Oakland University Senate
Thursday, 27 September 1990
First Meeting
MINUTES
Senators Present: Allen, Appleton, Arshagouni, Beehler, Bertocci, Berven, Briggs-Bunting, Cass, Chipman, Coffey, Eberwein, Eckart, Eliezer, Fish, Gerulaitis, Griggs, Grossman, Hamilton, Hovanesian, Kazarian, Kleckner, Landry, Lederer, Long, Mittelstaedt, Pettengill, Reddy, Rosen, Salomon, Schieber, Schwartz, Theisen, Urice, Walter, Wedekind, Weng, Williams, Williamson, Winkler, Witt, Wood, Zenas.
Senators Absent: Braunstein, Burke, Cardimen, Champagne, Dahlgren, Dillon, Frankie, Hartman, Herman, Horwitz, Liboff, Meehan, Mili, Miller, Murphy, Olson, Pine, Schimmelman, Tracy, Tripp.
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS:
1. Procedural motion to close nominations (Rosen; Schieber): Approved.
2. Steering Committee Election (Senate Elections Committee): Ms. Eberwein elected.
3. Procedural motion to fill vacancies on four Senate committees (Pettengill; Hovanesian). Approved.
Trusting he discerned a quorum, Mr. Kleckner called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m., welcoming his colleagues back for another year's senatorial service and claiming credit for providing glorious weather to salute the occasion. He then called attention to recent changes in Senate membership that might influence the upcoming Steering Committee election. In the College of Arts and Sciences delegation, four fall replacements have become necessary, with Mr. Gerulaitis taking Ms. Abiko's seat and Mr. Burke serving in Mr. Bricker's stead. Replacements will soon be named for Ms. Garcia and Mr. Cowlishaw. The School of Health Sciences has two new senators for the full academic year, with Ms. Williams replacing Ms. Sherman and Ms. Walter standing in for Ms. Kulig. In the School of Nursing, Ms. Mittelstaedt now holds the elected faculty seat formerly held by Ms. Cass, who serves ex officio as interim dean. Students have elected Ms. Long to represent them this year along with Mesdames Landry and Beehler, veteran senators both.
These news notes provided background information for the first item of new business: election of a Steering Committee member to replace Senator Stamps, who graduated in June. Robert Brown and Donald Malm conducted the election for the Senate Elections Committee. When Mr. Malm inquired what constraints might exist on eligibility, Mr. Kleckner pointed out that the current makeup of the Steering Committee is already so diverse that there is no danger of violating the constitutional provision that bars any one academic unit from holding more than two of these six seats. Thus, all senators would be eligible to serve. Mr. Pettengill, himself a Steering Committee member, pointed out that the Committee generally meets twice a month at the same late Thursday hours traditionally favored by the Senate; potential candidates should be available in that time module. Mr. Malm then stepped forward to accept nominations from the floor, and Ms. Arshagouni responded by nominating Ms. Eberwein. When no further names were advanced, Ms. Rosen (seconded by Mr. Schieber) called for closing nominations, and the motion carried by voice vote. Mr. Kleckner then thanked Messrs. Malm and Brown for conducting an unusually expeditious election, only to have Mr. Bertocci object that an election should be conducted. The logic of the situation, he noted, did not necessarily prove a direct connection between failure to advance nominations and the intention to elect the solitary nominee. So advised, Mr. Kleckner called for the necessary vote, and Ms. Eberwein was elected without dissent.
Similar unanimity greeted Mr. Pettengill's motion from the Steering committee to fill four vacancies on Senate standing committees, all for the full academic year. Consequently, Barbara Mabee will replace Amir Hormozi on the Academic and Career Advising Committee; Richard Tucker take Robert Stewart's place on the Academic Policy and Planning Committee; Satish Walia fill in for Penny Cass on the Research Committee; and Carlo Coppola do the honors for Al Baartmans on the Teaching and Learning Committee. No discussion followed Mr. Pettengill's nominating statement, and the motion passed by a universally affirmative voice vote. Mr. Kleckner noted that such harmony typified the Senate's September meetings, which generally confront the body with nothing but procedural motions. He anticipated at least one item of substantive business in October.
When Mr. Kleckner issued the familiar invitation for senators to advance items of concern for the good and welfare of the body, Mr. Chipman responded by asking that the Steering Committee arrange for the Committee on Human Relations to report its activities to the Senate as it is supposed to do at biennial intervals. Mr. Kleckner thought the requisite two years would have elapsed by this winter semester. He pledged that the Steering Committee would arrange for such a presentation and anticipated that the Senate would be pleased with what its newest committee has been doing to fulfill its important mandate.
Mr. Kleckner then provided information on matters of general interest. Plans progress for the new science building, he noted, with architects and laboratory consultants meeting with potential occupants of the facility to find ways of coping with their needs. The greatest problem confronting this project is one of cost. The state is pressing a limit of $141. per square foot for construction, but current projections still exceed this figure by a considerable amount. It will be difficult to bring the project to completion at this figure; so negotiations are likely. There is also a lesser problem of trying to accommodate everyone's wishes with respect to traffic flow within the building. Oakland's goal is to get preliminary designs to the state in time for the winter budget cycle in the hope of securing approval to advance to the next hurdle, which should include release of money to start digging. Although some hope to see shovels strike the ground in fall 1991, he thought it more realistic to anticipate a spring 1992 start of construction. Warnings now being heard in Lansing about possible post-election budget cuts raise more concern about general operating budgets than capital outlays, he concluded, and most signs look favorable with respect to the science building.
So far as Squirrel Road widening is concerned, he commended The Oakland Post for its report on the current situation. Assuring his colleagues that no construction is either happening or imminent, he pointed out that the city of Auburn Hill lacks funds to widen the road, as it wishes to do. Meanwhile our Board, determined to ensure that all options are considered and not simply the notion of taking all needed land from the university's side of Squirrel Road, continues to explore alternatives. If any activity is spotted along the road, then, it relates to Oakland's study of the situation rather than any construction initiative by Auburn Hills.
Other possible construction projects, still in very preliminary exploratory stages, include a conference center and a second golf course. Mr. Kleckner reported that a feasibility study has been conducted by a team of consultants to probe the potential market for a conference center and consider campus sites. The firm's report indicates a most promising market in this area for a self-supporting conference center of about 125 rooms plus meeting and dining facilities. The Oakland University campus was found to be an outstanding location for such a center. The same consulting firm, now looking at campus sites, is concentrating attention on the east campus, where conferees would have access to the Hall, the golf course, the Health Enhancement Institute, and the Music Festival. The Board has authorized solicitation of proposals from outside firms to build and operate a conference center although no RFPs have yet gone out. Mr. Kleckner stressed that all funding for construction and operation of a conference center would be provided by an outside firm, with the university simply leasing land and sharing in profits (on some sort of arrangement involving trade-offs between privileged use of the facility by university people and monetary benefits). No general fund money would go into this project. The building would revert to the university once fully depreciated in forty years or so. So far, he declared, the Board has committed itself only to considering proposals for such a project and has given no formal approval to establishment of a conference center. If this project elicited interest among senators, he volunteered to summon Mr. Cardimen to speak to concerns.
When Ms. Rosen inquired how much money Oakland University had spent on this feasibility study, Mr. Kleckner said that he did not know but would find out. He mentioned again that we would pay nothing for construction although the university would reserve the right to pass judgment on architectural plans. Ms. Briggs-Bunting then inquired whether the consulting firm had a vested interest in the building that might result from its study and whether it would have a role in reviewing,proposals. Mr. Kleckner thought it might help with proposal review but assured her that it had nothing to gain from construction. He then responded to her next question about whether the university would retain real-estate interest in the land made available for the center by stating that it definitely would and that it would eventually own the building as well.
He then moved ahead to discussion of a rumored new golf course, indicating that, when asked about such a development at the final Senate meeting of the past year, he had known nothing of such a possibility though he had soon learned that some persons feel a lively interest in the possibility of developing a second golf course envisaged as spreading out somehow on both sides of Adams Road. Possibilities for raising funds and for land use are being explored. Knowing little about this matter, he again volunteered to invite an appropriate spokesperson to a subsequent Senate meeting. The problem, he noted, is that the present golf course cannot meet current demands for playing opportunities, and consequently considerable attention must now be focused on ways of alleviating the crush of aspiring athletes. Finally, he suggested a cautiously watchful stance with respect to rumors of post-election budget cutbacks. it is too soon to know whether higher education funding will again be spared. On that note, he welcomed Mr. Gerulaitis's call for adjournment at 3:44 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane D. Eberwein
Secretary to the University Senate