MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 112
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

12 May 1980

(Senate Minute pages: 1716-1738)

Meeting No. 112 was called to order at 6:55 p.m. on Monday, May 12, 1980 in the Faculty Lounge of the Memorial Union by Senate President O. David Boutilier.

The roll was called by the Secretary. Twenty-three members or alternates were present. Absent were Hutzler (CE), Rupley (AFROTC), Shetron (FFC), Adams (IWR), Alexander (BA), Sloan (EE), Bates (CH/CM), Janners (BL), Johnson (IMR), Harris (St. Coun.), Wilkinson (Grad. St. Council).

Acknowledgement of Visitors: Staff member Patty Lins operated the recording equipment.

The Minutes of Meeting No. 111 - A typographical error occurred in Section VIII-H, Line nine. "thim time" should read "this time". The minutes were approved as corrected.

President's Report

Boutilier presented the President's Report (Appendix A - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

The question of liability of faculty serving as advisors to student organizations was referred to the Joint Committee on the Roles of the Senate and the Faculty Association for further study.

In relation to the April 18 meeting of R.K. Miller and the Senate Executive Committee with Pres. Stein, Reynolds commented that the President agreed that all of the colleges should have a faculty review committee for promotions. Such a committee, already in place in the Engineering College, would permit faculty review of promotion bids by members other than those in the department in which the promotion application originates.

Report on Meeting of the Academic Council.

Reynolds presented the reports of the meeting of April 1 (attached as Appendix B - Available by Request from the Senate Office) and of the meeting of May 6 (attached as Appendix C - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

Vice President Gale remarked that he did not believe that he had said some faculty members are never reviewed; rather, he had said they are not reviewed effectively and helped to the point where they can be tenured and promoted.

A lengthy discussion centered around the intent of the revised Affirmative Action recruiting tool. Vice Pres. Gale told the Senate that the Affirmative Action Appointment Activity form, as a culmination of the recruiting activity, is already part of the recruiting procedure. At present, the Affirmative Action process is the responsibility of department heads. Employee Relations will now take over the responsibilities of running ads in the appropriate journals and of taking care of all the procedures that allow MTU to meet Affirmative Action rules and regulations. He added that the new procedure will free department heads and faculty to pursue in an aggressive way the candidates that are desired.

Hauge asked whether the import of this change was pro quota or pro reverse discrimination. Reynolds replied that it just addressed the case of minorities and will give Employee Relations the ability to reach all of the minority groups.

Reports on the Meeting of the Board of Control.

Givens who acted as Senate observer in Reynolds' absence, presented the report. It is attached as Appendix D (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

Committee Reports

A. Curricular Policy - Agin read the report (attached as Appendix E - Available by Request from the Senate Office). There was no discussion.

B. Instructional Policy

Tampas reported that the one item of business to come before the committee was the question of the length of the drop period and the role that overscheduling plays in the very large number of drops during the sixth week.

It was noted that space allocation as well as the bookstore's ability to gauge the number of books per course can be adversely affected by overscheduling.

Hauge offered the solution that a ceiling be set for all but the best students on the number of credits that could be scheduled. Nelson suggested a marketing approach -- students should pay for every credit elected, with a three-week refund period for drops. However, Pres. Stein noted that such a linear scale would keep students from taking enrichment courses, with the likely consequence that some HU and SS course enrollments would be low.

The committee is still investigating ways to get data which will show how the length of the drop period affects class sizes.

C. Institutional Evaluation

Hauge reported that the committee has met with regard to the issue of department heads versus department chairpersons. They are establishing a bibliography so that they can break down the components of these roles and thereby create a survey instrument for the faculty based on this literature. The survey likely will be available during the Fall Quarter.

The second item before the committee was Proposal 14-77 which asks for annual evaluation of deans and department heads, with faculty input. The Administration has as yet taken no action on this proposal.

D. Elections Committee

Snyder announced the results of the two general elections held in April. Anton Pintar (CH/CM) and Duane Abata (ME/EM) were elected Senators-at-Large for three-year terms starting in Fall 1980. Phyllis Boutilier (MA/CS) was elected to a three-year term and Donald Koss (MY) to a two-year term on the University Tenure Committee. Their terms are to begin in September 1980.

For each of the two Senate elections held at this meeting, three names were selected to be forwarded to the President. From these he is to select one for each of the appropriate Senate committees.

  1. University Sabbatical Leave Committee. Prior nominations were of D. Abata, C. Givens and K. Rundman. There were no nominations from the floor. On the support of a voice vote, the above three names were submitted to the President.

  2. University Athletic Council. Prior nominations were of W. Barstow, T. Courtney, W. Cron, G. Greetis, R. Horvath, L. Shirley, and C. Vilman. Nominated from the floor were D. Daavettila, D. Halkola and T. Warrington. After three ballots, the names of D. Halkola, D. Daavettila, and T. Courtney were selected to be forwarded to Pres. Stein.

Boutilier announced that he will appoint a nominating committee to draft a slate of Senate officers for the coming academic year.

E. Joint Committee on Relations Between the Senate and Faculty Association

Pintar announced that Proposal 6-80, which had been approved by Pres. Stein, was implemented when Emily Erickson went tot the last meeting of AMCF. He presented her report of the meeting and the institutional report, which she submitted for Michigan Tech. These are attached as Appendices F and G, respectively (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

F. Promotional Policy and Professional Standards and Development

R.K. Miller reported that the committee has met to reappraise Proposal 10-78. They plan to leave a report for those who will comprise this committee next year.

G. Faculty Handbook.

Crowther reported that the committee has met to begin the process of comparing the current edition of the Faculty Handbook with the MTU Procedures Manual to identify any discrepancies that may exist.

There appears to be a deficiency in the definition of the undergraduate faculty as given in the Faculty Handbook. With one possible interpretation, the faculty of the School of Technology would not fall within the definition. Investigation of this point was referred to the Promotional Policy and Professional Standards and Development Committee.

H. Faculty Fringe Benefits

Reynolds gave the report. The committee met Vice Pres. Koepel, Vice Pres. Gale, and John Gooch to discuss dental coverage and the assumption by MTU of Social Security payments. Vice Pres. Koepel said the financial situation is uncertain -- in particular, there is concern about the passage of the Tisch Amendment -- and thus there could be no promise of increases of Fringe Benefits.

The new dental coverage program at the University of Michigan is a cost sharing plan that limits the total amount that can be collected by any participant in a given year. Reynolds estimated that implementation of such a plan here would cost each faculty member $30/month and participation would be mandatory if the plan were adopted.

Most of the discussion in the committee's meeting centered on MTU assuming Social Security payments. The committee was given a case history of the situation in Texas where all state employees are under such a plan. In Vice Pres. Koepel's opinion, it would be difficult for MTU to adopt the payment plan on its own, but he did not rule out the plan at this time. The obvious advantage of MTU assuming payments is the saving in tax dollars for the faculty member. Disadvantages are that those close to retirement may lose in retirement benefits because of the reduced annual salary base and implementation of the plan would require the approval of the full legislative body that controls the State Retirement system.

There was a report to the committee by John Gooch on the effect on the TIAA-retirement benefit of increases in Social Security base. This report is attached as Appendix H (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

Old Business

A. Eleventh Annual Report to the Faculty.

It was moved and seconded that the Eleventh Annual Report to the Faculty be accepted. With the correction that H. Boyer is the Senate alternate from Social Sciences, the motion carried.

B. Revised Policy

Vice President Gale noted that the policy that "GTA's are assessed at the in-state rate" as given on p. 1675 of Senate Minutes 110, is no longer in effect. The revised policy reads that GTA's are assessed according to the origin of their residence.

C. Evening Exams/Extended Day Classes Conflicts

The issue of the conflicts between evening exams and extended day classes came up again. Lide said that subject was discussed at great length at a recent HU department meeting because of the difficulties that violation of the evening exam policy is creating for some courses in the department. As a case in point, she said that some of her students in an extended day course missed the equivalent of two weeks of class because of a conflict with exams in an EE course.

The considerable discussion that followed centered on whether there was ignorance among the faculty of the policy, whether evening exams at seven o'clock are in fact in violation of the policy, and whether there may exist unacceptable loopholes in Proposal 25-78 as it is written.

Rather than there being further Senate or Administrative action at this time, it was recommended that faculty members whose needs are in conflict should try to work out the difficulties among themselves. Heckel suggested that in addition the Senate should issue a statement at the beginning of each school year which calls the faculty's attention to the provision of Proposal 25-78.

New Business

Pintar said that it had come to his attention that a member of the Athletic Department had endorsed a political candidate for the State House of Representatives at a recently held Athletic Banquet. He indicated that he found such an action disturbing and said it was damaging to MTU's image. Cappy, who replied that the incident had been brought to the attention of both the Athletic Director and the person who had made the endorsement, said that the statement was strictly spontaneous, was probably lacking in judgment, and that such an incident involving the Athletic Department would not happen again.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m.