At its working meeting yesterday, the Faculty Senate discussed the draft resolution on scholarly publication and authors' rights, as well as changes to University employee health insurance plans.
"I want everyone to be as informed as possible," Senate Chair Ann Hamric said in regards to the Senate's copyright resolution, which proposes a requirement that all faculty should retain the appropriate rights to have their articles stored in a public University repository. The resolution - which was announced at a Senate meeting in April and will likely be brought to a vote at the Nov. 20 meeting - also allows faculty to sign a waiver to opt out of this requirement. This waiver is particularly designed for faculty members who disagree with the resolution or whose publishers do not wish to give up the necessary rights to publish the article in the University repository.
Former Senate Chair Edmund Kitch said he believes it is important for faculty to assert their opinions on this issue, noting that technological advancements have changed the way people can access scholarly articles. Without faculty action, Kitch said, there may be "a void" where bodies, such as the government, may decide what to do about the issue before faculty have as much of an input as they may want.
"I think it's an ideal topic for this Senate to discuss and I can't think of a better body ... to take a stance on this issue," Kitch said.
The task force has had several productive discussions with University faculty members, especially about the resolution's intent, its overall philosophy and the implications it may have in the future, Asst. Education Prof. Brian Pusser said.
Nevertheless, University professors have debated the issue. For example, English Prof. David Vander Meulen drafted a list of his own concerns, which were distributed at the meeting. One common concern is about the waiver option. Physics Prof. Blaine Norum, for instance, said he thinks that the waiver option will be "another bit of meaningless bureaucracy to deal with."
Additionally, some faculty members thought it would be appropriate to adopt policies specific to each discipline rather than one resolution for the entire University. Senate Chair-Elect Gweneth West, however, said the resolution would "open doors" for faculty who might not otherwise have been able to retain rights from their publisher. At the same time, West said, the resolution's waiver option does not close any doors for faculty.
As the Senate plans to vote on the resolution in November, it will do what it can to make sure faculty are prepared to vote on the issue.
"I think the reason this is on everybody's mind is we are moving to a decision on it," Hamric said. But "I don't think there's any desire to ... [force] any senator ... to vote when they don't know everything about it."
In addition to the resolution on authors' rights, Chief Human Resource Officer Susan Carkeek also gave a presentation about this year's changes to the University's health insurance plans, emphasizing that the University does not actually buy insurance but rather pays for health care itself. Overall costs for the medical plans increased by 17 percent this year in part because of expected annual increases in medical costs, and partly because of "high-dollar claims" that totaled $3 million, Carkeek said.
Apart from a mental health parity benefit, this year's most significant change to the plans will be a $100 deductible on brand-name drugs purchased through a retailer instead of mail-order programs, Carkeek said. The changes also include co-pay increases of $20 to $40 for office visits, a new mental health vendor, a premium increase for the high-premium coverage plan and a $100 deductible for most health services.
Additionally, the University hopes to offer more resources for employees to make decisions about their medical coverage.
"One of the things we're planning to do is put some more tools out there ... to help people make decisions on what plan would be better for them," Carkeek said.
Hamric added that it is especially important for the University to inform its faculty of these changes because they are greater than in most years.
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