Oakland University Senate
Thursday, 13 November 1986
Third Meeting
Gold Room A
AGENDA
Respectfully submitted by Keith R. Kleckner for the Steering Committee.
A. Old Business
1. Motion from the School of Engineering and Computer Science to amend its constitution (Messrs. Wedekind and Hartman). Item B.I. from the agenda of 16 October 1986.
MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board of Trustees that the new constitution of the School of Engineering and Computer Science be approved.
Second Reading: Debatable and eligible for final vote at this meeting. Senate procedures hold that constitutions may be debated on the floor but not amended. If changes are needed, the motion is referred back to the sponsoring unit with appropriate recommendations.
2. Motion from the School of Nursing to approve a new constitution (Mesdames Lindell and Wilson). Item B.2. from the agenda of 16 October 1986.
MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board of Trustees that the new constitution of the School of Nursing be approved.
Second Reading: Debatable and eligible for final vote at this meeting. The cautionary statement against amendments from the floor for item A.I. above holds for this motion also.
Comment: Since our last Senate meeting, the faculty of the School of Nursing have approved several changes in the constitution circulated with the October agenda. These are detailed on the sheet that accompanies this agenda.
B. New Business
1. Motion from the University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction recommending the inclusion of an ethical component within undergraduate major programs (Ms. Eberwein):
MOVED that, since the study of moral values and issues is a fundamental part of a liberal education, each department or school offering an undergraduate degree should see that its majors are receiving adequate instruction in the analysis of moral issues relevant to its discipline. This instruction should entail at least a substantial component of a course (or the equivalent grouping of components of several courses) meeting one or more of the three criteria below, depending on the nature of the discipline:
1. critical evaluation of the reasoning employed on moral issues, with the aim of finding the most rational resolution of the issues;
2. historical or social-scientific analysis of moral dimensions of society, with the aim of showing how moral values arise and how they influence human behavior;
3. exploration of moral dimensions of the human condition through literature or the arts with the aim of appreciating the variety and ambiguity of moral commitment in individual cases.
Where applicable, attention should be given within the departmental courses meeting this recommendation to the kinds of ethical decisions graduates are likely to face in the professions they are preparing to enter. Faculty members teaching these courses should make presentations of material as objective as possible and represent to their students the general attitudes prevailing within their disciplines.
First Reading: Debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote at this meeting.
Comment: This motion revises the draft version that was the subject of an open hearing sponsored on September 24 of this year by UCUI and the ad hoc Committee on Ethics. It has been revised to take into account concerns raised by faculty members and students. This proposal emerges from work done by the Committee on Ethics (Richard Burke, chair) since its appointment in 1982 by President Champagne to determine whether Oakland University graduates are getting enough exposure to analysis of moral or ethical issues in the course of their education, and if not, how this might be remedied. Their recommendation is that the University adopt an "ethics across the curriculum" concept, analogous to "writing across the curriculum" which would capitalize on the high level of responsibility our faculty feels toward excellence in pre-professional and disciplinary education. It is understood that different academic units will integrate such instruction into their curricula in their own ways. Each department should consider whether all its majors are currently exposed to this aspect of its discipline and, if not, whether this can be remedied in a professionally responsible way. The Philosophy Department stands ready to assist any unit in development the ethical component of its program.
2 . Motion from the Steering Committee concerning review of the President (Mr. Downing):
MOVED that the University Senate adopt the following resolution:
Whereas the University Senate endorses the principle of faculty consultation in the review of a President of the University, and
Whereas the Board of Trustees is in the initial steps of a review of the President of the University, therefore
Be It Resolved that the University Senate request each organized faculty to appoint as soon as possible 1 faculty person to membership on the ad hoc Committee on Presidential Review and so to inform the Steering Committee, which shall appoint a chairperson from among these, and further;
Be It Resolved that the Senate requests the Board of Trustees or a committee of the Board to meet with the ad hoc Committee as soon as possible to consider the most effective means of gathering judgments in the presidential review process, and further
Be It Resolved that the ad hoc Committee shall submit to the Senate a report on the procedures for gathering faculty judgments and the uses which will be made of these judgments in the presidential review.
Procedural Motion: Debatable, amendable, and eligible for final vote at this meeting.
C. Good and Welfare
Private Resolutions
D. Information Items
President Champagne will report to the Senate concerning the status and future direction of the Campaign for Oakland University.