Oakland University Senate
Thursday, 14 March 1985
3:10 p.m.
Gold Room A and B
AGENDA
Respectfully submitted by Keith R. Kleckner for the Steering Committee.
A. Old Business:
None
B. New Business:
1. Motion from the Steering Committee regarding a report from the Academic Computing Committee (Mr. Splete)
MOVED that the Senate accept the report, "ACADEMIC COMPUTING: Goals and Restructuring for Academic Action," with thanks to the Academic Computing Committee
Procedural Motion: Debatable, amendable, and eligible for vote.
Comment: The Academic Computing Committee submits this report (attached to the agenda) for the information of the Senate and for its consideration as a basis for action by that committee and the administrative offices with which it interacts. This report serves as the basis for the following resolution and ordinary motion. Helen Schwartz, chair of the Academic Computing Committee, will attend the meeting to provide perspective on issues and intentions.
2. Resolution from the Academic Computing Committee to carry out the intentions of this report (Mr. Hough):
RESOLVED that the university develop a structure to implement this report and guarantee significant academic input, including involvement of the Academic Computing Committee, into all major decisions about computing and communications.
Resolution: debatable, amendable, and eligible for final vote.
3. Motion from the Academic Computing Committee to recommend establishment of a fund to support computing innovation for instruction (Mr. Downing):
MOVED that the Senate ratify in principal the establishment of a fund (comparable to the Educational Development Fund) to be administered by the Academic Computing Committee to support innovative academic computing uses.
First Reading: Debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote at this meeting.
4. Motion from the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee to approve a new undergraduate admissions policy (Ms. Hildebrand):
MOVED that the Senate approve the revised Undergraduate Admissions Policy (distibuted with the agenda) for Implementation in fall 1986.
First Reading: debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote at this meeting.
Comment: Substantive changes between this policy and that now in use (also attached) are:
--incorporation of ACT scores in the criteria to be used to admit freshmen;
--specification of a preferred college preparatory curriculum;
--separate treatment of admission of freshmen to the Academic Support program; and
--treatment of transfer students with fewer than 40 hours of college credit as freshman applicants.
The Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid submits this revision of the Oakland University Undergraduate Admissions Policy in response to recommendations of the Commission on University Excellence. CUE found that the current admissions policy was working reasonably well with some exceptions. The addition of the ACT scores to the criteria for admission should enable the admissions staff to identify those students whose preparation and skills vary from those that would be expected based on the high school GPA. The ACT scores should also provide information on the skill levels of students. The section regarding admission to the Academic Support Program recognizes that this is a separate and special category of students. The treatment of transfers with fewer than 40 hours of credit as freshman admissions is intended to alleviate the rather high failure rate experienced by this group.
4. Motion from the Steering Committee to fill vacancies in Senate standing committees (Mr. Edgerton)
MOVED that the faculty nominated below be confirmed as appointed to the positions specified:
Asish Nag to replace Gary Shepherd on the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, winter 1985-winter 1986; and
William Hoffman to replace William Bryant on the Teaching and Learning Committee, winter 1985.
Procedural Motion: debatable, amendable, and eligible for final vote at this meeting.
Comment: Mr. Hoffman replaced Mr. Bryant on the Teaching and Learning Committee during the fall semester and therefore represents continuity both on the main committee and its Teaching Excellence Award subcommittee, which he chairs.
C. Good and Welfare:
Private Resolutions
D. Information Items:
1. Update on the status of the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Michigan.
2. Update on "computer-based" registration and student records system.
ACADEMIC COMPUTING:
Provost Kleckner's recent call for a computer literacy requirement in the next five years makes urgent the need to define and set academic goals in computing. As a state-supported university, Oakland University fulfills its mission by furthering knowledge through instruction and research in a context of public service. As computers increasingly become necessary to the achievement of these goals, Oakland must implement plans to support and extend computer use in instruction and research while supporting faculty development (increasing and upgrading facilities), must expand threshold competency to all interested faculty and students (in word processing and other utility programs), and must establish channels for significant input on administrative computing as the academic role of the university is involved (in advising and program evaluation).
Some objectives must be initiated, funded and supervised within the College of Arts and Sciences and each of the Schools, since research and instruction are properly their responsibility, and they are the best home for informed supervision. Other objectives are more clearly university-wide in impact (such as widespread use of word-processing and threshold competency) and call for university-wide academic coordination. Other objectives require coordination because of the expense involved and the variety of departments to be served (as with a mainframe computer or telecommunications through the MERIT network). Finally, liaison of academic and administrative computer use is clearly necessary, especially in the use of student records for faculty advising of students and assessment of instructional programs.
Since computing is integral to the academic function of the University and will continue to grow in importance, a mechanism for academic planning, coordination and implementation must be established. Long-range planning and coordination of academic computing should remain the responsibility of the Academic Computing Committee (ACC). To facilitate planning, the ACC should administer competitive awards for innovative academic computer use. This seed money would encourage faculty development and help the ACC monitor new directions that might call for long-range planning and development of support. However, the complexity and variety of current academic computing activities, plus the necessity of a university-wide initiative for computer literacy, indicate that some person with an academic background and appointment must be given the time and resources to assist in these duties. We call for a faculty member to be appointed to help administer in the following roles: to support (get information for) the Academic Computing Committee in long-range planning; to coordinate information among schools; to act as a liaison with administrative administrative computing.
In this document we describe the various goals for academic computer use, now and in the immediate future. At the end we set priorities for these goals, in terms of significance (rather than dollars). That is, assuming that current funding will not be cut, we recommend where and according to what priorities the increased allocations should be assigned.
This report has been prepared on the basis of surveys of faculty needs (the Sevilla report, a survey of Arts and Sciences departments in 1983-84, further interviews, and discussion by this year's Academic computing Committee) We have also considered the draft of a five-year plan prepared by William Morscheck, Assistant Vice President for Computer and Information systems.
I. THRESHOLD COMPETENCY
Threshold competency is defined as sufficient familiarity with terminology and sufficient "hands on" experience to be able to run utility programs such as word processing, simple spread-sheets (like Visicalc), graphics (such as MacPaint), file management programs (such as DBMaster) or statistical packages (such as minitab).
A. For Faculty
Faculty not familiar with computer use need to learn about computer-assisted instruction available in their fields as well as utility programs they may adapt for pedagogical purposes. Threshold training should be flexible and responsive to faculty needs, but such training for faculty is urgent since it logically precedes or synchronizes with threshold competency for students. Increased faculty access to microcomputers is also required.
B. For Students
Although some programs (such as word processing) would be useful for all students, other programs could be useful in differing degrees to students in different fields of study or at different stages of their academic careers. There are several ways to implement threshold competency�whether through classwork or orientation modules or some combination of both. Again, increased access to microcomputers is essential. The plans for threshold competency discussed here may form a first stage for a computer literacy requirement but are not meant to limit such policy decisions.
II. INSTRUCTION INVOLVING COMPUTERS
A. General Support for Instruction
1. An increased number of work stations and expanded lab hours are needed for use of computer-assisted instruction and utility programs.
2. On-going development (beyond threshold competency) is needed to keep faculty informed about what software is available and how to use or develop it. Faculty will need access to equipment for use in preparing materials and demonstrating programs in their classes.
3. Faculty need equipment for preparation of materials for instruction (syllabi, grade books, other forms of computer-managed instruction).
B. Support for Students through Academic Advising and Program Evaluation.
Faculty should have access to student records to analyze the effectiveness of program offerings and to advise students. the student records system properly belongs to the administrative computing function, and for this reason, we do not include it in our priority ranking at the end of this document. It is important, however, that faculty be involved in the planning and implementation of the system so that it can function effectively and answer the kinds of questions that faculty will want to ask.
C. Instruction in Programming, in Computer and Information Science, and in Computer Engineering
This goal, in contrast to II.D, involves instruction in which computers are both the subject and the means of study.
1. The School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS) provides instruction in programming and the fundamentals of computer science for the university community through several course sequences involving mainframe computers, minicomputers, and microcomputers.
2. SECS offers undergraduate and graduate Computer Science and Computer Engineering degrees, for which a wide range of advanced courses are taught on a regular basis. Needed to support both of these activities are an increased number of work stations and improved mainframe or minicomputer capacity.
D. Non-programming Instruction
The specialized computer needs to support instruction are properly analyzed and filled within the Schools and College best qualified to assess needs and evaluate options. Nevertheless, because of the high cost and shared usefulness of certain items (such as optical scanners, graphics printers or statistical packages), the ACC can coordinate information to/help the University's divisions support each other's equipment needs.
The following list illustrates educational needs for non-programming instruction that exist now or in the near future. Note that many non-programming instructional needs can be met with the same equipment as outlined under research (in Section III). In other cases, specialized programs or equipment are required.
1. Computer-aided instruction (CAI) including drill-intensive work (such as accounting programs in SEM, ear training in Music or remedial work in Math) as well as tutorials and simulation packages for advanced coursework in management, nursing, mathematics, sciences, social sciences and humanities. In addition to an increased number of work stations, we need more programs or development support.
2. A contemporary system for CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) for Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics.
3. Various graphics capabilities and non-standard symbols in word processing for faculty use in preparing classroom material, both in hard-copy and for classroom, demonstrations. There is some use here in the sciences, mathematics and other areas.
4. Communication facilities to allow users to communicate with others on campus, in the local community (for calling in from home or off-campus work stations) and through state and national networks.
5. Packages for statistical and computational analysis.
6. Facilities for storing large data bases and the software for doing desired analyses and updates on them. (These needs are discussed more fully under Research.)
7. Symbolic manipulation capabilities of all kinds, such as symbolic calculation packages for the mathematical sciences or languages for studying artificial intelligence.
8. Facilities for computer-generated or computer-assisted artistic and musical endeavors.
9. Enough flexibility in computing equipment to enable real-time (on-line) data collection and feedback. This would be important in science and engineering laboratories.
III. RESEARCH
The need for cooperation in planning and development call for a central academic mechanism for such cooperation. Again we note that many of the facilities listed for research will be used for instruction as well.
A. Publication and Professional Communication
Computer aids are needed throughout the process of communication to develop and disseminate research findings: from word processing for writing and editing, to printing hard copy, to electronic transfer of texts and messages. Improved communication between work stations, high-speed printers and access to national networks are important to support faculty research.
B. Communications
Communications involves linking of work stations (1) on campus, (2) between the campus and OU users off-campus, and (3) between OU and the outside, at the community, state and national level. Improved communication leads to improved efficiency in research efforts.
C. Data Bases
Data bases allow users to combine storage, analysis and updating of data, whether the data bases are internally created (such as a file of available computer programs) or externally created (such as census data or texts classical Greek drama) Faculty can create small internal data bases on .microcomputers or stand-alone word processors with proper training and access to work stations.
As more areas of the university community find uses for large data bases, it becomes necessary to expand access to large computing and storage facilities by a combination of means.
D. Statistical Packages
Faculty in most academic units in the University make use of statistical analyses in their research and community service. Some of the uses are as simple as collecting summary statistics like mean and standard deviation from a small set of data. Others involve high cost computations in an effort to make meaning out of tens or hundreds of interacting variables. Many researchers make use of�or would if the facilities were available�elaborate graphical displays of data, both as part of the analysis process and for communication of their results and conclusions.
A wealth of statistics packages, for all levels of computers and encompassing all levels of sophistication and power, are currently on the market to meet the need, and improvements and new products are released continually. The faculty needs to have access to a variety of such packages.
E. High-power Computing
Some faculty, notably in computer science, the sciences, the mathematical sciences, and economics and management, do research that involves the computational (rather than data-processing) power of the modern computer. Such computations may require little or no input but take hours of processing time. This need for high-power computing capacity could be met either by state-of-the-art mainframe computers on campus or by access, via state or national networks, to machines at other sites.
IV. LIBRARY
Computers can help the library to provide and manage information. The initial step�computerization of the card catalog�has begun with the aid of a grant from the State of Michigan. Eventually, the circulation system should be combined with the catalog, and patrons should be able to call in to see whether a volume is in our collection and, if so, whether it has been checked out. Increased funds are needed for/computer search, interlibrary loans and electronic transfer of texts.
GOALS AND PRIORITIES
The goals and priorities listed below represent the recommendation of the Academic Computing Committee and are being presented as part of the report for Senate approval.
As a Senate committee roughly representative of the academic community, the ACC has voted for the following priorities for long-range goals, after a semester of studying highly technical Issues and investigating future needs and trends. Since the priority list is not a shopping list, it was impossible to determine the amounts of money to be spent to achieve each goal. Instead the numbers represent a distribution of 100 points for the significance of the goals, regardless of the dollar amounts necessary to achieve them. In assigning these numbers, we have assumed that implementation would involve the expenditure of new funds, to be added to current levels of funding for the various goals. The assigning of numbers is meant to show not only the ranking, but also the relative importance we attach to each goal. Note, however, that funds expended to meet one goal will often contribute to meeting others, so that there will be considerable overlap.
1. Threshold competency for faculty 9
2. Threshold competency for students 7
3. General support for instruction 13
4. Instruction in programming, computer science and computer engineering 11
5. Non-programming instruction 17
6. Research�publication and professional communication 7
7. Research�communications 11
8. Research�data bases 6
9. Research-statistical packages 5
10. Research�high-power computing 9
11. Library 5
Total 100
Undergraduate Admissions Policy
I. General Statement of Principles.
Oakland University is selective in admissions standards and seeks both traditional and nontraditional students, ensuring equal opportunity to all who can profit from its offerings. While serving principally Michigan residents, it welcomes qualified applicants from other states and countries. The faculty and staff cooperate with nearby community colleges to ensure that their students who seek to transfer to Oakland University are well prepared for work at a senior college. In recruiting and admitting students enrollments are not permitted to exceed numbers consistent with preserving the high quality of instruction. A special effort is made to locate and admit disadvantaged students with strong potential for academic success and to provide the support conducive to the realization of that potential.
In addition to the general requirements stated below, schools and colleges within the University have. their own internal admission policies.
II. Admission of Freshmen: Students admitted under the criteria listed below must satisfactorily complete high school graduation requirements. To be considered for admission all prospective freshman students must submit scores from the American College Test (ACT) to the Admissions Office.
A. General principles:
The primary factors to be considered in the admission to freshmen standing are:
--High school grade point average in college preparatory courses.
--ACT scores.
--Completion of a high school college preparatory curriculum that includes as a minimum 4 yrs. of English, 3 yrs. of mathematics, 3 yrs. of natural sciences, 3 yrs of social sciences and 2 yrs. of a foreign language.
--Other factors such as recommendations, interviews, class rank, reading level, educational maturity and/or likelihood of success in Oakland's academic programs may also be considered.
B. Specific guidelines:
1. Applicants with a 3.20 or higher high school grade point average which is supported by comparable standardized test scores (ACT) will normally be admitted.
2. Applicants with a 2.50-3.19 high school grade point average may be admitted to some programs of the University if there is an indication of strong motivation and a likelihood of success in Oakland's academic programs. Particular factors to be considered in determining admissibi1ity include standardized test scores (ACT), high school courses selected and pattern of grades received and any of the other factors listed in IIA. above. An interview with a University Admissions Advisor may be required.
III. Admission of Freshmen to the Academic Support Program.
A. General principles:
Admission to the Academic Support Program is an alternative admissions procedure for educationally disadvantaged students who have academic potential but who, because of their economic, cultural or educational background or environment, would be unable to realize that potential without special supportive services. Students admitted under the criteria listed below must satisfactorily complete high school graduation requirements.
B. Specific Guidelines:
1. Applicants with a 2.0 or higher high school GPA may be admitted to this program if recommendations from high school personnel, an interview with a University Admissions Adviser and/or standardized tests indicate strong motivation and likely success in Oakland's academic program.
2. Applicants within this category will normally be referred to the Department of Special Services Academic Support Program. The number of students admitted in this category will be. limited and will be. based on the University's ability to provide, adequate support and supplemental programs.
IV. Admission of Transfer Students: Admission of transfer students from other accredited colleges or universities shall be based on the. following criteria:
1. Applicants who have completed 40 or more semester hours of credit and who have. a 2.0 or higher cumulative college grade point average will normally be admitted.
2. Applicants who have not completed 40 semester hours credit at a college or university will be considered for admission based on the criteria for Admission of Freshman (section II above), assuming that the applicant has a 2.0 or higher college grade point average.
V. Admission of Non-Traditional Students:
Individuals whose formal education has been interrupted for three years or more immediately prior to application for admission and who would not normally meet the. admission criteria may be admitted based on one or more of the. following criteria: sustained employment record; recommendations from employers, educators and other professional persons; success in formal training programs; standardized test results. An interview with a University Admissions Adviser at Oakland University is required for such applicants to be considered for admission.
VI. Admission of Students to Non-Degree Course Work:
Students not seeking to earn a degree may be admitted to take up to 12 hours of course work. To take further courses the student must be admitted under one of the other sections of this policy or reapply and seek readmission under this section. No course work taken will count toward a degree unless formal admission under one of the other sections is secured.
date:2.18.85
UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS POLICY: A SUMMARY
September 1, 1975
A. ADMISSION OF FRESHMAN
ADMISSION TO THE FRESHMAN CLASS SHALL BE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
(1) APPLICANTS WITH A 3.20 OR HIGHER GPA WILL NORMALLY BE ADMITTED.
(2) APPLICANTS WITH A 2.50-3.19 GPA MAY BE ADMITTED IF RECOMMENDATION SOLICITED BY THE UNIVERSITY FROM TWO HIGH SCHOOL . TEACHERS AND/OR COUNSELORS INDICATE STRONG MOTIVATION AND LIKELY SUCCESS IN OAKLAND'S ACADEMIC PROGRAMS.
(3) APPLICANTS WITH A 2.00-2.49 GPA MAY BE ADMITTED IF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM TWO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND/OR COUNSELORS AND ' AN INTERVIEW WITH A TRAINED UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS ADVISER INDICATES STRONG MOTIVATION AND LIKELY SUCCESS IN OAKLAND'S ACADEMIC PROGRAMS.
(4) APPLICANTS WITH A GPA-LESS THAN 2.00 WHOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND INTERVIEW INDICATE A HIGH PROBABILITY FOR SUCCESS IN OAKLAND'S ACADEMIC PROGRAMS MAY BE ADMITTED TO DEGREE PROGRAMS CONDITIONALLY. CREDIT SHALL BE GIVEN AND THE CONDITION REMOVED UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF 24 CREDITS OF SPECIALLY DESIGNED FRESHMAN PROGRAMS AS DETERMINED BY THE ACADEMIC POLICY COMMITTEE AND THE SPECIAL PROJECTS DEPARTMENT OF THE DEAN OF STUDENTS OFFICE.
B. ADMISSION OF DISADVANTAGED OR MINORITY GROUP PERSONS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS WILL BE INSURED BY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES AID PROGRAMS:
(1) STUDENTS ADMITTED WITH A GPA LESS THAN 2.50 MAY BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND A SUMMER ORIENTATION PERIOD.
(2) STUDENTS ADMITTED WITH A GPA LESS THAI'? 2.50 WILL NORMALLY BE ASSIGNED TO THE SPECIAL PROJECTS DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS, FOR A PARTICULARIZED ACADSM1C SUPPORT PROGRAM.
(3) TO INSURE MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR ACADEMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS WHILE RETAINING ITS FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD MAKE ALL EFFORT TO ADMIT AT LEAST FIVE PER CENT AND NOT MORE THAN TEN PER CENT OF THE FRESHMEN CLASS IN THE LESS THAT 2.50 GPA CATEGORY. PREFERENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE BOTH ACADEMICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, AND INSURE AN INCREASED ADMISSIONS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMBERS OF OTHER MINORITY GROUPS TRADITIONALLY DISADVANTAGED.
(4) ALL EFFORTS HALL BE MADE ENSURE THAT AT LEAST 15% OF ALL NEW FRESHMEN STUDENTS BE BLACK.
(5) THE CHANCELLOR AND THE APPROPRIATE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS SHALL WORK WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF INCREASING THE OPPORTUNITIES IN HIGHER NATION FOR CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS; THE PRIORITIES SET UNDER THIS LEGISLATION SHALL BE PERIODICALLY REEXAMINED IN THE LIGHT OF THE SUCCESS OF SUCH PROGRAMS AND ARRANGEMENTS.
C. ADMISSION FOR COURSE WORK ONLY(1)
(1) A NON-MATRICULATION CATEGORY SHALL BE ESTABLISHED.
D. ADMISSION OF TRANSFER STUDENTS (2)
(1) ADM1SSION OF TRANSFER STUDENTS FROM OTHER ACCREDITED COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES SHALL BE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
a. APPLICANTS WHO ARE IN GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING (COMMONLY DEFINED AS A CUMULATIVE COLLEGE G.P.A. OF 2.00 OR HIGHER) AT THEIR PREVIOUS COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY AND WHO HAVE COMPLETED 26 OR MORE SEMESTER HOURS CREDIT WILL NORMALLY BE ADMITTED
b. APPLICANTS WHO ARE IN GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING AT THEIR PREVIOUS COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY AID WHO HAVE NOT COMPLETED 26 OR MORE SISTER HOURS CREDITS MAY BE ADMITTED IF ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING INDICATE LIKELY SUCCESS AT OAKLAND: PREVIOUS HIGH SCHOOL WORK, LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION, TEST SCORES, OR AN INTERVIEW WITH A UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS OFFICER.
e. ADMISSION OF MATURE PERSONS(2)
ADMISSION OF INDIVIDUALS WHOSE FORMAL EDUCATION HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED FOR THREE YEARS OR MORE IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION AND WHO WOULD NOT NORMALLY MEET OTHER ADMISSIONS CRITERIA, MAY BE BASED ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: SUSTAINED EMPLOYMENT RECORD; RECOMMENDATIONS FROM EMPLOYERS, EDUCATORS, AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL PERSONS; SUCCESS IN FORMAL TRAINING PROGRAMS; AND STANDARDIZED TEST RESULTS. AN INTERVIEW WITH A UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS OFFICER AT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY IS REQUIRED FOR SUCH APPLICATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR ADMISSION.
(1) Approved by the University Senate on May 30, 1970.
(2)Approved by the University Senate on April 17, 1975.
Note: This summary was prepared from Minutes of the University Senate by W. F. Moorhouse.