Oakland University Senate

Thursday, March 12, 1981
Sixth Meeting
128-130 Oakland Center

MINUTES

Senators Present: Arnold, Beardman, Bieryla, Boulos, Brown, Champagne, Chipman, Christina, J. Eberwein, R. Eberwein, Frampton, Fullmer, Garcia, L. Gerulaitis, R. Gerulaitis, Ghausi , Grossman, Heubel, Hitchingham, Horwitz, Jones, Kleckner, Lentz, Mourant, Obear, Otto, Ozinga, Pettengill, Reis,  Shepherd, Somerville, Stevens, Strauss, Tower, Wilson
Senators Absent: Bertocci, Butterworth, Cameron, Edgerton, Evarts, Feeman, Gardiner, Griffith, Hammerle, Hetenyi, Jaymes, Johnson, Karasch, Ketchum, Kingstrom, Liboff, McMahan, Miller, Mittra, Moeller, Pak, Pierson, Pine, Riley, Scherer, Schmidt, Schwartz

Mr. Matthews opened the meeting at 3:13 p.m. by introducing the Senate's new presiding officer, J. E. Champagne, and withdrawing to an unaccustomed seat on the sidelines as an observer of the proceedings. Having been welcomed with applause. President Champagne reported that he is working on his inaugural speech and will address the University community next week in the tradition of stimulating academic debate on proposals of mutual concern. He moved directly to the business at hand.

The Senate, as usual, acceded to the Chair's suggestion that it dispense with the reading of the previous month's minutes. Upon the motion of
Mr. Ghausi, seconded by Mr. Gerulaitis, the group approved the minutes of February 12, 1981, unamended.

The first item of old business was the motion from the Academic Policy and Planning Committee (Moved, Mr. Kleckner; Seconded, Mr. Tower):

MOVED that the name Department of Learning Skills be changed to Department of Rhetoric.

Mr. Morse responded more fully to a question raised at the previous meeting about the intended registration rubric for his Department's courses. The LS rubric will still apply to developmental courses. The regular composition sequence may be known as RH-negative and RH-positive or something of the sort. No additional questions arose, and the Senate approved the motion with a unanimous vote.

The second item of old business, likewise proposed by the Academic Policy and Planning Committee, involved a motion to recommend establishment of new emeritus faculty rank for distinguished retired colleagues (Moved, Mr. Kleckner; Seconded, Mr. Eberwein). Attention focused initially on An amendment to substitute the words "upon the recommendation of the appropriate academic unit(s)" after "academic dean" for the original wording "after seeking the advice of the appropriate unit(s)" was approved without dissent after Mr. Obear alerted his colleagues to a typographical error in the agenda which need not commit the University to perpetual misspelling of unit(s) (Moved, Mr. Heubel; Seconded, Mr. Ketchum).

The second amendment (Moved, Mr. Ghausi; Seconded, Mr. Eberwein) elicited controversy by proposing to delete the words "or job security" between "tenure" and "at Oakland University" in the Eligibility section. Mr. Ghausi explained his desire to conform to general academic tradition by limiting the emeritus title to tenured faculty. He suggested that the University promote especially meritorious Special Instructors to Assistant Professor upon retirement if it wishes to qualify them for emeritus status. Mr. Heubel objected that job-security status is based on special training and instructional functions; it is not to be taken as evidence of academic weakness. He and Ms. Garcia noted that it is difficult now and will soon be impossible contractually for job-security faculty to move onto the tenure track. Like Ms. Gerulaitis and Mr. Stevens, they urged the Senate to leave open the possibility of recognizing good teaching over an extended period without regard to academic degrees or job description. Mr. Beardman warned against confusing a professorial title with distinguished performance in arguing against last-minute promotions of Special Instructors simply to qualify them for an honorary title they have already earned by meritorious performance. Responding to such eloquent benevolence, the Chair invited the proposers of the amendment to reconsider bringing the issue to a vote.  Both Mr. Ghausi and Mr. Eberwein agreed to withdraw their amendment.

Before proceeding to a vote on the main motion. President Champagne and Mr. Obear offered stylistic amendments to bring the motion into conformity with normal University practice. Mr. Champagne indicated discomfort with the language of the Procedure section which indicated that the honoree be "recommended by the Provost and President." He asked that the wording be revised to read "recommended by the Provost to the President." Upon motion of Ms. Garcia, seconded by Mr. Gerulaitis, the amendment was approved without further discussion. Mr. Obear then proposed another amendment to the main motion to revise the introductory sentence to read "MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board ..." instead of "to the Board." He pointed out that the Senate never makes recommendations directly to the Board. The amendment, seconded by Mr. Stevens, won unanimous approval.

The main motion, trebly amended, passed without dissent.

MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board of Trustees that it establish a new rank of Emeritus (or Emerita) Professor to honor distinguished faculty members upon retirement; that it undertake a study to determine appropriate honorific perquisites for retired professors so designated; and that it approve the awarding of emeritus rank under the following conditions:

Title: Emeritus (a) __________(title held or promoted to upon retirement; for example. Emeritus Professor of Chemistry).
Purpose: To honor retired faculty who have made significant long-term contributions to Oakland and to encourage a continuing relationship with the University.
Eligibility: In order to be eligible to be considered for award of this title, a number of conditions must be met. The faculty member must have been awarded tenure or job security at Oakland University, and must have spent a continuous lengthy period of full-time service (normally at least ten years) at Oakland University ending in retirement. Retirement is here defined as the intention on the part of the individual to reduce her/his commitment to her/his discipline and/or the world of work generally to substantially less than a full-time basis.
Procedure: Nominated by the individual's academic dean upon the recommendation of the appropriate academic unit(s) and committees; recommended by the Provost to the Presidents, confirmed by the Board of Trustees.

Proceeding to the third item of old business, the Senate unanimously voted to approve the Constitution of the School of Performing Arts (Moved, Mr. Hetenyi; Seconded, Mr. Eberwein). There was no discussion.

With no new business to consider and no private resolutions offered for the good of the order, the Senate directed its attention to the informational items on the agenda. Mr. Obear, responding to an inquiry from the Secretary, explained that the Steering Committee is in the process of filling vacant seats on standing committees and expects to nominate new members for Senate approval in April. No drastic reorganization of standing committees is projected. With the Elections Committee preparing a ballot for the next Senate election and the Steering Committee reviewing preference sheets for committee appointments, continuity of Senate activities seems happily assured.

Upon the recommendation of Mr. Ozinga, seconded by Mr. Gerulaitis, the meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Jane D. Eberwein
Secretary to the University Senate