Academic Senate: Minutes 4/17/2012

Present:  Brian Adams, Jim Baillie, Julia Balistreri, Ray Bard, Rev. E. William Beauchamp, CSC, Genevieve Brassard, Rich Christen, Mark Eifler, Mike Eom, Kyle Hamm, Drew Harrington, Susan Hinken, Sally Hood, Aziz Inan, Larry Larsen, Laura McLary, Hillary Merk, Stephanie Michel, Gary Mitchell, Tamar More, Meike Neiderhausen, Dann Pierce, Rev. Stephen Rowan, Br. Donald Stabrowski, CSC, Karen Ward, Matthew Warshawsky, John Watzke, Teri Woo. Absent: Russ Butkus, Nick McRee, Alex Santana, Kaye Wilson-Anderson

IV.  Invocation:  Fr. Stephen Rowan
V.   Approval of minutes from meeting from 20 March 2012
   a.   Minutes were approved.

VI.  Standing Committee Reports:
   a.   Executive Committee, Dr. Larry Larsen
      1.   Committee met April 3.
      2.   Committee discussed items appearing on the agenda for this Senate meeting, including 1 item of new business.
      3.   Larry Larsen recognized committee chairs who are completing their terms this year, including: Dr. Brian Adams, Dr. Genevieve Brassard, Dr. Jim Baillie and Dr. Laura McLary. 
   b.   Committee on Committees, Dr. Genevieve Brassard
      1.   Nothing to report.
   c.   Committee on Rank & Tenure, Dr. James Baillie
      1.   Committee has completed its work.
      2.   Letters have been sent to faculty undergoing periodic review.
      3.   Committee has sent its recommendations for promotion to the Provost.
   d.   Committee on Teaching & Scholarship, Dr. Aziz Inan
      1.   Committee has met twice since the last Senate meeting.
      2.   Committee completed reviewing Butine proposals.
      3.   A strong program has been created for Faculty Development Day; thank you to faculty who submitted proposals. The program has been announced in the Upbeat and PilotsUP.
      4.   Committee is currently working on faculty awards; decisions will be made by next week.
   e.   Committee on Faculty Welfare, Dr. Laura McLary
      1.   Nothing to report.
   f.    Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations, Dr. Brian Adams
      1.   Committee met for the second time this year.
      2.   Committee has a proposal to be considered at this meeting under New Business.

VII. Presidential Advisory Committees: 
   a.   Committee on Student Media, Dr. Kaye Wilson-Anderson
      1.   Committee representative was not present.
      2.   Representative sent a statement that managers for student media had been selected:  
         a)   KDUP General Manager: Jana Peters 
         b)   The Log Editor: Lauren Seynhaeve
         c)   Editor-in-Chief for The Beacon: Elizabeth Tertadian
   b.   Committee on Athletics, Dr. Alex Santana
      1.   Committee representative was not present.
   c.   Committee on Health and Safety, Dr. Sally Hood
      1.   Committee met April 11. 
      2.   Regarding the odor issue on campus, a North Portland community group is collecting signatures to revise a policy about industry along the river. 
      3.   Fire drills have been scheduled for the first two weeks of fall semester; fire drills would take place near the end of the class session.
   d.   Committee on Information Technology, Dr. Teri Woo
      1.   Committee met March 29. 
      2.   Next week the committee will discuss recommendations for social media and the effect of FERPA.
      3.   Committee discussed online testing recommendations it made last year.
      4.   Technical Support department is working on methods to facilitate secure online testing.
      5.   The committee will complete its work next month. 
   e.   Committee on Sustainability, Dr. Hillary Merk
      1.   Committee met April 10. 
      2.   Committee continues to work on the Sustainability Coordinator job description.

VIII.       Other Reports:
   a.   Fr. William Beauchamp
      1.   Fr. Beauchamp thanks faculty for their hard work this year.
      2.   Update about campus construction projects:
         a)   The Library and the Chiles Center projects are on schedule.
         b)   Library move will start May 4. The Library is not closing; operations are just moving to different places. Several places have been identified as study spaces for next year.
         c)   Chiles Center project has already started; areas to be renovated have already been vacated. 
         d)   Both projects came in under bid.
      3.   There were five finalists for the Athletic Director position; two have been interviewed, three more interviews will take place this week. The position will likely be offered within one week.
      4.   The Rise campaign is on schedule. The Rise for Scholarships event will take place on May 10; UP hopes to raise $750,000. 
      5.   Weekend on the Bluff took place last weekend; about 400 prospective students who have been accepted for next year participated in the event. Some students chose to make tuition deposits. 
      6.   Campus events this summer will include:
         a)   Construction in the Library and the Chiles Center
         b)   The main Quad will be torn up to install new steam lines; the grass will be replanted.
         c)   14 or 15 high school graduations will take place in the Chiles Center in June.
         d)   During the last two weeks in June, the Provincial Chapter of the Brothers of Holy Cross will meet on campus. About 88 members of the Holy Cross will be on campus for meetings and to elect a new provincial.
      7.   The Beacon recently reported about changes to office space for The Beacon and The Log. These decisions were made in consultation with the advisor to The Beacon about their needs. The advisor indicated that The Beacon didn’t need as much space as the university was prepared to give.
      8.   John Orr reported that six students have received Fulbrights for next year; two more students are alternates for Fulbright awards. The number of Fulbright recipients is second only to last year (when the university had 10 Fulbright recipients). Additionally, one student was a finalist for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
   b.   Dean’s Meeting (Br. Donald Stabrowski)
      1.   Deans have met regularly.
      2.   Deans discussed freshman orientation. A committee worked this year to evaluate and make recommendations for improving freshman orientation. The committee recommended reducing the number of goals from fourteen to three. The deans gave input on the changes, which will now be sent back to the committee. The schedule for freshman orientation will not change this year. A template will be created for the Saturday afternoon meetings between students and advisors to ensure that similar content is covered in all divisions.
      3.   Deans discussed Advanced Placement credit. The number of students with AP credit has been growing; the university has increased its requirements so that students must receive a score of at least 4 to earn credit.  A wider discussion including more input from schools on campus is needed before making changes.
      4.   Currently students may take a maximum of 18 credit hours each semester; they must obtain approval to take additional credits. Anecdotal data shows that students who sign up for more than 20 credit hours are more likely to fail or drop classes; data is needed to prove a correlation. 
      5.   The Founder’s Day breakfast was a great event and the activities were well attended; thank you to John Orr for creating the program of events.
      6.   The Dean’s retreat will take place in May. The deans will be reviewing Standard 1 from the Northwest accreditation report and need to demonstrate how UP has addressed this standard since the accreditation visit. Deans will bring the draft to faculty by the start of fall; the report needs to be complete by October.   
   c.   ASUP
      1.   The new ASUP representatives are Kyle Hamm (Vice President) and Julia Balistreri (Secretary). 2.   ASUP recently approved 3 resolutions which were forwarded to Father Beauchamp:
         a)   Resolution 1 - an internal matter
         b)   Resolution 2 – convert the Buckley Center greenhouse into a coffee cart/smoothie station
         c)   Resolution 3 - Increase the mental health staff in the Health Center
      3.   Fr. Beauchamp has passed these resolutions on to the appropriate persons for further consideration. 
      4.   Yesterday, ASUP passed a resolution asking that Bon Appetit post nutrition facts on their website.

IX.  New Business:
   a.   Midterm Grade proposal
      1.   The proposal recommends that all classes (including upper division classes) post midterm grades online. This expands the current requirement that all 100- and 200-level classes post midterm grades. Brandon Morgan from ASUP was present to respond to questions about the proposal.
      2.   Would the proposal also apply to graduate classes? The wording of the proposal implies that graduate classes would be included, however, according to Fr. Beauchamp, since the proposal was brought forward by ASUP, it would only apply to undergraduate classes.
      3.   A question was raised about the necessity of the resolution. Juniors and seniors should already be aware of the importance of speaking with faculty and advisors to know where they stand. 
      4.   It was noted that some students taking upper division courses are freshmen and sophomores; should proposal be amended so that midterm grades should be posted for all freshman and sophomore students rather than for all course levels?  This may be more complicated.
      5.   Is it a burden to post midterm grades? This varies by professor depending on how they choose to manage their grades. 
      6.   A concern was expressed about thesis or project-based classes for which information may not be available at midterm to determine a grade.
      7.   Do faculty posting midterm grades also need to do academic warnings? No; the midterm grade would replace the academic warning. However, academic warnings may give more information than just the grade.
      8.   In certain classes, such as Public Speaking, some students may not have completed as many assignments as others, so the grade may not be equally meaningful.
      9.   Upper division students should be able to calculate their grade based on the assignments and grading structure described in the syllabus.
      10. Concern was expressed about the timing of midterm grades: currently in spring semester grades are due on the Friday before spring break (when assignments may be due); the last day to submit midterm grades is the last day to drop classes, which does not allow time for adequate advising.  Recommend that a revised proposal specify dates that correspond better to the academic and advising calendar.
      11. Senators voted on the proposal; the outcome was:
         a)   Yes – 6 votes
         b)   No – 8 votes
         c)   Abstain – 8 votes
The proposal did not pass.
      12. ASUP may want to revise the language of the proposal and bring it back to Senate next year. 
   b.   Elections for Academic Senate Chair, Secretary, and Committee chairs, 2012-2013
      1.   The Senate Executive Committee proposed the following slate of candidates: 
         a)   Senate Chair – Larry Larsen
         b)   Senate Secretary – Sally Hood
         c)   Chair, Committee on Teaching & Scholarship – Aziz Inan
         d)   Chair, Committee on Rank & Tenure – Mark Utlaut
         e)   Chair, Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations – Russ Butkus
         f)    Chair, Committee on Committees  – Susan Hinken
         g)   Chair, Committee on Faculty Welfare – Tamar More
      2.   Larry Larsen called for any additions to the slate, but none were made. The slate was passed by a voice vote. 
   c.   Election for members of the Committee on Committees, 2012-2013
      1.   Senators approved the following members for Committee on Committees:
         a)   Karen Eifler
         b)   Greg Hill
         c)   Fr. Jim Lies
         d)   Addendum:  after the Senate meeting, it came to light that the Senate should have elected four members to the Committee on Committees. By email vote, the Senate elected the candidate who had received the next highest number of votes to the Committee on Committees: Gary Malecha

X.   Announcements: The next Senate Executive Committee meeting will be held the first Tuesday of September.
XI.  Adjournment:   5:15pm.

Note: All members of the University community are welcome to attend any meeting of the Academic Senate. The meetings begin promptly at 4:00 pm .