Faculty Senate Minutes, 17 September 1996

MINUTES

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

17 September 1996

Chairperson D. Eidam called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. in Chryst Hall, Room 210. All departmental senators attended except those from the Business Administration, History, and Sociology and Anthropology Departments.

Minutes

Senate approved the 3 September 1996 meeting minutes with the following corrections: on page 4069, top of page, second line, change "At that meeting the chairperson ..." to "At all meetings the chairperson..."

Reports

Chairperson's Report

Chairperson D. Eidam said senator H. Fisher, Sociology/Anthropology, has a class conflict with senate meeting times this semester. The Sociology/Anthropology will meet tomorrow to designate an alternate to replace him this semester. Eidam distributed a report on the annual fund and campaign (see Attachment A). The Medal Fund allocated $3,500 to the Faculty Development Committee.

D. Eidam, J. Piperberg, and M. Margolis counted ballots from last meeting's elections. The next day Eidam sent out a copy of the election results to every faculty member on campus. He wanted to let the faculty know quickly of any remaining vacancies for today's elections. There was an omission from the list of vacancies. K. Backels' NonSchool, Outcomes Assessment Committee two year term beginning now has expired. Senate will elect her replacement at the next meeting elections. She is eligible to run again.

Administrative Officers

President

President J. Caputo said former Vice President for Student Affairs G. Reighard was operated on a week ago toady. Last Friday evening Reighard was still not out of the hospital. On Sunday he was at home and asked about MU events. He will be up and about in another week.

Last Spring senate recommended a plus/minus grading system to President Caputo. Although the faculty made its decision, students were genuinely upset about the new grading system. During his convocation address, Caputo said that MU could do something of a transitional nature about the new grading system in the interim of this year. Caputo proposed to make no changes for the Fall semester. In the Spring semester as a trial run, faculty would grade on a plu/minus system, students would receive grades on the system, and the plus/minus grades would be recorded. However, the plus/minus grades would in fact be disregarded and have no impact on the student grade point averages for the semester.

It would be an experiment to try to communicate to students what the impact would be on their grade sheets. Caputo said he would talk to student senate about the proposal this Thursday night. He will explain to them why if 90 percent of the students voted it down, it is still going to happen. Caputo asked the faculty to explain the rationale of the new system to students.

As of 12:35 PM today, the governor's office has released the funds for construction of the new science building. there are no more legal or governmental impediments to overcome. First there will be a bidding process. Then the state will review the bids and award the contract. In a matter of weeks, a contractor will move in for construction. There will be trucks with dirt, traffic problems, etc. While there was no official word on the Myers renovation, Caputo expects that at some point in the future (maybe December) MU will hear from the governor's office giving the go ahead.

Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Vice President for Academic Affairs F. McNairy said the first open house of the semester for new students will be held Saturday, 28 September 1996. Your department should have already been contacted by the admissions office. The open house is earlier in the year than MU has traditionally held open houses in order not to conflict with several other activities in the area. There will be at least two additional open houses. McNairy encouraged faculty cooperation as MU hopes for no rain.

Committee Reports

Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee

Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee chairperson R. Wismer introduced three new courses under the two meeting rule:

CSCI140:

CSCI240:

CSCI270:

Wismer announced the queue of courses waiting to be approved by the committee numbered 13. The committee deals with approximately four courses per meeting.

Proposed Courses

Senate approved two undergraduate courses:

PSYC356:

PSYC417:

Business

Faculty Senate Elections

Senate continued its annual elections using the approved voting algorithm. Chairperson Eidam and senate officers posted all nominations for all open committee positions received prior to the meeting on the blackboard. Senators then completed additional nominations from the floor. A motion to elect the candidates for uncontested positions by acclamation passed. The chairperson distributed ballots for senators to use to vote for the remaining contested positions. Senators were to vote for only those candidates that the voter wanted to serve in an open position. Senators then voted for their preferred candidates for each committee opening by ranking candidates on the ballot from most to least preferred. After the meeting, senate chairperson Eidam counted the votes.

Nominees (*=elected)

Academic Policy Committee

Chair: None
Education(98): N. Borozny, ELED, A Szollos*, PSYC
Humanities(97): A. Kelly*, ENGL

General Education Review Committee

Science(98): E. Rajaseelan*, CHEM
Social Science(97): E. Guo*, BUAD

International Selection Committee

Alternate(97): J. Hibberd, ITEC, D. Shanahan*, GEOG

Commencement Speaker Committee

NonSchool(98): G. Benson*, Library

Noonan Fund

NonSchool(97): None

Academic Policies Committee

NonSchool(98): None
Social Sciences(97): R. Glenn*, PSCI

Faculty Student Athletic Committee

Member(99): A. Kelley, ENGL, J. Mone, BIOL, P. McCaskey, BUAD, M. Kelly*, PSYC

Joint Senate Conference Committee

Member/Senator(97): R. Kerper*, ELED

Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee

Science(98): B. Liffick, CSCI, J. Mone, BIOL, J. Dooley*, PHYS
Social Sciences(97 and 98): None

Appropriate Curricular Review Process for Departmental Guidebooks and Handbooks--Blue Sheets for Departmental Degree Requirements--Both Dropped from the Agenda

Senate Email Reflector on Marauder

Senator M. Warmkessel asked if senate would like to establish an official senate email reflector on Marauder. After some discussion, senate decided not to proceed with the matter.

Senate adjourned at 5:15 PM. The next meeting will be Tuesday, 1 October 1996, from 4:05-5:45 p.m. in Chryst 210.

Respectfully submitted,

Marvin Margolis, Secretary
Faculty Senate