JOINT SENATE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

1996-97 ANNUAL REPORT

Submitted 5/6/97 by Joel B. Piperberg, Chair

1996-1997 Members	Department	Term expires
J. Piperberg, Chair President, Pro Tempore Faculty Senate	Biology	1997
J. Lynch	Developmental Studies	1997
W. Dorman	Theatre & Communications	1997
R. Kerper	Elementary Education	1997
Sue Wong	Student
Chris Mulvihill	Student
J. Stager	Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs (ex-officio)
A. Hoffman	Dean, Science & Mathematics (ex-officio)

Meetings:
Five meetings were held during the Fall and Spring semesters. Discussions dealt with the advisability of establishing a four year contract/commitment with students guaranteeing graduation within that time period. After examining a number of factors related to this issue (including national and State System statistics on four, five, and six year graduation rates, the average times required to earn degrees in representative majors, and the phenomenon of extenders, students who lengthen their college careers on purpose), the Committee recommended a number of strategies for students, faculty and administration that should serve to increase the number of students graduating within four years without entering into a complex and difficult-to-administer agreement such as the four year commitment. These discussions and the report they generated were the result of a request from Provost McNairy to investigate the implications, benefits and disadvantages of such a four-year commitment. This letter was appended to the 1995-1996 annual report of the Joint Senate Conference Committee.

Motions/Recommendations Forwarded to Senate:
4/1/97 The abovementioned report answering Provost McNairy's request for recommendations was submitted to the Faculty Senate for informational purposes and comment after communication of its contents to the Provost. No action was required by the Senate since the recommendations had been sought by Provost McNairy. A few minor corrections were suggested during the Senate meeting, the document was altered accordingly and a final, corrected copy was then submitted to Provost McNairy. A copy of the final report is appended to this document.

Other Deliberations and Actions:
None.

Matters currently in committee:
None.

Future Plans:
None.

Additional Information Comments:
None.

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