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Minutes for February 15, 2006
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 February 2006 , in Maxwell Auditorium.
Present were: Vice Chancellor Freund; Senators: Alcoff, Alston, Anderson, Arvas, Bennett, Biklen, Breese, Burak, Carter, Cihon, Cohan, Crowston, deBerly, Diaz, Doughty, Doyle, Duffy, Erdman, Elin, Faiola, Ferree, Ferguson, Gilman, Glauser, Grimes, Hackman, Harding, Himes, Holzwarth, Horacek, Horton, Hurd, Isik, Jeneault, Jensen, Johnson (E.), Jones, Karpoff, Kasowitz-Scheer, Kelly (R.B.), Kelly (R.A.), Kenn, Khalifa, Kornfilt, Krishnakumar, Kyle, Lantier, Letterman, Lipson, MacDonald, MacInnes, Mager, Marcoccia, Mitchell, Moore, Murphy, Newton, Nicholson, Notas, Onsi, O'Rourke, Pasqualoni, Patteson,Pellow, Phelps, Potter, Rebovich, Robinson (D.), Rosenzweig, Salatino, Saleh, Samson, Sauer, Sherman, Smith (C.J.), Smith (D.), Smith (Do.), Smith (E.), Sternlicht, Strodel, Tankersley, Teres, Thompson, Trento, Tucker, Urtz, Van Gulick, Vitharana, Wadley, Wallace, Wilcox, Willett, Wilmoth, Zhang.
Presiding Officer: Vice Chancellor Deborah Freund
On motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of
the University Senate meeting of 18 January 2006, as written. The Chairwoman then called Agenda Committee chairman Prof. Bruce Carter to present the report of the Agenda Committee.
Prof. Carter made a motion to change the order of the agenda, inserting Item V, the report on NCAA self study, after Item III. The motion carried.
The Chair called Prof. Mike Olivette to present the report of the Committee on Curricula,which included a motion to approve course changes, drops, program revisions in Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Information Studies, Management, Visual and Performing Arts, and a new minor (Forensic Science) in the College of Arts and Sciences. The motion carried.
The Vice Chancellor called Prof. David H. Bennett, who presented a report on the self-study that the NCAA had been doing. He said that an institutional review of academic integrity, governance, and commitment to rules compliance, and equity and student-athlete welfare would be done every 10 years. He told the body that there would be an open forum for interested persons on March 2nd. In the discussion, the questions raised and comments made included:
- How would the Senate hear about this in the future? [Bennett said that it would be posted on the web http://www.syr.edu/sports.html;
- comment that there were very few faculty members serving on the committee [Bennett said that the makeup of the committee was similar to that of the 1994-8 committee; the Vice Chancellor suggested that there be more faculty next time around.].
The Vice Chancellor called Prof. Louise Phelps to present the report of the Academic Affairs committee, which included a motion to endorse the recommendations for appointment and promotion of non-tenure track faculty. Prof. Phelps told the body that the proposal had come about as result of a long-term project, not in reaction to current events concerning non-tenure track faculty. In the discussion, a member asked what precisely the motion comprised, and Phelps said that it included the policy and the chart on page 5 of the report. Other comments and questions included:
Paragraph of content.
- that promotion was under the control of the faculty, and that a vote on the spirit of the motion would be more appropriate than one on the issues;
- that the role of the Senate committee on Appointment and Promotions was missing from the proposal.
A member rose to make a substitute motion that the vote be a non-binding sense of the Senate vote. The motion was seconded, and failed.
Another member rose to make a motion to amend the proposal, adding to item 5. on the last page of the report, the phrase: "and procedures" to be inserted after "guarantees....". The motion to amend was seconded, and carried.
The Chair called for the vote on the main motion, and the motion carried.
The Vice Chancellor called Prof. Ernest Hemphill to present the report of the Committee on Instruction, which included a motion to endorse the 6 recommendations reported in the committee's report of January 18th, i.e.:
- That significant, ongoing, and varied efforts be made to educate SU students, instructors, staff, and administrators in the importance of academic integrity and the consequences of academic dishonesty for individuals and the University community;
- That a university-wide academic integrity policy be adopted.
- That university-wide procedures be established for addressing suspected academic integrity policy violations;
- That the University and the schools and colleges utilize record-keeping and record-disclosure practices that reflect the centrality of academic integrity to our educational mission, and follow a coordinated, consistent, and confidential approach to maintenance and disclosure of integrity -related records;
- That the foregoing objectives be supported, implemented, and coordinated by an Academic Integrity Office (AIO)located in the Division of Academic Affairs;
- That the Senate Committee on Instruction be charged with reviewing the periodic assessment reports generated by the AIO and receive input from the University community regarding University and school and college academic integrity related policies and procedures, making recommendations for modification to the Vice Chancellor when needed.
The Vice Chancellor vacated the chair at this point, and Agenda Committee Chairman Bruce Carter took over, recognizing a member of the Committee on Student Life, who read the following statement:
The Senate Committee on Student Life [as well as the Student Senate Caucus and Student Association] is in agreement with the work done by the Vice Provost's Committee on Academic Integrity (VPCAI), and supports the motion presented by the Senate Committee on Instruction as long as it promotes a strong professor-student relationship, faculty responsibility for communicating academic integrity policy, and creating classroom environments that reduce instances of cheating, a fair hearing process for students, and a plan for ongoing education.
After some further discussion, the body voted to approve the motion.
Under new business, a motion was made to add Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Ben Ware to the Committee on Academic Affairs, and remove Prof. John Mercer. The motion carried.
Under new business, a member asked the Agenda Committee to look into the matter of library access for retired faculty members.
Prof. Van Gulick rose to remind the body that a conversation about free speech would be held at 7:00p.m. on Thursday, February 23rd, in Maxwell Auditorium.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
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