Oakland University Senate

Eighth Meeting
Thursday, April 4, 1974
5:1 5 p.m.
128-130 Oakland Center

AGENDA

Submitted by Frederick W. Obear, for the Steering Committee

A. Old Business - None

B. New Business

1. Motion from the Steering Committee (Mr. Obear)

THAT J. CURT IS CHIPMAN BE APPOINTED TO THE ACADEMIC STANDING AND HONORS COMMITTEE FOR THE 1973-75 TERM. PROCEDURAL MOTION, ELIGIBLE FOR FINAL VOTE.

Comment: This appointment will  fill the remaining term of Mr. Joseph Klaits (on leave) and extend through the 1974-75 year.

2. Motion from the Teaching and Learning Committee (Mr. Schillace)

THE UNIVERSITY SENATE RECOMMENDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ANNUAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND TO BE USED TO SUPPORT, WITH SMALL GRANTS, A VARIETY OF INSTRUCTIONAL INNOVATIONS AND LEARNING EXPERIMENTS AT OAKLAND. THE FUND SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED BY THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SENATE TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMITTEE.

First reading.

Comment: The charge to the Teaching and Learning Committee includes the following: "To promote the teaching function and the learning process by sponsoring incentives for good teaching...". The Committee accepts this charge knowing full well that the crux of the problem is in defining "good" teaching. While we may not always agree on what constitutes good teaching, we agree that there is considerable need for research and development in the factors that go into an effective teaching and learning system. The proposed Educational Development Fund will be used much in the same way the University Research Fund is currently employed -- as a source of small grants for which faculty and staff may apply to obtain support for projects aimed at developing promising methods of instruction and evaluating same through empirical and comparative procedures. Small grants (probably not to exceed $2,000.00 each, although specific guidelines are to be developed by the Teaching and Learning Committee) will be awarded annually for research and development projects aimed at providing information on such topics as the following:

a. Individualizing instruction for the wide-range of student abilities and interests;
b. Applications of undergraduates and graduate students in the undergraduate teacher role;
c. Special problems of the large class and single-meeting, evening class;
d. The management of factors related to learning in a small group;
e. Alternate methods of evaluating student learning;
f. The use of the media in instruction;
g. The development of models of inter-disciplinary study;
h. The evaluation of instructor performance;
i. Promising innovations in learning arrangements;
j. The role of various environments in college learning and independent�field studies.

An expanded Teaching and Learning Committee will determine guidelines and review procedures for the grant proposals. The Teaching and Learning Committee will review the funded projects and insure that guidelines concerned with objective evaluation of outcomes of the projects and appropriate reporting procedures are fulfilled. Reports of findings from such experiments will be widely distributed within the university. Follow-up assistance in obtaining continuing and more substantial extra-university financial support for appropriate projects will be provided through the Office for Research and Instructional Services.

Annual reports of the Fund's activities will be presented to the University Senate. At the end of three years of operation, the effectiveness of the fund will be reviewed by the Senate and a recommendation with respect to continuation will be made.

The Teaching and Learning Committee believes that the support of a number of projects aimed at exploring learning and evaluation as a function classroom processes will stimulate an experimental attitude toward instruction at Oakland. We expect a number of substantial research and development grants to grow out of the early explorations. Support of the initial projects through an Educational Development Fund will hopefully bring needed balance to the university commitment to teaching and research.

3. Motion from the Graduate Council (Mr. Johnson)

THAT THE SENATE APPROVE THE MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN BIOLOGY AS PROPOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES.

First reading,

Comment: The proposed program is the first new master's offering the College of Arts and Sciences has advanced to the Senate in over five years. A second distinction is that it is unusually ambitious. The number of students involved would probably be larger than in any graduate program except those of Education and Economics and Management Moreover the proportion of full-time students would be high, perhaps more so than in any extant program.

The Department of Biological Sciences has distinguished itself through its research activities and the external support its research has attracted. It is a companion to this fact that the Oakland under-graduate program in biology is exceptional in the degree students become involved in research at the beginning and throughout their course of study. The department now seeks to extend its instruction to the graduate level. In so doing it believes it can serve a need for persons with advanced understanding of biology and, simultaneously, enrich its present offerings and work. The presence of graduate students promises stimulus to the faculty's research and some of these students, as graduate assistants, can contribute importantly to the maintenance of the undergraduate research thrust.

A summary of the program proposal is attached to this agenda. Copies of the complete proposal are available in the department of the graduate office.

The proposal was approved by the College of Arts and Sciences on January 23, 1974 and by the Graduate Council on March 21, 1974.

4. Information Items

a. Additional Senate meetings have been scheduled for April 11 and April 17 at 3:15 p.m.

b. The following changes in membership of the University Tenure and Appointment Policy Committee have occurred as a result of recent elections;
                       

Mr. Wm. Hammerle recently resigned his seat.

c. Mr. Palmer, Chairman, Financial Aids Committee, reports that his committee is involved in a review of all policies governing financial aids. Recommendations concerning legislation may result from this process.

d. Mr. Coon, Chairman, Spring and Summer Sessions Committee, makes the following report:

To date, the Spring and Summer Sessions Committee has met with  Dean DeMont concerning the schedule for Spring 1974. The Committee voiced concerns over questions of its role and the basis of course selection for the sessions.

The question of role centered around input from the Committee prior to times when decisions were finalized concerning course offerings for the session. To meet after courses were negotiated between Dean DeMont and department chairpersons, and when schedules were firm was deemed to be a superfluous action. There seemed to be unanimous agreement that the Committee must become more viable and advise on both academic and administrative matters for the sessions. Specific encouragement toward this end came from President O'Dowd's memorandum dated February 20, 1974, in which he encouraged a more cooperative relationship between Senate Committees and University administrators. Dean DeMont concurs and urges a more active role for the committee.

The question about course selections for Spring and Summer sessions tended to center around the following topics:

1. That provision should be made for majors in all disciplines to maintain a consistent pursuit of the requirements for graduation in that discipline. (Note) A market survey may be conducted to ascertain needs.

2. That a portion of the Dean of Spring and Summer Sessions budget be set aside for courses which make unique contribution to Oakland's curricula. (Note) Such courses may not fit the general criterion of forty students to a course.

The Committee endorses year-round faculty planning of curricular offerings. Block planning for a year's offering would be helpful to students. Departments whose offerings are minimal during spring or summer sessions should be encouraged to take advantage of provisions which allow faculty to teach during those sessions in lieu of fall or winter teaching commitments. Thus, the criterion of high enrollment would be obviated.

Last, the Committee strongly urges Provost Obear to give full consideration to Dean DeMont's Management By Objectives statement, page 6, goals I and 4, #5, "increase the scope and diversity of the Spring and Summer offerings by establishing a 20% increase in the number of courses offered. These courses will primarily represent new curricular programs and high enrollment disciplines.

At present, the Committee proposes no legislation to the Steering Committee.

e. The degree programs of B.A. in Classical Civilizations and B.S. in Biological Sciences, proposed by the Arts and Sciences Assembly, have been reviewed by the Academic Policy Committee to insure that they lie within the degree-granting authority of the Assembly. This review has been completed; the proposals are now en route to the Board of Trustees for action.

Office of the Provost/ss
4/1/74
Attachment