MINUTES OF MEETING NUMBER 176
OF The
Senate OF mICHIGAN tECHNOLOGical university

19 September 1990

(Senate Minute pages: 3126-3157)

President's Report

The Board of Control created a new Department of Chemistry on July 23, 1990. According to the Senate Constitution that department is entitled to a seat on the Senate. The motion to seat Larry Julien as the Chemistry Department senator was approved without opposition on a voice vote.

President Adler announced his appointment of William Shapton to serve as Senator At Large for this meeting in place of Terry Monson (currently in Saudi Arabia on sabbatical). The Senate can decide what to do about the completion of the term under new business.

President Adler provided a written report (Appendix B - Available by Request from the Senate Office) to inform the Senate and University community about actions taken during the summer to resolve some of the issues raised at the last two Senate meetings.

The administration is currently implementing Senate Proposal 1-89.

The Board of Control's procedure for selecting a new president to replace President Stein who is retiring in September 1991 is set forth in Appendix C (Available by Request from the Senate Office). A mechanism for selecting the 12 candidates from the academic community will be taken up under new business.

The state of Michigan has budgeted the Teaching Excellence Awards. The Ad Hoc Teaching Award Procedure Committee has developed a new student nomination procedure to alleviate problems that arose due to the new registration procedures.

Dean Lee reported on the progress of the Provost Search Committee.

The Committee was formed jointly by the President and Senate President. The charge was to search as widely as possible. Advertisements were placed in a number of national publications, and letters were sent to presidents of about 105 universities with graduate programs and to several special interest groups asking for assistance in finding candidates for the position. We have received a good group of nominations and candidates. The search will continue independent from the search for a new president. Review of applications will start September 20 and will continue for approximately three weeks. The final set of serious candidates will meet with all segments of the university community and written comments will be solicited.

Vice President Tampas reported on the progress of the Vice President for Governmental Relations Search Committee.

The Committee met in early June to develop a position description which has been circulated in national publications and sent to all Michigan state universities as well as other selected universities. We have 40 applications. Four of the candidates have been contacted to visit campus. One candidate has already visited campus for a one day visit and two more candidates should visit within the next two weeks. This initial visit is for screening purposes and is not open to the general university community. There is a feeling that confidentiality of candidates should be maintained at this point. The final selection process will probably include additional on-campus visits which may include meetings with the university community.

Sandra Kunz, Coordinator of Community Programs, reported on some new developments.

The wellness program is moving forward in response to Senate interest. There will be a shuttle bus from campus to the SDC during the lunch hour. Joining the wellness program is free, with a $1 per day SDC use fee. Program participants will receive a free logbook to record physical activities. Patches will be awarded for 50 hour and 100 hour activity levels. Special programs such as the noon walk will continue. All people covered under the University Traveler's insurance policy are eligible.

The child care program provides training and education for providers and a referral service.

A multicultural awareness parade will take place October 13 downtown. Ethnic foods will be provided.

Vice President's Report

Vice President Tampas provided written reports of the Board of Control Meetings of July 20, 1990 and September 18, 1990 (Appendix D - Available by Request from the Senate Office). The Vice President emphasized 1) the 6.5% tuition increase, 2) four faculty representatives from the academic community will be selected from a list of twelve provided by the Senate to serve on the President Search Committee, and 3) the attorney hired by the Board to investigate the Ventures Group is in the final stages of gathering information.

There was some discussion of whether the Board of Control has sufficient information to select four faculty members from the list of twelve submitted. The Board's decision process was not specified.

Vice President Tampas provided a written report of the September 19, 1990 Academic Council meeting (Appendix E - Available by Request from the Senate Office). The Academic Council is meeting weekly this fall, and the representative from the Senate is encouraged to participate in the discussions.

Committee Reports

A. Budget Liaison Officer

Senator Hubbard requested that Vice President Stucky provide the report on the University budget.

The State budget will probably be out of balance, however, nothing will be done about it until after the election. Therefore, we will probably experience a mid-year budget cut. We are withholding approximately $900,000 of the University budget as unallocated to ease this potential mid-year shock (Appendix F, page 1 - Available by Request from the Senate Office). There have been some discussions of how we may make further cuts or raise additional funds if necessary.

Vice President Stucky provided data which illustrates the change in priorities across the University and in Operations and Finance (Appendix F, pages 5-6). In the areas of Operations and Finance priorities have increased in personnel services and administrative computing.

B. Curricular Policy

Senator Bulleit summarized the history of four Ph.D. proposals: Civil Engineering, Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. Significant modifications were requested in all of the proposals by the Curricular Policy Committee and the Graduate Council. These modifications were addressed during the summer, and all of the proposals were resubmitted for review. The review by the Committee has been completed. Due to lateness of the next scheduled Senate meeting relative to the next Board of Control meeting, the Committee would like to have these proposals introduced under new business as emergency proposal submissions.

C. Elections

Vice President Tampas presented a slate of candidates for the Senate offices of President, Vice President and Secretary. Additional nominees for all of these offices were requested, but none were proposed. The motion for the Senate Secretary to cast a unanimous ballot for the slate of officers was adopted on a voice vote without opposition.

Senate officers for the 1990-91 academic year are Larry Julien, President; Peter Tampas, Vice President; Gary Lyon, Secretary.

D. Faculty Handbook - No report.

E. Fringe Benefits

Senator DePuydt reported that the three main issues from last year are in the process of being implemented or are being addressed by the administration. The fourth main item from last year (retirement benefits for family members) will be on the Committee's agenda this year.

F. Institutional Evaluation

Senator Hubbard reported that the Committee met regularly during the month of August to develop the final draft of Proposal 2-89. Senator Hubbard also expressed his appreciation for the amount of effort put forth by Committee members and others who volunteered their services during this period.

G. Instructional Policy - No report.

 

Reports from Affiliated and/or Ad Hoc Committees

A. University Planning Committee - No report.

B. University Computer Executive Committee

Vice President Stucky reported that the Committee met today and will continue to meet about every six weeks. Some of the issues being examined are:

1. Communication about computing on campus. Too many people do not know what facilities exist on campus and what direction we are moving.
2. Computer labs on campus are being inventoried. The Committee will focus on computer lab fees. Uniformity of how fees are assessed, how the income supports the labs, and how to simplify the mechanism for students will be examined.
3. The Committee is examining the work schedule of the CTS staff. How are work priorities assigned, etc.

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

D. Teaching Award Procedure Committee - No report.

E. Academic Calendar Task Force - No report.

 

Old Business

A. Proposal 2-89, Proposal to Establish a Formal Evaluation Procedure for the MTU Administration

The proposal was revised to reflect the comments from the Senate at meeting 175.

Discussions about how the Commission was to be selected by the Senate included a suggestion that the Colleges of Sciences and Arts and Engineering, for example, elect the three members from the departmental nominations instead of having the Senate elect the three Commission members from each. The major issue was proportional representation based on numbers of faculty and students within a department versus a balanced representation which would increase the chances of smaller departments being selected to the Commission. It was further suggested that the Commission select the chairperson rather than the Senate member of the Commission serve as chairperson.

The comment was made that charge of the Commission is to gather and collate information. The Commission does not make a final judgment. Their task is to go out among the constituents of the Senate and the University to gather information. Therefore, there should be some balance for them to be able to do that.

There was some clarification about the reporting of evaluation results. The Commission would submit a report to both the Senate and the Board of Control. The report, including any responses, submitted to the Senate would appear in the Senate minutes.

Some concern was expressed about the examples included in the appendices. The Committee felt these to be representative and that the Commission should develop its own procedures and evaluation instruments. The appendices were intended as models and were not intended to be the procedures and evaluation instruments applied by the Commission.

Considerable discussion occurred about specific wording of the proposal. The motion to amend Proposal 2-89 as follows:

1. first paragraph, page 6 to be "Outlines of general procedures for presidential assessment used at other institutions appear in Appendix A."
2. third paragraph, page 6, the word "committee" be changed to "commission" in the final sentence.
3. first paragraph, page 7, second sentence to be "Evaluations thereafter will be performed at three year intervals, or more often if deemed necessary by the MTU Senate."

was adopted on a voice vote without opposition.

The motion to adopt Proposal 2-89 was passed without opposition on a show of hands. The amended pages appear in Appendix G (Available by Request from the Senate Office).

New Business

 

Respectfully submitted,
Gary Lyon, Secretary