I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:12 P.M. in the Marty Theatre
II. Announcements
A. Judith Moroz, representing the graduate students, and Finn Christensen, Amber Lyons, and Brian Weidner, representing the undergraduate students, joined the University Senate as ex officio members.
Alan Galsky moved that the new members be seated. Fran Armmer seconded the motion. The motion passed on a voice vote.
B. With regard to Senate committees, all committees are fully staffed except for one member on the Admissions and Retention Committee from the Foster College of Business Administration. Also Kevin Teevin has agreed to convene the University Sabbatical Leave Committee.
C. Gary Anna, Vice President for Business Affairs, will address the body on the financial status of the University. The address will be immediately after the conclusion of the University Senate meeting on November 19.
D. May Jo Mays is unable attend the meeting. Larry Aspin served as acting secretary.
E. A reminder that on the WWW version of the University Senate agenda, underlined items are hot-links to the appropriate information.
F. Members were reminded to raise their hands when making a motion or seconding a motion.
G. The senators were asked that when they are planning to offer amendments to a proposal that is on the floor, to please bring at least two written copies of the amendments, one for the President and one for the Secretary.
III. Approval of Minutes
Claire Etaugh moved approval of the minutes for the Second Meeting of the Senate. Nina Collins seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
IV. Reports from Administrators
A. President Brazil
At dinner on September 17 President Brazil presented President's Awards to Don Fites, Chair of the Centennial Campaign Steering Committee and to Illinois Mutual for all the continuous years of service to Bradley University.
The Emeritus dinner was held the 27th of September with over 100 Bradley emeritus faculty in attendance.
In the evening on Founders Day, President Brazil presented a Special President's Award to the faculty and staff of the university whose generosity in launching the campaign aided its success.
Tennis courts will be dedicated Thursday, October 22, at 11:00 AM.
Bob Turner, a Bradley graduate who runs the Turner Fund out of Philadelphia, was elected to the Board of Trustees at their last meeting.
The Bradley ties to Caterpillar continue to be strong. Glenn Barton, a member of the Bradley University Board of Trustees, was elected as vice chairman and is the incoming chairman of Caterpillar. Barton is being succeeded as group president by Jerry Shaheen a Bradley graduate, both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student.
The Illinois Board of Higher Education met early this month. Last month it deferred funding the degree completion program. After meeting with Presidents Brazil and Thomas, the board unanimously passed the funding for this year. The issue of the permanent inclusion of the degree completion program in the budget will be taken up later.
Both the House and Senate agreed on a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act which was signed by the President; however, it has still to go through the appropriation process. The American Council of Education (ACE) is working to position itself during the appropriation process. ACE is also working on other projects (e.g., the role of chair in governance, governing boards, length of service of university presidents); President Brazil will send materials to the relevant portions of campus.
B. Provost Liberty
The Bradley University and Caterpillar linkage grew even stronger with President Brazil's election to the Board of Directors of Caterpillar.
Dr. Lumpkin, chair of the search committee for the Dean of Engineering and Technology, reported to Provost Liberty that the screening process has reduced the field of applicants to a semi-short list of candidates. This list will be further reduced with the pending off-campus interviews conducted via telecommunications. Subsequent on campus interviews of the top candidates should occur in the next few weeks.
The request for proposals (RFP) is out . In response to the volume of requests, Dr. Yost of the Graduate School has distributed the RIP guidelines to administrative offices across the campus. So as not to stifle any good idea or constrain thinking, there is no upper limit on a proposal's cost. Finally, proposal development workshops are being planned. Contact Dr. Yost if you are interested.
V. Call for Items to be Added to the Agenda
No new items were added
VI. Reports from Standing Committees
Robert Wolffe, Chair of the Committee on Elections, reported the results of the election for the Committee on Tenure, Promotion and Dismissal. Linda Anglin, Don Glover and Peter Dusenbery were elected to the regular committee positions and Edward Satler was elected to the alternate position.
VII. Old Business
The only item of old business was consideration of the motion, made and seconded at the previous meeting, to establish the position of Faculty Handbook Editor.
Sam Fan moved, and Zeev Gorin seconded, that "The University Senate shall nominate candidates for and elect the Faculty Handbook Editor from the full time faculty." be substituted for "The Senate Executive Committee shall select from the full-time faculty a candidate for the Faculty Handbook Editor who shall be ratified by the Senate."
There was no discussion and the motion passed on a voice vote.
Sam Fan moved, and Claire Etaugh seconded, that "maintain the on-line Faculty Handbook, by suggesting additions, deletions, revisions, and reorganizations to the University Senate, and to make changes in the on-line Faculty Handbook after their approval by the appropriate bodies as specified by established procedures (http://www.bradley.edu/academics/facandbook/procedures_for_making_Changes.html)." be substituted for "maintain the on-line Faculty Handbook by making additions, deletions, and revisions in an appropriate and timely manner;".
In the discussion which followed the primary concern was the editor's power to make changes in the Faculty Handbook. The consensus was that the editor should not make unapproved changes in the Faculty Handbook, but could, as can any member of the Senate, bring suggested changes to the Senate for approval. Suggested changes to the motion by John Brazil, Mary Jane Sterling, Rick Stalling, and Conley Stutz were accepted as friendly amendments so that the final version of the amendment read
"maintain the Faculty Handbook by making changes after approval by the appropriate bodies as specified by established procedures (http://www.bradley.edu/academics/facandbook/procedures_for_making_Changes.html)."
The motion passed on a voice vote.
Sam Fan moved, and Steve Hienaman seconded, that "e.) assist members of the University community in accessing the on-line copy of the Handbook and producing hardcopies of sections or in its entirety when requested to do so;" be deleted.
Rich Stalling spoke against the motion. Conley Stutz noted that the working assumption of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Format and Delivery of the Faculty Handbook was that editor should provide a mechanism for easy downloading and printing of the entire handbook.
The motion passed on a voice vote. Rick Stalling requested a counted vote. The vote was 25 for the motion and 10 against. The motion passed.
VIII. Reports from Ad Hoc Committees
There were no reports from ad hoc committees.
IX. New Business
A. Confirmation of Student Member to General Education Subcommittee
Alan Galsky moved, and Claire Etaugh seconded, the seating of Uma Gunalan on the General Education Subcommittee.
The motion passed on a voice vote.
B. Midterm Grade Resolution
The Student Senate asked the executive committee to again place midterm grade proposal on the University Senate agenda. This is the same proposal which was passed by the Committee on Curriculum and Regulations last spring, but which was defeated at the May 1998 meeting of the University Senate. According to Suzanne Anderson the proposal if passed could be in force for the Spring of 1999. Finn Christensen moved, Alan Galsky seconded, a motion to place the Student Senate's midterm grade proposal on the floor. President Field noted that the proposal is voted on at the next meeting, but can also be discussed at this meeting.
The Midterm Grade Proposal 1. Midterm grades for all full-term courses will be issued to all undergraduate students.
2. All students will have electronic access to mid-term grades. Mid-term grades will be mailed to freshman, sophomore, and transfer students only because of the considerable cost involved.
3. The effective date of this action will be Spring 1999.
4. If approved the new policy will appear in the Faculty Handbook at IV., A, 6. Mid-Term Grades. The Policy reads:
A report of the mid-term grades for all undergraduate students is prepared at the close of the seventh week of classes. Grade rosters will be supplied to faculty members about one week previous to these dates. Teaching schedules should be planned so that reports of these grades can be made. These grades are supplied to the student, the student's academic advisor and the Dean of the College in Which the student is registered.
Rick Stalling moved, Sam Fan seconded, that in the first sentence of the last paragraph the word "seventh" be struck and replaced by the word "eighth".
A concern of the subsequent discussion of the proposed change was whether or not grades would be still useful to the student in the 9th week of the semester.
The motion failed on a voice vote.
In the subsequent discussion of the Midterm Grade Proposal several members of the Senate revisited the arguments for and against the proposal.
President Field's suspension of discussion until the next meeting where the proposal will be voted on stimulated a discussion of parliamentary procedure.
C. Ratification of Appointment to Contractual Arrangements
Clarie Etaugh moved, and Gary Anna seconded, the ratification of the executive committee's appointment of Larry Aspin to the Committee on Contractual Arrangements.
The motion passed on a voice vote.
X. Other Business
A. University Senate and Student Senate Joint Committee on Tobacco
Kurt Field provided background information on the University Senate/Student Senate Joint Committee on Tobacco. Given the Student Senate's communication that there was insufficient interest for the Student Senate to continue participation on the committee, the University Senate executive committee was recommending that the Joint Committee on Tobacco be dismissed.
Finn Christensen moved the committee be dismissed. Fred Tayyari seconded the motion.
Kurt Field also reported that the University Senate executive committee had decided to send the report from the Ad Hoc Committee to Consider the Effects of Passive Tobacco Exposure on to the Vice-President for Business Affairs and the Vice-President for Student Affairs for their deliberation.
The focus of the subsequent discussion was on ascertaining the Student Senate's interest in the subject and position of the report from the Ad Hoc Committee to Consider the Effects of Passive Tobacco Exposure.
Brian Weidner moved to table the motion. Amber Lyons Seconded the motion to table.
The motion to table passed on a voice vote.
B. Special Emphasis for the North Central Association (NCA) Reaccreditation
Dean Etaugh and Jim Ballowe, co-chairs of the NCA/CIHE Self-Study Committee, addressed the body on the issue of the special emphasis for the NCA reaccreditation. Their handout (attached) summarized two suggestions, technology and quality of life, for the single special emphasis which has yet to be selected. The committee has communicated with a number of individuals and groups on campus seeking input; however, the final decision will be made by the president. The committee seeks comments on these and any other suggestions the University Senate might have for the special emphasis. Comments need to be made within the next week.
Discussion covered the advantages of a single emphasis (e.g., effective utilization of consultants), whether this emphasis could be something that was previously a special emphasis, the desire to have an emphasis the entire campus would be excited about, the need to have Senate support of the special emphasis, and faculty representation on the committee.
Mr. Ballowe hoped President Brazil would bring the proposed special emphasis to the November meeting.
XI. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:35
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Aspin, Acting Secretary
Bradley University Senate