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New Mexico State University URC Minutes - April 27, 2001

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Present: Tim Pettibone, William Gould, Shaun McQuitty, Betsy Cahill, Stephen Horan, Nirmala Khandan, Tracy Sterling, Naida Zucker, Becky Keele-Smith, Dave Rocks, Jim Strickland, Cheryl Wilson (Elizabeth Titus)

Absent: Satya Krishnan, Harold Matteson, Rudi Schoenmackers, William Ogden, Stephen Bernhardt, Margaret Jacobs, Kristine Derer, Gary Cunningham, Karl Wood, Vicente Garcia

Guests: Vipin Gupta, Rich Hills, Vince Gutschick, Martin Krupa

1. Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory - Dr. Vipin Gupta

Dr. Khandan introduced Dr. Vipin Gupta from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). He discussed the Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory (BNSL) being developed by the Advanced Concepts Group of SNL under the leadership of Dr. Gerold Yonas. Their mission is sustainable economic development on the U.S./Mexico border and will include border infrastructure issues in water and agriculture; advanced manufacturing; health care; energy, air and transportation; workforce development; and information technology and communications. Several projects in stress related areas (water, air, etc.) are already underway: 1) Rapid Syndrome Validation Project (RSVP), a public health surveillance system, which is directed by Dr. Hugo Vilchis and SNL, and 2) SW Ecology Development Institutes solar stills. The U.S. Mexico Conflict Resolution Center is also working with BNSL. If anyone has specific, short-term projects in one of these areas and is interested in collaborating with SNL, please contact Dr. Gupta in ECI, Room 209.

2. Approval of Minutes - March 23, 2001

A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes. All were in favor.

3. Flexible Faculty Appointments - Dr. Rich Hills

Dr. Hills discussed the Flexible Faculty Appointment proposal which originated because of salary issues with faculty. It allows 9 month faculty to reduce their FTE to .8 (same as one day of consulting) which compresses salary and allows faculty to pursue external funding opportunities to increase their salary up to 25%. Departmental responsibilities, however, remain the same. Retirement benefits are affected if the last five years of salary have increased due to outside funding. If faculty change to .8 FTE , federal regulations will not allow them to return to 1. FTE because salary is reduced. Downside for departments is that there will be no salary savings. The Roush formula, which is set up so that money is distributed to departments based on FTE, should be addressed. Dr. Pettibone noted that NMSU is 19th out of 19 peer universities in salaries for associate and full professor. Working for better salaries for all faculty seems a better effort than increasing salaries for a few with Flexible Faculty Appointments. The final decision will be made by the President based on advice from the administrative council, deans, and faculty senate, but faculty can be assured that NMSU is fighting for higher salaries.

Library Issues
Dr. Vince Gutschick presented issues from faculty about library concerns, stating that faculty werent consulted and involved in the plans for cutbacks due to the $751,000 library budget deficit resulting in major cutbacks being made to books, journals and electronic databases. Central administration and college deans met and agreed to use $450,000 of overhead money to assist with this deficit, and President Gogue indicated that library funding will be a legislative priority. Dr. Gutschick stated that the library liaisons would like to be involved and interact more with the library fund managers in making decisions about cutbacks and the transition from print to electronic form conversions. Dr. Gustschick proposed a resolution which stated: We would like to encourage the library to involve the faculty in its long-term planning for the overall budget, the distribution of budget, and the transition to electronic forms. Dr. Horan moved that URC approve the resolution. Dr. Sterling seconded the motion and all were in favor.

4. Research and Creative Activities Fair Update - Dr. Strickland

Poster boards are reserved, the date is set, an announcement went out on Hotline, and there have been several inquiries about how to register. Letters will be sent to Deans and Department Heads and the announcement will be put on ABCD distribution and NMSU Postings. Sign up forms will be sent the first weeks of Fall semester with a 2-week deadline.

5. URC Award for Exceptional Achievements in Creative Scholarly Activity (Update) - Dr. Sterling

The committee met and chose a Fort Bliss winner who will be announced at a later date. The guidelines were sent out for the URC award that will be determined in the Fall. A final draft will be forwarded to Dr. Cunningham.

6. Election of Officers:

A motion was made and seconded to accept the new officers as nominated. All were in favor.
Chair elect - Steve Horan
Ex officio - Elizabeth Titus
Faculty Representative - Becky Keele-Smith

7. Faculty Identified Issues (Follow-up) -- Dr. Strickland

Tabled until the Fall meeting.

8. Overhead Report - Dr. Horan

Tabled until the Fall meeting.

9. Other Business and Announcements

Cheryl Wilson stated that the library is very appreciative of the efforts of the faculty, deans, and students, and she acknowledged the energy Dean Titus has expended in talking to constituency groups about funding issues. Several URC members commended the effort and work of the library staff to resolve these issues.

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

Minutes by Betty Lindsey