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Minutes for October 8, 2008
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday,
8 October 2008, in Maxwell Auditorium
Present were: Chancellor Cantor; Senators Abramovsky, Alston, Anderson,
Armstrong, Arnold, Arvas, Bakke, Breese, Bulman, Bybee, Carter, Carty, Chen, Cihon, Cooper, Criddle, Dobrowolski, donabella, Donovan, Dudczak, Easton, Elin, Evans, Faiola, Ferri, Frasciello, Gallacher, Gilman, Golia, Heintz, Himley, Hollenback, Isik, Jeneault, Kornfilt, Kwasnik, Kyle, Lee (J.), Letterman, London, Lore, Mager, Marcoccia, Marrero, McClure, Meighan, Mohanty, Moon, Mountz, Mulliken, Murphy, Nicholson, O'Rourke, Powers, Quinn, Reed-Huff, Rio, Robertson, Rubinstein, Rupert, Saleh, Schell, Schwartz, Sherman, Sickler, Smith (C.J.), Spina, Srinavas, Stonecash, Strodel, Suchy, Teres, Thorin, Turnipseed, Van Gulick, Veley, Wallace, Ware (B.), Warren, Wasylenko, Webber, Witucki, Wolfe, Wright.
Presiding officer: Chancellor Nancy Cantor
The Chancellor called the meeting to order, and proposed that the minutes of the September 10th meeting be approved as written, and the body concurred. She called Prof. Eileen Schell to make the report of the Agenda Committee, which included:
- a motion to approve the following list of changes to Senate committees:
AFT, Remove Kenneth Baynes (Fac.); Add Karen Bakke (Fac.)
Curriculum, Add Bruce Kingma (Fac.), Suzanne Shane (Staff),
Kenneth Baynes (Fac.)
Diversity, Remove Arthur Brooks (Fac.), Karen Bakke (Fac.)
LGBT Concerns, Add Chris Bell (student)
Honorary Degrees, Remove Eileen Lantier (Fac.)
Instruction, Remove Kristi Andersen (Fac.)
The motion carried.
- a motion to amend the bylaws, revising the charge to the Curriculum
Committee as follows:
The Committee on Curricula shall consider all requests of the various
schools and colleges for curriculum changes, and recommend action on
such changes to the Senate. This committee may initiate suggestions to
the several departments designed to improve their curricula, but it shall
concern itself primarily with curricular matters affecting the University
as a whole. The motion carried.
- a motion to approve the appointment of non-senators to chair Senate committees and be recognized and permitted to speak at meetings when reports from their committees were presented, as follows:
Kathleen Hinchman (Athletic Policy)
Giovanna Albaroni (LGBT Concerns, co-chairwoman)
Joe Downing (LGBT Concerns, co-chairman)
Arthur Jensen (Honorary Degrees)
Scott Samson (Research)
Linda Straub (Services to the Faculty and Staff)
Martha Jo Hanson (Women’s Concerns, co-chair)
The motion carried.
Prof. Schell concluded her report by drawing the body’s attention to a list of committee chairs, as well as the Summary of the Work of the University Senate, 2007-8, which had been distributed in the packet.
The Chancellor called Prof. Bruce Carter, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the Chancellor. Prof. Carter began his report by correcting the erroneous impression that Tom Sherman, who had convened the committee, would be chairing it. He told the body that the committee was made up of faculty members: Tom Sherman, Pat Cihon, Margaret Himley, Carl Rosenzweig, Linda Carty, and Bruce Carter; staff member Judy O’Rourke, and student Kristin Busa. He said that the committee had met twice, and had received a response to its letter to Board of Trustees Chairman John H. Chapple, as follows:
Thank you for your letter informing me of the 2008 Chancellor’s Review
Committee. I am in full agreement that, consistent with the University Senate
bylaws and past practices, the review of the Chancellor’s work by this ad hoc
committee is entirely appropriate and legitimate.
I also give you my absolute assurance that your report will be of value to
the Board of Trustees. The annual review of the Chancellor’s performance
each May, the setting of her salary, and decisions on her employment contract
are important responsibilities of the Board and are taken very seriously by all
of its members. You can be sure we will welcome the Review Committee’s
findings and factor them into our annual evaluation process.
Please also reassure the University community that the Review Committee’s report will be of value to the Chancellor as well. As Chairman of the Board, I am committed to sharing the Review Committee’s findings with Nancy in a constructive way to ensure that the University will continue on its positive trajectory in the coming years.
Carter concluded his report by saying that the committee would be reporting its findings to the Board of Trustees only, but that he felt it was important that the University community know that the review is underway.
The Chancellor called Prof. Barbara Kwasnik to present the report of the Committee on Curricula, which included a motion to approve the courses and changes (from Engineering and Computer Science, Visual and Performing Arts, Arts and Sciences, Information Studies) listed in the report. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called Prof. Kathleen Hinchman, who presented the report of
the Committee on Athletic Policy, which was a report of the committee's 2007-8 work. Prof. Hinchman told the body that her committee was primarily concerned with the well-being of student athletes. She asked senators to let them know if they heard of anything that affected the welfare of student athletes, that the committee should look into. Hinchman pointed out ratios of women to men in various sports, and referred Senate members to the tables appended to the report. She highlighted the report, saying that committee discussions during 2007-8 had included: athletic department budget and forecast; admissions; student-athletes's perspectives of institutional priorities; academic progress monitoring; equity; women in athletics; athletic director's report; report from the FOC; Chancellor's overview of the state of the Athletic Department. In the discussion, the questions raised and comments made included the concern over the fact of male coaches for women's teams. Prof. Hinchman concluded her report with mention of a desire on the part of the committee to propose an amendment to the bylaws, revising the committee charge.
The Chancellor called Ms. Martha Hanson to present the report of the Committee on Women's Concerns. Ms. Hanson told the body that the primary focus of the committee's work during 2007-8 had been its investigation of whether a women's center on campus could enhance the experience of members of the SU community. Hanson said that the committee had examined various higher education women's centers across the country, and that they had collaborated with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) to survey the faculty and staff. She said that the committee intended to survey the student body during the coming academic year. Hanson concluded her report with thanks to Sara Harrington and Barbara Yonai (from OIRA) who had provided invaluable assistance to the committee in its efforts.
The Chancellor called Prof. Larry Elin to present the report of the Committee on Academic Affairs, which was a summary of its work during 2007-8. Prof. Elin listed several items that the committee had focused on, including: discussion of the idea of publicly-engaged scholarship; the policy on stopping the tenure clock for personal or institutional reasons; a name change and new departments for the College of Human Ecology; name changes in the Women's Studies Program; creation of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Education; and the provost's statement on tenure.
In the discussion, questions and comments, included:
- question on the meaning of "wordsmith" as used in the report;
- comment that the meaning the committee wanted was what was used;
- question of what was meant by "publicly-engaged scholarship.""
Prof. Elin said that there would be a report later in the year, which would include a motion to approve new wording of the policy on tenure, and he urged Senate members to contact the committee with their suggestions and concerns.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
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