Oakland University Senate
First Meeting
September 14, 2000
Minutes
Members present: Abraham, Alber, Andrews, Braunstein, Brieger, Buffard-O'Shea, Carter, Chapman, Coppin, Didier, Dow, Downing, Early, Eberly, J. Eberwein, Esposito, Estes, Gardner, Gilroy,Ginger, Grossman, Herman, Hildebrand, Kochenderfer, Long, Mayer, McIntosh, McNair, D. Moore, K. Moore, Moran, Olson, Pfeiffer, Polis, Riley, Rozek, Russell, R. Schwartz, Sen, Shablin, Sharma, Sieloff, Stamps, Sudol, Wood
Members absent: Benson, Blanks, Emrich, Fink, Haskell, Kleckner, Marks, Mosby, Nakao, Otto, Rusek, Schochetman
Summary of actions:
1. Information items.
2. Approval of minutes. (Ms. Sieloff, Ms. Gilroy) Approved as corrected.
3. Motion to adopt rules of order. (Mr. Russell, Mr. Moran) Second reading. Approved.
4. Motion to appoint individuals to Senate standing committees. (Mr. Braunstein, Mr. Long) Approved.
After calling the meeting to order, Mr. Esposito had the Senators and guests introduce themselves and then called for approval of the minutes of the April 13, 2000 meeting. Ms. Hildebrand reported a correction, namely that Addington Coppin and not Jerry Grossman had been appointed to the Police Oversight Committee. With that correction noted, Ms. Sieloff moved the approval of the minutes, Ms. Gilroy seconded the motion and the minutes were approved as corrected.
Mr. Esposito then reported on a number of information items:
Enrollment planning. The Enrollment Planning draft report was made available to the campus in May and everyone on campus had the opportunity to respond and comment on it. In August President Russi provided his response. The report and responses will now be sent to the Senate Planning and Budget Committees for their consideration. After the Senate committees have reported back to the Senate, the Senate will be asked to make a recommendation that will go to the president. Mr. Grossman asked if the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee will have a chance to consider the report. Mr. Esposito responded that a copy would be sent to them.
Minimum class size policy. Since the university does not currently have a policy regarding minimum class sizes, Mr. Esposito has been consulting with the deans about implementing one in order to keep track of small classes and why we are offering them. This will create an audit trail that would include the exceptions and provide information the state auditors will find useful. The undergraduate minimum would be 10 students, graduate classes, 5 students. The chair of the department would report any exceptions to this policy and exceptions would have to be approved by the dean. He noted that the policy recognizes that,under certain conditions, it is appropriate to offer class sizes of a smaller number. Mr. Stamps asked if the the chair would simply inform the dean of the exception or whether the dean needed to approve the exception. The dean's approval is needed replied Mr. Esposito. Ms. Eberwein asked when the reports would be due. October 15 would be the fall due date, he replied. Mr. Gardner stated that SBA has had a similar policy relating to small classes and that past history is useful in determining which classes fill up at the last minute. Mr. Esposito commented that the purpose of this is not to inhibit the offering of small classes but to know what we are doing and why. He has checked with other institutions and an enrollment of 15 students is more common than 10. Mr. Downing noted that it is important, when dealing with low enrollment classes, to make the decision early so that if a class is cancelled, the students have time to enroll in another course.
Academic calendar. A copy of the proposed academic calendar for the coming years was distributed. Classes would begin the Wednesday after Labor Day with the Tuesday being reserved for the New Student Convocation, commencement would be moved to December, winter classes would begin on the Monday after New Year's. Mr. Esposito asked for any comments concerning these changes, adding that he would also be consulting the students. He noted that the December commencement would be an indoor affair. Mr. Braunstein asked if a student would be eligible to participate in a December commencement if they finish in the fall. Yes, responded Mr. Esposito and added that the largest group having to wait for commencement now is the fall group who have to wait until spring to graduate. The number of students who finish in the spring/summer is a much smaller number. Mr. Olsen said that he would feel uncomfortable graduating students who haven't completed all their work.
Master Planning Task Force. The Task Force has completed a set of planning principles and design principles. With information from the enrollment plan, the Task Force has developed some campus maps indicating areas of potential development. A draft master planning report should be completed by December and will then be shared with the campus. The goal is to have the final version of the master planning report go to the Board of Trustees by May, 2001.
Education Building. Mr. Esposito announced that the site of the new education building will be southeast of Varner Hall. The groundbreaking will take place next March or April and a completion date of September 2002 is expected. He added that a lot of the future expansion of the campus would probably be to the south.
Capital Campaign. Talks continue about a launching a capital campaign, consultants have been hired but no decision has been made as to when it will be launched.
On-line Course Development. There have been a number of web-enhanced courses and on a smaller scale, web based courses. Mr. Esposito hopes to have 10-12 online courses ready for the winter term. These will probably be large introductory courses so that a student can either take the class in a traditional classroom setting or on the web. Faculty will be asked to develop additional on-line courses. Support will be provided, but will be in proportion to the number of students expected to take the web course.
International Studies Task Force. A draft report has been written and the final report is expected in November at which time it will enter the governance process.
General Education Task Force. This group continues to work and hopes by the end of the fall term to have a list of learning outcomes and ways of assessing them. During the winter term, the Task Force will look at the learning outcomes and the current curriculum and will consider what changes might be needed in the existing program. The goal is to implement some of the changes in 2002.
Assessment Task Force. This group is looking at assessment across departments. Mr. Moran expressed concern that this committee is using a social science model and argued that this model that doesn't fit well for humanities where the emphasis is more on critical thinking, writing skills, etc. He has reservations about statistical analyses of student evaluations and urged that all assessment methods be fully discussed before any are implemented. Mr. Gardner reported that one model they have used is a focus group approach. Mr. Esposito agreed that there are alternative models but added that if a unit decides that statistical analysis is not appropriate, that unit needs to come up with a credible model for assessment. Mr. Braunstein, a member of the Assessment Committee, stated that the committee does not require statistical evaluations, that there are a number of qualitative models available.
Research and Graduate Study Task Force and the Nursing/Health Sciences Task Force. Both groups are working and Mr. Esposito hopes to have reports from them in November.
Teaching and Learning Institute Task Force. This group is looking at ways of improving teaching effectiveness and is planning a survey of the faculty.
Instructional Technology Task Force. This group is still working; Mr. Esposito noted that he doesn't have a date yet when they expect to complete their task.
Business and Information Technology Building. Mr. Gardner invited everyone to the official opening next Friday and to tour the building which is replete with a lot of technology. Mr. Braunstein commended George Preisinger and his staff for their support and helpfulness with regard to the the needs of the executive program in health care management.
Student Housing. A plan for additional student housing will be submitted to the Board of Trustees. The new housing units will probably be on the north side of campus, near the current married student housing.
Performing Arts Building. Talks are underway about a Performing Arts/ Fine Arts building that would provide much better facilities for Music, Theater and Dance, the Meadowbrook Theater and Art Gallery. or
Old Business: Motion to adopt rules of order.
With those information items out of the way, the Senate turned its attention to the first item of old business, the second reading of a motion to adopt rules of order. Mr. Russell, the originator of the motion, spoke in its favor. He stated that this will provide accountability and allow groups to see how their representative voted. The Senate's actions are generally recommendations and it is important, he argued, that the receivers of these recommendations see how the various Senate constituencies voted. Mr. Moran added that it is normal to have a record of how people voted. In response to Ms. Wood's query about the possibility of a paper ballot, Mr. Russell indicated that the intent of the motion was to have a recorded vote by name.
Ms. Eberwein expressed her relief to see that it doesn't require name call votes on every issue, given that most votes are unanimous. She recalled that the most divisive issue in the past was whether or not smoking should be allowed on campus, an issue that was decided by one vote. She stated that we need to consider what is best for the university in general and not consider ourselves as discrete groups, e.g. the students vs. the faculty vs. the administrators. Mr. Stamps agreed, saying that the Senate should consider what is best for the institution. Mr. Moran responded that the system requires both, that Senators should also represent their constituencies and do what is best for their units. He added that he finds it hard to believe that people wouldn't be open to having their votes recorded. Mr. Grossman brought up a technical matter asking what would happen if someone had to leave the meeting and a vote was taken after their departure. Mr. Russell responded that we could set up a sign-in and sign-out sheet at the door so we would know who had left. Mr. Russell also noted that no votes should be taken if a quorum isn't present. Mr. Downing asked if the recorded votes would also include the election of Steering Committee members which has traditionally been by secret ballot. Mr. Russell indicated that it would.
The Senate then voted on the motion, approving it with 22 yeas, 14 nays, and 3 abstentions.
New Business. Approval of Senate Committee members and chairs.
Moving onto the sole item of new business, Mr. Braunstein moved, seconded by Mr. Long, that the names listed in the agenda be appointed to Senate Standing committees for the terms indicated. The motion was approved unanimously.
Good and Welfare
Mr. Russell announced an AAUP reception for the approximately forty new faculty on October 4th at 3:30, a reception to which the Board of Trustees has been invited. Also, faculty are asked to help with the community service project of cleaning the shoulders along Walton Boulevard, north of campus. The project is scheduled to begin next Tuesday at 5:15.
Mr. Moran reported that there are still problems with the OU Bookstore, that even though he submitted his order well in advance, they do not seem to have ordered enough books, and in his case, ordered the wrong book for his class. Mr. Esposito indicated he was aware of the problems and will try to deal with it as effectively as possible. Various other faculty shared their frustrations and concerns, prompting Ms. Wood to remind the group that other schools have problems too with their bookstores. With suggestions of having students go to amazon.com or bigbooks.com being voiced, Mr. Herman reminded the group that there is a value to having a strong bookstore on campus and that we need to work on fixing the problems, rather than sending students elsewhere. And finally, Ms. Langley announced that the Student Congress will be holding a voter registration drive on Sept. 27th and asked the faculty to announce it to their classes.
Mr. Esposito then entertained a motion to adjourn, noting that it promises to be a busy and exciting year.
10/16/00