Oakland University Senate
Meeting of March 12, 1970
3 p.m., Room 128-130 Oakland Center
AGENDA
Submitted by Frederick W. Obear, for the Steering Committee
Please note that this meeting and all future meetings of the University Senate will begin at 3 p.m.., half an hour earlier than has been our prior custom.
A. Old Business
None
B. New Business
1. Recommendation from the Steering Committee (Mr. Obear)
The Steering Committee recommends the following as a procedural motion, eligible for final vote:
a. THAT THE SENATE ESTABLISH AN AD HOC COMMITTEE TO BE CHARGED "TO CONSULT WITH THE CHANCELLOR IN THE SELECTION OF THE PROVOST", AND THAT THE COMMITTEE BE CONSTITUTED AS FOLLOWS:
5 REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
2 REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
2 REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
1 REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT
1 REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS
1 REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY STAFF
1 REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE ADMINISTRATIVE-PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
Comment: It is anticipated that the representatives of the School of Economics and Management and the School of Performing Arts will be appointed by the Dean and Associate Dean of these schools, respectively, in consultation with their faculties. The other representatives will be named through procedures to be determined by the executive committees of the remaining Schools and College. Since the academic deans and program directors reporting to the Provost will be consulted individually and directly by the Chancellor, it is expected that they will not be named to this committee.
2. Recommendation from the Steering Committee (Mr. Obear)
The Senate is asked to appoint the following list of nominees to the Summer School Committee: (Procedural motion, eligible for final vote.)
Messrs. J. Beardman (chairman), J. Barnard, D. Doane, R. Donald, H. Kennedy, and P. Tomboulian.
3. Recommendation from the Assembly of the College of Arts and Sciences (Dean Matthews)
a. THAT THE CHANCELLOR BE REQUESTED TO SEEK AUTHORIZATION FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO ESTABLISH AT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY A DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS.
Comment: This motion is presented at the request of the College of Arts and Sciences with the approval of the Assembly. For some years formal work in linguistics has been offered as a concentration under the auspices of the Committee on Linguistics. The Assembly has approved a major in linguistics to begin in the fall of 1970. With this development and recent changes from a language to a symbolic systems requirement, it is felt appropriate to organize the work of our linguists around a formal department. Offerings in linguistics will undoubtedly swell and faculty will be added in this discipline. It will need a firmer administrative base than could be provide by the present committee. Due to the interdisciplinary character of important elements of scholarship in modern linguistics, it is planned that the department would, at least for the first several years, be staffed largely by dual appointments, although eventually appointments directly into the department would, in all probability, be made.
4. Recommendation from the Academic Policy Committee (Mr. Hildum)
The Academic Policy Committee recommends to the University Senate the following legislation:
a. FRESHMAN EXPLORATORY COURSES SHALL BE RECLASSIFIED INTO THREE GROUPS AS FOLLOWS:
UC 01 - THE EXISTING FORM OF EXPLORATORY, WITH A LIMIT OF 18 STUDENTS AND A STRONG EMPHASIS ON WRITING SKILL, PREFERABLY THROUGH FREQUENT SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENTS.
UC 02 - A SECOND-TERM EXPLORATORY, WITH THE WRITING IN THE FORM OF LONGER LESS FREQUENT ASSIGNMENTS, AND AN ENROLLMENT OF 25.
UC 03 - AN 8-CREDIT EXPLORATORY, WITH A PROPORTIONAL NUMBER OF CLASS HOURS BUILT AROUND A TOPIC CHOSEN IN THE SAME WAY OTHER EXPLORATORY TOPICS ARE CHOSEN, BUT WITH AN INTENSIVE CONCENTRATION ON WRITING AND READING SKILLS: OPEN ONLY TO CERTAIN STUDENTS, AS EXPLAINED BELOW: LIMITED TO 20 STUDENTS, AND STAFFED BY A FACULTY MEMBER AND A STUDENT ASSISTANT.
b. EACH ENTERING STUDENT IS NORMALLY EXPECTED TO TAKE 8 CREDITS IN EXPLORATORIES, EITHER A UC 01 AND A UC 02, OR A UC 03. FOR UC 01 AND UC 02, THE LETTER-DESIGNATED DISTRIBUTION CATEGORIES ARE RETAINED, AND A STUDENT IS ASKED TO CHOOSE HIS COURSES FROM DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
c. ALL ENTERING FRESHMEN TAKE WRITING AND READING TESTS DURING THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE ORIENTATION SESSION. (FOR THE PRESENT, WE CONTINUE TO ACCEPT TRANSFER CREDITS FOR EXPLORATORIES, FOLLOWING ESTABLISHED STANDARDS.) ON THE TESTS, TWO CRITERION LEVELS WILL BE DETERMINED: EXCELLENT AND SATISFACTORY. (ON THESE CRITERIA, SEE COMMENTARY BELOW.)
d. STUDENTS WHO SURPASS THE "EXCELLENT" CRITERION MAY, BUT NEED NOT, WAIVE UC 01. THIS NUMBER SHALL NOT EXCEED 10% OF THE CLASS.
e. STUDENTS WHO FALL BELOW THE "SATISFACTORY" CRITERION MAY, BUT NEED NOT, SATISFY THEIR EXPLORATORY REQUIREMENT WITH A UC 03 COURSE. THEY WILL BE INFORMED OF THEIR TEST RESULTS AND URGED, THOUGH NOT REQUIRED, TO USE THE UC 03 OPTION.
f. THE UC 03 INSTRUCTORS AND ASSISTANTS WILL FORM A GROUP TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION ABOUT PROBLEMS AND SPECIFIC TEACHING TECHNIQUES.
g. STUDENTS IN UC 03 WHO DO NOT REACH THE SATISFACTORY CRITERION DURING THE FIRST TERM WILL, IF THEY CHOOSE TO TAKE A SECOND UC 03 (AND ASSUMING REASONABLE EFFORT ON THEIR PART), RECEIVE AN INCOMPLETE AT THE END OF THE SECOND UC 03, THEIR EARNED GRADE IS APPLIED TO BOTH TERMS�1.E., ALL 16 CREDITS. A STUDENT BELOW SATISFACTORY WHO DOES NOT TAKE MORE EXPLORATORY WORK RECEIVES AN APPROPRIATE NUMERICAL GRADE FOR HIS 8 CREDITS.
Comment: This motion is intended to serve more than one purpose, of which the foremost is a solution to the serious problem of deficiencies in reading and writing which are too great to be handled adequately by the existing exploratory arrangements. Such problems seem to be more common among the special project students but are not limited to them. The university might, of course, choose to avoid these problems by means of a more exclusive admission policy, but under existing policy�or a still more open one�we cannot afford to ignore them.
Several aspects of our solution should be noted: (1) It is a general approach, in that it tests all students by the same standards, rather than selecting by arbitrary groupings or hunches. (2) It is voluntary, in that students make their own decision about whether to enter the special exploratory. (3) It recognizes that a serious problem requires a serious attack-- that is, more than the normal 4-credit course. (4) It recognizes that, in a credit-and-grade system, we cannot expect the serious effort required to be forthcoming outside of or in competition with graded credit courses. (5) It allows for those cases�we hope few in number�where the problem is severe enough that reasonable effort by the student during a single term is not sufficient. It make no sense to penalize such a person with a low grade before he has had a chance to do as well as he can.
In considering this proposal, the APC discussed some alternatives which should be mentioned. Mr. Lyons, the present director of exploratories, had suggested that "the second exploratory advances the work of the first relatively little" and that it might therefore make sense to reduce the requirement to one. But to do so would have either removed a small class from each freshman's program or depended on the departments to provide such classes�with the possible result of hastening student absorption into a major. APC prefers to keep the openness of the UC program. Nevertheless, a shift of resources into UC 03 to solve a special problem must be compensated for elsewhere, and a slight size increase in the exploratories, limited to UC 02, seems a reasonable way to do this.
Finally, we discussed the possibility of getting rid of the letter designations, which seem in many cases to be misleading and pointless. Though we wished to do so, we could find in that proposal no way of taking care of those tight-schedule students who may use the exploratory so designated to satisfy distribution requirements. APC and the Commission on Educational Reform are both presently considering the distribution requirements, so we must ask your indulgence in case we come forward with later proposals which would affect the labeling and classification of exploratories At present, it seems best to retain the existing labels.
5. Report of Steering Committee Activities.
a. The Steering Committee approved a proposal from William F. Sturner for a change in the final examination schedule for the present semester. This change was necessitated by a conflict with religious holidays, and has been more fully explained in a memo to the University Community.
b. The Steering Committee has discussed with Glen Brown, Dicron Tafralian, and William Marshall of the Administrative-Professional Association a proposal for increased A-P representation in the Senate. After much deliberation, the Committee decided not to recommend any changes at this time in the composition of the Senate. The Committee felt that changes in the Senate composition should not be made in a piecemeal or ad hoc fashion, but should be made only after careful consideration of the purposes of the Senate, and the concerns for representation not only of the A-P staff but also of the professional librarians, students, and possibly other groups within the University Community. The Steering Committee therefore has decided that it will propose to the Senate at a subsequent meeting that a major committee on Constitutional Reform be appointed by the Senate and charged to present its recommendations in time for implementation in the election of the Senate (or its successor) for 1971-73.
c. Mr. Obear has announced to the Steering Committee that in his capacity as Acting Provost, he is assuming the ex officio Senate seat of the Provost, and is resigning his elected Senate seat in the College of Arts and Sciences delegation. The Executive Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences has nominated Professor G. Philip Johnson to that vacancy.
d. The Elections Committee has informed the Steering Committee that Professor Edward Heubel has been elected to the University Tenure and Appointments Committee.
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3/10/70