Oakland University Senate
Third Meeting
20 January 2005
Minutes
Members Present: Aigbedo, Bazaz, Berven (K), Bhargava, Blume, Chapman, Cipielewski, Downing, Dunn, Eberwein, Fink, Frick, Goldberg, Goslin, Grossman, Graves, Hamilton, Haskell, Hightower, Khapoya, Latcha, Lepkowski, Licker, Mabee, Machmut-Jhashi, McNair, Miller, Moore, Moudgil, Nacy, Oakley, Polis, Porter, Rowe, Russell, Schweitzer, Sethi, Shablin, Stamps, Sudol, Thompson, Tracy, Voelck, Williams, Wood
Members Absent: Andersen, Bard, Berven (D), Claiborne, Giblin, Keane, Klemanski, Lemarbe, Otto, Schochetman, Schott-Baer, Sevilla
Summary of Actions
1. Informational Items:
Oakland University/Wayne State University Pharmacy Partnership: Mr. Hightower
North Central Association Visit on General Education and Assessment: Ms. Awbrey
2. Roll Call. Approval of November 2004 Minutes (Mr. Lepkowski, Mr. Porter)
3. Motion to Approve the Bachelor of Science Program in Information Technology. (Mr. Licker, Ms. McNair) Approved.
4. Motion to approve the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Economics. First reading. (Ms. McNair, Mr. Tracy)
4a. Motion to amend title to Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Business Economics. (Mr. Tracy, Mr. Downing)
5. Motion to authorize the Steering Committee to make replacement appointments to Senate standing committees. First reading. (Ms. Russell, Mr. Tracy)
5a. Motion to amend wording: to authorize the Steering Committee to fill vacancies which may occur from time to time on Senate standing committees. (Mr. Graves, Mr. Downing)
Calling the meeting to order at 3:15, Mr. Moudgil wished the senators a Happy New Year, and also thanked Mr. Lepkowski for serving as chair of the November meeting. The first informational item was introduced by Mr. Moudgil, who characterized the new partnership with Wayne State University as an exciting initiative created during a time when State approval of duplicate programs is unlikely. Mr. Hightower was then invited to address the Senate on the details of the new program. He explained the advantages to OU students of the combined program in Pharmacy, emphasizing that Oakland will benefit by not drawing upon our faculty or classrooms. In their final year of study, Oakland students would begin their first year in Pharmacy at Wayne State, and would receive two degrees in seven years: B.S. in Health Sciences from Oakland University and Doctor of Pharmacy from Wayne State University. The program, Mr. Hightower noted, is expected to attract only a handful of students. Ms. Moore inquired about a potential situation should a student have difficulty with the program after leaving Oakland. Mr. Hightower explained that an oversight committee will be formed to make sure those questions will be addressed; he also remarked that OU students have done exceptionally well in programs at Wayne. Mr. Moudgil added that these questions were considered early in discussions that included Mr. Downing. Mr. Berven raised the issue of whether identifying five students from Oakland will limit other students who choose to pursue the program at Wayne by way of the traditional path. Mr. Hightower indicated that four or five slots will be allotted to students in the combined program only, and that there would be no quota imposed on other OU students who choose to apply.
Turning to the second informational item, Mr. Moudgil invited Susan Awbrey, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, to speak to the Senate regarding the upcoming visit by the North Central Association. She began with information about the two visitors to campus, Judith Powell, Professor Emerita from the University of Wyoming, who will be looking at Assessment, and Paul Gaston, Provost at Kent State University, who will be examining General Education. Ms. Awbrey then reviewed the nine key concerns about General Education raised as a result of the NCA visit in 1999. She outlined each concern and noted the steps taken to address them in the past four years: (1) Faculty participation in the change process; (2) Participation of Deans from across the disciplines; (3) Lack of clear understanding of the purposes of General Education by students and faculty; (4) Need to clearly define the philosophy statement of General Education; (5) Need for courses that examine personal, social, and civic values; (6) Need for skills and competencies essential to all educated adults and purposes that cut across general education categories; (7) Lack of learning outcomes; (8) Lack of regular assessment of learning outcomes; (9) Not using General Education assessment findings for budgeting and planning.
In regard to assessment, there were four concerns expressed by the NCA: (1) Too much reliance on self-report instruments and lack of direct assessment measures; (2) Lack of administration buy-in for assessment process; (3) Uncertain feedback from assessment to the units; (4) Faculty appeared reluctant to undertake assessment. Ms. Awbrey outlined the responses to all the concerns and expressed her gratitude to the faculty for undertaking the hard work necessary to propose and implement the necessary reforms.
At the conclusion of Ms. Awbrey�s update, Mr. Cipielewski inquired whether North Central has been asked about the acceptability of outside assessments of professional organizations and schools. Ms. Awbrey explained that she doesn�t believe that NCA has been asked, but that acceptance may become a possibility, given that such assessments are now used for program reviews. Mr. Moudgil added that it is preferable to use existing information, and to modify or repackage it as the need warrants. Ms. Awbrey expressed her view that the NCA would indeed prefer that units not have to redo or reformat information, but simply to tab information in existing reports. Mr. Cipielewski noted that Education must produce information in four different formats and that frequently the information does not overlap. Ms. Awbrey reassured Mr. Cipielewski of the likelihood that required accreditation information could be provided by indicating where information can be accessed in already formatted reports. Mr. Moudgil then thanked Ms. Awbrey for her update on NCA and encouraged faculty to present a positive attitude when the NCA staff are conducting their campus visit.
The secretary proceeded with roll call, and then a motion to approve the minutes from the November meeting was approved (Mr. Lepkowski, Mr. Porter).
Turning to Old Business, Mr. Moudgil invited Mr. Sethi to address the Senate regarding concerns raised by the Senate Planning Committee at the first reading of the motion. He reviewed each issue and indicated how it has been addressed: incorporation of new General Education requirements; designation of a new rubric (CIT); receipt or additional letters from industry, including a letter from Compuware supporting revisions to the program; removal of need for an additional technology room; plan to recruit underrepresented minority students; incorporation of the Kresge Library report into the proposal; inclusion of a statement regarding the accreditation issue; modifications to the budget that includes a 3% tuition raise as well as additional funding for faculty overload to teach APM163; and clarification of prerequisites along with their inclusion in next year�s catalog. Taking note of a memo dated 18 January 2005 from Mr. Sahu, the Chair of the Planning Committee, Mr. Sethi indicated that the SPRC has found all the revisions satisfactory.
Mr. Khapoya then asked if there would be difficulties for students if the program were not accredited, to which Mr. Sethi replied that employers in the field do not view this as a problematic issue (as it would be in a program such as nursing), and further explained that ABET accreditation cannot take place before the first two groups of students graduate. Mr. Moudgil suggested that incoming students should be made aware of the accreditation situation before entering the program. Mr. Downing then wondered whether accreditation need be pursued at all if it is not perceived to be a significant issue. Mr. Sethi indicated that accreditation is certainly helpful, but not as vital to the profession as it is for such fields as nursing, pharmacy, or engineering, Without further comment, the motion to approve the program was passed unanimously.
Before turning to New Business, Mr. Grossman raised the issue discussed at the November meeting regarding the appointment of members to General Education subcommittees. Although the minutes of the meeting reflect that this issue was postponed, it has, in fact, been deemed moot, since the Senate does not need to act on subcommittee memberships. Ms. Mabee pointed out for the record that Cathy Breidenbach�s name was omitted from the list of faculty under Writing/Foreign Language and Culture, and that she served as Chair of that subcommittee.
New Business
MOVED that the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Economics be approved. (Ms. McNair, Mr. Tracy)
Mr. Tracy explained that this degree will be in addition to the current available degrees: B.A. in Economics (CAS) and B.S. in Economics (Business). It will serve students interested in pursuing the M.B.A. and who want more undergraduate courses in economics. As Mr. Tracy observed, the accrediting body limits the number of credits that a student outside the business major may take in the business program (for example, a sociology major may take only 24 credits within the business school, and an economics major is limited to the same). With the new degree, these students will meet all the traditional requirements for a business degree as well as the credits required for the B.S. in Economics. As a consequence, these students will have virtually no electives. Mr. Tracy indicated that this would apply to those few students (two or three a year at most) who want this particular background in pursuit of an M.B.A. No additional faculty, funds, or resources are required. According to Mr. Tracy, the current Dean, Mr. Tower, finds that this title is inappropriate, and that the degree should be called a B.S. in Business Economics. Mr. Tracy supports this as well. Mr. Tracy then moved to amend the title, seconded by Mr. Downing. Mr. Grossman reminded senators that the amendment should be voted on at the second reading.
Mr. Downing asked about the potential impact the new degree would have on the B.A. in Economics program. Mr. Tracy explained that the B.S. degree requires more courses in math and econometrics, and that the B.A. degree would probably not be affected at all. Mr. Grossman asked for clarification about the student survey, which indicated a 2-1 margin in favor of keeping the program as it is. That, Mr. Tracy asserted, reflected an opinion about the lack of flexibility in terms of electives in the new program. Mr. Shablin noted that the dates provided on the document go back to 2001-2002, and suggested that the appropriate updates be made, including budget information. Mr. Polis asked whether this will still be a business degree with the title change. Mr. Tracy assured him that it will. Mr. Grossman then asked whether reports from Senate Budget and Planning Committees were available. Mr. Tracy indicated that UCUI determined that this was not truly a new program, but a modification of current business programs. Ms. Awbrey confirmed that this was UCUI�s determination.
Mr. Moudgil then turned to the second item of New Business:
MOVED that the Senate Steering Committee be authorized to make replacement appointments to Senate standing committees (Mr. Russell, Mr. Tracy)
Ms. Eberwein voiced support of the motion, saying that it made good sense to allow the Steering Committee to act expeditiously, but wanted assurance that the Senate would continue to be informed about those serving on committees and to be reminded of any vacancies. Mr. Sudol agreed that this would be done. Mr. Cipielewski noted that the language of the motion is somewhat ambiguous: does it mean that the Steering Committee may make appointments only when vacancies occur or can it replace committee members for other reasons? Ms. McNair asserted that this becomes a serious issue when a vacancy occurs on a committee that needs a full body of members, such as the Assessment committee. Mr. Moudgil noted that this measure would save valuable time, up to two months, on such committees that rely on every member to carry out their work. An amendment was proposed by Mr. Graves to reword the motion to say that the Steering Committee may fill vacancies which may occur from time to time on standing committees. It was seconded by Mr. Downing. Mr. Grossman stated that it may be more useful to revise the language in the Steering committee for the second reading.
With no items for the good and welfare, Mr. Tracy�s motion to adjourn was seconded by Mr. Cipielewski at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tamara Machmut-Jhashi
Secretary to the University Senate