Oakland University Senate
April 12, 1966
Agenda
MEMORANDUM
April 11, 1966
TO: All Members of the Senate
FROM: Donald D. O'Dowd, for the Steering Committee
RE: Agenda for Meeting of April 12, 1966.
The next meeting of the Senate will be on Tuesday, April 12, 1966, at 3:30 p.m. in Rooms 128, 129 and 130 of the Oakland Center.
A. Old Business
1. Recommendation from the Committee on Graduate Study (Mr. Hoopes)
a. The Committee on Graduate Study recommends that the Senate approve a new Master's Degree program as described in the proposal presented to the Senate April 6.
The Senate approves the establishment of a Master's Degree program in Systems Engineering and requests the Board of Trustees to authorize the establishment of this new degree program by the University.
2. Recommendation from the Athletic Policy Committee (Mr. Pitts)
a. The Committee recommends that the following motion be adopted:
Basketball is authorized as an intercollegiate sport for a trial period of three years. At the expiration of this trial period, the Athletic Committee will present all the evidence it has been able to collect as to the impact of intercollegiate basketball upon the level of academic achievement among collegiate basketball players, student spectators, and the rest of the student body, as well as the increase or decrease of commitment to purely intellectual values as evidenced by the success of extra-curricular activities which have a definite intellectual primacy such as theatre, literary magazine, Oakland Observer, fine arts festival, attendance at visitors' lectures, etc.
Comment:
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology declares its intention to begin next September a study of the student cultures in this University, and will endeavor to develop measurements to outline the content of the cultures and the boundaries of the membership groups which carry these cultures. It will develop indices which would permit to monitor changes. The Department will apply for a small grant in order to "tool up" during the year 1966-67 and will apply for a major grant to be secured in 1967. The measurement of the impact of intercollegiate basketball is a minor concern of this research. However, even if a major grant should not be secured, the pilot research undertaken in the year 1966-1967 should permit the development of measurements which could be applied in 1969 and compared to the results of 1966.
3. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee (Mr. Simmons)
a. The A.A.C. memorandum presented April 6 contains a motion authorizing the establishment of a Concentration in Linguistics. The Steering Committee submits the entire memorandum to the Senate for study and action.
4. Recommendations from the Steering Committee (Mr. O'Dowd)
a. The following motion by Mr. Hetenyi proposed at the last meeting of the Senate is being returned to the body for discussion at this meeting. It is the judgment of the Steering Committee that the issue represented in this motion was debated at length in the recent meeting. It may be desirable to delay a vote on this matter for one week so that chairmen may investigate the implications of the motion for departmental major programs:
The Committee on Instruction is instructed to reconsider all variable credit courses from the viewpoint of keeping them in line with the spirit of the Hucker Plan.
Comment:
This motion would have the effect of retaining the four credit unit in all cases of regular courses, UC and departmental, and interpret the leeway proposed to permit low credit courses for such areas as chorus, computer programming, etc.
The Steering Committee has referred to the Academic Affairs Committee the motion by Mr. Hetenyi to alter the Mathematics-Science requirement and the Art-Music requirement.
b. The following amendments to the original Hucker Plan adopted April 22, 1965, are submitted to the Senate for action at this meeting:
1. Change Section 2A to read -- Western Civilization (European or American History or Philosophy, including Ed. 244, Social and Philosophic Issues in Education): 4 credits.
2. Change Section 2E to read -- Non-Western Civilizations (Introduction to China or Introduction to India).
3. Change Senior Seminar to read Senior Colloquium.
4. Amend all places in the legislation in which the terms (a) "general education" and (b) "Western Civilizations" are used by substituting the terms "University Course" and "Western Institutions" for (a) and (b) respectively.
5. Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee (Mr. Collins)
a. The Senate is urged to approve the following:
This body goes on record as encouraging all members of the administration, as well as all faculty members, to become better acquainted with the classroom activity of this university by visiting classes. We feel that such classroom visitation would be of benefit to all concerned. As a courtesy to the teacher involved, his permission should be requested in advance of the visit.
New business
1, Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee (Mr. Simmons)
a. The Senate is requested to approve the following motion concerning a new catalog entry:
A course in Geography is authorized to be offered beginning fall semester 1966 for the benefit of students who wish to become better acquainted with the influence of relief, climate, and natural resources on the life, movement and history of man.
DDO'D:mm