Academic Senate: MINUTES 02/19/2002

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. Gary Malecha, Dr. Terry Misener, Dr. Steve Royce, Dr. John Schouten, Dr. David Sherrer, Br. Donald Stabrowski, Dr. Agnes Tenney, Rev. David Tyson, Dr. Anita Wynne, Dr. Zia Yamayee, Ms. Theresa Abbene, Mr. Chris Meyer

Members absent: Dr. Bohn Lattin, Caroline Mann, Dr. Marlene Moore, Mr. Ron Smit, Dr. Mark Utlaut

The invocation was given by Theresa Abbene.

The minutes from the January 15th meeting were approved as written.

Standing Committee Reports

Executive Committee: Dr. Faller announced that all Senate information is available on lewis.up.edu/academicsenate. He stated that the Executive Committee is evaluating the proposed changes to the Constitution and By-Laws. Questions were raised about the current content of the Constitution. Dr. Faller stated the Executive Committee will look at this issue and will consider making recommendations for possible changes. Recommendations for those changes will be submitted through the proper channels at some point in the future. The Executive Committee is also considering what role to play in the future, regarding New Faculty Orientation. He reminded senators to submit names of new senators for the 2002-03 school year.

Committee on Committees: Dr. Royce stated that the committee met on November 29^th at the request of the Executive Committee to clarify how appointments to committees are made. He distributed two documents outlining the process for committee appointments (see documents on Web site). During the discussion, Dr. Royce clarified the process of having input from the deans, Br. Donald, and Fr. Tyson. He stated that any input on appointments is helpful and may be forwarded to the committee.

Committee on Rank and Tenure: No report

Committee on Teaching and Scholarship: Dr. Favero stated that the awards for the Butine have been made and recipients have been contacted.The list will be circulated to all faculty shortly.Nominations for Teaching and Scholarship awards have been made and are under consideration.The committee is also working on developing guidelines for the faculty on how decisions are made on allotting travel funds.

Committee on Faculty Welfare: The committee continues to meet.Dr. Tenney reported they continue to work on the policy for termination for cause of a faculty member.The committee will next be sending their draft to Br. Donald for review.

Committee on Curriculum and Academic Regulations: Dr. Kennedy reported that the committee met and approved a proposal from the School of Education that will be part of today’s New Business for consideration by the Senate.

Presidential Advisory Committee Reports

Committee on Student Media: No report

Committee on Athletics: No report

Committee on Health and Safety: Dr. Wynne reported that the committee is working on developing a university-wide emergency management plan.

Committee on Computing and Telecommunications: Dr. Misener reported that the new Web site for the university is up and running. The new technology service manager is in the process of meeting with each academic unit.He stated that the technology surveys should have been completed.Members of the senate directed questions about the survey as no one had received it.Terry stated he will look into when it should have been distributed. Dr. Tenney stated that the Faculty Welfare committee continues to receive complaints that university documents are not available online.Dr. Misener agreed to check on the timeline when the documents should be available.

Student-Faculty Court: Has not met.

Other Reports

Dean’s Meetings: Br. Donald reported that the deans had reviewed the statistics on improvements in retention over the last five years. The most recent freshman to sophomore retention rate was 84.3%, which is a significant improvement over the past 5 years.The four-year graduation rate has gone from 45% to 56%.The 5-year graduation rate has gone up from 61% to 68%. He asked faculty to encourage participation in the Founder’s Day celebration on April 9^th.Student awards that previously have been made at graduation will be handed out at the Founder’s Day convocation.

ASUP: Chris Meyer reported that ASUP elections were in progress and asked that faculty encourage students to vote. He stated that the seniors were considering options for the senior gift and options for class rings.He also reported that ASUP is reviewing how they can better serve their constituents. This process of review is one of accountability.

New Business

Dr. Kennedy presented the curriculum proposal from the School of Education for a new program in English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) Endorsement.The program will start in fall of 2002 and will utilize existing coursework with minor changes and existing resources.The proposal passed unanimously.

Announcements

Fr. Tyson reported on the recent Board of Regents’ meeting. The regents were given information on the NW accreditation report. He encouraged all faculty members to participate in the Founder’s Day celebration, including the lecture scheduled for that time.

Adjournment: Was at 4:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Moira Fallon, Secretary for Academic Senate