An evaluation of President Martin Jischke topped the Faculty Senate’s agenda on Tuesday evening.

“We are interested with the president and the president’s office members’ interaction with specific groups on campus,” said Dick Seagrave, a chemical engineering professor.

Seagrave said the presidential evaluation committee, which is made up of select Faculty Senate members and other appointed members, will send a computerized questionnaire to all faculty members on March 17.

“The questionnaire will evaluate the president’s performance,” Seagrave said.

He said the questionnaire will pinpoint the relationship between the president and the administrative and faculty interests with regard to shared governance, promotion and tenure, financial resources, admission and retention, diversity, technology transfer, and athletics.

The questionnaire, Seagrave said, is only one approach being used for the faculty evaluation. The committee has made a call to the general university committee for comments. Solicitations of faculty input may also be sent through Faculty Senate members, he said.

Seagrave said the main goals of the committee are to facilitate communication with faculty members and promote shared governance.

Reconstructing extension program

Members of the Iowa State agricultural department are reconstructing the extension program.

“There has been a lot of confusion on how the extension program is managed,” said Stanley Johnson, vice provost of extension.

Johnson said changes will include improving targeting resources, creating a closer coordination with the extension campus and field staff, and improving accountability and productivity.

Johnson said the agricultural department hopes to make the issue of block budgeting more clear for extension faculty members.

The department, Johnson said, will also focus on the concurrence of project due dates between college and extension programs. The distribution of project resources will also be changed.

Johnson said the changes will take place after the transition period ends. “The transition period will take anywhere from three to five years to complete,” he said.

“The transition phase is in,” Johnson said. “This is a new process and we don’t expect everything to run perfectly.”

During the transition, Johnson said, the department will develop a project document and complete negotiation processes.

Johnson said tenure extension faculty in departments will be able to negotiate with DEOs on appointment status. The faculty on Extension Federal will now have to abide by federal regulations.

“We will move this transition as fast as we can,” he said. “We expect to initiate this within the next budget cycle.”

New major in agronomy

The Faculty Senate approved a new master’s program in agronomy.

“A survey said there is a demand for this program,” said Tom Loynachan, agronomy professor.

Loynachan said the program will be “broad based” and will be provided by CD-video to off-campus graduate students.

Elections

Faculty Senate members elected a secretary and four council chairs.

Both Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism, and Phil Van de Voorde, associate professor at Parks Library, were nominated for the secretarial position.

Due to prior obligations, Mack, the previous secretary, withdrew from the ballot.

Van de Voorde was voted in by the Senate as the new secretary.

Suzanne Hendrich, interim director of food science, was elected as the faculty development and administrative relations council chairwoman.

Dean Ulrichson, professor of chemical engineering, was elected as the governance council chairman.

Jack Girton, associate professor of zoology, was elected as the chairman of the judiciary appeals council.

Carl Bleyle, professor of music, was elected as the academic affairs council chairman.

Hendrich, Ulrichson and Girton all have previously held their positions.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held on April 1, 1997, at 7:30 p.m. in 260 Scheman.