MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 170
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

25 October 1989

(Senate Minute pages: 2960-2969)

President Adler called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. on October 25, 1989 in room B-1 of the Ballroom of the Memorial Union Building.

Roll: Twenty four members/alternates were present. Absent were Jonathan Henkel, Glen Simula, William Rowe, and John Daavettila. The Institute of Wood Research was unrepresented. Continuing members President Stein and Provost Whitten were absent.

Visitors: Barry Kunz, Phyllis Johnson, Larry Julien, and Walter McCoy.

Minutes of Meeting No. 169 were accepted as corrected. Item H. University Computer Committee under the heading Committee Reports was corrected to read "Refer to the report from the University Committee on Campus-Wide Computer Strategy."

President's Report

President Adler reported that President Stein has appointed Donald Mikkola and Alan Brokaw to the University Planning Committee; Maximilian Seel, Cynthia Selfe and Charles VanCarson to the University Committee on Campus-Wide Computer Strategy with Vernon Watwood as chairperson. A memo received from Terry Monson concerning course numbering was referred to the Curricular Policy Committee. A memo from Provost Whitten concerning a faculty and institutional inventory from the Johnson Foundation was referred to both the Instructional Policy and Institutional Evaluation Committees. Dean Janners has volunteered as senator at large to serve as the chairperson of the Quality of University Life Task Force, and Bill Sewell has volunteered to be the general faculty representative. Vice President Bert Whitten has requested that an advisory committee be set up to oversee the University efforts in minority recruiting, quality of life, and retention. Vice President Stuckey has engaged a consultant to look into a long-term plan for campus needs and development in relation to physical plant and growth in various departments.

Vice President's Report

Vice President Tampas submitted reports of the September 22, 1989 Board of Control meeting (Appendix A - Available by Request from the Senate Office). President John Adler submitted a report of the October 17 Academic Council meeting (Appendix B - Available by Request from the Senate Office) which he attended in place of the Vice President.

Reports from Standing Committees

A. Budget Liaison Officer - No report.

B. Curricular Policy

Senator Bulleit submitted a report (Appendix C - Available by Request from the Senate Office) and reiterated the Committee's recommendation that the University retain flexibility and control over its admission policy.

C. Elections

Vice President Tampas reported the results of the election of two members to the Committee on Academic Tenure. Maximilian Seel and Stephen Bowen were elected to three- and two-year terms respectively. Destruction of the ballots was approved.

D. Faculty Handbook - No report.

E. Faculty Fringe Benefits

Senator DePuydt reported that the Committee has met to establish goals and objectives for the year. There will be a report at the next meeting of the University Senate.

F. Institutional Evaluation - No report.

G. Instructional Policy

Senator Suryanarayana provided a verbal report. On September 14 Provost Whitten wrote to the President of the University Senate seeking a review of the current status of the Center for Teaching Excellence. The Committee has met twice, once with Bob Jones and Duane Abata and once with Mike Agin, to get their perspectives on how the Center is running and what problems, if any, should be addressed. The Committee should have some recommendations in time for the next Senate meeting.

There was considerable discussion on the apparent lack of support for faculty and GTA teaching development as opposed to the processing capability of student evaluations in the current Center structure.

A motion was passed unanimously by the Senate recommending to the Provost that "The present structure that has been put in place for the Center for Teaching Excellence be considered as an interim structure until such time as the Senate makes recommendations regarding the Center for Teaching Excellence."

 

Reports from University Committees

A. University Planning Committee

Professor Kunz provided a verbal report. The Committee does meet with some regularity. This year's reports have been somewhat complicated by other bodies on campus such as the University Marketing Committee which have some impact on University planning. The Committee will be coordinating with other appropriate committees, administrators and faculty to produce only one long-range plan.

The following working hypotheses were selected for the planning effort.

  1. Budget growth will be constrained in the future. The Committee does not endorse a reduction in budget growth, but believes that it is a realistic projection for planning purposes.
  2. Graduate programs will grow in size and number. This is in line with the drive to become a Carnegie Doctoral I Institution.

The Committee believes that there is a need for greater diversity in the faculty and the student body. There should be further opportunities for women and minority students. It is the Committee's opinion that retention efforts should be aimed at students who are educationally disadvantaged.

There are strong opinions among committee members in several areas. The Committee feels strongly that civility is definitely required for minority and also majority student rights. There should be a vigorous "lack of toleration" for any form of harassment. This is a major concern for many members of the committee. There were racial affairs last year that have never been reported involving some of the minority graduate students. They were extremely unpleasant and extremely vicious. We simply need to try harder in these areas.

The Committee had a set of random comments related to the overall quality issue. They are not random in importance, but simply cover a variety of areas the Committee wants to look into.

  1. Improve teaching quality at all levels.
  2. Develop a strategy to acquire more high quality senior faculty.
  3. Introduce programs to remedy educational deficiencies.
  4. Develop additional full-ride scholarships for academically qualified minorities.
  5. Improve the non-engineering image and directing attention to other programs.
  6. Discuss the possibility of a campus-wide or at least a broad-based core curriculum for the freshman or freshman and sophomore year.
  7. Wish for a faculty club.
  8. Enhance the faculty's standing vis a vis the administration.
  9. Address some concerns about the quality of foreign versus domestic graduate students.

There was considerable discussion on the Committee's view on quality issues.

B. University Committee on Campus-Wide Computer Strategy - No report.

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

D. Teaching Award Procedure Committee

Professor Julien submitted a written report (Appendix D - Available by Request from the Senate Office).

The Senate recommended to the Committee that faculty who make nominations for these awards be required to write a short statement in support of their nomination and that students be encouraged to write a statement in support of their nominations. The Senate further supported the Committee's recommendation that the awards be presented at the President's reception the night before spring commencement and that the awards be recognized in the commencement program.

Old Business

There was no old business.

New Business

President Adler requested an update of Senate committee memberships and Senate alternates.

President Adler adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,
Gary Lyon, Secretary