|
 |
Minutes for December 6, 2006
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 6 December 2006, in Maxwell Auditorium.
Present were: Alcoff, Alston, Bazemore, Bender, Biklen (S.), Brooker, Carter, Cihon, Covil, Crowston, Curtis, de Berly, Donovan, Evans, Ferguson, Fiese, Frieden, Gilman, Goldenberg, Grady-Willis, Hackman, Himes, Hogan, Horacek, Horlings, Hurd, Isik, Javaid, Jensen, Jones, Karpoff, Khalifa, LaGraff, Lantier, Lipson, Mager, McKay, McNeal, Moller, Mugo, Murphy, Notas, Olson, Onsi, O'Rourke, Palfai, Patrick, Patteson, Pellow, Potter, Rosenzweig, Saleh, Samson, Schell, Sharp, Sherman, Smith (C.), Smith (D.), Smith (Do), Spencer, Spina, Sternlicht, Tankersley, Teres, Thompson, Turner, Turnipseed, Tussing, Urtz, Van Gulick, Vidali, Watts, Webber, Wells, Willett, Williams (J.), Williams (N.).
Presiding Officer: Chancellor Nancy Cantor
The Chancellor called the meeting to order, and proposed that the minutes of the November 8th meeting be approved, with the following clarification (p. 3818, the comment) adding to the comment the phrase: " , and the senator asked for clarification of the question of whether attention was being given not only to the needs of particular schools and colleges but to the general question of equity across college lines." The minutes were approved.
The Chancellor called Prof. Bruce Carter to present the report of the Agenda Committee. Prof. Carter reported that during the spring semester the Agenda Committee expected to receive a report from the ad hoc committee reviewing sexual harassment on campus. He also reported that several committee chairs were being invited to attend a meeting of the Agenda Committee to discuss committee work, and he asked that committee chairs who wished to report to the Senate contact the University Senate office (x3152).
The Chancellor then asked nonsenators to exit the auditorium while the body discussed and voted on the report of the Committee on Honorary Degrees. She called Prof. Eileen Lantier to present the report, which included a motion to approve a list of nominations for honorary degrees to be awarded at the May 2007 and May 2008 commencements. The motion carried. Members of the Agenda Committee invited nonsenators back inside.
The Chancellor called Prof. Mike Olivette to present the Curriculum committee's report, which included a motion to approve the new courses and changes (Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Human Services and Health Professions, Information Studies) listed in the report. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called Prof. Jeremy Gilbert to present the report of the Committee on Research Prof. Gilbert drew the body's attention to new policies being developed which would have impact on what kinds of things faculty did if 100% of the money was being dedicated to a particular grant. Gilbert said that the federal government, for example, required that an institution certify the per cent of effort of faculty in all aspects of their job (e.g., teaching, research, service, administration). He said that the committee was looking into ways to track and certify per cent effort of faculty. In the discussion the items discussed and questions asked included:
- that the federal government sent a form asking the per cent of effort
on each grant; that 100% of your effort had to go to the grant if you're
paying yourself for that per cent of time;
- a question whether it was only federal grants that were covered by these
regulations [Gilbert: yes];
- that it was a serious matter; that some institutions had been sued for
millions of dollars.
A Senate member offered to help the committee in their work on open access and publication of data, and the chairman thanked him.
Under old business, the Chancellor reported on the status of ROTC on campus, giving a brief history of the matter. The chancellor reported that a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court on the matter of Forum for Academic Institutional Rights (FAIR) vs. Rumsfeld was handed down March 6, 2006 that law school and law faculty First Amendment free speech rights were not violated by the Solomon Amendment because they remain free to voice their opposition to the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. She said that Chief Justice John Roberts had written: "A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message."
A Senate member rose to point out that the Supreme Court was about to authorize segregation in public schools (grades 1-12), and to urge senators to speak out against it. The Chancellor briefly mentioned that a group had gone to Washington D.C. to protest the reversal of Brown vs. Board of Education, and asked what role the Senate could play, if any. Prof. Carter said that a motion to get a sense of the Senate was always in order, but there needed to be a carefully drafted motion so that Senate members knew what they were voting on. Backtracking, another senator asked for refreshment of his memory re: what the ROTC concern was. The Chancellor said that the Solomon Amendment linked any federal funds to military recruiting, that it was not framed as an attack on "don't ask, don't tell". A senator rose to say that as an institution what was incumbent on us was to question the notion that any decision was unchanging. He said that this was clearly not true, and could be an opportunity for us to educate our students about their right and responsibility to vote.
Under new business, a Senate member rose to request that the Agenda Committee appoint a committee to oversee the publication of the faculty manual when the time came. Another member suggested that we begin a conversation about how we actually budget at SU.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
|
