MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER twenty-eight
OF THE
sENATE OF the mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

 18 October1966

(Senate Minute pages: 253-255)

The meeting opened at 7:06 p.m., Tuesday October 18, 1966, in the Faculty Lounge, Senate President G.E. Bahrman presiding. This was the first meeting under the new constitution.

The roll was taken, 74% present: Group I - Anderson, H.B., Berry, Brown, Kennedy, Lee, Niemi, Oswald, Tidwell, Bahrman, Boutilier, Heldt, Johnson, J.A., Johnson, V.W., Pollock, Bovard, Boyd, Bredekamp, Halkola, Hamilton, Hennessy, Keeling, Smith, R.L., Stebbins. 26% were absent including: Krenitsky, Miller, Noble, Yerg, Barstow, Bayer, Been, Soo representative. Notification of anticipated absence had been received from Miller and Noble. Prof. T. Hampton substituted for Prof. Noble without vote.

The minutes of meeting No.27 (May 27, 1966) were not mentioned. May these be assumed satisfactory as previously distributed?

Old Business. No old business was considered at this meeting. Proposals 4-59 Sabbatical Leave; 3-65 Retirement; Special Student Council Proposal concerning final examinations for graduating seniors, remain as Senate business. Related to old business some changes in meeting dates were made compared to those published in the notice sent to all faculty October 7, 1966. New dates are:

Fall         Tuesday, October 18;      Tuesday, November 8, 1966
Winter    Tuesday, January 24;      Tuesday, February 21, 1967
Spring    Wednesday, April 19;       Wednesday, May 17, 1967

 

New Business

Senate President Bahrman read and explained the following draft which he had prepared in conjunction with the secretary, G.W. Boyd.

PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF THE SENATE

  1. A COUNCIL of the Senate shall be established and shall consist of the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Senate.

  2. The Council shall be the means by which general action of the Senate shall be conducted.

  3. The Council shall hold meetings at such intervals as to permit expeditious consideration of all matters to come before the Senate.

  4. Upon recommendation of the Senate, the Council may create, modify or discharge committees of the Senate and shall assign to these committees appropriate duties within the functions of the Senate.

  5. PROPOSALS - Proposals may be initiated by any member of the Senate by submitting said proposals in writing to the Council at least 15 days prior to the meeting at which they are to be presented. The Council, through its Secretary, shall circulate copies of proposals to all members of the Senate at least 10 days prior to the meeting at which they are to be presented.

    The Council, by majority vote, may attach a negative recommendation to the proposal before circulation to the membership. Proposals having the endorsement of the Council may be presented by their sponsors at the meeting following circulation to the membership. Proposals having a negative recommendation from the Council may be accepted for discussion from the floor of the Senate at the meeting following circulation to the membership by a majority vote of the Senate membership.

  6. ADOPTION - A majority vote of the Senate membership shall be required for adoption of a proposal.

  7. EMERGENCY SUBMISSION - Proposals which cannot meet the requirements as set forth above may be submitted from the floor of the Senate at any meeting by a majority vote of the Senate.

  8. QUORUM - A majority of the Senate membership shall constitute a quorum and shall be required for the transaction of business in all cases.

Immediately following the reading of the draft, some questions were asked and statements made.

Prof. Niemi: What happens if quorum not present?

Prof. Bahrman: The meeting would adjourn and a special one scheduled.

Dr. Stebbins: The Senate can adopt a proposal with 16 votes.

Prof. Halkola: Is an absence equivalent to a "no" vote?

Dr. Bredekamp: Generally, this is true.

Dr. Brown: Suppose a Senator is ill? Can a substitute represent him?

Prof. Bahrman: If this be possible, it could apply to Departmental representatives.

Dr. Keeling: Are these items by-laws?

Prof. Bahrman: Yes, they can be.

The draft was then considered item by item. After much discussion of each item, vote was taken with a minimum of 16 "Yes" votes being necessary for passage of the original or modified version of each item as follows:

  1. A COUNCIL of the Senate shall be established and shall consist of the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Senate.

  2. The Council shall function as a steering committee of the Senate for the conduct of Senate business.

  3. The Council shall hold meetings at such intervals as to permit expeditious consideration of all matters to come before the Senate.

  4. Upon recommendation of the Senate, the Council may create, modify or discharge committees of the Senate and shall assign to these committees appropriate duties within the functions of the Senate.

  5. Proposals may be introduced by any member of the Senate by submitting them in writing to the Council at least 15 days prior to the meeting at which they are to be presented. The Council, through the Secretary, shall provide copies of the proposals to all members of the Senate at least 10 days prior to the meeting at which they are to be presented. The Council may attach recommendations with reasons therefore to the proposals before distribution to the members.

  6. EMERGENCY SUBMISSION - Proposals which cannot meet the requirements set forth above may be submitted from the floor of the Senate at any meeting of the Senate provided the Senate by a majority vote agrees to hear them.

  7. A majority vote (16) of the Senate membership (31) shall be required for the adoption of a proposal.

    A proposal which is not changed by the Senate can be adopted by the Senate at once as above.

    A proposal which is changed by the Senate shall be published in the revised form and distributed to the general faculty after which the Senate may adopt the proposal as above at its next meeting.

  8. No action was taken by the Senate on this item - Quorum.

It was moved by Dr. Smith, seconded and passed by vote that in view of changes made, the Council shall rewrite these by-laws. Dr. Bredekamp to assist. The final draft is to be presented at the next regular Senate meeting.

 

Statements made during the meeting deemed of major importance to the Senate and its business

Prof. Bahrman: When the Senate member receives the agenda with the proposals to be considered at the next Senate meeting, he should confer with his department colleagues so that he can report the consensus opinion of his department to the Senate.

Dr. Brown - moved - If a Senator cannot attend a Senate meeting, his department head shall appoint a substitute for this one meeting only (Motion not supported but much discussed).

Prof. Halkola: This proposal would necessitate a constitutional amendment. It is too sweeping in effect to be a by-law provision.

Dr. Smith: During the writing of the new constitution, this was not considered a potential problem.

The meeting adjourned at 9:24 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,
G.W. Boyd, Senate Secretary