UNIVERSITY SENATE MINUTES
January 12, 1998
The University Senate met at 3:30 p.m. in Room 338 of the Memorial Union
with Dr. M. Garrison presiding and the following members present: W. Barker,
Barnhart, M. Brown, Buxton, Caton, T. Christensen, R. Collins, J. R. Cook,
Danbom, Gerst, Gessel, C. Gross, Hellevang, Helweg, Homen, K. R. Johnson,
Khan, Leitch, J. H. Lorenzen, H. R. Lund, Mathsen, J. A. Miller, S. Morgan,
R. M. Nelson, W. Nelson, Padmanabhan, C. Peterson, Pieri, Riley, Rottman,
Sarabakhsh, R. C. Schnell, Sibi, W. Slanger, Soloviev, Srivastava, J. Wagner,
D. White, R. Williams, Wittrock, Youngs, J. A. Fettig, J. Greene, A. Guthrie,
M. H. Hubbard, J. D. Kottke, M. Martin, T. Mercer, B. A. Olson, P. Tessmann,
and T. Topero.
Substitutes: L. Prunty for A. Cattanach, G. Sanders for V. Clark, Terbizan
for Jackman, Statler for P. Jensen, Modin for A. Kostecki, Jackson for Novy,
and E. Leier for J. Isaacson.
Previous Minutes
MOTION (Mathsen/Hellevang): to approve the minutes of December 8, 1997.
MOTION CARRIED.
General Announcements
1. Question about Absentee Ballot
Presiding Officer Garrison announced that he had received a question about
the possibility of absent senators sending written votes on issues in advance
of the meeting rather than designating a substitute. The Bylaws do not
provide for advance written ballots on agenda issues; therefore, senators
must designate a substitute to attend meetings in their absence.
2. Faculty Caucus
Presiding Officer Garrison announced that the first Faculty Caucus was held
on January 7, 1998. Approximately 40 people attended. Action by the Caucus
included a motion that guidelines in the PTE dossier ought not to impact
policy. The Presiding Officer Elect, Jeffery Gerst, will serve as chair
and designate a recorder for future meetings. The next two meetings are
scheduled as follows:
DATE: February 2, 1998 March 2, 1998
TIME: 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Peace Garden, MU Prairie Rose, MU
Future Faculty Caucus agenda items:
a. Assessment Committee: Should it become a standing committee of the
University Senate?
b. PTE standards: Which standards apply--those in effect at the time of
application or those in effect at the time of appointment or the last
promotion?
c. Definition of faculty: Should the definition be broadened to include
lecturers?
3. 1998 Faculty Lectureship Award
Dr. David Danbom, Professor of History, was named the recipient of the 1998
Faculty Lectureship Award. The lecture will be held on March 23, 1998.
4. Retirements
Vice President Schnell announced the following recent retirements:
Dr. Patricia D. Murphy, Dean of Assessment and Institutional Research
Dr. David W. Cobia, Director of the Burdick Center for Cooperatives
Russell Slotten, Assistant to the President
5. SBHE Audit Committee Issues
Dr. Schnell announced that the audit committee of the State Board of Higher
Education raised two issues with NDSU use of funds. One issue was the length
of time Information Technology Services made leasing commitments for major
equipment. (Companies require leasing agreements for more years than the
Board prefers.) A second issue was reimbursement in Athletics for laundry
of uniforms between games.
6. Grade Submission
Dr. Schnell congratulated the faculty on their timely submission of grades
at the end of fall semester. Only one faculty member was reported late.
7. Updates from President Plough
a. Interviews to replace the Assistant to the President will begin soon.
b. President Plough has asked for a performance evaluation and encourages
everyone to respond.
c. A forum will be scheduled in the near future for a campus discussion
of the pros and cons of the tuition models. All are encouraged to
participate.
8. Code of Student Behavior Update
Vice President Wallman announced that the document "Rights and
Responsibilities of Community: A Code of Student Conduct" is undergoing a
revision process that is near completion. In the new title, the word
"conduct" will be replaced with the word "behavior." Groups involved in
reviewing the draft have been the Student Senate Executive Committee, Staff
Senate Executive Board, and the Student Affairs Advisory Board, which is
composed of 8 students and 4 faculty. The draft is currently being reviewed
by the University attorney. A copy is available in Dr. Wallman's office
(100 Old Main) for anyone who wants to review it.
9. Student Retention
Dr. Wallman announced that current enrollment figures indicate good student
retention from the fall to the spring semester. He congratulated faculty
on their retention efforts and encouraged them to continue their efforts.
Committee Reports
ø General Education
MOTION (Homan/W. Barker): to approve the recommendation of the General
Education committee. MOTION CARRIED.
______________________________________________________________________________
Course Categories
______________________________________________________________________________
Humanities & Fine Arts (Humanities)
MUS 129 World Music 3 crs. Cultural Diversity
______________________________________________________________________________
New Business
1. New Dossier Format
Dr. Schnell introduced the draft of the new dossier format (shown in the
attachment-attachment available by calling the Office of the Registrar at 701-231-7988.) and stated that the purpose was to simplify things and get
complete data in an organized fashion. To accomplish this, there is a need
to reduce the size of the document to essential information. The title has
been changed from "dossier" to "application," to reflect this intent. Also,
there are some changes in organization of information from the candidate,
from others, and from supplemental sources.
How to evaluate teaching is a basic issue that needs to be resolved. There
is a tendency to rely only on student ratings of instruction. Dr. Schnell
suggested that the Teaching and Professional Service committee address the
need for additional indicators or ways to evaluate teaching.
Dr. Gerst reported highlights from the Faculty Caucus discussion:
1. At issue is the Policy 352 statement regarding use of promotion and tenure
criteria in effect at the time of the promotion and/or tenure decision.
Some faculty feel that the criteria in effect at the time of hiring or
last promotion ought to be used.
2. The evaluation of teaching is an issue. The Teaching Support Center
was suggested as a source of help on this. Another suggestion was to
develop outcomes-based methods of evaluating teaching.
3. At issue are implementation guidelines that impact the policy. The
question was raised if the process moves into policy, especially regarding
the quality of teaching. Noted was that item G (Teaching, Advising,
and Curriculum Development) of the draft appears to have some procedures
that set policy.
Q. What gets considered for each promotion--activities from the last
promotion or from the beginning?
A. The application ought to be a complete document.
2. Proposed Resolution Regarding Per Credit Tuition
MOTION (Gessel/M. H. Hubbard): to approve the following resolution:
Whereas, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education is considering
and has assigned a committee to study a per credit tuition model
and
Whereas, the past negative impacts of the per credit tuition experience at
NDSU are not well understood,
Therefore, be it resolved that the North Dakota State University Senate asks
the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to table further
consideration of per credit tuition until the negative impacts of
such proposals can be quantified and carefully considered by the
assigned study committee.
Q. What were the impacts at NDSU?
A. The state tax referral, conversion to semesters, and per credit tuition
took place about the same time for NDSU.
MOTION TO AMEND (Danbom/Slanger): to remove the word "negative" from
both places that it appears in the resolution.
MOTION TO AMEND THE AMENDMENT [accepted as a friendly amendment to
the first motion to amend] (D. White/Gerst): to strike from the
therefore statement the word "asks" and insert the word "requests"
and to reinstate in the therefore statement the word "negative" and
insert after "until" the words "both the positive and." MOTION TO
THE friendly amended AMENDMENT CARRIED (taken as a procedural vote).
MOTION TO AMEND (P. Tessmann/Helweg): to strike from the amended therefore
statement the words "table further consideration of" and insert the words
"postpone a decision concerning."
MOTION TO AMEND THE AMENDMENT (Schnell/Tessmann): to reword the amended
therefore statement as follows: "Therefore, be it resolved that the
North Dakota State University Senate requests the North Dakota State
Board of Higher Education to consider carefully and deliberately the
positive and negative impacts of per credit tuition until proposals
can be quantified and carefully considered by the assigned study
committee." MOTION TO AMEND THE AMENDMENT FAILED.
MOTION TO AMEND CARRIED (taken as a procedural vote).
MAIN MOTION CARRIED with 50 for and 2 against as follows: W. Barker,
Barnhart, M. Brown, Buxton, Prunty for A. Cattanach, T. Christensen, Sanders
for V. Clark, R. Collins, J. R. Cook, Danbom, Gerst, Gessel, C. Gross,
Hellevang, Helweg, Homan, Terbizan for Jackman, Statler for P. Jensen, Khan,
J. H. Lorenzen, Mathsen, J. A. Miller, S. Morgan, R. M. Nelson, W. Nelson,
Jackson for Novy, Padmanabhan, C. Peterson, Pieri, Riley, Rottman, Sarabakhsh,
R. C. Schnell, Sibi, Soloviev, Srivastava, J. Wagner, D. White, R. Williams,
Wittrock, Youngs, A. Guthrie, M. H. Hubbard, E. Leier for J. Isaacson,
J. D. Kottke, M. Martin, T. Mercer, B. A. Olson, P. Tessmann, and T. Topero
voted yes. Leitch and W. Slanger voted no.
The approved resolution as amended was as follows:
Whereas, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education is considering
and has assigned a committee to study a per credit tuition model
and
Whereas, the impacts of the per credit tuition experience at NDSU are not
well understood,
Therefore, be it resolved that the North Dakota State University Senate
requests the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to postpone
a decision concerning per credit tuition until both the positive
and negative impacts of such proposals can be quantified and
carefully considered by the assigned study committee.
Presiding Officer Garrison was given the charge of delivering the resolution
to the State Board of Higher Education.
T. Topero spoke against the per credit tuition model.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 5:13 p.m.
Alberta M. Dobry, Ph.D.
Secretary
