The fifth meeting of the Faculty Senate for 2000-01 was convened in 25 Law Building, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, May 31, 2001, at 2:34 p.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by telephone. Checking or signing the roll as present were 101 voting faculty/academic professional members. President Yudof presided.

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS

NONE


2. TRIBUTE TO DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

FACULTY/ACADEMIC PROFESSIONALS/STAFF

David K. Berninghausen
Professor
Liberal Arts/Library School
1916 - 2001

Vitali Chveiguert
Research Associate
Mechanical Engineering
1955 - 2001

Susan N. Geiger
Professor
Women's Studies
1939 - 2001

Joseph Levstik
Assistant Professor
Law School
1916 - 2001

Leona S. Nelson
Associate Professor
Agriculture
1913 - 2001

Constance M. Simenson-Dekrey
Professor
Extension
1943 - 2001

James J. Zdechlik
Audit Manager
Audits
1931 - 2001

Professor Fred Morrison, Chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC), stated that his two years as FCC Chair had been exciting, interesting, and never boring. He thanked the Senate, the members of the faculty, and the FCC for giving him this opportunity. Since the last Senate meeting, the FCC has been concerned with budget issues and health care, both of which will be presented for information today.

Professor Morrison was then given a round of applause by the Senate.

President Yudof thanked Professor Morrison for his service and hard work on many issues.

He then turned to a discussion of the budget, pointing to a handout of a speech that he has given on the future of public universities. The handout notes that there are deeply-ingrained problems across the country to which current strategies are failing to receive a response.

The University is entering an era as a hybrid model, with higher tuition than in the past. President Yudof noted that he received a letter from Governor Ventura saying that he is putting more funds into student assistance versus the University. The same message is being sent from the legislature since the final budget number is $74 – 84 million. These actions will prompt a tuition increase as well as a hold on investments in the University over the next few years.

Professor Morrison pointed to another handout, which was prepared by some members of the Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC), and reached the same conclusion as the President.

A senator commented that the University cannot be complacent about the trend towards privatization, but must work to reverse it.

Professor Fred Morrison, Chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC), said that this item was placed on the docket assuming that the University would already have a budget. The President has already provided potential figures. It is not good news for the University since tuition will need to increase to provide more revenue.

Q: Is the University considering changes in outreach?

A: There will not be immediate changes, but it does become harder to fund outreach when public goods are not receiving funds. Ideally, the legislature should fund these efforts since it helps the state and its economy, more than the students attending the University. The key is to fit this with the University’s land-grant and civic engagement roles.

Professor Fred Morrison, Chair of the Health Benefits Advisory Committee (HBAC), said that last fall the Health Plan Task Force brought a recommendation to the Senate for plan improvements. From these recommendations, a RFP was issued in February while the University continued to work with the state. A selection committee reviewed the proposals and has made the recommendations in one handout, while the state proposal is on another handout.

The RFP proposal calls for four plans, which he described in terms of the providers being chosen, co-pays, premiums, and clinic changes. The DOER proposal is for the current SEGIP plan with a joint powers structure and more favorable pricing. The same co-pay would apply across all plans, which allows premiums to rise to keep the low-cost carrier price low.

Various groups are advising the President on this issue, but the HBAC has voted to recommend separation from the state. The Regents will be making their decision next Friday.

Dr. Cerra then distributed a handout with more details about the plans and costs. He did note that this change is for non-bargaining unit employees.

Q: The lifetime maximum is listed as $1 million to unlimited. What does this mean?

A: Currently, there is no maximum and this will continue under any proposed plan change.

Q: What does ‘80% of the first $2,000’ mean?

A: The plan will cover 80% of the first $2,000 of cost and 100% thereafter. The employee is only responsible for paying 20% of the first $2,000.

Q: What accounts for the differences in the tiers in Plan B?

A: Efficiency of service, based on the rate charged by the care system.

Q: What will the University receive from the RFP proposal versus from the state?

A: The RFP figures are still not the final costs since the cost will be impacted by the final plan design, bargaining with the providers, and bargaining unit contracts. If gross costs are compared, there is not a significant difference between the RFP and the current state plan. The difference is that the state costs will rise more sharply for some plans than for others. The RFP also attempts to address other issues, such as improved out-of-area, out-of-network coverage, and mental health, as well as complimentary and alternative medicine. The state proposal does not address any of these issues.

Q: What plans are available for Crookston?

A: Plans A and B will only be available in the Twin Cites and Duluth. Crookston will be offered Plan C, Preferred One, at the Plan A premium and co-pay level.

Q: Will coordinate campus costs be held to the same level as the Twin Cities even though fewer plans are available?

A: The expectation is that an Plan A equivalent will be available throughout greater Minnesota. For Duluth this will be Patient Choice. For the rest of the state, this will be Preferred One. All employees throughout the state will also have the option of taking Plans C or D at the higher rate.

Q: How many of these plans will include the University hospitals and physicians?

A: It will be part of virtually all plans.

A senator noted that there is a concern that this change will simply shift more costs to the employees and force them into higher priced clinics.

Q: Will a procedure be in place to annually review the market and revise the health care package?

A: The current thought is to send out an RFP every four to five years, not on an annual basis.

Q: What will be the cost increase to faculty?

A: The overall out-of-pocket increase for employees will be 5.6%, covered by premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. There is no way to avoid these increases as health care costs continue to rise.

Q: Was there any concern that the drug cap is doubling?

A: The HBAC asked for alternate bids for a lower drug cap and has asked the administration to lower this cap level.

Q: What plans will be available for retirees?

A: The plans described today do not apply to retirees. While no final decisions have been made, the plans will be very close to what is currently available.

Q: Will employees be able to opt-out of coverage?

A: This option will not be available unless the University is self-insured for at least 18 months to collect employee data from the risk pool.

Q: For those employees who have a chronic illness and frequently use appropriate services, was an analysis done to look at the impact on these people?

A: No analysis was done since actuarial work just looks at claims experience. If the University self-insures, the University could look at appropriateness of service and start an educational model.

Professor Fred Morrison, Chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC), again thanked the Senate for their help and cooperation over the last two years.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:37 p.m.

Vitali Chveiguert

Dr. Vitali Adolfovich Chveiguert died of brain cancer on April 3, 2001 at the age of 45. He was born in Krasnokutsk, Kazakstan, Russia on August 30, 1955.

Vitali and his wife Irina came to the University of Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering on January 13, 2000. Both were Research Scientists in the High Temperature and Plasma Laboratory working on computational research projects.

Vitali was widely considered one of the leading experts on computational plasma physics, and had gained an international reputation for his work on dusty plasmas, gas discharge modeling, and the formation of clusters and nanoparticles.

During his short time in the Department, Vitali made important contributions in the areas of plasma process modeling, including the formation of uniform atmospheric pressure glow discharges, the electron kinetics in low-pressure inductive discharges, and dusty plasmas. At every stage of the progression of his illness, he was eager to discuss his work and to advise his collaborators and students.

Dr. Chveiguert came to Minnesota from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, where he worked for more than twenty years. There he defended his Ph.D. (candidate) dissertations in 1983 and his D.Sc. (doctor of science) thesis entitled "Nonlocal electron energy distribution functions and space charge effects in gas glow discharges" in 1997. Both dissertations were devoted to the simulation of glow discharges. Vitali received his undergraduate education from the Physics Department of Novosibirsk University, where he graduated in 1977 with honors.

Dr. Chveiguert co-authored more than fifty articles in the last five years. He published in total 156 papers, among them eight articles in Physics Review Letters and one article in Nature. His recent papers (1996-2000) on mesoscopic superconductivity and dusty plasma were well received and widely quoted by the scientific community. Vitali Chveiguert's computational ability was in high demand by many experimental and theoretical groups in Russia, USA, Germany, Belgium, and Holland. As a consequence of those numerous collaborations, Vitali had more than thirty co-authors around the world.

Vitali was a devoted husband and father of two children. His colleagues at the University of Minnesota will remember him as a brilliant scientist, a modest person, and a good friend.

Robert M. Lander

Robert Masters Lander passed away on December 14, 2000 at the age of 91. He was born in 1909 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received his B.S.M.E. in 1932 and his M.S.M.E. in 1933, both in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering.

In 1933 Mr. Lander was employed with the University's Engineering Experiment Station/Oak Street Laboratories. In 1949 he was promoted to Research Fellow. In 1953 Mr. Lander transferred to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and was promoted to Research Associate in 1957.Mr. Lander retired from the University in June 1972.

In his first twenty-five years of service to the University, Mr. Lander conducted research and tests on thermal conductivity of building materials with equipment that he designed and made at the Engineering Experiment Station. This work proved useful as a service activity to local industry, through reimbursement to the University, and was a source of research papers between Mr. Lander and the staff at the Engineering Experiment Station. When the Oak Street Laboratories burned down and the Experiment Station was abandoned, Mr. Lander came to work for the Mechanical Engineering department and for a few years continued his work in thermal conductivity. In all, Mr. Lander published fourteen papers in the fields of heat and vapor transmission. In the few years before his retirement, Mr. Lander was in charge of the Calibration Laboratory of the Mechanical Engineering department.

The faculty members of the Institute of Technology express their deep appreciation for Robert M. Lander's 39 years of devoted and highly competent service to the University of Minnesota.

James J. Zdechlik

On Thursday, April 12, 2001, the University of Minnesota lost one of its most loyal employees. James J. Zdechlik, age 69, passed away peacefully after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Jim began his career at the University in 1949 in the Acquisitions Department. He also worked in Inventory Services and the Department of Chemistry. In 1960 he joined the Administrative Data Processing Department as a computer programmer trainee, and through a series of promotions became a Project Manager. Jim joined the Department of Audits in January 1975. When he retired from the University in 1988 Jim held the position of Information Systems Audit Manager.

Jim was dedicated to the University and was well liked by those he worked with. Jim is survived by his wife Mary, their five children, and numerous grandchildren.