For some faculty members, the upcoming academic year means tackling several major ongoing issues at the University.
Members of the Faculty Consultative Committee will begin working this summer to implement policies already approved by the University Senate, said Fred Morrison, chairman of the FCC at a Board of Regents meeting Friday.
Morrison said that over the summer, the FCC will work on putting a new academic-integrity system for students into place — a system the University Senate voted on this spring in an effort to promote academic integrity at the University.
“The Senate has done its part, with the enthusiastic support of both faculty and students,” Morrison said in his FCC report. “Now it is the turn of the administration to flesh out that system … to turn our commitment to integrity into an operating reality.”
By September, the University Senate will begin working on policies they approved last spring concerning intellectual property. The issue arose after faculty members became aware students were selling class notes over the Internet.
The FCC will also be considering faculty health care benefits next fall and deciding whether or not to separate University health coverage from the state’s plan. The issue will be presented to the board this December for approval.
Morrison also said an important issue facing the University next year is a financial one.
“A combination of circumstances has left the University seriously underfunded,” Morrison said in his report.
One major financial problem facing the University is faculty salaries and benefits.
“If we are not competitive in the national market, we will not be competitive in the long run,” Morrison said.
A joint administration-faculty Budget Management Task Force is currently looking at this issue and will formulate budget strategies for years to come, Morrison’s report said.

Liz Bogut welcomes comments at [email protected].