Oakland University Senate
March 26, 1968
Agenda
To: Members of the University Senate
From: Donald D. O'Dowd, for the Steering Committee
Re: Agenda for the Meeting of March 26, 1968.
The next meeting of the Senate will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 3:30 p.m., Rooms 128-30, Oakland Center.
A report on the grading system is attached to this agenda and will be discussed by Mr. Burke, chairman of the Academic Policy Committee.
A. Old Business
1. Recommendation from the Academic Policy Committee. (Mr. Burke)
The Academic Policy Committee recommends that the catalog passage describing the Freshman Exploratory requirement (now on p. 54) be changed to read as follows:
a. "EACH STUDENT, UNLESS HE HAS TRANSFERRED EQUIVALENT CREDITS FROM ANOTHER INSTITUTION, SHOULD TAKE ONE FRESHMAN EXPLORATORY IN EACH OF HIS FIRST TWO SEMESTERS, chosen from the following groups (no two may be chosen from the same group): Literature, Western Institutions, Fine Arts, Man and Contemporary Society, Non-Western Civilization and Natural Science. ANY STUDENT WHO HAS NOT SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED TWO EXPLORATORIES IN HIS FIRST THREE SEMESTERS IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO CONTINUE AS AN ENROLLED STUDENT EXCEPT BY SPECIAL ACTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ACADEMIC STANDING. Successful completion of two exploratories satisfies the University writing competency requirement. NO STUDENT MAY RECEIVE CREDIT FOR MORE THAN TWO EXPLORATORIES, INCLUDING EQUIVALENT CREDITS FOR COURSES TAKEN AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS."
The words in upper case letters are changed from the present version, which is reproduced here for your convenience:
"All students must take within their first three semesters two exploratories chosen from the following groups (no two may be chosen from the same group): Literature, Western Institutions, Fine Arts, Man and Contemporary Society, Non-Western Civilization and Natural Science. Successful completion of two exploratories satisfies the University writing competency requirement. Freshman exploration should not be taken by transfer students with credit in composition from another institution."
Note: In order to keep our use of words consistent, the word "take" in sentence 1 of paragraph #1 on p. 23 of the catalog should be changed to "complete."
Mr. Hetenyi moved to amend the motion by adding the words "and only one" following the words "should take one" after the second comma in the first sentence. Seconded by Mr. Righter.
Mr. Hammerle moved to amend the motion by deleting the words "is not eligible" in the second sentence and add the words "may be declared ineligible" after the word "semesters" in the second sentence. He further moved that the words "except" and "special" in the second sentence be deleted. Seconded by Mr. Tomboulian.
Comment: It was the intention of the Committee to formulate a regulation which will insure that students required to take two Exploratories will schedule and, if at all possible, satisfactorily complete these during their first two semesters at Oakland. The regulation also seeks to limit extensions or postponements granted for good cause to just one semester. Any longer extensions would require favorable action on a petition of exception. The understanding of the Committee is that all three points represent a clarification and tightening of our present policy on the Freshman Exploratories rather than a change of policy.
2. Recommendation from the Graduate Study Committee. (Mr. Tomboulian)
The Graduate Study Committee endorses the request of the School of Education for a re-labeling of its M.A.T. degree and recommendation the Senate endorse the following:
THE M.A.T. IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION WITH CONCENTRATIONS IN CLASSROOM TEACHING AND READING INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE RE-LABELED 1) M.A.T.�ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, AND 2) M.A.T.�READING INSTRUCTION.
Comment: (supplied by Mr. Hetenyi) The change in designation does not represent a change in program content, nor does it reflect a dissatisfaction with the way in which the program has been operating. A new degree title, and hence a separate designation of the program leading to the degree, has a number of virtues. First, the proposed designation describes more accurately than the current one the actual content of the program. Secondly, graduates who earn this degree will find the new designation advantageous in obtaining the kind of professional assignments for which they prepared themselves. Thirdly, the new title would serve to remove a deterrent which currently keeps teachers of the upper grades, especially in junior high school, from enrolling in the program. Finally, the new designation provides a more appropriate label for graduates when their districts seek special state and federal funds for Reading programs.
B. New Business
1. Recommendation from the ad hoc Committee on the University Calendar. (Mr. Johnson)
The ad hoc Calendar Committee urges the adoption of the following six points to take effect in the spring semester period of 1969:
a. THAT FALL AND WINTER SEMESTERS BE SCHEDULED IN ESSENTIALLY THE SAME FASHION AS IN RECENT YEARS.
b. THAT THE EXAMINATION PERIODS FOR THE FALL SEMESTER AND FOR THE WINTER SEMESTER EACH BE LENGTHENED TO FIVE DAYS.
c. THAT THE SPRING SEMESTER BE REPLACED BY A SPRING AND A SUMMER SESSION OF ABOUT EIGHT WEEKS EACH. PROGRAMS FOR THESE SESSIONS SHOULD BE DEVELOPED BY THE FACULTIES WITH CLEARLY CONCEIVED CLIENTELES AND COURSE SEQUENCES IN MIND. AT LEAST INITIALLY, THE SPRING SESSION SHOULD OPERATE PRIMARILY FOR OAKLAND UNDERGRADUATES AND THE SUMMER SESSION PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS AND STUDENTS FROM OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY. THE SPRING SESSION WOULD THEN BE CLOSELY TIED PERFORCE TO THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR, WHILE THE SUMMER SESSION COULD DEVELOP TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE OTHER TERMS AND SO AS TO FREE MUCH OF THE FACULTY FROM DUTIES DURING THAT PERIOD. A COURSE IN EITHER SESSION WOULD ORDINARILY INVOLVE AS MANY CONTACT HOURS AS IN THE REGULAR SEMESTER. UNDERGRADUATE COURSES RUNNING THROUGH BOTH SESSIONS WOULD ORDINARILY NOT BE PERMITTED.
d. THAT THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES FOR SPRING OR SUMMER SESSION TEACHING BE USED;
1) AN INSTRUCTOR WILL ORDINARILY TEACH A SINGLE COURSE DURING A SESSION; AND
2) DETERMINATION OF THE FREQUENCY A GIVEN INSTRUCTOR MAY TEACH IN THESE SESSIONS WILL BE LEFT TO DEANS AND CHAIRMEN, SUBJECT TO THE PROVOST'S APPROVAL, AND NOT GOVERNED BY ANY RULE SUCH AS ONE PROSCRIBING MORE THAN FIVE CONSECUTIVE SEMESTERS OF TEACHING.
e. THAT INDICATIONS TO THE STUDENT OR TO THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENT THAT HE MAY GRADUATE IN SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN FOUR YEARS DISAPPEAR FROM OUR LITERATURE (SEE PAGE 6 OF THE PRESENT CATALOG FOR AN EXAMPLE).
f. THAT THE SENTENCE "THIS CALENDAR IS SUBJECT TO REVISION." APPEAR AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PUBLISHED CALENDAR.
A series of principles governing the construction of annual calendars, two sample calendars, and an analysis of instructional time is presented in an attachment to this agenda.
Comment: It has been evident to the Committee that the dominant sentiment in the community is for retention of our customary schedule for the fall and winter terms. This schedule has its virtues, not the least of which are its efficiency, its avoidance of a lame duck session following Christmas, and the long summer it produces for many faculty and students. Its main disadvantage is the frantic pace it often begets, but in our study of alternatives we have found no schedule which markedly mitigates that evil except at a cost, which we are unwilling to bear, in more serious disadvantages.
The summer has been more difficult. We believe�admittedly without absolute assurance�that a split semester will attract greater numbers of students and that an undergraduate course taught double-time for a half-semester can be as good a course, or very nearly as good, as its counterpart in the regular offering. We also believe that a move towards a semester year for a major segment of the student body would be a boon to them and to the faculty and staff, and that the split semester schedule affords needed flexibility for serving the several disparate groups to be involved: the Oakland undergraduate, undergraduates from other institutions, and the various kinds of graduate students. For these reasons we have recommended as we have regarding the basic character of the calendar.
The calendars that appear in the appendix reflect modest changes in the fall and winter schedules. Time for classes has been increased slightly and an additional day has been provided for examinations. An effect of these changes is to extend the academic year by four or five days. We have sought a break between classes and examinations and a longer break at Christmas but have been unable to provide them in the majority of years. On the grounds that double-time courses need whatever advantages they can get, we have provided extra time for them; i.e., a little more than half as many class weeks during each of the spring and summer sessions. Each session has a two-day examination period. The proposed changes would have no effect until the start of the 1969 winter semester; in order to ease the transition we have left the 1968 fall term unaltered.
We have taken into account as best we know how the calendar-related problems of such functions as admissions, food services, building maintenance, dormitories, registration, advising, and freshman orientation. So far as we have learned, none of these functions would be seriously disrupted by the proposed calendars. We seek in the fourth recommendation to discourage heavy teaching loads�of two double-time courses, in particular�during the spring and summer sessions. It has seemed to us that it would be sensible to accompany the single course limitation with an adjustment in rates of pay, and we have submitted to the Provost a separate memorandum in this regard.
Our recommendation that there be no more 2-2/3 years-to-graduation propaganda follows from the third recommendation. At the same time, we hope that those students who seek to accelerate their programs can be encouraged to do so. It is, we feel, premature for our literature to proclaim this hope; rather we should wait
a little to discover the extent to which we can provide for the student-in-a-hurry. Courses suitable for accelerating programs should appear among those we offer in the half-semesters, but we are not now prepared to say how such offerings should be organized and how often they will appear. The last�and least--re commendation serves only to protect our consciences if we discover further need for change. We wish not to feel that we must adhere to a calendar for the sole reason that it appears in print. "
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