MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 154
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

18 February 1987

(Senate Minute pages: 2652 -2667)

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

A motion was made that Mathematical Sciences have a Senate representative and that Computer Sciences have a Senate representative. Motion passed and Joan Francioni was seated as the Computer Sciences representative.

Vice President's Report (Appendix B, C and D - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

 

Committee Reports

A. Curricular Policy - To be covered as New Business.

B. Instructional Policy - No report.

C. Institutional Evaluation - Appendix E (Available by Request from the Senate Office). Submitted Report.

Recommended that the Senate NOT participate officially in the Association of Michigan Collegiate Faculties. President Shapton accepted this recommendation.

D. Budget - No report.

E. Faculty Fringe Benefits - No report.

F. Elections - Mentioned upcoming Senate and committee openings. Stated it was not too early for departments to "look about" for potential senators/committee members.

G. Planning

A formal report will be submitted to the Senate at the May meeting. Key points to be covered include retention, student recruitment, research dollars, and student enrollment.

H. General Education

Regular meetings of the committee are being conducted. One main issue has been thematic clusters. This group has also met with Art Young to discuss the role of writing in General Education. In the spring, meetings with the Deans are planned to discuss overall evaluation of the General Education program. The General Education program is due for revision in about one year.

 

Old Business

Dr. Whitten reminded the Senate that it had approved Senate Proposal 2-87. This proposal included provisions that peer evaluation mechanisms be established internally by each department. So far only 5 of 22 departments have submitted guidelines as to how peer evaluations will be done. Dr. Whitten requested that senators go back to their departments to insure the department's peer evaluation procedures are forwarded to this office.

 

New Business

A. Proposal 5-87, Commitment to Develop a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Applied Physics

Bill Sewell of the Curricular Policy Committee submitted Proposal 5-87, Commitment to Develop a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Applied Physics (Appendix F - Available by Request from the Senate Office). This proposal was preliminary in nature. In other words, with Senate approval, Proposal 5-87 would go to the Board of Control and then downstate to be examined. The proposal would then come back to the Senate and the Board of Control for final approval. This degree proposal would require minimal changes in that the faculty, library materials, and most of the course work at the graduate level is already in place.

A point of order was raised. Proposals should be submitted with the agenda ten days prior to the Senate meeting. President Shapton suggested the Senate consider this proposal as an emergency submission. Senate approved this suggestion and Proposal 5-87 passed.

B. Student Council Late Drop Survey

Steve Cabera presented a short briefing on the results of the Student Council Late Drop Survey (Appendix G - Available by Request from the Senate Office). Another survey is planned for the Spring term. The student council plans to incorporate suggestions made by the faculty in conducting the spring survey. President Shapton established an ad hoc committee to examine the issue of feedback and the proposed new drop policy. Phyllis Boutilier volunteered to chair this committee. It was noted that this proposal has not yet been approved by Dr. Stein.

C. Vice President Ed Koepel gave a presentation on the Ventures Group.

D. New Computer Fee Policy

Don McWethy raised the issue of the new computer fee policy due to go into effect for the Spring term. He was concerned that the policy was being implemented with little or no input from either students or faculty. What are the potential effects on the educational environment? A faculty member pointed out that this policy could have implications for the way in which certain courses are taught and in this regard the Senate should have some input into this policy. President Shapton recommended that an ad hoc committee be formed to examine the issue. The Senate approved this recommendation. Joan Francioni was selected to chair this committee. Exact composition of this committee is to be determined.

 

A motion was called to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved.