On Thursday, Sept. 17, the Faculty Senate held its monthly meeting in the Rita Laden Senate Chambers in the Joe Crowley Student Union.  Below are a few key items and updates from this month's Faculty Senate meeting provided by Faculty Senate Chair David Sanders.

Faculty Compensation

Chancellor Dan Klaich is forming a working group that will have a broad discussion on the compensation options and create a policy by Jan. 1 that addresses compensation. The Senate is continuing to have conversations with President Marc Johnson about compensation, including past merit as well as future compensation.

Equity Study - Data is being gathered regarding compensation, market, and discrimination.  The study was discussed with the Faculty Senate Salary and Benefits Committee at its September meeting.  The salary study will commence in October.

Combining University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE), Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station (NAES) and the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR) - The schedule for the proposal evaluation has been shifted to spring 2016. Working groups within UNCE, CABNR and NAES are now being formed to examine the proposal to combine the units.  The groups are to report to Provost Kevin Carman by Feb. 1. An ad hoc committee is being formed by the Faculty Senate to review the proposal once it is released in February.

Board of Regents Meeting Updates

Proposed Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Code Changes to Faculty Notification for Administrative Faculty - For administrative faculty hired after Dec. 15, the proposed notice periods were 30 calendar days in the first two years of service and 45 calendar days thereafter.  This will be a voting item at the December Board of Regents meeting.  The Faculty Senate through the Council of Chairs (Faculty Chair from each of the NSHE Institutions) is working with Vice Chancellor Brooke Nielsen to modify this policy. The Faculty Senate is very concerned about how this could impact Administrative Faculty.

Proposed NSHE Code Change to Allow Transfer of Administrative Faculty - The proposed policy allows Administrative Faculty to be transferred between northern institutions (UNR, WNC, TMCC, GBC, DRI-North) and between southern institutions (UNLV, NSC, CSN, DRI-South) without the agreement of the employee. The Council of Chairs is working with Vice Chancellor Brooke Nielsen to change the policy. As currently written, this policy could impact recruitment and retention, insofar as it could involve relocation of faculty from urban to rural and/or across significant distances, and also a transfer from a University to a Community College (or vice-versa).  Concerns have been raised about the process that would be followed, as well as the necessity of obtaining faculty consent.

Chancellor Dan Klaich will be making a tour of institutions during the fall to hear what each of the institutions want in the NSHE budget request. In December, initial budget priorities will be presented by the Chancellor to the Board of Regents to receive initial input.  Between January and March, the Chancellor will continue to refine numbers.  Budget refinement will continue at the April and June Board of Regent meetings. Final approval of the NSHE budget will occur in August.  By Sept. 1, the NSHE budget must be submitted to Gov. Brian Sandoval.  The University must set priorities and then justify them.  Chancellor Klaich will be attending the October Faculty Senate meeting.  Please let us know what you see as critical budget requests that should be made by the University.

University Budget Information - Bruce Shively, Associate Vice President for Planning, Budget and Analysis spoke at the Faculty Senate meeting.

Summary of the 2015-2016 University Budget is located at http://www.unr.edu/budget/state-appropriated/2015-2016/summary. You can also view data from previous years.

Total Operating Budget for the University is approximately $648 million.

$265 million is state appropriated, of which $70 million are line item appropriations such as the School of Medicine, Cooperative Extension, Agricultural Experiment Station, and Intercollegiate Athletics as examples. 

UNR budget is $195 million from the State.

$263 million is from self-supporting sources (revenue directly generated by programs within the university). Self-supporting sources do not include research grants.

For 2015-2016, the appropriation from the State General Fund was $166 million. 

For 2007-2008, it was $207 million, and in 2014-2015 it was $149 million.

Increases from 2015 to 2016 UNR Budget increased from $171 million to $195 million

Hired or authorized searches for 101 new faculty positions (87 tenure truck), 41 last year and 60 starting in July 2016

Funded 71 new graduate assistants Invested in Library/TLT - material budget up $650K and 5 new positions

Added 10 new academic advisor and 16 new classified positions

$850K for IT Network Expansion and infrastructure.

Visit the Faculty Senate Website, where you can see the full minutes of the meeting including all the committee charges and future agendas: http://www.unr.edu/facultysenate/