96 

Whereas, the Student Affairs Committee has reviewed the Academic Suspension Proposal, found it acceptable and has no substantive comments to add, now therefore

Be It Resolved that the University adopt this proposal.

15-Oct-96 

1. Given the benefits of a six-day examination period in Fall and Spring Terms, the fact that only two examination slots are now scheduled on the seventh day, and the fact that the normal scheduling of Tuesday and Thursday classes does not use the TR 10-10:50 and TR 1-1:50 time slots, we recommend that the practice of scheduling final exam slots for the time periods TR 10-10:50 and TR 1-1:50 be discontinued.
2. We recommend that the final examination period for the regular Fall and Spring Terms consist of six days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Saturday.
3. We recommend that classes for each regular Fall and Spring Term begin on a Wednesday and end on a Friday. With holidays for Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving, each Fall Term will contain 45 MWF class meetings and 30 TR meetings. [This is the minimum required to attain the SACS mandated 2250 contact minutes per semester for a three credit-hour course.] With holidays for Martin Luther King's birthday observance, Spring Break, and Honors Day, each Spring term will contain 45 MWF class meetings and 31 TR meetings.
4. We recommend that classes for each Spring Term begin on the first Wednesday following January 4 and that classes for each Fall Term begin on the first Wednesday following August 19. [When January 4 is on as Wednesday, the official celebration of the Sunday New Year's Day is Monday which would leave only Tuesday, Jan. 3 for testing, orientation, etc. This Fall schedule allows for a minimum of four business days between the last day of examinations and Christmas Day, for the collection, processing, and mailing of grades.]
5. We recommend that Interim Term and Summer Terms be scheduled so that the week following the completion of second Summer Term's examinations is free.
6. We note that with the elimination of the seventh day of examinations, the Interim Term/Summer Term schedule can begin either on the Monday immediately following the completion of the Spring examination schedule or one week later. We recommend that the positioning of this block take into account not only the established bounds of the University's Fall and Spring Terms but also the dates for the opening and closing of elementary and secondary schools both locally and throughout the state. If both positions work effectively, we recommend the earlier to extend the August break.
7. We recommend that , when semester schedules are solicited, departments be informed of the examination schedules for those semesters, so faculty may take this information into account as they see fit in selecting times for their classes.
8. We recommend that, in the second Summer Term, classes not be ended at 5 PM on the last class day (Thursday) and that examinations not be scheduled for that evening. [Doing so blocks out evening classes which need the Thursday time to make up their required duration. There are only five examination slots scheduled and these can easily be accommodated on Friday and the first two slots on Saturday. (This is not a problem for the first Summer Term because classes end on a Friday and there are no scheduled Friday classes to conflict with Friday exams.)]

Whereas, the cost of periodicals, books and computerized database sources has risen much faster than the general inflation rate over the last decade, and

Whereas, the Libraries budgets have not kept pace due to a lack of increases in continuing monies, and

Whereas, the libraries have allocated an ever-increasing proportion of its budgeted monies to preserve the serials collection, and

Whereas, due to the decrease in purchasing power, there is little money earmarked for new books to support academic programs in the coming year, and

Whereas, the University is ranked near the bottom of the members of the Association of Research Libraries, and will likely lose its membership under the anticipated level of support, and

Whereas, the demands for library services are continually increasing, and

Whereas, the Libraries are currently undertaking a devastating cutback in all types of material acquisitions with continual cutbacks imminent, and

Whereas, across-the-board cancellations, as currently being implemented, adversely affect academic programs, particularly those that are serials-dependent, and the University's ability to achieve its teaching and research goals, and

Whereas, The Libraries Committee has advocated either a dedicated tuition increase or the creation of a student fee to support the Libraries on a continuing basis, and

Whereas, the Libraries Committee has urged that the University's central administration establish academic program priorities to be used as a basis for allocating library materials funds, now therefore

Be It Resolved that the University's central administration should explore all possible avenues for revenue and allocate a larger continuing budget to the Libraries for the acquisition of materials to support teaching and research and for the expansion of the Libraries service and information technology capabilities, and

Be It Further Resolved that the University's central administration establish academic program priorities to be used as a basis for allocating continuing funds for library materials, and

Be It Further Resolved that in the coming year, any revenues derived from give-backs from colleges' operating budgets to support library material acquisitions be matched with new funds from the University.

20-Feb-96 

Whereas, the Constitutional Convention, the Student Elections Board, and the Student Life Committee have developed or reviewed a proposal for a constitution so that a representative student government association can be reestablished at the University of Alabama, and

Whereas, the Faculty Senate supports the concept of a representative student government if it is structured to assure responsible representation of the student body, and

Whereas, it is the responsibility of the faculty to participate in the preparation of students for successful pursuit of their professional interests, including participation in extracurricular activities, and each branch of the student government could benefit from the advice and counsel available from faculty advisors, and

Whereas, responsible political activity includes the development of and participation in organized political action groups, and

Whereas, although the faculty supports and encourages the involvement of students in the various decision making processes which determine the nature and quality of the educational process, some of these processes address sensitive and confidential issues, and

Whereas, the timing and manner of student involvement should be determined by the academic unit responsible for the implementation of decisions made in the respective processes,

Be it resolved that the expression of the right to participation in the student bill of rights would be more accurate if it did not include the word "all" and read:

d. The right to receive prior notification, to provide input, and to be informed of University decisions, including those involving academics, affecting students.

Be it resolved that faculty advisors be appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs for each branch of the student government, and

Be it further resolved that any group of students which chooses to promote any candidate, proposal or issue to be submitted to the student body for approval through the electoral process should formally organize, register with the Office of Student Life, and have a faculty or staff advisor, and

Be it further resolved that the Faculty Senate supports the changes in the constitution recommended by the Student Life committee.

20-Feb-96 

Be it resolved that consideration of nominations of the Distinguished Service Award be done at the March meeting of the Senate, the last meeting of the current Senate, rather than at the April meeting.

16-Jan-96