MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 70
OF The
sENATE OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

23 May 1973

(Senate Minute pages: 844-863)

Meeting No. 70 was called to order on Wednesday, May 23, 1973 at 7:00 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge by President A.S. Weaver.

The roll was called by the Secretary. Twenty-seven members or alternates were present. Absent were Barstow (AL), Johnson (SC), Meteer (FF), and Nordeng (GE).

 

The Minutes of Meeting No. 69 were approved with the following corrections:

Page 832, third paragraph, quotation beginning with line 8 (additions and changes are underlined) should read:

"of the twenty faculty members in the School of Business, which school actually graduates as many as or more graduate students than all other components on campus combined in many years, only four are members of the Graduate Faculty. Of these four, one is dead, one does not teach any graduate courses as a matter of choice, one teaches very few graduate courses, if any, and has not taught in the School of Business for ten years, and the fourth is the only one who actually teaches graduate courses on a regular basis."

Senate President's Report - President Weaver's report is included here as Appendix A (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

 

Deferred Action on Barstow's Motion (see page 832)

Hodek moved that the motion be removed from the table. The motion passed by a vote of 16 Yes, 4 No. In response to a request from the floor, Dean Yerg distributed a statement outlining the current procedures (See Appendix B - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

The current criteria emphasize independent study and investigation resulting in the publication of results in a form publicly available. The absolute minimum requirement is one publication per five years.

Following a brief series of questions by several Senators present, Dean Yerg recommended that the Senate establish some other less formal approach to settling problems of this sort -- perhaps a grievance committee.

Following the discussion, the original motion failed by a vote of 18 No, 0 Yes.

Report on Meetings of the Academic Council and Board of Control

 

Committee Reports

A. Curricular Policy

Spain introduced Proposal 2-73, Course Change Policy (page 840), by moving that it be adopted. A lengthy discussion followed during which many favorable comments were made concerning the "provisional approval" approach. However, several speakers urged the inclusion of sufficient lead time to permit informal review by people outside the department as well as a withdrawal of provisional approval during any subsequent formal review requested by an outside department.

Part way through the discussion, Spain indicated that he felt the proposal would have to be rewritten to satisfy the stated objections. He therefore requested a copy of these comments as well as those of any interested faculty.

A motion to refer the proposal back to the committee was made, seconded, and passed.

 

B. Instructional Policy - No Report.

C. Audio-Visual Instructional Material

Rakestraw moved the adoption of Proposal 3-73, Statement on Audio-Visual Materials Policy (page 842). The motion was seconded. During the discussion, objections were raised to the concept of using a standing commission to establish policy by precedent rather than to spell out a policy to be used to guide the commission. The size of the commission, the frequency of elections, and the lack of continuity also came under question.

Following the discussion, the motion was defeated by a vote of 10 No, 7 Yes.

DelliQuadri then moved that rather than simply be dropped, the subject of an Audio-Visual Materials Policy be referred back to the committee for study and generation of a policy to be returned to the Senate within one year. The motion passed by a vote of 23 Yes, 0 No.

Rakestraw then distributed copies of a Progress Report on Patent Policy which is included here as Appendix D (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

D. Curricular Impact - No Report.

E. Elections

Following a question concerning the definition of "large margin" in the election procedure (page 812, item I-3-b), Halkola moved that the Elections Procedure Committee be reactivated for the purpose of defining the term. The motion passed by a vote of 19 Yes, 0 No.

Weaver discovered a mix-up in the report of the ROTC Departments. The term of the AROTC member (Erion) expires this year. Due to an apparent mix-up in the mail delivery, the AFROTC Department received the notice to replace their member whose term does not expire this year. The matter will be resolved before summer, and a corrected roster will appear in the Annual Report.

F. Instructional Evaluation

Liba's report is included here as Appendix F (Available by Request from the Senate Office). In response to a question from the floor, Liba stated that the committee's intent was that the proposed standing committee aid in determining the evaluation of the procedures rather than the evaluation of the teaching itself. He then agreed to the substitution of the words "procedure in" for the word "of" in the last line.

Halkola moved that the proposal not be considered as internal Senate business but instead by placed on the Agenda for the first fall meeting as a formal proposal. His motion carried by a vote of 19 Yes, 0 No.

G. Promotion Policy Review - No Report.

 

Old Business

Liba relayed several complaints he had received concerning the Bookstore. It was alleged that procedures followed by the Bookstore in some cases resulted in late deliveries and insufficient numbers of copies of textbooks. It was suggested that the Bookstore manager be invited to departmental meetings to discuss these problems where they seem to exist. Although it was suggested, no formal motion was made to involve the Senate directly in the matter.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

 

Ralph S. Horvath
Secretary