Sixth Meeting
March  13, 2003
Oakland Center- Gold Rooms B & C
3:10 p. m.

Respectfully submitted by Virinder Moudgil for the Steering committee.

A. Information Items
1. OU's Capital Campaign Update, Susan Goepp
2. Academic Calendar, 2004-2005, Steve Shablin
3.  Cooley Law School update, Virinder Moudgil

B.  Roll call.   Approval of  Minutes

C. Old Business:

    None

D. New Business:

1.Motion from the Steering Committee on mid-semester evaluations for students in 100-and 200-level courses. (Ms. Mukherji)

MOVED that instructors of 100- and 200-level courses give each registered student an indication of satisfactory or unsatisfactory mid-semester progress by means of the electronic grading system.

First reading: Debatable, amendable but not eligible for final vote at this meeting.

Comment: On April 22, 1982, the Senate approved the current policy requiring every instructor of 100-level courses to �provide to each registered student some form of evaluation of his or her academic progress prior to one week before the withdrawal period ends.� The informality and inconsistency in practice of this policy has not been effective in alerting students to potential failure. The new policy is designed to improve student retention by preventing the kinds of failures that result when students do not become aware of their jeopardy until too late in the semester to make a difference. Under the proposed policy, every student in 100- and 200-level courses would get either a satisfactory or unsatisfactory notation by the end of the seventh week of a semester through the electronic grading system. This proposal has been discussed in various forums, including the University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction, the Academic Standing and Honors Committee, selected schools and departments, and the chairs and directors group. The proposal is made here in conceptual form. The details of its implementation will be reviewed by the Academic Standing and Honors Committee.

2. Motion from the Steering Committee to add two at-large members to the University Committee on Assessment.  (Mr. Khapoya)

MOVED that two at-large faculty members be added to the University Committee on Assessment for a term of three years.

First reading: Debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote at this meeting. 

Comment: The University Committee on Assessment anticipates an exceptionally heavy workload over the next few years as every degree program�s assessment plan falls due for consideration and approval. The committee bears significant responsibility for assuring that Oakland University fulfills its assessment plan under the guidelines of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation review. Adding two at-large faculty members for this three-year period will enable the committee to function with three sub-committees to manage the workload.

The revised membership of the committee would be as follows, with the added language in bold:

Three faculty members from the College and one from each School and the Library, appointed to staggered three-year terms by the Senate upon nomination of the Steering Committee, which shall designate one of these as chair; one student designated by the University Student Congress; the Director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) and one Oakland University alumnus(a) designated by the Alumni Board on nomination of the Director of Alumni Relations. Two additional at-large faculty members will be appointed by the Senate upon nomination by the Steering Committee to single three-year terms beginning Fall 2003.

E. Good and Welfare:

        Private resolutions

Note: Continuing Senate Committee vacancies:
Academic Conduct Committee --1 vacancy for 2003-2004.
Senate Library Committee --1 vacancy for the Social Sciences area of the College of Arts and Sciences for 2002-2004; one vacancy for the School of Engineering and Computer Science for winter, 2003.
Research Committee- 1 vacancy for 2003-2004
      

updated 3/11/03