Chairperson Piperberg called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM in Chryst 210. All departments were represented.
Report of the Faculty Senate Chairperson
The Minutes of the March 6 meeting were approved with minor grammatical corrections.
Announcements
(1) Chairman Piperberg reminded Senate that the following departments will need to hold elections for Senator and Alternate: Business Administration, Computer Science, earth Sciences, economics, wellness & Sports Sciences, Nursing, Physics, Psychology, and Special Education. The governance manual stipulates that elections should be held between April 1 and May 31. Please let him know the results as soon as you can after the election. Also, if there have been any changes in representation from your department (Senator or Alternate), please let him know as well.
(2) Chairperson Piperberg reminded Senate members about the Summer meeting. That meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12 at 3 PM. The meeting is presently planned for Myers Auditorium in McComsey Hall. If the location changes for some reason, Senate members will be notified.
(3) There is an additional agenda item. Diane Fleishman is now on the agenda as Item X. after Faculty Emeritus. She will talk about Service Learning and answer any questions faculty might have. All other items will be moved down one item.
(4) The following administrative approvals have been received:
(5) Chairperson Piperberg urged faculty to attend Spring Convocation on Thursday, April 12 at 4 PM in the Lehr Dining Room of the Bolger Conference Center. The speaker will be Rebecca Moore Howard, Director of the Writing Center & Chair of Writing & Rhetoric at Syracuse University. The title of her talk will be "On My Honor: Patchwriting, Citation, Quotation, Fraud.
(6) Meetings have been scheduled with the candidates for the Associate Provost position. Chairperson Piperberg said that he would be meeting with the candidates in his office at 310 STB. Any interested faculty are welcome at any or all of the meetings. The list of scheduled meeting appears below:
If you are unable to attend at those times, please try to attend the open meetings with the candidates listed below:
Report of the Student Senate President None.
Report of the Graduate Student Organization President None.
Report of the Administrative Officers
Dr. Stager reported that the new "student evaluation instrument" would be tried out for the first time next week. He asked for volunteers to field test it. He said that there had been some focus groups already and also that there were 26 new questions. These questions concentrate on the following areas: (1) Instructor, (2) Course Content, (3) Pedagogy, (4) Learner Outcomes, (5) Demographics. The instrument is due for approval by Meet-and-Discuss this Summer and to be implemented Fall 2001.
Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees
Dr. Wismer from UCPRC introduced 2 proposals up for consideration: (1) modifications to the Earth Sciences BA degree and (2) Latin@ Studies Interdepartmental Minor, including the following courses, LATS 201 - The Latino Experience in the United States, and LATS 488 - Latina/o Studies Senior Seminar. Voting on approval of these proposals will take place at the next meeting.
Dr. Wismer also reported that policies governing professional (teacher) certification would be forthcoming.
Reports of the Faculty Senate Special Committees
Dr. Schrieber, Chair of the Ad Hoc Honor Code Committee, reported that the student survey concerning academic integrity issues was almost complete and would be available on-line. She further reported that "focus groups" were scheduled with students to discuss these issues. The Committee looks forward to more feedback after the Spring Convocation.
Proposed Courses and Programs None.
Faculty Emeritus
(1) Dr. Stine presented a motion that Dr. George J. Yelagotes be granted the title of Professor of Sociology Emeritus. {see attachment}. Dr. Luek seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
(2) Dr. Luek presented a motion that Dr. Betty J. Finney be granted the title of Professor of Psychology Emeritus. {see attachment} Dr. Börger-Greco seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
(3) Dr. Luek presented the motion that Dr. James J. Sheridan be granted the title of Professor of Psychology Emeritus. {see attachment} Dr. Börger-Greco seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Service Learning
Dr. Dorman introduced the concept of courses that can be designated as service-learning courses. Presently, many existing courses may actually contain service-learning components without being designated as such. Diane Fleishman spoke briefly about defining criteria and the importance of properly identifying these criteria in the upcoming catalogue. She called Senate's attention to a handout {see attachment} containing a definition of service-learning and offered to answer any questions that might arise. She also asked that faculty teaching courses that they feel might already contain or could be altered to contain a service-learning component get in touch with her.
Academic Policy Items
Rich France presented three Academic policy proposals concerning the following: (1) College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Recommended Policy Change, (2) University Class Attendance Policy, and (3) a Proposal to Change the Drop/Add Period. {see attachments} There was a discussion about the need for departments (not necessarily individual faculty) to arrive at some standards regarding what counts as an "excusable absence." There is presently no uniform set of rules or standards outside of the student filling out a form and sending it through the proper channels, which any student can easily do without verification. We will vote on these proposals at the next meeting.
Change of Representation on the Academic Standards Committee
Rick Kerper presented a motion to change the membership composition of the Academic Standards Committee {see p. # 4915 of the previous set of Minutes.} The proposal would increase membership to 13. The proposal was amended to have 3 members of each of the four academic divisions (Science and Mathematics, Social Sciences, Humanities and Education) instead of 4 faculty members from each of the three academic areas (School of Science and Mathematics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and School of Education. This will make setting up the elections a bit easier and parallel the structure of other Senate committees more closely. The proposal passed as amended.
Discussion of Cancellation of Classes Due to Weather
There was a discussion about what to do in the event that classes are cancelled due to bad weather conditions. Dr. Wismer suggested that we hold missed classes on certain designated Saturdays. Dr. Fenwick suggested that we create an alternate "two hour delay" schedule similar to the one used by the school districts. It was decided to revisit this issue next meeting.
Elections
Chris Corley from the Music Department was nominated to fill the Humanities seat on UCPRC. Dr. Heintzelman made a motion to close nominations and direct the Secretary to cast a ballot in favor of the nominee. Dr. Blazer seconded the motion. The motion passed and Chris Corley was thus elected to fill the seat.
The meeting adjourned at 5:40 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Jen Miller
Recorder