Members absent:  Bee,  Butler, Dalton, Dunn, Dvir, Frick, Fu, Gallien, Gamble, Giblin, Hoffman, Lauer, Riley-Doucet, Scott, Schweitzer, Solomonson, Stano, Tanniru, Taschereau

Summary of Actions:

Interim Provost Susan Awbrey called the meeting to order at 3:10 P.M.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

SAFAC -- Samantha Wolf (President, Student Body)

Ms. Wolf introduced the students who had come to the Senate to provide insight into the purposes,  functions, responsibilities and accomplishments of the following student organizations:  the Student Program Board, the Student Activities Funding Board, the Oakland Post, WXOU, Student Video Productions, the Student Life Lecture Board, Club Sports, and the Oakland University Student Congress. Student representatives from each of these organizations were present to give impressive highlights of their activities, and reported that in general, OU students are increasingly involved and attendance is up at events, they are setting up bigger and better events that benefit both the community of students who live on campus as well as commuters, and they are coming up with interesting possibilities for students to get involved, across the board.  Highlights included such accomplishments, among numerous others, as that WXOU won the College Station of the Year in Michigan and has been nominated in addition for national prizes.

Informational Updates -- Interim Provost Susan Awbrey

Interim Provost Awbrey reported the following updates:

• There is a Post-Master’s Certificate in Court Administration.
• Modifications have been made to the MAT in Reading.
• Modifications have been made to the Graduate Certificate in Oncology Rehabilitation.

PROVOST’S UPDATES -- Interim Provost Susan Awbrey

        Ms. Awbrey reported that OU has used paragraph 76.A of the faculty contract that allows the university to increase faculty salaries, and from this, seven faculty members have received increases.  This paragraph also allows the university to meet offers from other institutions during the hiring process.  In addition, she indicated that guidelines for paragraph 76.B will be available soon. 

A. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES November 15, 2012

The minutes of the meeting of November 15, 2012 were approved (motion by Mr. Doman).

B. OLD BUSINESS

1. Motion from the Teaching and Learning Committee to change the term of membership and membership

It was MOVED that the term of membership on the Teaching and Learning Committee be increased from 2 years to 3 years and the membership from:  “Six faculty; four students; two administrative professionals; and the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost (or designee), ex-officio and non-voting,” to “Nine faculty…”  (Ms. Thompson)

The motion was passed unanimously.

2. Motion from UCUI to remove the oversight of the ethnic diversity requirement from the committee charge

It was MOVED that item 9 of the UCUI charge requiring the committee “[T]o construct the list of courses designed to meet the university wide ethnic diversity requirement from among those courses submitted for this purpose by the academic units and to maintain and update this list.  Nothing in this provision is intended to authorize or permit UCUI or Oakland University to require courses or parts of courses to have a certain ideological framework or any other framework of interpretation as a condition for satisfying the ethnic diversity requirement” be removed. 

The motion was passed unanimously.

C. NEW BUSINESS

1. Motion from the Steering Committee to recommend approval of the Master of Public Health in the School of Health Sciences

It was MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and Board of Trustees approval of the Master of Public Health (motion by Ms. Condic, second by Mr. Latcha).

Patricia Wren (Associate Professor and Director of Health Sciences Program) was present to introduce the proposal.  She said there is a need for the program based upon a shortage of health care workers in the state of Michigan.  She stated that there are strong local and regional growth rates projected for health-related careers.  The proposed program builds on existing strengths and will integrate Oakland University into the community.  Ms. Wren reported that they had done a web-based survey of (then) currently enrolled OU undergraduates, and a survey of organizational representatives from the SHS/SON Career Exploration Fair, and results indicated a need for this program.  She presented data on projected student enrollments, and explained how the MPH will achieve accreditation requirements with CEPH (Council on Education for Public Health).  She gave an overview of the proposed MPH program which will involve 44 credits, and she provided a proposed student schedule for a 2-year program.   Regarding the budget, she said that the program will show a modest profit in all years.  Three faculty members are added to meet curriculum needs, as well as one staff member.  Their predictions are based upon a full-time student group (part-time not included in their projections).  She summarized the strengths of the program:  it meets regional specialized needs, the modest size and scope is sustainable and profitable, the design is consistent with CEPH accreditation, and it builds on CBPR and service-learning strengths. 

Mr. Russell then asked about the generalist nature of the program, and whether it favors specialists over generalists.  Ms. Wren replied that the design is community-based participatory service learning, which will allow the program to expand and grow over time.  Mr. Russell asked if there are other programs with a generalist approach, and Ms. Wren replied affirmatively, and said there is a resource consideration on a specialist-oriented program.  Also, she explained that there is a difference between a ‘program’ and a ‘school’, as far as the accreditation goes.  

Mr. LeMarbe asked about the student/faculty ratio, and how do they adhere.  Ms. Wren said that the Pro Forma budget is looking at 3 new faculty members, but there will be 5 faculty members because there will be migration from within of faculty members into the program.

Mr. Meehan asked if there is a connection to Social Work.  Ms. Wren replied that it is common to offer dual degrees, because they are 'kissing cousins' in that Social Work and Public Health programs offer a good opportunity for synergy.  Mr. Meehan inquired if there is an assessment report, and Ms. Awbrey replied that the Assessment Committee had reviewed and approved the program, with revision. 
Acting Dean Jhashi observed that many of the electives from the MPH come from the College, and she noted for the record that the CAS is supportive.

Mr. Shablin asked about how the accreditation process relates to the degree.   Ms. Wren said that the program would be up and running for about 5 years since it will be built from the ground up, with an eye for accreditation in those first years.

2. Procedural motion to staff Senate Standing Committees

It was MOVED that the person listed below be appointed to the committee designated: 

ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE: Kuniko Nielsen (Linguistics) 2013-3015  (motion by Mr. Latcha, second by Mr. Aigbedo)

The motion was passed unanimously.

D. GOOD AND WELFARE

Mr. Grossman noted that he had read in the Oakland Press that there will be a campus-wide smoking ban to be in effect next fall on the campus of Oakland University.  He expressed concern about the lack of shared governance regarding this information, saying that it is a rather drastic measure and he did not recall hearing about it in the Senate.  Mr. LeMarbe said that there had been a report about the 50 foot rule last year, but Ms. Awbrey said that she would get information about what the process was for the ban.

E. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Dikka Berven (Secretary)