Academic Senate Minutes
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
(Approved)
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Lane Crothers.
Roll Call
Secretary Paul Borg called the roll and declared a quorum.
Approval of Minutes of March 30, 2005
Motion XXXVI-63: By Senator Schlenker, seconded by Senator Mahoney, to approve the Senate minutes of March 30, 2005. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Presentation: State Representatives
The General Assembly is in session tonight; thus, Dan Brady was unable to attend the Senate meeting. He hopes to attend on April 27th.
Chairperson's Remarks
The Senate welcomed the new Student Body President, Josh Garrison; Josh also serves as the Vice Chair of the Senate.
Student Government Association President's Remarks
Senator Garrison: Today, the IBHE-SAC took a trip to lobby for a 1% increase across the board for higher education. Senators and representatives were very open to talking with us. Most of the legislators said that they wanted to help us, but they were worried about where they will find the money. SGA is now trying to fill the unrepresented student senator positions. We hope to fill them before the end of the spring semester.
Senator Brockschmidt: What are the unrepresented positions?
Senator Garrison: We are looking for two graduate students and one nursing student; students for the other two vacancies can come for any college.
Administrators' Remarks
President Al Bowman: This afternoon, the public university presidents met with Tom Cross and other members of the Republican Caucus, including Dan Brady, in Springfield. The Republican leadership made protection of higher ed a major issue last year. We took the opportunity to thank them for that support and then we went through the issues that are important to the higher ed community this year. Those include restoration of our base funding and the need for a capital bill for higher education. We supported a separate Inspector General for higher education. We strongly argued that higher ed should be exempted from a potential ban on the sell of naming rights for state property, which obviously would have a major impact on the ability of universities to raise private funds. We thanked them for understanding the importance of the Income Fund to universities and they pledged to continue to support the effort to keep those funds locally. They also pledged to enforce the memorandum of understanding to prevent higher ed from being cut mid year again. We talked about SURS and the necessity for maintaining the integrity of the pension systems.
Provost Presley has gotten the campus involved in the American Democracy Project. As part of that effort, 500 college presidents across the country last week signed a “Presidential Declaration on Civic Responsibility”. It is a document that pledges us to make civic engagement an important part of the college experience and continue our efforts to help students develop a sense of civic responsibility. Unfortunately, you may have heard rumors circulating about a major reorganization in Institutional Advancement. I want to reassure everyone that that is not the case. We have realigned some of the major gift officers and their responsibilities and how they relate to some of the colleges, but nothing else will be done. Obviously, with the new Vice President coming in July, there are no plans to do anything of that sort.
There is no formal search policy for a search for the Vice President for Institutional Advancement. The Senate does have a policy in draft stage. I think that the policy looks good and I would like to follow it for the Institutional Advancement search. The policy requires a formal announcement of the vacancy and this constitutes that announcement, so we will move forward with that.
We continue to explore legal remedies for dealing with the ISU “Skank” site. We are not only concerned with the name ‘ISU’ associated with the site, but also with the content. The matter has been referred to the Attorney General and it is working its way through that bureaucracy. We expect them to take action relatively soon.
The IBHE has limited funds for research projects, but two projects have been funded at ISU, one from the College of Education Center for the Study of Educational Policy. That project was highlighted at the last IBHE meeting. With state limited funding, it is nice to see the University getting more than its fair share.
The Athletic Director search is winding down. Sheahon Zenger from Kansas State was here yesterday and left this afternoon. Tom Collins came in today and is having dinner with the search committee this evening and will meet with various campus groups tomorrow. I will meet with him tomorrow afternoon. Sunday, David Heeke comes from the University of Oregon. There are open forums and I encourage your participation.
Lastly, I want to congratulate the Forensics Team for winning a national championship. 250 universities competed and for the first time, ISU brought home the gold cup.
Provost’s Remarks
Provost John Presley: Enrollment confirmation and deposit letters have been sent to all fall 2005 admitted freshmen and a second mailing is being sent now to students who have not yet responded. The national declaration date for high school seniors is May 1. With less than a month remaining, we have 2,446 deposits. This compares to 2,111 for fall 2004, which shows that we have a 16% increase and that we are right on track. We are looking at the model for an entrepreneurial summer schedule. The early indications are that that is going to succeed in the places where we are piloting it. For example, in the Department of Communication, last year’s final total for summer enrollment was 509 students. As of yesterday, they already have a total of 544 with a lot more enrollment to go. This idea of there being something in it for those departments which want to advertise seems to be working well.
The College of Nursing was just awarded a Pfizer Visiting Professorship. There were only ten of these fellowships awarded nationwide and ours was the only nursing college to receive it and the only program in Illinois. They will be bringing Dr. Sarah Kagen from the University of Pennsylvania here in March 2006, who is also a McArthur Fellow.
Finally, we have decided to take a proactive stance with some of the Recording Industry Association of America suits that are being placed nationally and against our students. Our technology consultant, who works with the copyright officer, Dean Elzy, was able to have a very long and productive conversation with three of the RIAA lawyers concerning peer-to-peer file sharing by students of copied music files. We think that if we declare our desire to work with RIAA in educating students on peer-to-peer issues, we leverage our relationship with them. We hope to escape the ugly surprises that several of our students have gotten over the past year when they found themselves subpoenaed and threatened with suits by the RIAA.
Vice President of Student Affairs’ Remarks
Vice President of Student Affairs Helen Mamarchev: McAllister’s Deli is a great hit. This is the first McAllister’s Deli in the State of Illinois and it is the second one to appear on a college campus. I want to thank President Bowman for accompanying us on a tour of Wilkins Hall where renovation is right on schedule. We are scheduled to open it in August and we will be setting up some open house tours. On Friday, May 13, we will have the College of Arts of Sciences commencement in Redbird Arena at 7:00 p.m., preceded by a 4:00 p.m. Mennonite College of Nursing commencement in Braden Auditorium. On Saturday, May 14, in Redbird Arena, at 9:00 a.m., we will have the College of Education commencement; at 1:00 p.m., the College of Applied Sciences and Technology; and at 4:00 p.m., the College of Business. At 7:00 p.m., we will have the College of Fine Arts in Braden. For those of you participating in commencement, especially faculty members, it is important to remember to order your regalia. You can go to the commencement web site and get information on how to do that.
Senator Wang: Previously, we had the 1857 Room and, therefore, when we had guests, we had a place to bring them for a formal meal. It is awkward to do that in McAllister’s. Does Student Affairs have any plan to open a kind of dining hall like what we had before?
Senator Mamarchev: We are finishing the renovation for the private dining room, so people will be able to reserve that. We also will be announcing very soon another new venue that we are bringing into the Bone for food.
Vice President of Finance and Planning’s Remarks: Excused
Committee Reports
Academic Affairs Committee
Senator Reid: The committee discussed enrollment management problems as they relate to General Studies students. There are approximately 229 seniors who are in General Studies who do not have a major and therefore cannot graduate. We will continue to look at that and pass on statistics to next year’s committee.
Administrative Affairs and Budget Committee
Senator Brockschmidt: The committee discussed the three items that the committee is bringing to the Senate floor tonight.
Faculty Affairs Committee
Senator Wylie: Brian Clark from AFEGC was our guest and we will be bringing to the Executive Committee the revisions to the Academic Freedom Ethics and Grievance Committee Policy. We also will bring to the caucus tonight the URC changes to the post-tenure review policy.
Planning and Finance Committee
Senator Plantholt: The committee is working at trying to finish the priorities document. We hope that the Senate will see that at the next meeting.
Rules Committee
Senator Hammel: The committee discussed nominations to various external committees of the Senate. The SCERB Hearing Panel, which is always short-staffed, is one that we would be happy to have faculty nominees for.
Action Items:
04.01.05.01 Distance Education Guidelines and Philosophy Statement – Revised
Motion XXXVI-64: By Senator Reid to approve the revised Distance Education Guidelines and philosophy statement.
Senator Reid: The distance education guidelines and philosophy statement came before the Senate as an Information Item on February 23, 2005. The Council for Distance Education took that document and made substantial recommendations, many of which the Academic Affairs Committee incorporated into the guidelines. We also went met with the UCC and a representative of Nursing, which uses a substantial amount of distance education. The revisions of the first two sentences were recommended by the Council for Distance Education. They point out where the demand is coming from for distance education as well as the need for support from the institution. The committee feels very strongly that the primary purpose of distance education is to serve constituents who might not otherwise be able to take advantage of ISU’s offerings and used on campus when it offers enhanced educational opportunities, provides highest quality of instruction and evaluation and maintains the University’s small college atmosphere. There was some disagreement at the last Senate meeting about its primary purpose; our committee felt that this really was the primary purpose, but we bring this for dialogue to the Senate.
There are substantial changes to the recommendations. We are calling for committees to do three things: 1) Put together an evaluation instrument that would be used periodically to study the overall effects of distance education. It would essentially be a form of student evaluation. 2) To develop specific policies and standards for distance education. 3) Provide technological support for distance education. We have decided to ask that a Provost’s committee be appointed that would take care of both putting together an evaluation instrument and also devising policies and standards. These policies and standards would be used by department curriculum committees when they evaluate their courses, as well as by the college curriculum committees when they have a new or revised distance education course.
The second issue that we did not change, although there was much disagreement on, relates to A2. The committee feels strongly that there have been some problems with sections that have been approved just by departments, issues of students having to take courses that they don’t want to take, issues of faculty requiring students to communicate with them only through e-mail, etc. So, we felt that it was appropriate to ask that new sections be brought to the college curriculum committee only to make sure that the technology was appropriate to the goals of the course. A number of people feel very strongly that we need to decentralize as much as possible and that these decisions should be made only by the departments themselves. Again, we felt that this issue should be brought to the Senate for dialogue.
There is one additional small change that I need to make to B3. In the sixth line, after “the committee will support and aid”, the phrase below it, “in a consistent manner” should be inserted after “aid”. The sentence now reads: “The committee will support and aid in a consistent manner the development of quality distance education courses.”
Vote on motion to approve distance education documents: The Senate unanimously approved the Distance Education Guidelines and Philosophy Statement, as revised by the Academic Affairs Committee.
03.31.05.01 Display of Flags Policy (Administrative Affairs Committee)
Senator Crothers: The Executive Committee discussed this policy and agreed that the Senate would not debate the definition of a flag and would simply rely on common sense for that definition.
Motion XXXVI-65: By Senator Brockschmidt to approve the Display of Flags Policy, as revised. The policy, which came before the Senate as an Information Item on February 9, 2005, was unanimously approved by the Senate without debate.
Information Items:
03.31.05.02 Disestablishment of Academic Units Policy (Administrative Affairs Committee)
Senator Brockschmidt: In reviewing the Disestablishment of Academic Units Policy, the only change made by the committee was within the first paragraph. The policy was created before the Board of the Trustees was officially recognized as part of the University, so we clarified that. The committee felt strongly that a policy such as this should not make the disestablishment of units easy by any means, as it very difficult to establish a unit and have it gain recognition.
Senator Borg: It was unclear to me exactly what revisions have been made.
Senator Brockschmidt: The only revisions made were those in the first paragraph.
Senator Borg: So, even the different type face doesn’t distinguish it?
Senator Brockschmidt: No.
Senator Crothers: I note that you tried to break this internal-external source within the policy. It seems to me that there is an easier way to do it. Would the committee consider, in the first paragraph, striking everything after “originate from” to “a)”? The sentence would then read, “…can originate from:” and would then be followed by a), b), c) and d).
Senator Brockschmidt: The committee will take that into consideration.
Senator Crothers: Also, after the next major heading, under “B”, it reads, “All other internal and external…”, which is not consistent with the first paragraph. If you just strike “internal and external”, it simplifies that intent.
Senator Parette: In the sentence in the first section on page 1 reads, “B. An academic unit is defined as one of the following:…” Shouldn’t school be listed as well?
Senator Crothers: Yes, obviously, this was initiated prior to the existence of schools.
Senator Borg: On page 6, B, the sentence reads, “The Board of Trustees must approve the disestablishment of existing academic units because it approves the establishment of them.” Is that accurate or is the reason that they must approve them because it is part of Board policy?
President Bowman: It is because that it is Board policy.
Senator Borg: I suppose the statement should read then, “The Board of Trustees must approve the disestablishment of existing academic units.”
Senator Crothers: It may be appropriate on the last page to create a number 4 referring the decision for the disestablishment of a unit to the IBHE for a final decision.
The policy will come before the Senate as an Action Item at the meeting of April 27, 2005.
03.31.05.04 Amplification Policy (Administrative Affairs Committee)
Senator Brockschmidt: This is a draft that came to the committee from Brent Paterson of the Office of Student Affairs. The committee found several things that needed clarification or needed to be extended. For example, “outside” was changed to “outdoors” to indicate a more general area. The committee has recommended that the time be extended, as you can see on page 1 in the second paragraph, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Because there are a number of evening and night classes, we felt that it was only fair to those students and professors to have the same courtesy as the professors during the day have.
We also clarified some areas, such as 1b on the first page, to include “areas adjacent to athletic facilities”. More clarification to bring the document up to date is in number 2 on page 2, referring to the “Dean of Students” as opposed to the “Associate Director for the Bone Student Center”. Number 3 on the second page we felt was key, as it places the responsibility for maintaining these policies upon the organization sponsoring the event.
Senator Crothers: At the top of the second page, number 6, was there any discussion about the concern students and others might have if the music amplification is extended to midnight?
Senator Brockschmidt: There was not much discussion about this because we had trouble remembering events extending until midnight with the exception of events such as the Relay for Life.
Senator Adams: For amplification activities occurring between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., what recourse does the faculty have if the policy is being violated?
Senator Crothers: I believe that you would call the University Police.
Senator Adams: Unfortunately, the activities are sanctioned by the Athletic Department. Specifically in the summer, the cheerleading camps come in. They have incredible amplification and it makes it very difficult to teach summer classes.
Senator Crothers: Under this policy, Athletics can’t sanction that space. The obvious appeal for that would be to the Conferencing Unit, and then my guess would be to the President’s office.
Senator Mahoney: I think it might be appropriate to add a clause saying that the Dean of Students can grant permission for amplification after midnight for special events.
Senator Brockschmidt: The committee would consider that. I am not sure if there are any local laws that would prohibit that from happening.
Senator Klass: Many of our College of Education adult classes don’t end until 8:30 at night, so this doesn’t help courses that start at 5:30; I think that there are a high proportion of them on campus, so I was wondering about extending the time.
Senator Brockschmidt: The committee did not look into how many night courses there are. The reason that we did move it to 5:00 p.m. was not to try to accommodate all of them, but to try to get a feel for that. The policy will be up for review in four years, but if it did become a problem for those courses, the policy would be able to be reexamined as soon as possible to address this and the hours extended if necessary.
Senator Tolchin: Does the after 5:00 p.m. stipulation apply to weekends as well?
Senator Brockschmidt: No, it does not.
Senator Tolchin: So, you can have amplification at any time during the weekend in the designated areas? It’s easy to be confused about that, so the committee might want to clarify that.
Senator Crothers: With the proviso, that you would still need approval from the Dean of Students or conferencing, etc.
Provost Presley: Following up on Senator Adams’ comment, I don’t find this policy particularly helpful in dealing with apparently one of the more annoying issues that do not involve amplification. Who do you call to get the eight-hour drum solo stopped? I receive no complaints about amplified things, but there are dozens and dozens of complaints from buildings on the quad when people are doing the 12 hour drum solo.
Senator Pereira: Does the policy not include musical equipment?
Provost Presley: It does, but it says that it is not allowed if it interrupts classroom instruction or normal university operations. Who decides that?
Senator Pereira: Are we in danger of stifling creativity?
Senator Crothers: There are large, open spaces on campus where this practice could occur and would not otherwise disturb students.
Senator Darnell: During the week, it says between 8:00 and 5:00. During finals week, all of my classes begin at 7:50 a.m. Also, I believe that there are classes that start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays.
Senator Brockschmidt: I don’t know how many students are up and making noise at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, but we will look at that as a time constraint as well as at the 7:50 a.m. for finals week.
Senator Koutsky: The marching band has practice near the residence halls that make up tri-towers on west campus from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Would this policy address that?
Senator Crothers: If I read this policy correctly, the question concerning the marching band on west campus either belongs to the Conferencing Unit or the Dean of Students to make a judgment. If a dispute emerges about how liberally that is being allowed, that is why we have a president.
Senator Brockschmidt: It seems like something a department or school should be able to control. It does not necessarily need the full University’s involvement if it is just one section of one school.
Senator Pereira: Maybe we should provide classroom space for them to practice.
Senator Crothers: I think they prefer practicing outside during the spring and summer months.
Senator Hammel: I think that we should distinguish between those activities that seem to be integral to college life, including music on the quad, and those activities that have been brought onto the quad that are commercial in nature that interrupt classes with amplification.
Senator Koutsky: How do we deal with our frequent visitors who express their views with a bull horn, since the quad is a public area?
Senator Crothers: You are entitled to come on a public university campus and, assuming that you are behaving appropriately, speak about anything that you wish to speak about. But you do not necessarily have the right to use a bull horn while doing so. I believe, historically, that we have had the police confiscate the bull horns. To me, the most offensive part is that we have allowed commercial speech to be amplified, but not allowed political speech to be amplified.
Senator Adams: On page 2, under “Other General Policy Provisions”, why did you strike out number 2 about control?
Senator Brockschmidt: As I recall, that was stricken as this policy was redesigned to handle amplification outdoors. Anything within the building would be the responsibility of other policy.
Senator Crothers: 1B refers to “non-registered” student organizations. We don’t have non-registered student organizations. If you are a non-registered student organization, you have no standing on which to apply for space, much less to use amplification.
Senator DeSantis: I can think of examples wherein non-violent protests by students and others associated with the university might depend for their efficacy on disrupting the normal academic processes. Is there any possibility that this policy would shut that out?
Senator Brockschmidt: We tried to make the policy as broad as possible to allow for events such as that to occur, while at the same time making sure that the University atmosphere as a whole was not disrupted.
Senator Crothers: I might remind Senator DeSantis that those who were disruptive understood going in that they were going to be arrested. That was the intent.
The Amplification Policy will return to the Senate as an Action Item on April 27, 2005.
04.01.05.03 Blue Book Changes: Dissolution of Entertainment Committee and University Forum Committee (Rules Committee)
Senator Hammel: The Rules Committee is recommending the dissolution of the Entertainment Committee and the University Forum Committee, which are Senate External Committees. Last year, a series of meetings lead to recommendations for a new organization to lead programming at the Bone Student Center, the University Programming Board, which has been quite active. Essentially, what that organization did was to make both the Entertainment Committee and the Forum Committee redundant, thus the request to eliminate these two committees. I should note that there was some confusion about the Student Center Policy Board and the Student Center Programming Board also being eliminated. To the best of my knowledge, that was never part of the request by Student Affairs. In fact, in conversation with the Dean of Students, Jan Paterson, we have asked her to investigate ways to reactivate these committees and report back to the Rules Committee next year.
Senator Brinton: Is having the Student Center Programming Board and the University Programming Board kind of redundant?
Senator Hammel: It sounds like they do the same kinds of things, but I am not sure that they do. I believe that the Student Center Programming Board was more of an oversight board and the University Programming Board is quite active in developing programs and bringing them onto campus. That may not be correct and that is one of the reasons that we would like to learn more exactly about what those committees were doing.
Senator Crothers: When this goes to action, it will mean formally eliminating those two committees from the Blue Book.
Motion XXXVI-66: By Senator Hammel, seconded by Senator Parette, to move the elimination of the Entertainment and Forum Committees from information to action. The motion was unanimously approved.
Motion XXXVI-67: By Senator Hammel to approve the dissolution of the Entertainment Committee and the University Forum Committee. The motion was unanimously approved.
04.04.05.02 Blue Book Changes: Honors Council Faculty Membership (Rules Committee)
Senator Hammel: Originally, this fall, we were asked to look at the number of faculty members on the Honors Council because apparently there was some difficulty in filling those positions. However, Doug Hesse, Director of Honors, has not seen much difficulty in filling those positions; in fact, they are in some demand. He did have concern about the college representation on the council. Thus, the proposal from the Rules Committee recommends that the six faculty members must represent at least four of the seven colleges. That is the only change that we are proposing.
Senator Crothers: Is it the intention of the committee that the Director of the Honors Program is the Ex-Officio, Non-Voting Executive Secretary of the Honors Program?
Senator Hammel: That is correct.
Motion XXXVI-68: By Senator Hammel, seconded by Senator Mahoney, to move the revisions to the Honors Council to action. The motion was unanimously approved.
Motion XXXVI-69: By Senator Hammel to approve the revisions to the Blue Book for the Honors Council faculty membership. The motion was unanimously approved.
Communications:
04.01.05.04 Council of Illinois University Senates Agenda of 4/18/05 – Request for Additional Items for Council’s Agenda
The Council of Illinois University Senates will hold its spring meeting on April 18, 2005. The agenda was presented to the Senate for recommendations for agenda additions.
University ID Cards Update
Senator Crothers: At the last Senate meeting, I asked Senator Bragg whether or not the status of the individual will be displayed on the new University ID Cards. The answer to that question is yes. So, when you get your new card, it will indicate “faculty”, “staff” or “student”.
Trustee Comments re: SEAC
Senator Reid: I would like for us to begin to explore the issue brought up by the Chair of Psychology, David Barone, in an e-mail to us, about a considered reaction of the Senate to the recent statements made by a trustee.
Senator Crothers: We don’t want to ask for immediate action now. We want to know whether you think that this Senate ought to explore a measured, reasonable response to the comments made by the trustee regarding the environmental group on campus. Basically, if the answer of this Senate is no, you don’t think it is important for us to do so, that’s fine. If you do think it is important for us to do so, we need to explore that question.
Senator Brinton: I have received feedback from several constituents who are involved in these organizations and they are concerned. From a student standpoint, it should be addressed in some way.
Senator Reid: Because of University’s role in encouraging academic freedom, I think that it is proper for us to ask whether a trustee has a responsibility not to discourage academic freedom in terms of derogatory comments.
Senator Crothers: I saw it more of a question of civility rather than academic freedom.
Senator op de Beeck: There is definitely concern in my department. A faculty member has asked me to forward a letter to the Executive Committee of the Senate.
Senator Brockschmidt: I think that the Senate should give some sort of examination to the comments, not as a matter of freedom of speech or encouraging academic speech, but because of the reason that we are all here—because of the students. I think that this really needs to be examined, especially when comments are made by people representing the University as a whole. The University encourages the academic development of students, but also the diversity among students.
Provost Presley: I would like for us to be very accurate in our statement. I don’t think it is an issue of academic freedom; I think it is more generally an issue of freedom of speech. I think very appropriately, as President Bowman indicated in his public comments, many of us on this campus, hundreds of faculty and staff, have worked for almost two years to increase the amount of civic engagement on the part of our students. We do a lot of things under the guise of the American Democracy Project and we do even more outside of the aegis of the ADP to increase our students’ civic engagement. The issue is if that is a central part of this education offered here, which it is, then anything that thwarts that is going against the mission of the institution.
Senator Hampton: It seems to me a question of a profound lack of respect for the students and for the educational processes and also a lack of awareness of what the educational processes are. I very much appreciated President Bowman’s comments on the issue. I felt very proud of him and the University.
Senator Crothers: I would like to have something before us in two weeks to frame the issues appropriately and professionally, rather than just discuss this perceptually. I would encourage people to get in touch with Senator Reid, who will work for the next couple of weeks on drafting a communication item for the Senate to fully discuss this. I have checked with Senator Reid and he is comfortable in that role.
Adjournment