Oakland University Senate
Thursday, 10 January 1985
3:10 p.m.
Gold Room A, B, C
AGENDA
Respectfully submitted by Keith R. Kleckner for the Steering Committee.
A. Old Business:
None.
B. New Business:
1. Motion from the Steering Committee to fill vacancies on a Senate standing committee (Ms. Hildebrand):
MOVED that the faculty nominated below be confirmed as appointed to the positions specified on the Campus Development and Environment Committee for the Winter 1985 semester, replacing Professor Adeline Hirshfeld-Medalia during her leave:
David Housel as chair;
Janice Schimmelman as member.
Procedural Motion: Debatable, amendable, and eligible for vote.
2. Motion from the University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction regarding course election on an S/U basis (Mr. Downing):
Any undergraduate student who has completed at least 29 credit hours towards graduation may elect to take up to eight (8) credits of course work at Oakland University on an S/U grading basis, assuming that all prerequisites have been completed, and subject to the following restrictions:
1. These credits may only be counted as free elective credits. They may not be used to fulfill University or program requirements of any kind, including requirements for remedial skills, general education, majors, minors, or concentrations.
2. Any courses that are designated S/U in the catalog or schedule of classes will not count toward the limit of eight S/U credits per student.
3. The student must elect the S/U option within the first week of class by filing the appropriate form with the Registrar's Office.
4. Instructors will not be informed on their enrollment lists as to who are the S/U students, if any. They will simply assign numeric grades (0.0 to 4.0) to all enrolled students. For students who have elected the S/U option, the Registrar's Office will then convert numeric grades from 2.0 to 4.0 to an "S" and numeric grades from 0.0 to 1.9 to a "U".
5. Neither the "S" nor the "U" grade will be included in the student's GPA.
6. Only if a student later needs a numeric grade in order to fulfill a program requirement because of a change in program status may the "S" be converted back to the original numeric grade, which will then be included in the student's GPA. The student must file an appropriate request form in the Registrar's Office.
First Reading: Debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote at this meeting.
Comment: UCUI presents this motion in response to a recommendation from the Senate floor last winter urging that the University extend options to students to elect courses on an S/U basis beyond those now specified exclusively for this purpose. The intention is to provide students with some "venture credits" to explore academic areas and topics that might otherwise intimidate them. The option is not to be used as an easy way to fulfill program requirements. The Steering Committee, reviewing this proposal, recommended to UCUI the elimination of item 6 in order to make all S/U grades at Oakland University uniformly irreversible. When the new year ice storm prevented UCUI from meeting before preparation of the Senate agenda, the Steering Committee agreed to present this motion to the Senate exactly as it came from UCUI with a recommendation that Senators give serious consideration to possible deletion of item 6.
3. Report on Book Center Pricing: (Mr. Wilson)
Several Senators have asked for a report on policies in the Bookstore which result in textbook retail prices being somewhat higher than those posted at stores operated by nearby universities. Mr. Wilson has met with the Steering Committee to explain the situation and outline the financial picture of the Oakland Center, of which the Bookstore is a component. A synopsis of his statement is included with this agenda. It would be helpful to the preparation of the 1985-86 operating budget to have the sense of the Senate concerning the relative standing of Bookstore text-price reductions among other academic new-resource options.
C. Good and welfare
Private resolution
D. Information items.
E. President's remarks.