Oakland University Senate

Thursday, December 9, 1982
Third Meeting
Oakland Center, 128-130

MINUTES

Senators Present: Appleton, Arnold, Briggs-Bunting, Brown, Chapman-Moore, Christina, dark, Copenhaver, Dawson, Downing, Eliezer, Evarts, Feeman, R. Gerulaitis, Ghausi, Gregory, Grossman, Hetenyi, Heubel, Hildebrand, Horwitz, Howes, Ketchum, Kingstrom, Kleckner, Kurzman, Lambric, Miller, Moeller, Pine, Schwab, Sevilla, Stamps, Stanovich, Stokes, Strauss, Tepley, Tripp, Wilson, Witt, Workman.
 Senators Absent: Akers, Boulos, Chagnon-Royce, Champagne, Chipman, Coppola, Cowlishaw, David, Doherty, Eklund, Hammerle, Hightower, Lindell, Mallett, Lentz, Pak, Pino, Russell, Sakai, Scherer, Zorn.

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS:
1. Motion to approve the minutes of October 14, 1982. Moved, Mr. Arnold. Seconded, Mr. Dawson. Corrected to include Mr. Eliezer as among those present. Approved.
2. Motion to appoint initial members to the Committee on General Education. Moved, Mr. Miller. Seconded, Mr. Gregory. Approved.
    A. Motion to appoint Mr. Witt to the Committee. Moved, Mr. Horwitz. Seconded, Mr. Stamps. Revised via friendly amendment to a motion to open nominations for additional names. Not approved.
3. Motion to change the name of the School of Engineering to the School of Engineering and Computer Science. Moved, Mr. Gregory. Seconded, Mr. Miller. Approved (following a motion to proceed to a second reading, moved by Dawson, seconded by Ms. Tripp and approved).
4. Motion to recommend the establishment of a Ph.D. program in Health and Environmental Chemistry. Moved, Mr. Gregory. Seconded, Mr. Lambric.
    A. Motion to postpone discussion until the January meeting. Moved, Mr. Horwitz. Seconded, Ms. Tripp. Approved.

The meeting was called to order at 3:10 p.m. by Mr. Kleckner who then called for approval of the minutes of October 14. Following the motion to approve by Mr. Arnold, seconded by Mr. Dawson, the minutes were corrected to reflect the presence of Mr. Eliezer at the last meeting and were approved.

NEW BUSINESS:
Lacking any items of old business, the Senate turned its attention to the first item of new business, a motion from the Steering Committee to appoint initial members to the Committee on General Education (Moved, Mr. Miller; Seconded, Mr. Gregory):

MOVED that the Senate name to the Committee on General Education the following individuals: David Bricker, David Daniels, Jack Moeller, Chair, Richard Stamps, Robert Stern, Ann Tripp.

Discussion began as Mr. Horwitz nominated Mr. Witt to serve on this committee, stating that it was important to have someone from one of the professional schools represented. Mr. Stamps seconded. Mr. Strauss raised the question of whether he would be an additional member. Mr. Kleckner responded that he would replace someone and that an election would have to be held since the legislation specifies only six faculty members. Mr. Dawson spoke against the amendment, noting that the Steering Committee had taken into account the question of the representativeness of the committee. As a point of clarification Mr. Grossman asked whether it wasn't assumed that academic administrators would not be included on Senate committees. Mr. Kleckner replied that anyone holding faculty title is eligible and Mr. Feeman added that there are numerous examples of administrators serving on such committees. Mr. Evarts queried whether the committee was designed to be a representative body or a small group of faculty who would work together to formulate general education requirements. Mr. Hetenyi made two points: first, that there are other schools who are not represented on the committee roster; second, that the Senate had already decided against the representative body when it approved the reduction of the committee membership from fourteen to six. Mr. Ghausi supported Mr. Witt's nomination, commenting that Mr. Witt had been on the previous general education committee and that his experience would be useful. Mr. Eberwein responded that he too had been on the general education committee, as had David Bricker, and that Mr. Bricker could provide the same input. He added that the committee is better kept small. Mr. Miller pointed out that the membership is temporary and that half of the committee will be replaced after a year because of the staggered nature of the terms. There will be an opportunity then to get the professional schools represented if that is what the group wishes. At this point, Mr. Kleckner proposed that instead of voting on the nomination for Mr. Witt, that the Senate vote on whether it wishes to open nominations for other possible members. If so, then additional nominations would be invited and an election held. There was no objection to this friendly amendment, the question was called and the amendment was defeated. Attention then returned to the main motion which was speedily and unanimously approved.

The second item on the agenda was a motion from the Academic Policy and Planning Committee to change the name of the School of Engineering to the School of Engineering and Computer Science (Moved, Mr. Gregory; Seconded, Mr. Miller):

WHEREAS THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING HAS REQUESTED THAT THE NAME OF THE SCHOOL BE CHANGED TO THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE IN ORDER TO GIVE GREATER VISIBILITY TO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVELY LOCATED WITHIN THE SCHOOL, AND

WHEREAS SUCH A NAME CHANGE DOES NOT IN ANY WAY RESTRICT OTHER SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES FROM DEVELOPING CURRICULA UTILIZING COMPUTER-BASED TECHNOLOGIES AND/OR COMPUTER-ASSISTED TEACHING STRATEGIES, AND

WHEREAS SUCH A NAME CHANGE DOES NOT RESTRICT THE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER PROGRAMS OR EVEN MAJORS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING WHICH CENTER AROUND ASPECTS OF COMPUTER USAGE,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE UNIVERSITY SENATE ENDORSES THE CHANGE OF THE NAME OF THE SCHOOL TO THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND REQUESTS THE PRESIDENT TO TAKE WHATEVER ACTION IS NECESSARY. TO MAKE THIS CHANGE OF NAME.

Mr. Gregory stated that he heartily endorses this motion. Mr. Schwab humorously suggested that since the School of Human and Educational Services has become known on campus as SHES, this change in name will produce the acronym SECS and may cause an even greater increase in enrollment than is anticipated. Mr. Dawson moved that we proceed to a second reading on this motion; Ms. Tripp seconded. Mr. Grossman expressed concern because a number of motions have been moved to second reading and asked whether there was any reason why it couldn't wait a month. Mr. Feeman replied that since a new catalog is being prepared, the sooner this information is available, the better. The motion to proceed to a second reading was then approved unanimously, followed by a vote on the main motion which was also approved.

Proceeding expeditiously to the third item on the agenda, the Senate then considered a motion from the Academic Planning and Policy Committee to recommend the establishment of a Ph.D. program in Health and Environmental Chemistry, (Moved, Mr. Gregory; Seconded, Mr. Lambric):

MOVED THAT THE UNIVERSITY SENATE RECOMMEND TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PH.D. PROGRAM IN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY AS SPECIFIED IN "A PROPOSAL FOR A PROGRAM LEADING TO A DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY," WITH IMPLEMENTATION BEING CONTINGENT UPON THE AVAILABILITY OF ADEQUATE RESOURCES.

Mr. Horwitz moved that the Senate postpone discussion of the motion until the January meeting of the Senate. Ms. Tripp seconded. In explaining his motion, Mr. Horwitz stated that many of the Senators had not received the document in time to read it and prepare themselves to discuss it. He noted too, that the proposal was incomplete, lacking a departmental synopsis, comments from the Graduate Council Executive Committee, and written responses from the department to the criticisms raised by the external evaluators. Mr. Lambric asked whether this motion would preclude having a short summary of the program presented at this meeting. Mr. Horwitz responded that the intent of his motion was to postpone all discussion. Mr. Sevilla queried whether a month's delay in Senate deliberations would cause any difficulties with a fall starting date. Mr. Kleckner noted that it is difficult to say since it must still go to the Board of Trustees once it has Senate approval. Mr. Copenhaver spoke against the idea of postponing discussion, noting that the important thing is to make sure that nothing happens without due and careful consideration and discussion of the proposal. He added that the program has already gone through vigorous discussion in the Graduate Council and the Academic Policy and Planning Committee. Mr. Feeman spoke in favor of the motion, commenting that the University is involved in preparing for an accrediting team and that the team will be looking at our review mechanisms. He too found the proposal incomplete, late in delivery, and argued that the Senate would lose nothing by waiting a month and having all the data at hand. In response to Mr. Grossman's inquiry as to what would keep the Senate from moving to a second reading next month, Mr. Kleckner responded that there was no way one could predict the actions of this body. Mr. Tepley inquired whether a delay would affect the Graduate Catalog. Mr. Feeman replied that there is already a qualifier built into the proposal in that resources must be available and that the program would not go into the catalog until after it had been formally approved by all relevant bodies and it was determined that adequate resources were available. The Senate then proceeded to approve the motion to postpone discussion and delay first reading until the January meeting.

INFORMATION ITEMS
The business of the Senate being completed, Mr. Kleckner then announced that all but one of the committee reports has been received and that summaries of the committees' activities will be compiled and distributed. Mr. Champagne was unable to attend today because he is at a meeting of the National Center for the Study of the Presidency. Mr. Kleckner commented on the hiring of the fund-raising counsel, Brakeley, John Price Jones, Inc., and delineated their activities and what can be expected from them. He also mentioned that the situation in Lansing is unclear at the moment and no one knows what may happen. There being no further comments, the meeting adjourned at 3:55.

Respectfully submitted:
Linda L. Hildebrand
Secretary to the University Senate