Oakland University Senate
SIXTH MEETING
February 13, 1973
MINUTES
Present: Senators Bertocci, Burke, Cherno, Coffman, Evans, Evarts, Gardiner, Gibson, Harding, Howes, G. P. Johnson, Patrick, Johnson, Lind, Mascitelli, Matthews, McKay, Obear, Orton, Pettengill, Strauss, Tagore, Titus, Torch, White, Williamson, Witt and Woodard.
Absent: Senators Barnard, Barthel, Beardman, Bricker, Coon, Covert, Dahlmann, Dovaras, Ettienne, Feeman, Gerulaitis, Graber, Hetenyi, Heubel, Hough, Jickling, Kilburn, Kleckner, Light, Marz, O'Dowd, Riley, Schultz, Seeber, Sturner, Susskind, Tomboulian, Torgoff, Tripp, and Young.
Mr. Obear presided in the absence of Mr. O'Dowd. Mr. Obear opened the meeting for informal remarks at 3:25 p.m. In response to questions from Mr. McKay, Mr. Obear outlined recent activities of the University Tenure and Appointment Policy Committee, made some remarks about the nature of the Governor's budget recommendation for Oakland for 1973-74, and commented on the Auditor General's report.
The meeting was formally called to order at 3:55 p.m.
The minutes of the January 17, 1973 meeting were approved with the following modification: the date in the motion under B.I. was changed to read "1972-73 instead of "1973-74".
A. New Business
1. Motions from the Academic Standing and Honors Committee (Ms. Orton).
a) Ms. Orton, seconded by Mr. Bertocci, moved:
* THAT MOTIONS b, c, AND d HEREAFTER BE APPROVED FOR FINAL VOTE AT THIS MEETING.
Approved.
b) Ms. Orton, seconded by Mr. Torch, moved:
* THAT THE FACULTY OF OAKLAND NOMINATE FOR THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE, CONFERRED AS OF DECEMBER 22, 1972, THE STUDENTS NAMED ON THE LIST ATTACHED TO THE OFFICIAL COPY OF THESE MINUTES, WITH ONE ALTERATION: MS. CHRISTINE LYNN SCHMIDT, 36698, MUSIC-ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, BE DELETED FROM THE BACHELOR OF ARTS LISTING AND ADDED TO THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE LISTING.
Approved.
c) Ms. Orton, seconded by Mr. Cherno, moved:
* THAT THE SENATE FIND ADEQUATE FOR UNIVERSITY HONORS PURPOSES THOSE GRADE POINT AVERAGES SET FORTH ON THE LIST ATTACHED TO THE OFFICIAL COPY OF THESE MINUTES.
Approved.
d) Ms. Orton, seconded by Mr. Harding, moved:
* THAT UNIVERSITY HONORS BE AWARDED TO THOSE PERSONS NAMED ON A LIST ATTACHED TO THE OFFICIAL COPY OF THESE MINUTES WHOSE GRADE POINT AVERAGES ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE GRADE POINT RANGES APPROVED IN MOTION c), SUPRA.
Approved.
2. Motion from the Steering Committee.
Mr. Obear asked Senator Howes to present this item. Mr. Howes, seconded by Mr. Coffman, moved:
THAT THE MEMBERSHIP SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ACADEMIC CONDUCT COMMITTEE BE CHANGED TO MAKE THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS POSITION A VOTING POSITION.
(First reading).
After brief discussion, there was general agreement that there was no implication in this motion which would restrict the Vice President for Student Affairs from naming a designate to the committee. In response to questioning from Mr. Cherno, Ms. White, Academic Conduct Committee Chairperson, provided a rationale for this motion. She stated that the current Student Affairs designate, Ms. Keegan, was in a difficult position because she often received confidences from students, yet was sitting as a non-voting member of the committee. 1t was felt that were she a voting member of the committee, she could refuse to receive information from accused students without warning them that it would be shared with the committee. In response to other questions about procedure, Ms. White stated that it is a responsibility of the Academic Conduct Committee to dismiss a Student, that the Student Affairs office executes that dismissal, and that a Student wishing to appeal the decision of the Committee does so to the Steering Committee.
3. Motion from the Academic Policy Committee
Senator Witt, seconded by Mr. Howes, moved:
THAT TO ADD A COURSE AFTER THE END OF THE SECOND WEEK OF CLASSES IN A SEMESTER A STUDENT MUST OBTAIN APPROVAL OF THE INSTRUCTOR IN THE COURSE AND PAY A LATE ADD FEE.
(First reading).
Mr. Evarts stated that, as a member of the Arts and Science Committee on Instruction, he favored the motion since half to three quarters of the 800 annual petitions received by that committee are requests for "Adds". He further stated, however, that Learning Skills will have a problem with this transfer policy, since transfers within Learning Skills are routinely made as Student competencies change. He hoped there would be some form of exception from this penalty proposal. Ms. Orton stated that there was a problem with the current policy of encouraging students not to drop courses but instead to take an "N", since the number of "N"s received is a key criterion for academic dismissal from the university. Mr. Bertocci stated that there was a general perception among both students and faculty that one could accumulate "N"s indefinitely. Ms. Orton stated that it was the intent of the Academic Standing and Honors Committee to publish shortly a memorandum explaining the effect of the "N" grade. Mr. Burke stated that we needed to communicate to students that if they are dropping, they should be told to drop rather than just to take an "N". Mr. McKay stated that he feels some responsibility on this issue. He stated that a procedure had been developed where students received prior warning when their "N" status became precarious�and, of course, a Student can always put evidence of extenuating circumstances into his record.
Upon the motion of Senator Titus, seconded by Mr. Pettengill, the meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Robert H. Bunger
Secretary, University Senate
Provost's Office/er
2/28/73
*Motions and amendments adopted at this meeting