Academic Senate: MINUTES 01/15/2002

Members present: Dr. Rich Christen, Dr. Michael Connolly, Dr. Will Deming, Dr. Thompson Faller, Dr. Moira Fallon, Dr. Terry Favero, Dr. Laure Genik, Dr. Mark Kennedy, Dr. Jack Kondrasuk, Dr. Bohn Lattin, Dr. Gary Malecha, Caroline Mann, Dr. Terry Misener, Dr. Marlene Moore, Dr. John Schouten, Dr. David Sherrer, Mr. Ron Smit, Br. Donald Stabrowski, Dr. Agnes Tenney, Rev. David Tyson, Dr. Mark Utlaut, Dr. Anita Wynne, Dr. Zia Yamayee, Ms. Theresa Abbene, Mr. Chris Meyer

Members absent: Dr. Steve Royce

Dr. Marlene Moore gave the invocation.

The minutes from the November 20, 2001 meeting were approved with one correction (Change “Bachelor’s” to “Master’s” in hard copies).

Standing Committee Reports

Executive Committee: Met in December to approve the agenda for the January meeting.

Committee on Committees: No report

Committee on Rank and Tenure: Has completed their fall work as of last week. Will begin the post-tenure reviews and changes to tenure guidelines.

Committee on Teaching and Scholarship: The call for Butine (supplemental) proposals is out. Has asked for nominations for faculty awards to be turned in within next 2 weeks...The committee is beginning the process of reviewing the faculty evaluation system.

Committee on Faculty Welfare:  Met last Friday with Jim Kuffner on expected changes in benefits for next year.Roy Hendricks was also present at that same meeting and reported on the possibilities of joining a consortium of private colleges and universities whose purpose would be to provide additional choices in benefits.

Committee on Curriculum and Academic Regulations: Met to consider proposal on core curriculum (See new business).

Presidential Advisory Committee Reports

Committee on Student Media: Has not met. However, Dr. Christen announced that our 2001 yearbook has received a first place award from the American Scholastic Press Association.It was 1 of 6 awards given to schools with 2500 students and over.It is the first award of its kind at the University of Portland

Committee on Athletics: Has not met.

Committee on Health and Safety: Has completed the evaluations of buildings and turned in those reports.

Committee on Computing and Telecommunications: Has nothing to report.

Student-Faculty Court: Has not met.

Other Reports

Dean’s Meetings: Br. Donald reported that the deans had met with Dr. Paul Myers regarding the increased numbers of students with disabilities needing testing accommodations.Roy Hendricks presented on next year’s budget. The deans also met with the new computer person regarding the implementation of the pipeline. Karen Nelson and Regina Largent reported on the data gathered on this year’s freshman class. The registrar reported on the process of registering and posting grades online. The regulation of afternoon class schedules is almost completed. The dean’s participated in a hands on session on developing Web pages and met with consultants who have been studying ways to improve the financial awards. The awards had previously been weighted based on GPA.

ASUP: ASUP’s president is back in school and feeling great. ASUP will meet on Monday with Fr. Tyson as the invited guest. Elections will be held during on 2/19-2/20 for next year’s officers.

New Business

Dr. Mark Kennedy presented a recommendation from his committee to approve the Core evaluation proposal. He reviewed the common issues or questions that the committee had discussed. This will be implemented in the fall of 2002. There will be no exceptions to the core requirements. Existing courses are still undergoing changes. Therefore the matrix is not in final form.There will be a process of development, implementation, and assessment that will be overseen by the implementation committee.The core curriculum is a “living” document and modest resources will be allotted to ensure appropriate implementation and assessment.After discussion of these points, the proposal was passed unanimously.

Adjournment: Was at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Moira Fallon, Secretary for Academic Senate