Oakland University Senate
April 11, 1968
Agenda
To; Members of the University Senate
From: Donald D. O'Dowd, for the Steering Committee
Re: Agenda for the Meeting of April 11, 1968
The next meeting of the Senate will be held on Thursday, April 11, 3:30 p.m. Gold Room A, Oakland Center.
A. Old 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 SESSION 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 was presented as an attachment to the March 22 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 toward a 2 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�recommendation 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.
2. Report from the Academic Policy Committee. (Mr. Burke)�see attachment
Mr. Hetenyi and Mr. Simmons moved, at the March 26 meeting of the Senate, "that this report be accepted and no changes in the grading system be instituted."
B. New Business
1. Report of Steering Committee Activities (Mr. O'Dowd)
a. The Steering Committee has accepted and hereby puts into effect a report from the Academic Standing and Honors Committee entitled-Procedures in Cases of Academic Violations. This report shall serve to guide university practice in this area until the originating committee has time to refine the report and present it to the Senate for final adoption. The Steering Committee will schedule an open hearing on this subject in the fall and urges all departments to examine and discuss the report prior to the open hearing. The full text of the report is contained in the second attachment to this agenda.
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