ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
(Approved)
November 8, 2000
Volume
XXXII, No. 6
Call
to Order
Chairperson
Curt White called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call
Senator
Crothers called the roll and declared a quorum.
Approval of
Minutes of October 25, 2000:
Motion XXXII–46: By
Senator Weber, second by Senator VanDraska, to approve the minutes of October 25, 2000.
The minutes were approved unanimously.
Chairperson's
Remarks:
Senator White: Notified
the Senate that there would be a memorial service for Senator Len Schmaltz on
November 20 at 1:00 p.m. in the Old Main Room of the Bone Student Center.
Vice Chairperson Remarks:
Senator Brown: There
will be a student caucus following this evening's meeting.
Student Government Association President’s Remarks:
Scott Kording, SGA Vice
President, substituting for Senator Biondolillo: The
Student Government Association is discussing the issue of parental notification
regarding student disciplinary violations.
Administrators' Remarks:
·
President Vic Boschini: Excused
absence.
·
Provost Al Goldfarb: The
Distinctiveness and Excellence report has been revised. There is now a clearer
statement about ISU's identity and distinctiveness. There was some concern
about there not being a focus on internationalization and we have placed more
of a focus there. There was a concern about more focus on transfer students and
that has been addressed. Some people had a hard time with some of the
recommendations in terms of Foundations of Inquiry as well as cluster hiring of
faculty. The most unpopular part was "The Illinois State University"
and that has been dropped. But we have had discussion on how we want to have a
higher profile as an institution. There is a new section on communicating how
we are succeeding in relationship to the report. We want to make certain that
the Senate has an opportunity to discuss the report and we want to remind
everyone also that all the actions in the report currently need to through
whatever governance structures that are required to review those
recommendations. Actions are significant but the key is how we define ourselves
as an institution and that is what the committee is trying to focus on.
Senator White: The Senate's
endorsement of the report would take the form of a Sense of the Senate
Resolution. A vote to endorse this document as a whole in no way obliges
individual senators or the Senate as a whole to approve anything within the
document that will need to be approved by the Senate at a later date.
Senator Reid: In the latest
version of the report, is there still a recommendation that all transfer
students take FOI?
Senator Goldfarb: Yes, I have asked
Senator Bragg to look at the budget implications.
·
Vice President of Student Affairs:
Senator Mamarchev: Reported that flu
shots are being administered by Student Health Services. They began on Monday,
November 6, and will continue through November 17.
·
Vice President of Finance and Planning:
Senator Bragg: Reported on
the ability of the University to pay faculty who are on nine-month contracts
over a 12-month period. I reported previously that there were some software
problems with our current payroll system that prevented us from doing this on
an individual basis. We have formed a task force in corporation with the
comptroller's office and academic personnel to look into this issue and I think
that there is a way to get this done. I will bring you some recommendations
early next semester.
Senator Campbell: Commented that a short-term solution is that
participants in the ISU Credit Union can have their pay distributed over a
12-month period.
Committee Reports
Senator Meckstroth: The members of the Academic Affairs Committee met
and discussed the proposals regarding the English Placement Test.
Senator Kurtz: Administrative
Affairs discussed the proposed school designation for the Department of Social
Work. We will be bringing forward a positive recommendation on that. We also
discussed our major charge of the year, that is, the commentary on the
performance of the President. We are discussing and beginning to formulate
guidelines and procedures for that.
Senator Strickland: The Budget Committee met and continued its
discussion and work on the review of the Academic Impact Fund. We will meet with
the Deans Council regarding this subject and we will continue our work on it
through December. We should have this ready for presentation to the Senate
early next semester.
Senator El-Zanati: On Monday, we will send out the
survey on the use of non-tenure track faculty to department chairpersons.
Senator Weber: The Rules Committee continued to discuss the
changes to the Entertainment Committee's constitution. We also continued our
discussion of possible revisions to the current governance structure. We will
be talking about this for at least a few more meetings. We are reaching a
consensus on many issues.
Senator Kowalski: The committee agreed to refer the recommendation of
a Student Health Concerns Committee to the Student Government Association. The
committee did not feel that it had enough time or constituents to form this
committee.
·
Illinois
Board of Higher Education Faculty Advisory Committee Report
Senator White: Senator Crothers was not available to attend the FAC meeting, so I went
to the meeting in his place. The meeting began with a discussion of internal
committees and their tasks. I suggested that Senator Crothers be on the
governance committee. There was a panel discussion on the use of adjunct
(non-tenure track) faculty nationally and in the state. We watched a video
called Degrees of Shame. The video argued that many adjunct faculty are
the equivalent of contemporary migratory workers. Several individuals shared their
experiences as adjunct faculty with the committee. FAC concluded that it needs
to review and revise its 1997 position paper calling for the end of the
excessive use of non-tenure track faculty. No other state initiatives exist at
this time. Senator White's entire report can be found at http://www.academicsenate.ilstu.edu/Committees.htm.
Senator Crothers: Asked
what Senator White would like to see come out of the process.
Senator White: I
just had a conversation with the Provost about how we are going to put some
action behind our desire to reduce the use of non-tenure track faculty to 15%,
which is what the Educating Illinois document calls for. My feeling is that
individual institutions need to self empower and go after these issues. There
are state-level possible responses that could make it a lot easier for
individual institutions to do so. The state does not make it easier for us to
respond these kinds of problems by basing our pay increases on 95% of the previous
personnel dollars. Even if they just allowed us that additional 5%, this would
give the institution some room to address this. I think that the IBHE should
take some leadership so that we could do that.
Senator Crothers: Both
last year and this year, we are pursuing 98 as the likely percentage base
because a certain amount of turnover is not very likely. IBHE has committed to
do a study of what the consequences of a 98% base would be and if is that
adequate. They are hypothetically beginning that this year.
Senator White: I
think it is possible for the institution to make a very credible case to the
IBHE on this issue. That might take the form of a request for additional budget
dollars.
.
Action Items:
09.29.00.01A Proposal Regarding Constitution Exam
Motion
XXXII-47: by
Senator Meckstroth, on behalf of the Academic Affairs Committee, to approve the
proposal regarding the Constitution Exam from the Council on General Education.
The proposal reads as follows: "Completion of any course in the Middle
Core Individuals and Civic Life Category will fulfill the Constitution Exam
requirement." Senator Morgan seconded the motion. The wording would be
included in the Constitution Exam section of the college catalog. Students may
also still substitute Political Science 105.
Senator
Reid: Dr.
Perez has sent me the wording of the catalog category description:
"Students will understand the general principles and various kinds of
institutions of governance and how they affect individuals." That seems to
me that there is not a strong requirement that they touch on the Constitution
substantially. I suggested that they add "including the United Stated
Constitution", simply to make it certain that that would be there guidance
in the future. I would be personally reassured if the Council on General
Education would take that up.
Dr.
Lou Perez, Director of General Education: I would be willing to make that commitment.
Senator
Fowles: When
will this go into effect?
Dr.
Eric Thomas, Associate Vice President of Undergraduate Studies: This will be retroactive to
1998.
The
motion was approved. There was one no vote (Senator Strickland) and one
abstention (Senator Razaki).
03.17.00.02
Graduate School Bylaws Revisions
Motion XXXII-48: by Senator Weber to approve
the revisions to the Graduate School bylaws. Senator Mushrush seconded the
motion. The revisions were unanimously approved.
10.19.00.01A Senate Liaisons to Colleges
Senator White: We received some suggestions
from Senator Reid for revisions to the proposed language for the Senate
liaisons to each college. The revised language now reads: "College
representatives will caucus each fall in order to designate at least one
liaison to respective college faculty. The responsibility of the liaisons is to
keep college faculty fully informed of Senate actions." This will go in
the Academic Senate Blue Book and will go into effect next year.
Motion XXXII-49: by Senator White and
seconded by Senator Razaki to approve the language.
The Senate unanimously
approved the proposed language.
Election of Student
Representatives to Dean of College of Education Search Committee: This issue will come before
the Senate at its next meeting.
Information Items:
05.10.00.03A Entertainment Committee Constitution Revisions
Senator Weber: The major change to the Entertainment
Committee's constitution was increasing the number of individuals on the
committee from 11 to 20 students, with no alternates. There were also a number
of editorial changes, which are indicated on the final page of the handout.
Senator Kowalski: Do all of these positions have to be voted
in?
Senator White: Yes.
Senator Crothers: In Article III, Section 4, you should specify
"faculty" alternates since you have eliminated student alternates. Also
in section 3, the word "faculty" should be added before alternates.
The
proposed revisions will come before the Senate for approval at the next
meeting.
05.10.00.01Course Withdrawal Deadlines
Senator Meckstroth: The
course withdrawal proposal seeks to change the course withdrawal date from the
end of the fifth week of classes to the end of the eighth week, with a grade of
WF.
The Academic Affairs Committee voted unanimously to
approve the proposal.
Senator Crothers: One
of the concerns of the IBHE is "time to degree". Has anyone looked at
how having more students drop out later in the semester affects this issue?
Also, as an editorial note, the language in the last paragraph should be
changed to reflect the new titles of the Deans of Graduate and Undergraduate
Studies.
Dr. Eric Thomas: We
did not look at time to degree and I don't know if you can really assess that.
It might be difficult to factor out just that one thing. We have done a lot of
different things that may have effected time to degree.
Senator Landau:
In the final paragraph, I would like to have some of the language changed. I
believe the current licensure law regarding professional practice is not
specific and it would not be appropriate to make reference to a "licensed
clinical psychologist", but instead a "licensed psychologist",
which may involve someone with clinical psychology training but who may involve
training in other areas.
Senator El-Zanati:
The cover letter states that the change from five to eight weeks reflects the
policies of other universities in the State of Illinois. Could you enlighten us
on that?
Dr. Thomas: We
received information from eight other institutions. One has a six-week drop
period, but there is a lot of flexibility. The majority of the others have eight
weeks.
Senator El-Zanati:
Do we expect more students to drop courses by changing this?
Dr. Thomas: I
think that there is a possibility that there may be some increase in the number
of drops, but when you consider that 60 to 75% of our students receive financial
aid and that if they drop below 12 hours they would loose that aid, I don't
think that we will see a rash of students dropping courses. Also, I think that
there is an academic benefit to changing the drop date. When students are
considering dropping a course for good academic reasons, they need to have the
opportunity to see the Academic Progress Alert, which comes out in the seventh
week, for that consideration.
Senator Meckstroth: One
thing that we discussed in our committee was the importance of continuing to
talk to students about the consequences of dropping courses. I know that has
been discussed in FOI and I know that the University College does advise
students about those consequences.
Senator Strickland:
How many students drop how many courses in a typical semester?
Dr. Thomas:
I would think that it is in the range of a few hundred. I will find that out
and let you know.
Senator Chang:
Does the grade of WX affect the student's GPA?
Senator White:
No, it does not. Did the Academic Affairs Committee attempt to get responses
from academic advisors, department chairs or other faculty about this issue?
Dr. Thomas:
I did get input from the University College advisors.
Senator White: I
would suggest to senators that they let academic advisors and department chairs
know that this issue is coming before the Senate and ask their advice.
Dr. Thomas:
We can put this out on the academic advisors' list serve tomorrow.
Senator White: The
Senate office can send a copy of the resolution to the department chairs.
Senator Landau: I
would be interested in circulating an electronic copy to my colleagues.
Senator White:
The Senate office will send a copy to all Senate members.
Senator Brown:
If this is passed, when will it go into effect?
Dr. Thomas:
It will be implemented during the next academic year in the fall.
Senator Nur-Awaleh:
Does this apply to graduate as well as undergraduate students?
Senator White:
Yes.
10.12.00.01 Revised List of University Sanctioned
Events for Equitable Treatment of Students Policy
Senator Kowalski:
On February 9, 2000, the Senate approved the Equitable Treatment of Students
Attending University Sponsored Events. The Senate asked that a list of those
events be created by the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Committees. This
list is before you now for discussion.
Senator White:
This is something that has already been voted on and we had requested that this
list be forwarded to us again for information. We are not going to vote on it
again. We just have the final opportunity to have input.
Senator Thomas:
Under item A, Intercollegiate Athletic Competitions, does this include
cheerleaders?
Senator Mamarchev:
Yes, it would.
Senator Thomas:
Academic Department Major, section C, refers to regional and national
conferences. Does that include state conferences as well?
Senator Mamarchev:
Yes.
Senator Campbell:
I suggest that you just list "professional association conferences"
instead of adding "state" to regional and national.
Senator Thomas:
The last line says in the event of a disagreement regarding this policy, the
issue will be directed to the Associate VP for Undergraduate Studies. Is that a
one-person decision or is there a panel representing the parties involved in
arbitration.
Senator Mamarchev:
I would talk to Dr. Thomas about anything that is not on the list.
Senator Weber:
With the regional and national association conferences, there are different
issues involved. Some people may attend meetings; others may actually give
presentations. Therefore, should any clarification be made about participating
in the conferences?
Senator Mamarchev:
I don't think that you should try to list everything that could possibly be; it
is better to have flexibility. If professors are encouraging students to attend
a particular conference, then that seems legitimate to me. The calls that are
coming to my office are in regard to events that are being encouraged by the
academic side.
Senator Mushrush:
In the event a graduate student is going through this, will the VP of
Undergraduate Studies still resolve the issue?
Dr. Thomas:
If a similar situation arose for a graduate student, the graduate student would
go to the VP of Graduate Studies. It is much harder for me to envision this
situation occurring with a graduate student. I do want to emphasize that this
policy is by no means intended to supercede the discretional capability of
faculty. The first line of decision on whether a student can be excused from a
class and has justifiable reason is the faculty member teaching that class.
That is worked out without any difficulty most of the time. It is only when
there is a disagreement and the student is jeopardized in that they are
required to participate in an activity to fulfill the requirements of another
class or to retain a scholarship. That was the basis for the whole policy
initially.
Senator Razaki:
Did you consider class trips when the whole class is asked to go?
Dr. Thomas:
My view is that it is up to the individual faculty member to work that out;
that is, if it is not a university sanctioned event that a student is required
to do in order to represent the university. If a faculty member wants to take
his class on the trip, then I would work that out with the other faculty
members in the department to make sure it did not conflict with anyone else's
schedule.
Senator Razaki:
But I have the right to say no?
Senator Mamarchev:
Yes, you always have that right. It is the faculty member's decision.
Senator Reid:
I am a little confused. Why would there be a stipulation for arbitration and
appeal if a professor can say no? Clearly, you would be willing to override
them some of the time if there is arbitration.
Dr. Thomas:
The first judgment and discretionary power resides with the faculty member. If
the faculty member decides that he or she is not going to excuse a student for
a required competition, they can go to the department chair or the dean to
appeal that. If it goes beyond that, the student has some recourse in those
cases where a faculty member is not doing what is in the best interest of the
student; they have the approved policy to protect them.
Senator Strickland:
I want to register an objection to the language that invokes that the best
interest of a student is a nonacademic endeavor.
Senator El-Zanati:
Has this already been implemented?
Senator White:
The policy was passed and this is an addendum to the policy.
Senator El-Zanati:
What is the number of instances that the Associate VP for Undergraduate Studies
has had to render a decision on whether or not a faculty member has acted in
the best interest of a student?
Dr. Thomas:
There have been a very small number of cases.
The list of Sanctioned University Events will be
added to the Senate-approved Equitable Treatment of Students policy currently
in the Policy and Procedures Manual.
Communications:
Educating Illinois: Distinctiveness and Excellence
Report - Revised. This issue will be discussed at the next Senate meeting.
Motion
XXXII-50: By Senator Kowalski,
second by Senator Weber, to adjourn. The motion was approved by a standing
vote.