Minutes for December 4, 2002

A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, 2002, in Maxwell Auditorium.

Present were: Chancellor Shaw; Senators: Armstrong, Backx, Barth, Behm, Bennett, Biklen, Bogucz, Breese, Brzozowski, Caine, Carter, Cihon, Cooper, Cote-Arsenault, Crowston, Curtis, de Berly, Diaz, Donovan, Dudczak, Dunn, Flusche, Glauser, Gorovitz, Graham, Graves, Greenberg, Hamilton, Horacek, Horwitz, Hovendick, Johnson, Kelly, Kenn, Kinsey, Kosar, LaGraff, Letterman (M.), Letterman (R.), Lipson, McGee, Maghran, Martin, Milman, Morris, Mulconry, Murphy, Murray, Oakley, Olson, O'Rourke, Peck, Perdue, Potter, Robertson, Rosenzweig, Schiff, Sherman, Thau, Thomson, Toth, Trento, Tussing, Urtz, Van Gulick, Waddy, Wadley, Ware, Weaver, Webber, Wells, Wright, Zacharia, Zaima.

Presiding Officer: Chancellor Kenneth Shaw

       On motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the University Senate meeting of 13 November 2002, with the amendment on p. 3684 of the last sentence of the first paragraph, so that it read: The motion concurring in the Vice Chancellor's proposal to close the School of Nursing passed by a vote of 73:68.

       The Chancellor called Prof. Nahmin Horwitz to present the report of the Agenda Committee. Prof. Horwitz began his report by asking the body to rise while he read the following statement in memoriam:

The University Senate and the Chancellor and Trustees of Syracuse University join in paying tribute to the life and work of Prof. Alain Verley, who served the Syracuse University community for many years as School of Architecture faculty member and University senator, serving on the Committee on Curricula, Committee on Appointment and Promotions, and the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics.

His death on November 10, 2002 closes a distinguished career of teaching and community service. He will be remembered with fondness and gratitude by his students, colleagues and friends at Syracuse University, as well as by the members of his family, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy.

Prof. Horwitz asked for a moment of silent tribute, and then made a motion to include the statement in the record. The motion carried.

       Prof. Horwitz continued his report by proposing a motion that the following amendment to Article V, Section 10 of the Senate bylaws, notice of which had been given at the November 13th meeting, be approved by the Senate:

Section 10. Adding the following sentence to the end of the charge of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics:

This committee shall also receive and investigate all cases that have to do with sexual harassment complaints concerning the faculty.

The motion carried.

       On motion duly made, the following changes were made to the Senate committee on Athletic Policy: Add: Lou Marcoccia (Administration) to the committee;Remove: Al Sauer (Staff).

       Prof. Horwitz concluded his report with an announcement that, in January, in addition to the Report of the Budget committee and the Curriculum committee, there would be a report on his area by Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Barry Wells. Horwitz asked senators to give some thought to what questions they might wish to ask about Student Affairs.

       The Chancellor called Prof. Eric Spina to present the report of the Committee on Honorary Degrees. He asked that all non-senators leave the auditorium while the body discussed and voted on the committee's proposed nominations, and that members of the Agenda Committee invite them back inside after the vote. Prof. Spina moved approval of the committee's nominations for the May 2003 Commencement. The motion carried.

       The Chancellor called Prof. Elizabeth Toth who presented the report of the Committee on Curricula, which included a motion to approve new courses in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, School of Education, School of Information Studies, School of Public Communications, and College of Visual and Performing Arts; changes in Information Studies, Public Communications, and Visual and Performing Arts; courses dropped from the College of Visual and Performing Arts; and program changes to the B.S. in Fashion Design, B.S. in Textile Design, M.A. and M.S. in Environmental Arts and the M.A. and M.S. in Speech Communication. At the request of a senator, new course IND 477 Ethnography and Culture in Industrial Design was withdrawn pending consultation with the Department of Anthropology. The motion carried.

       The Chancellor called Ms. Linda Straub to present the report of the Committee on Services to the Faculty and Staff, which was a summary of the committee's 2001-2 work. She told senators that the committee was currently looking at changes in the University's sick leave policy, including time off when children or spouses are sick, the possibility of pooling sick days in an office or unit, and other such ideas that came out of the Work Life committee.

       The Chancellor called Prof. Ernest Hemphill, who presented a report from the Committee on Instruction, which included a report of the results of a 2002 survey of 100- and 200-level courses, which had been done by the Undergraduates for a Better Education (UBE). Prof. Hemphill called on UBE president Ian Cochran and SA Comptroller Erin Magran to present the report and respond to questions from the Senate.

       In the discussion, questions were raised about how the survey had been done. The presenters said they had tried to make the survey random. When asked if they had compared their data with course evaluations done in departments, they said that that data was not available to them. Other comments made and questions raised included:

• that it was a fine thing to have done, a positive activity;

• question whether students were acculturated once they arrived at SU, or did they come thinking that they would be spending a certain amount of time on study and homework;

• Chancellor recommended that senators read an article in the 12/6/2 Chronicle of Higher Education, about hours that students spend studying;

• Does the survey make a distinction between registration strategy and academic advising? (If not, it should.);

• Are Schine Student Center patrons really a good random example?

• comment that the writing courses scored lowest, possibly because they were required;

• Is UBE collecting enough data? (Satisfaction with a course often based on what grade a student got.)

• student commented that the question "How many hours do you spend preparing for a class?" was not clear to her;

• senator said that he encouraged the survey, but would like to see the question on hours of class preparation clarified;

• that because students from all different schools and colleges were rating the same courses, it seemed pointless to break it down by college/school.

• senator questioned the value of calling for an all-University advising system.

       Under old business, a senator asked about the status of the class scheduling issue, and Ms. Judith O'Rourke said that a committee chaired by Vice President Ron Cavanagh was working on it.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder

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