MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 163
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

21 September 1988

(Senate Minute pages: 2830 -2862)

President Shapton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. on Wednesday September 21, 1988 in Room 111 of the Raymond L. Smith Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Building.

Roll: Twenty five members/alternates were present. Absent were: Ralph Hodek, Charles Joyner, Phyllis Boutilier, and Dale Stein. Representing the Undergraduate Student Government was John Morse.

Visitors: Jeanine Sewell of Counseling Services.

Minutes of Meeting No. 162 were approved.

President's Report

President Shapton presented an Annual Report (Appendix A - Available by Request from the Senate Office) outlining the actions of the Senate for the 1987-88 academic year, along with his President's Report (Appendix B - Available by Request from the Senate Office) and a report by Brad Baltensperger on the Faculty/Board of Control Workshop (Appendix C - Available by Request from the Senate Office). He also noted he had received literature from Vice President Whitten on a variety of Honors programs and Honors colleges suggesting the ideas might be considered to assist in Freshman retention.

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

Committee Reports

A. Elections

Elections were held for the Senate officers. Senator Tampas as chairman of the Elections committee nominated the following:

President: Martha Janners
Vice President: Peter Tampas
Secretary: David Sprague

Nominations from the floor were opened for each position, no additional candidates were nominated and each nominee was accepted unanimously. Also, an additional nominee from the Senate was required for the Sabbatical Leave Committee. Senator Melton was chosen as that nominee.

With the retirement of David Halkola acting as University Ombudsman, a committee is being formed to search for a replacement. Senator Shapton was chosen as the Senate's nominee for that committee.

B. Curricular Policy - No report.

C. Instructional Policy - No report.

D. Institutional Evaluation - No report.

Senator Boutilier was reported as a new member to this committee. The committee also accepted Cal Gale's proposal regarding the Freshman Retention Problem as a charge to the committee.

E. Budget - No report.

F. Faculty Fringe Benefits - No report.

G. Faculty Handbook - No report.

Vice President Whitten noted that due to recent changes in the Board of Control proceedings the last handbook is outdated, and his office is considering developing a new edition.

H. Planning - No report.

I. General Education - No report.

J. University Computer Committee

Senator Francioni verbally reported that the committee has spent the summer reviewing equipment and costs as well as discussing a survey taken of the faculty and department heads.

The committee acted on a recommendation of the Deans supporting a policy which took effect on July 1, 1988 for one year. This policy limits initial "U" accounts on the IBM system to $2,000. When these funds are depleted, additional funds must be requested from Research Services and approved by Fred Erbisch and a committee. The intent of this policy is to evaluate computer use and help users find alternate resources.

Senator Francioni noted that the IBM system is reaching saturation and the situation will become more critical when the Library's NOTIS system comes on-line. The committee is presently doing site visits to determine what the campus situation is.

Senator Melton pointed out that the form to request a "U" account appears to require that the applicant have a specific goal and/or research before funds would be allocated. Since this is not the intent of the policy he recommended the form be modified to reflect the correct purpose of the accounts.

K. Quality of University Life Task Force

Senator Adler provided the Task Force's report as part of New Business.

 

Old Business - None

 

New Business

Senator Shapton passed on the President's gavel to Senator Janners. President Janners then conducted the New Business.

Senator Adler discussed the Quality of University Life Task Force's report of the results of the survey taken of students last year (Appendix E - Available by Request from the Senate Office)

The task force as part of their report made three recommendations.

  1. That the University set up a committee to study the Health Services provided to students including Health Insurance.
  2. That the Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student Council work with the Dean of Students and Dean of the Graduate School to determine the best means of voicing their concerns.
  3. And the the University set up a Campus Parking Committee to study the parking problem on campus.

Senator Adler, when asked if any of the raw data would be available, said the general data was being retained by the Task Force and would be available for use by other committees and departments. The Task Force will continue to analyze the data and work with other committees.

The report was unanimously accepted and will be sent on to the President.

There was no further business.

President Janners closed the meeting at 8:50 p.m.