ACADEMIC SENATE

 

MINUTES

 

October 25, 2007


11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.                                                                                 ACADEMIC SENATE CHAMBERS

Members Present:  Arnold, Alva, Bedell, Bruschke, Buck, Bullock, Burgtorf, Carroll, Drezner, Fromson, Gass, Gordon, Green, Grewal, Guerin, Hewitt, Jarvis, Kanel, Klassen, Liverpool, McConnell, McMahan, Mead, Oliver, Palmer, Randall, Rhoten, Richter, Shapiro, Smith, Spitzer, Stang, Stein, Taylor, Walicki, Williams

Absent:  Altar, Bhattacharya, Dabirian, Fidalgo, Hickok, Junn, Kantardjieff, Nyaggah, Pasternack, Sage

 

I.              CALL TO ORDER

Chair Guerin called the meeting to order at 11:33 a.m.

 

II.            URGENT BUSINESS

M/S/P [Bedell/Hewitt] to approve the resolution in support of encouraging the administration to maintain the past practice of exceeding contractual requirements in the awarding of faculty sabbaticals. [Approved unanimously] (See ASD 07-185)

 

III.          ANNOUNCEMENTS

Senator Hewitt announced that the ad hoc Committee on Sustainability has invited sustainability consultant, Jason Hamilton from Ithaca University, to speak on our campus on November 5th and 6th.  He encouraged the campus community attend these two seminars and invited all to a workshop on incorporating sustainability into the curriculum. A workshop will be held for the PAB and other CSUF managers.

 

IV.          APPROVAL OF MINUTES

4.1  M/S/P [Stang/Rhoten] to approve ASD 07-157 Academic Senate Meeting Minutes 9-13-07 as edited.

 

V.            CONSENT CALENDAR

M/S/P [Burgtorf/Fromson] to approve the consent calendar.

 

5.1 Nominees to Standing Committees

 

FACULTY AFFAIRS

Nominee:         Mougo Nyaggah (Soc Sci)

Continuing:      Ed Trotter (COMM); Charles Tumlinson (ARTS); Lisa Kirtman (EDUC);

                         Maijian Qian (CNSM); Sharon Seidman (HHD)

 

UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

Nominee:       Chang-Hyun Jo (ECS)

Continuing:    Elizabeth Housewright (Library); Renae Bredin (HUM); Christine Latham (HHD);

                       Belinda Karge (EDUC); David Bowman (CNSM); Tom Boyd (CBE); Joe Arnold (ARTS);

                       Mark Wu (COMM)

 

5.2 Nominees to Ad Hoc Committees

 

AD HOC:  UNIVERSITY CLUB BUILDING COMMITTEE

Nominee:          Carl Wendt (SOC SCI)

Confirmed 10/18:  Debra Noble (ARTS); Ellen Junn (HHD); Sandra Sutphen (Emeriti)

 

 

VI.          STATEWIDE ACADEMIC SENATE REPORT

         There was no business to report. Chair Guerin reminded the body that the CSU Academic Senate will meet November 7-9, 2007.

 

VII.        CHAIR’S REPORT

Chair Guerin reported the following:

o        Senate draft response to Access to Excellence will appear on the next Senate agenda for approval.

o        President’s State of the University Address is scheduled for November 15, 2007

o       The Academic Senate office received the following UPS documents unsigned by President Gordon, but with recommendations. They will appear on the Senate agenda shortly:

                           UPS 210.000, Faculty Personnel Policy

                           UPS 261.000, Emeritus Status

o       We have received eight nominations for the Collegial Governance Award.

o       Ongoing AA Searches:

                  Director of Freshman Programs

                           Dean of Irvine Campus

o       We received a copy of the Capital Improvement Program. We will invite Jay Bond to speak to the Senate about this in the future.

o       Committee to Recommend Administrative Controls over Online Courses met for first time.

 

VIII.      TIME CERTAIN

Time Certain

12:00 noon

Subject: Faculty/Staff Housing Survey Results and Current Status (See ASD 07-151)

Bill Dickerson, Executive Director, Auxiliary Services Corporation and CSUF Housing Authority

         Mr. Dickerson presented the results of the recent Faculty/Staff housing survey and the current status of the CSUF Workforce Housing Prospects. He reported the following:    

·        259 faculty and 486 staff (745 total) responded to the survey

·        344 respondents have been employed by the university less than five years

·        446 (60%) have household incomes of less than $100,000 per year

·        432 (58%) desire to live less than 15 miles from campus

·        64% desire to live less than 30 minutes (driving) from campus

·        272 currently rent

·        86% consider it desirable for the University to offer long term rentals

·        62% are somewhat, not very, or not at all satisfied with their current living situation: 224 responded this way because they currently rent, 150 said that they are too far from work, and 150 stated that their homes were too small

·        403 or 54% of respondents feel that the University should discontinue efforts to work with AERA seeking entitlement. (This proposed project would place 3,600 homes on 3,000 acres of the hills north of Brea, between Brea and Diamond Bar. Last year, the Academic Senate voted to recommend that the University discontinue negotiations with AERA.)

·        However, 472 or 63% of respondents feel that if the AERA project is eventually completed, the University should be involved.

·        University Gables is an existing development which provides 86 homes. Currently, there is a waiting list of 183 people; 116 are from CSUF (45 are tenure track faculty, 2 are presidential nominees). It is income restricted for 30 years (lasts until 2032). 75 homes are restricted at the moderate income level. 11 homes are restricted at the lower income level. (Today, one person can have a household income of up to $48,500 and quality for low income housing. With an income of $66,100, a person could quality for moderate income housing. These numbers vary by the number of people in the household.) Since the project’s completion in 2002, 26 homes have resold; 22 were sold to faculty, 6 of the faculty members were presidential nominees, and 4 were sold to staff. Today, these homes are occupied by 75% faculty and 25% staff.

·        There is a strong possibility that the Creekside Condos in La Habra will be our next project. It is a 252-unit complex built in the 1970’s, bought by a developer two years ago for the purpose of converting to condos. It was built as condos in the 1970’s but never sold as condos. We are in escrow to purchase 21 units. They are newly refurbished condominiums. We have been able to purchase them for $178,000 - $306,000, $65,000 to $95,000 below the 2006 market price. 13 of the 21 homes are reserved. There deed restrictions on the condos, similar to the ground leases for University Gables and University Heights. Because the home is purchased at a substantial amount below market, the appreciation will be limited when the home is sold again. However, the calculations on a $260,000 condominium indicate that if the CBI continues the way that it has been, that purchase at $260,000 would gain $40,000 in equity over the first five years. The individual would gain $24,000 in tax savings over those same five years. The equity and the tax savings is a substantial return on the investment, especially for someone whose only other alternative would have been to rent.

·        SOCO Walk, a 120-unit condominium complex in downtown Fullerton is another possible project. There are 2-story and 3-story townhomes. Currently there 18-24 units, not yet built, but available. Similar units originally sold for $599,990. There is a good possibility that we may be able to purchase them from the very low $400’s or less. Deed limitations would put into place as well.

 

                        Mr. Dickerson addressed the following questioned from the floor:

o       Senator Bedell: Can we ever move to a housing program that would allow people to live where they want (i.e., offer down payment assistance, forgivable loans, etc.)?

BD: Some universities, particularly private universities, have taken this approach. When they experience good years in terms of endowments and interest earnings, they are able to devote more money to these types of one time expenditures. They are usually low interest or no-interest loans. This requires a large amount of money. The UC system has a similar program which is funded by millions of dollars and made available to UC employees. There is serious talk at the Chancellor’s office about setting up a similar program for CSU employees system wide. However, with only CSUF’s resources, the down side to “one-time assistance” is that there would be no long term benefits to the University. President Gordon added that he served on a statewide committee that put together a proposal for a CSU plan similar to this type of program, but the state rejected it since a great deal of funds are necessary to continue to support such a plan.

o       Senator Buck: Do we have the ability to buy houses in undervalued neighborhoods and resell them? BD: We have the technical and legal ability, but not the financial ability.

o       Chair Guerin: Are there faculty members who serve on the Housing Authority Committee? BD: Yes, there is one, John Lawrence, and one student. However, three weeks ago, we learned at John intends to resign from the Housing Authority. Since the President appoints the members of this board, he will need to replace John Lawrence. He has agreed to remain on the board until he is replaced.

o       Senator Randall: It is encouraging to see the diversity in available housing that has been created to meet the needs of faculty and staff at different income levels, locations, and housing structures. Concerned about the 2/3 and 1/3 selection process for the waiting list. Are people unfairly disadvantaged? BD clarified that for every one that is take from the waiting list, one is selected from the Presidential nominees list. 2/3 of the offers are going to people how have been on the list for a while.

o       Senator Stang: It is important to consider these housing options as a part of recruitment, but it is also important in retention. So many of our new faculty were unable to get into University Gables because there was not a lot of turn-over there. From a resident’s point of view, it is also important for the Housing Authority to continue to check to make sure that all residents still meet all of the criteria set forth by the University. BD: We have begun an annual check with Human Resources.

o       Senator Jarvis: Are there outside funds available that would encourage less driving and less parking? BD: We had an employee shuttle in the past. This will probably be looked at again in the future as the demand for use increases.

o       Senator Kanel: Midlevel faculty may make too much money for the University Gables, and not enough for University Heights. This is a population that is being overlooked and should be taken into consideration. BD: We have heard this concern quite often. We are looking into options that offer lower-mid priced units without income restrictions attached to them. Chair Guerin: How would you know that persons in this situation exist?  BD: We had a list of 300 people at one time for University Heights when we thought the units would be priced between $350,000 and $450,000. When we found out that they would cost $450,000 to $550,000, many of those people had no interest or could not qualify. It is our intent to have a list for each project. There could be some merit to creating a list of interested faculty who exceed the income limits.

 

IX.         UNFINISHED BUSINESS

9.1  Fiscal State of the University Report [VP/CFO Hagan]

VP/CFO Hagan addressed additional questions and comments from the unexhausted speakers’ list in response to his Fiscal State University report given on September 27, 2007. He added that an open forum to discuss the budget will take place on November 8, 2007. Members of the campus community are invited to attend and ask any questions they may have.

 

X.           NEW BUSINESS

Item 10.1 was not discussed due to lack of time.

10.1 ASD 07-150 ASCSU Consultation on Professional Fee for Graduate Business Degrees (Waiver)

        

XI.         ADJOURNMENT

         Meeting adjourned at 1:07 p.m.