MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER thirty-two
OF THE
sENATE OF the mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

 29 March 1967

(Senate Minute pages: 279-280)

The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday March 29, 1967, in Room 203, McNair Hall, Senate President G.E. Bahrman presiding.

The roll was taken. Present were: Anderson, H.B., Berry, Brown, Krenitsky, Lee, Oswald, Bahrman, Johnson, J.A., Johnson, V.W., Miller, Pollock, Yerg, Bayer, Boyd, Halkola, Hamilton, Hennessy, Keeling, Smith, R.L., Stebbins.

Absent were: Kennedy, Niemi, Tidwell, Boutilier, Heldt, Noble, Barstow, Been, Bovard, Bredekamp.

Guests present were: Dobson, Green, Rakestraw, Rappley, Volin.

Minutes of the last meeting were not presented for approval since this was a special meeting and limited to new business.

 

 

New Business

At the request of President Smith, three items of new business were presented for discussion with view of obtaining Senate opinion and action. Presented as questions, these are A, B, C:

A. What should be the policy of the University regarding offering courses in religion?

President Smith described action taken to date on the matter following requests for such courses.

  1. The Humanities and Social Studies Department had made recommendations concerning possible courses.
  2. The AAUP - Michigan Tech Chapter - had requested action on such courses be stopped, pending study.
  3. Having been requested to do so by some Faculty member, the American Civil Liberties Union had by correspondence requested information concerning the planned courses and had defined certain laws covering the matter.

Discussion was invited. None was presented. Dr. Pollock moved, Major Miller seconded and vote passed that a committee be appointed to study the matter and make recommendations to the Senate.

 

B. What smaller groups - colleges and schools perhaps - should be established within the University to handle the entire academic and research enterprise?

President Smith explained that some study has already been given to establishing separate administrative units for Engineering, Minerals Industries, Forestry, by people in these groups. Final decisions concerning them have not been made. No group has considered the organization of the remaining departments into one or more units. The reorganization of the University - if there is to be one - is a serious question and may be costly. Funding a Dean's office costs 35 to 40 thousand dollars. Reorganization into colleges can create schisms even though organization is improved. To provide recommendations to the Board of Control consideration in June, a May 15 date was suggested as target for a committee appointed by the Senate to study the problem and make suggestions.

Discussion was invited. None was presented. It was moved by Prof. Oswald, seconded by Prof. H.B. Anderson and passed by vote that such committee be appointed.

 

C. Should MTU undertake Science Teacher education?

Dr. Stebbins stated that all Michigan State institutions except MTU are training teachers. Reluctance on Tech's part to do this is of long duration. Training teachers for secondary schools requires formal courses in education and then certification. Many State Education Boards have established that teachers in Junior Colleges and Community Colleges in their States require no education courses but must have the M.S. degree in their specialty - Math, Physics, etc. Dr. Stebbins concluded by recommending that Tech obtain the necessary authority and institute such training.

During discussion, several pointed out the desirability of obtaining authorization to train science teachers.

Prof. Hamilton moved, Dr. Berry seconded and vote approved that a committee be appointed to study the question and make recommendations to the Senate.

The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,
G.W. Boyd, Senate Secretary