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Members present:  Awbrey, Bee, Berven, D., Berven, K., Clason, Connery, Condic, Dalton, Doman, Dulio, Dvir, Eis, Estes, Folberg, Fu, Gallien, Giberson, Graetz, Grimm, Grossman, Guessous, Hightower, Hoag, Hoffman, Jhashi, Latcha, Lauer, Leibert, Lim, Meehan, Mitchell, Pickard, Reger, Riley-Doucet, Roth, Schartman, Schulling, Shablin, Solomonson, Spagnuola, Sudol, Thompson, Thor, Tiegs, Wells, Williams, Wood
Members absent:  Aigbedo, Butler, Chamra, Cole, Dunn, Gamble, Giblin, LeMarbe, Mourdjian, Polis, Russell, Sethi, Stano, Tanniru, Taschereau, Zhang

Provost Moudgil called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

I.  Nutrition and Health Concentration SHS\

Patricia Wren (SHS) explained that the Nutrition and Health Concentration in the School of Health Sciences is not a new major, per se, but rather a concentration within the B.A. which builds on a minor. 

2.  Department of Sociology and Anthropology Name Change

Jay Meehan (Sociology and Anthropology) explained that four years ago, the B.A. in Social Work was approved and is now an accredited program within the department.  Therefore the faculty members in the Sociology and Anthropology department wanted a new name that reflected the existence of this program.  The new name will be the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work. 

3.  Center for International Programs Name Change

Paul Kubicek (Political Science) informed the senate that the Center for International Programs will be referred to in the future as the International Studies Program.  He explained that the word ‘center’ in the old name suggested a physical place, which the CIP was not.  Also, the word ‘center’ suggested that all international affairs were there, which was not the case.  The new name, International Studies Program, is more accurate.  They will be known as ‘ISP’.

4.  Retention Update

Susan Awbrey observed that some progress has been made in retention.  She said the university needs to address both what is not being done, and what should be done with regards to retention.  She said that if senators have any recommendations, they should let her know what they are.  She has been in the process of looking at best practices in the USA, and looking at how OU stacks up.  Her office is looking at milestones for students, and is meeting with advisors.  There is a new initiative called ‘Celebrate 28”—28 being the number of credits that a students needs to have sophomore standing. 

5.  Provost’s Update

• Provost Moudgil said he was pleased to announce that Stephen Pinker would be coming to campus to give a talk (Vitality Seminar).  Mr. Pinker is ranked among the top 10 thinkers in the USA today.  He will be on campus on April 19, and Mr. Moudgil encouraged everyone to attend. 
• Mr. Moudgil said that there are some issues that have arisen regarding the commencement exercises that are problematic.  For example, when the weather is bad, it creates a big problem.  Also, it has become difficult to accommodate all of the family members of graduating students who want to be present at commencement.  He said that he wants the Senate to address this problem because he would like to ask for university approval when it comes to any changes that may need to be made—whether it involved a different site, or a different way of doing the event.   He said that the Senate Steering Committee would be forming an Ad Hoc committee to look into this matter, and they would be looking for volunteers. 
• Mr. Moudgil then expressed his appreciation for the research productivity and publications of OU faculty members. 

The   minutes   of November 10, 2011 were approved (motion by Doman, second by Bee).

B.  NEW BUSINESS

1.  Motion from UCUI to approve a change in the residency requirements in the Oakland University catalog.

MOVED that the proposed revision to the residency requirement be adopted. (motion by Thompson, second by Guessous).

First reading:  Amendable, debatable and not eligible for final vote at this meeting.
Comment:  This change is necessary to be a part of the Servicemembers Opportunities Colleges.   

Steve Shablin (Registrar) said that OU has made an effort to assist veterans and members of the military and their family members to be able to get their education.  OU has received an award for its work on behalf of military members.  To continue to support this effort, OU has applied to the Servicemembers Opportunities (SO) Consortium which provides support to military members.  OU meets 3 out of the 4 criteria that are needed to belong to this consortium.  The 4th is the language being proposed to change the residency requirements in the catalog.  UCUI has already approved it, and he asked the senate to do the same.  Mr. Grossman asked if Mr. Shablin had considered dropping the ‘last 8-credits at OU’ requirement.  Mr. Shablin said that in an upcoming meeting, UCUI might agree with this suggestion.   The language to be added can be found under Undergraduate degree requirements and under 5, as follows:  “Oakland University limits academic residency to no more than twenty-five percent of the degree requirements for all undergraduate degrees for active-duty service members.  Academic residency can be completed at any time while active-duty service members are enrolled.  Reservists and National Guardsmen on active-duty are covered in the same manner.”

2.  Motion to change Oakland University Role and Mission Statement to recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion.

MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and Board of Trustees the addition of the words “in a diverse and inclusive environment,” to the Role and Mission Statement of Oakland University.  (motion by Eis, second by Thompson)

First reading:  Amendable, debatable and not eligible for final vote at this meeting.

There was no discussion on this motion.

3.  Motion from the Steering Committee to recommend approval of the graduate programs in the Department of Psychology.

MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board of Trustees approval of graduate degree programs in Psychology.

First Reading:  Amendable, debatable and not eligible for final vote at this meeting.

Mr. Shackelford and Mr. Hansen were present to summarize the proposal.  Mr. Shackelford explained that the M.S. and Ph.D. are highly interrelated which will promote a team-based orientation for the program.  Student research teams will function as part of a larger whole.  This approach maximizes faculty resources and minimizes cohort design.  Also, there is built-in flexibility with a program such as this.  There will be conceptual gains, with M.S. and Ph.D. students working alongside each other, a factor that will encourage mentoring all the way down the line to undergraduates.  The program is modeled after the M.S./Ph.D program at Florida Atlantic, a program which Mr. Shackelford managed for ten years prior to coming to Oakland University—a program that was incredibly successful.  He pointed out that the proposed program is a common degree structure for Psychology departments.

Mr. Hansen summarized the degree requirements for the Ph.D. (80 credits), which includes Knowledge and Skills Core (24 credits), Concentration courses (36 credits), Thesis and Dissertation (20 credits) plus classroom instruction expectations.  In other words, students will have skill courses in teaching psychology, and they will also teach.  The M.S. will have 36 credits:  Knowledge and Skills Core (24 credits), Concentration courses (8 credits) and Thesis or Project (4 credits).  Students in the M.S. program could be oriented towards non-academic or academic careers.  They will be counseled depending on their path. 

Concerning program sustainability, there are approximately 1200 undergraduate psychology majors at OU, and some of the graduate students will come from there, but they will also recruit nationally and internationally.  To date, they have already received 150 inquiries from out of state and international students.  The budget highlights include that there will be 4 Ph.D. students in year one, and 12 by year three.  There will be 12 M.S. students in year one, and 36 by year three.   They predict they will be revenue positive within five years.  As to the market, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the need for graduates of this program.  There is a market value for people broadly trained in psychology.  In addition, the five outside reviewers were positive about the program.  Mr. Shackelford and Mr. Hansen said they have been gratified by the process of the program review and the positive reviews they got from the committees involved at OU. 

Mr. Grimm asked when the preliminary qualifying exam would take place.  Mr. Shackelford replied that this would be at the beginning of the third year.  He clarified that students will be admitted concurrently into the M.S. and Ph.D. programs.  Mr. Meehan said that as a Social Sciences chairperson, he was excited that Mr. Schackelford was recruited to OU, and he observed that within two years, Mr. Shackelford has brought forth this program and Mr. Meehan sees a lot of opportunity for interdisciplinary work.  He asked about the game plan for recruitment.  Mr. Shackelford said that in terms of the time line, Fall 2012 would be the launch date, and he observed that ideally they would like to waive the second reading so they can begin recruiting.  They need to be approved by the BOT, and they do not want to miss the February BOT meeting.  Provost Moudgil said that the BOT needs to approve, and also the Presidents' Council at the state level. He said that there is time, and if the Senate approves the program, they can start recruiting.  Mr. Hansen said that they anticipated this, and have begun to work in that direction in their department. 

Mr. Leibert asked how the M.S. students are going to compete with the Ph.D. students for positions once they have graduated.  Mr. Hansen said that they will work at a level below the Ph.D. students.  Mr. Leibert asked whether these students would be taking statistics courses.  Mr. Hansen replied that in the future, there will be more statistics classes—for example, computational science. 

Mr. Lauer asked for elaboration as far as where the Ph.D. students will be placed—whether it would be in academic or non-academic careers.  Mr. Shackelford said that the majority will be professors in academia.  But there are also jobs in industry, such as director of a charitable foundation, or a job in private industry, or with the government.  The degree allows this kind of flexibility.  Mr. Moudgil suggested the possibility of a job in labor relations, and said that in general, there is a market for liberally educated people.  Mr. Shackelford concurred.  Ms. Wells asked how they will differentiate between the M.S. and the Ph.D. curriculum--whether one is more broad, or one is more specific, for example.  Mr. Shackelford indicated that students will take the same courses for the first two years.  But M.S. students will graduate, and Ph.D. students will continue with their program.  This is not a two separate programs—rather, they are deeply integrated.  Mr. Hansen added that there will be a commitment to research for the Ph.D. students, and more attention will be paid to the Ph.D. students because of this.  Ms. Condic said that she looks forward to working with the students.  She then introduced a motion to waive the second reading.  Mr. Meehan seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

Mr. Lemarbe then asked about the graduate teaching courses.  Mr. Hansen said that there would be no masters level courses in that revenue.  Ms. Awbrey said that she is very supportive of the program, and asked that there be a friendly amendment to the motion, in which the phrase ‘M.S. and Ph.D. programs’ would be added to the motion.  There was unanimous agreement for this amendment. 

Senate members then voted, and the motion to approve the M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Psychology was passed unanimously.

B.  GOOD AND WELFARE

Mary Bee asked if there is a Physician Assistants program on campus, because she had heard that there might be, but did not know anything about it.  Mr. Moudgil said that there has been interest over the years.  Mr. Hightower said that there is nothing to report on this subject, but there are some people looking into it.  Mr. Dvir said that a P.A. program is a good idea, and many Biology students are headed to that type of program.  Mr. Moudgil said that if a P.A. program comes to OU, he hopes it will be interdisciplinary so that it will have more possibilities for external resources.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Dikka Berven.