Oakland University Senate
First Meeting
September 18, 1997
Minutes
Members present: Alber, Andrews, Belander, Bertocci, Blume, Boddy, Brieger, Connellan, Cronn, Dillon, Doane, Downing, Eberwein, Gardner, Gilroy, Goslin, Grossman, Haskell, Keane, Jarski, Johnson, Landau, Liboff, Lilliston, Lombard, Long, Mabee, McNair, Miller, Moore, Moudgil, Mukherji, Papazian, Polis, Reynolds, Riley, Rozek, Rush, R. Schwartz, Sen, Sieloff, Simon, Speer, Sudol, Wood
Members absent: Barnett, Benson, Berger, Blanks, Frankie, Halsted, Hovanesian, Longan, Mahamwal, Olson, Otto, Patterson, H. Schwartz, Weng
Summary of actions:
1. Approval of the minutes. (Andrews, Rush) Approved
2. Election of Senate Steering Committee
3. Motion to staff Senate standing committees.(Brieger, Connellan) Approved
4. Motion to revise membership and term of appointment on the University Assessment Committee.(Reynolds, Gilroy) Approved following approval of a motion to waive second reading (Andrews, Rush)
5. Motion to revise membership on the Senate Athletics Committee (Andrews, Downing) approved following approval of a motion to waive second reading (Andrews, Gilroy)
After calling the meeting to order at 3:10, Ms. Cronn began by welcoming the 1997-99 Senate and announcing the appointments of Ms. Hildebrand as Secretary and Mr. Andrews as Parliamentarian for the year. She then called upon the Senate Elections Committee to conduct the Steering Committee Election, explaining that she’d been advised to move the election to early in the meeting in order to allow time for run-offs if needed. Mr. Doane of the Elections Committee reviewed the restrictions for the Steering Committee, namely that no more than two senators from any unit can serve, and then opened the floor for nominations. The nominees included Mr. Andrews (College), Mr. Dillon (SBA), Mr.Grossman (College), Ms. Hildebrand (Library), Mr. Keane (SEHS) and Ms. Reynolds (AP). With no further nominations forthcoming, Mr. Bertocci moved to close nominations, that motion was approved and Mr. Doane declared the election to be complete. The Senate then proceeded to approve the May 29, 1997 minutes, a motion moved by Mr. Andrews and seconded by Ms. Rush.
Ms. Cronn then provided the Senate with a brief synopsis of her background before coming to Oakland and proceeded to explain that, at OU, as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and its chief academic officer, she is responsible for the learning environment. This encompasses the College and the Schools, the Office of Enrollment Management, the research units, the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs, the Instructional Technology Center, the Honors College, off-campus programs, faculty personnel and the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. She then summarized a number of the accomplishments, activities and events of the last few months along with a number of general information items. These included the following items:
a. the implementation of the Strategic Plan is proceeding;
b. the development of a number of new programs is in process, e.g. BA in Women’s Studies, Ph.D. in Applied Computational Physics, Master of Arts in Chemistry, MA in Liberal Studies, Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Master in Business Administration in Health Care Management, MS in Applied Human Development;
c. the move of the Performing Arts Library collection to Kresge Library was completed this summer and funding provided for the acquisition of new equipment for listening facilities and for music computer technology equipment
d. the establishment of the Applied Technology Business Program, a SBA initiative;
e. the establishment of a Product Development & Management Program, a collaborative effort between SECS and Deloitte &Touche;
f. the status of the charter schools; 6 have been approved by the Board of Trustees and four are open now, one is scheduled to open this fall and one a year from now;
g. this year the university will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a no class day;
h. plans are underway to improve to student services, including consolidating and improving registration;
I. the Board of Trustees approved a revised 3 year budget which will lower the tuition increase scheduled for next fall;
j. the university is working towards the effective application of technology in instruction; $4.5 million has been allocated to change the administrative computer system to a distributed rather than mainframe system;
k. Oakland is investing instructional resources to improve technology for students and faculty;
l. the President has authorized a search for a Vice President for Information Technology;
m. the goal to increase enrollment is succeeding and approximately a 2% increase is expected for this fall;
n. eleven new tenure track faculty positions were authorized and the expected student faculty ratio is about 19-1;
o. an RFP is being prepared to upgrade information technology for a new library information system;
p. the move into the new Science and Engineering Building is proceeding;
q. in fall of 1998 the School of Health Sciences should move into Hannah Hall;
r. a user group has been formed to provide advice on the new Business and Technology Building, scheduled to open in the fall of 2000.
A brief question and answer period followed. Mr. Bertocci wondered what the Vice President for Information Technology would do. Ms. Cronn responded that this individual will be responsible for providing leadership in academic and administrative technology and will oversee six units, namely telecommunications, OCIS, network operations, administrative and academic computing and the Instructional Technology Center. She added that they are looking for an individual with an understanding of those units and how they operate in an academic arena and someone who can manage people. In reply to a query by Ms. Alber about the renovations in NFH and classroom availability, Ms. Cronn stated that the number of classrooms will not decrease and that there are plans to bring six additional classrooms into operation in the next year or so. Ms. Eberwein asked whether the new VP for Information Technology would have any impact on the reporting structure of the library and Ms. Cronn replied no, the library would not report to the new VP. She added that she while the library is using a lot of computer technology and must have a cooperative working relationship with academic computing, she nevertheless sees the library as primarily an academic unit. Speaking of the library and specifically the area under construction in front of the Library Mr. Liboff wondered when it would all be completed. In about three weeks responded Ms. Cronn. Answering a query about plans for additional student housing, Ms. Cronn stated that there are aspirations but no plans, adding that oversight for student housing would be under the auspices of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
Ms. Awbrey then presented a brief report on the Center for Integrative Universities. Currently in the early stages of development, this Center will provide a space and opportunities for member institutions interested in and involved in examining the core values of a university education. She reported that fourteen universities have already expressed an interest in joining the Center which would be funded through member fees and grant funding. Responding to Ms. Eberwein’s query about a definition of ‘integrative universities’, Ms. Awbrey answered that this involves integration both internally and externally, includes more dialogue between disciplines and more interaction with the outside community. Mr. Liboff asked where the Center would be located and Ms. Awbrey replied that it would likely be an off campus locale.
Turning next to committee reports, Ms. Cronn stated that rather than having oral reports this year, the Steering Committee had asked committee chairs to prepare one page summaries to be distributed to the Senate. The chairs of the Academic Conduct Committee, the Campus Development and Environment Committee and the Teaching and Learning Committee were available to answer questions about their report summaries.
With no questions forthcoming, the Senate then turned its attention to matters of business, beginning with a motion to elect the individuals listed in the agenda to the committees specified. The motion was moved by Mr. Brieger, seconded by Mr. Connellan and was approved. The second motion to revise the membership and terms of service of the University Committee on Assessment was moved by Ms. Reynolds, seconded by Ms. Gilroy. Ms. Reynolds noted that these changes were being made at the request of the Committee. Hearing no discussion, Mr. Andrews moved that the Senate waive the second reading, Ms. Rush seconded the motion and the Senate proceeded to approve both the motion to waive the second reading and the main motion. The final item of business was dealt with in a similar manner. Mr. Andrews moved that the membership of the Senate Athletics Committee be revised to include four faculty and two students. With no discussion following Mr. Downing’s second, Mr. Andrews once again ventured a motion to waive the second reading, Ms. Gilroy provided the second and the Senate approved that motion and subsequently, the main motion.
Attention was called to the note in the agenda regarding the need for additional volunteers for Senate Committees. With no further business to transact, the meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by
Linda L. Hildebrand
Secretary to the University Senate
sep7min