MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 167
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

15 March 1989

(Senate Minute pages: 2917-2930)

Vice President's Report

Vice President Tampas provided a report on the Academic Council of March 14, 1989 (Appendix A - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

Standing Committee Reports

A. Elections - No report.

B. Budget Liaison Officer - No report.

C. Curricular Policy

Senator Sewell reported that the committee has met to consider a proposal for a Ph.D. program in Rhetoric and Communications. The committee was unanimously in favor of the proposal. Consideration of the proposal by the Senate was taken up under New Business.

D. Instructional Policy - No report.

E. Institutional Evaluation - No report.

F. Faculty Fringe Benefits

Senator DePuydt reported that Al Niemi has been added as a member of the committee. The committee has met with Bob Hauswirth and Wayne Torgeson to discuss SDC memberships, and with Vice President Stucky to discuss SDC memberships and "cafeteria" style flex benefits planning. Proposals submitted by the committee were submitted under New Business.

G. Faculty Handbook - No report.

 

University Committee Reports

A. Quality of University Life Task Force - No report.

B. University Committee on Campus-Wide Computer Strategy

Senator Francioni provided a report on the activities of the committee (Appendix C - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

C. Long-Range Planning - No report.

Senator Shapton commented that Duane Abata might be asked to report at the next meeting on the activities for the last report and Barry Kunz will be invited to report on the latest activities of the committee at the first meeting in the fall.

D. General Education - No report.

 

Old Business

Senator Sprague provided a report on the grade history of MTU students to the Senate. The material was referred to the Instructional Policy Committee by President Shapton. That committee was asked to provide an overview report at the next meeting if possible.

New Business

A. Proposal 1-89, Tuition for Spouses of Full-Time Faculty/Staff Members

Proposal Statement: Spouses of full-time faculty/staff members shall be able to enroll without tuition charges for up to eight credits each quarter (including summer session).

Senator DePuydt gave same background on the proposal. She stated that the actual cost of the proposal would be the lost revenue of the spouses who would normally be enrolling for courses. Also, the proposal is intended to include all ROTC faculty/staff.

Discussions included questions on why an earlier proposal which was similar had been rejected, how many people might be involved in the program, how does this benefit compare to the benefit now available to employees, is there a definition of who is included in faculty/staff, and what effect would the proposal have on employment of student spouses?

Other considerations were how great an effect would the proposal have on the tuition income for such programs as the graduate program in humanities, should a longevity requirement be added, how does this compare to similar benefits at other institutions?

Since a number of these questions could not be adequately answered, it was voted unanimously to send the proposal back to the committee for better definitions of terms and to further study the impact on the University.

B. Proposal 2-89, Child Adoption Fee Benefit for Full-time Faculty/Staff

Proposal Statement: Full-time faculty/staff members shall have a child adoption fee benefit equivalent to the current maternity delivery expense fee covered by their MTU health insurance policy.

Senator DePuydt gave some background information. She stated that since the University is self-insured the University covers maternity fees, if a couple are unable to have a child of their own they would not be able to take advantage of the benefit. The proposal would provide a fee benefit equivalent to the normal maternity expense. The normal adoption fees are approximately $3,000 for a U.S. child and $7,000 for a foreign child. The normal maternity costs are between $3,000 and $4,000. The intent is that the benefit only covers administrative costs, mother's prenatal expenses, foster home paperwork and care and no legal fees would be included.

After a discussion of the impact the proposal would have and the definition of terms, several modifications were made to the proposal. After the modifications were made the proposal was accepted unanimously. The final proposal statement read:

Faculty/staff members shall have a child adoption fee benefit, paid to a licensed adoption agency, equivalent to the current maternity expense fee for a normal delivery covered by their MTU health insurance policy.

C. Proposal 3-89, Commitment to Develop a Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication

Proposal Statement: The Senate of Michigan Technological University recommends the establishment of the program offering the Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Technical Communication.

Since the proposal had not been distributed in advance of the meeting, Senator Sewell moved the proposal be considered under emergency submission articles of the Senate bylaws. The motion was supported and after some discussion was accepted with one dissenting vote.

The discussion primarily centered on the reasons the proposal needed to be considered as an emergency submission. The reasons given were that the proposal needed to be considered at this meeting so it could be sent on to the administration in time to be considered by the Board of Control at its next meeting on March 17, and then be sent on to the State Vice Presidents Council meeting in May.

Background on the proposal was provided (Appendix D - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

Discussion on the proposal was concerned with the numbers of undergraduate and graduate students presently enrolled in the program and the numbers of graduates at the undergraduate and graduate levels. There are now about seven graduates per year and the program has been in place for three years.

Concern was also noted on the ability to generate funding through research programs and grants. It was noted that such funds are more difficult to obtain than similar funds in technical areas but every effort will be expended to obtain them.

Concern was also voiced that all such proposals recently have been submitted as emergency submissions which is a poor practice.

The proposal was unanimously accepted as submitted.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,
David B. Sprague, Secretary