OAKLAND UNIVERSITY SENATE
Fourth Meeting
Thursday, 11 January 1996
Minutes
Members present: Andrews, Benson, Briggs-Bunting, Buffard-O'Shea, Christina, Cole, Connellan, Dahlgren, Downing, Finucane, Fliedner, Frankie, Gilroy, Graham, Hahn, C.Hanson, Haskell, Hildebrand, Hovanesian, Jackson, Kazarian, Keane, Kheir, Lilliston, Long, Meehan, Meuser, Miller, Moran, Nesbary, Olson, Ofto, Papazian, Pipan, Polis, Reynolds, Rice, Rohde, Rozek, Russi, Sahu, Schochetman, Sevilla, Slywka, Tower
Members absent: Dillon, Garfinkle, Gordon, Jarski, Kleckner, Liboff, Moore, Perry, Reddy, Riley, Schwartz, Speer, Talbert, Wharton
Summary of actions:
1. Approval of Nov.16, 1995 minutes (Mr. Christina, Ms. Briggs-Bunting) Approved.
2. Committee Reports (Academic Conduct-Mr. Fish, Senate Budget Review Committee-Ms. Van Sell, University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction- Mr. Ozinga, Teaching and Learning Committee-Ms. Wilson, Human Relations Committee-Ms. Gibson)
3. Steering Committee Election (Senate Election Committee)
4. Motion to approve Committee chairs and appointments (Mr. Andrews, Mr. Connellan) Approved.
Mr. Russi called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. and, after extending a warm welcome to the new senators, called for approval of the November 16th minutes. The minutes were approved as distributed following a motion by Mr. Christina and a second by Ms. Briggs-Bunting.
Information items.
Turning next to a few information items, Mr. Russi reported that preliminary figures show the enrollment for winter term is still holding strong with around 12,400 students returning, a 3-6% increase over the previous winter term. He added that, while it is down a little from the fall enrollment of 13,600, there is nothing unusual in that and that there is typically some attrition between fall and winter terms. He then announced that on January 25th at noon in the Oakland Center Gold Rooms, he will be providing in Information Session on what's going on at the University. Topics to be covered will include OU initiatives, prospects from the state government, and plans for the future. Committee reports were next on the agenda.
Committee reports.
Mr. Fish described the work of the Academic Conduct Committee whose work lies mainly in hearing cases of possible academic misconduct and imposing sanctions on those found guilty. During the 1994- 95 period the committee heard a total of II cases involving 22 students. This represents a significant decrease in the number of cases from previous years and continues a trend downward. Of the 1 1 cases that were considered, 9 or 82% resulted in guilty verdicts and I was dropped before a hearing was held. Of the 22 students charged, 16 or 73% were found guilty. Five of the cases in which the students were found guilty were appealed to the Senate Steering Committee; the decisions of the ACC were upheld in all five. Mr. Fish commented that there is a trend of increasing litigation from those found guilty and letters from attorneys were received in a number of the cases. The distribution of cases by academic unit was as follows- engineering- 4 cases, accounting -2, art history-l,biology-1,English-1, political science-I and registrars. Expressing some concern over the drop in cases he wondered if perhaps faculty don't clearly understand the role of the Academic Conduct Committee. He pointed out that is better to have the Committee deal with cases of misconduct than for a faculty member to try to deal with it alone; that the Committee has a process that is designed to be just to the student and to protect faculty from litigation. Sanctions included: reprimands (4), probation (5) and suspensions (7) and no expulsions. He reported that the Committee also changed their procedures to ensure that when more that one student is involved and the students are interviewed separately, each will be fully informed of what was said in their absence.
Ms. Gibson, reporting on the activities of the Human Relations Committee, mentioned dealing with some issues raised by the Black Faculty and Staff Advocacy and Support network, sponsoring a successful retreat, developing new scholarships for students, and looking at ways of improving the campus climate. The Committee's plans for the current year involve advising on department diversity plans, facilitating a c se working relationship with the Office of Equity and assisting UCUI in looking at diversity requirements.
Senate Budget Review Committee was represented by Ms. Van Sell who summarized the accomplishments of the committee as follows: began the development of a standardized budget format for new program reviews, reviewed and established Priorities for budget requests, reviewed budget implications of new programs in Physical therapy, accounting, software engineering and education, advised the Senate of financial impact of allowing students with more than 62 credits to receive credit from community colleges, considered the financial implications of the relocation of the Honors College to Academic Affairs, and finally reviewed and commented on the criteria for new faculty allocations and on the database of peer institutions.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction had a busy year. Their accomplishments were reported by Mr. Ozinga based on a report prepared by Mr. Sahu and included actions dealing with: 1) the ethnic diversity requirement, 2) regularizing petitions of exception, 3) undergraduate decennial program reviews, 4) changes in the 62 credit rule, 5) improving communication between UCUI and other offices and committees, 6) finding a central storage place for UCUI documents in the Registrar's Office, 7) preparing an annual report on petition activity, 8) candidates for second degrees who had first degrees from non-accredited institutions--this resulted in UCUI recommending the phrase "non-accredited" be replaced with "Institutions that lack at least regional accreditation." The Committee will also be looking at the role of UCUI in approving changes to the undergraduate catalog and this may be broadened this year. Mr. Moran wondered if the specification "institutions with at least regional accreditation" was better than non-accredited and was assured by Mr. Russi that it was, that in higher education regional accreditation is a strong term.
Ms. Wilson listed five major accomplishments of the Teaching and Learning Committee during the past year. The committee worked to increase the number of proposals for the Educational Development Grants and were able to fund 5 proposals. They sponsored a faculty forum on Enhancing Student Success focusing on multi cultural issues. The Committee also sponsored a teaching and learning luncheon with the special topic of distant learning. Newsletters featuring faculty experiences were published and finally, they solicited nominations and determined the winner of the Teaching Excellence Award.
Steering Committee Election
Mr. Russi then turned the meeting over to the Senate Elections Committee in order to elect a replacement for Mr. Brieger on the Steering Committee for the winter, 1996 semester. Ms. Jackson was nominated and with no further names forthcoming, Mr. Andrews moved, seconded by Mr. Olson that nominations be closed. Ms. Jackson was elected by acclamation and welcomed to the Steering Committee by Mr. Russi. A procedural motion to elect members to committees and appoint new chairs as printed in the agenda was moved by Mr. Andrews, seconded by Mr. Connellan and approved with dispatch.
Good and welfare.
As Mr. Russi called for any good and welfare items, Ms. Slywka addressed the Senate, asking for nominations of students to serve as the Student Liaison to the Board of Trustees and distributed nomination forms. There being no further business, Mr. Russi called for a motion to adjourn, a chorus of voices concurred and the meeting disbanded at 3:45 p.m.
Submitted by,
Linda L. Hildebrand
Secretary to the University Senate