Synopsis: The Senate

(1) heard that President Tompkins has approved seven proposals.

(2) approved meeting dates for 2000-2001.

(3) approved a resolution that President Tompkins accept a member for the Senior Vice President for Advancement and Marketing search committee elected by the Senate.

---

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Keen called University Senate Meeting 336 to order at 5:34 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 August 2000, in Room B45 EERC.

Secretary Pickens called roll. Absent were At-Large Senators Kunz, Adolphs, and Beck, and representatives from Chemical Engineering, Education, ME-EM, Materials Science and Engineering, Auxiliary Enterprises, and Student Affairs and Educational Opportunity. Liaisons in attendance were Josh Bennett (USG) and Ted Soldan (Staff Council).

2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Visitors included Curt Tompkins (President), Steve Bowen (Interim Provost), and Marcia Goodrich (Tech Topics).

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Keen proposed adding a new item 4. Remarks by President Tompkins and to renumber the subsequent items.

Ftaclas MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to approve the agenda as amended. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no dissent. [Appendix A. NOTE: Only official Senate and Library archival copies of the minutes will contain a full complement of appendices.]

4. REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TOMPKINS
President Tompkins stated that, contrary to recent perceptions, the administration and the Senate have most often been in agreement since his arrival. He emphasized that communications need to be improved, and that he would be available to speak with the Senate whenever requested if his schedule permits. Involvement and participation are critical to the process, and he acknowledged the involvement of the Senate and raised concern about the low level of general campus participation on some crucial issues such as the open forums held to provide input to the strategic plan. He suggested that the vice presidents attend a future meeting to clarify their responsibilities and current initiatives and to exchange ideas and information with the Senate.

Next, he addressed the status of the strategic plan and expressed his support for the process. The major emphasis for this year will be taking the strategic plan from a conceptual framework to implementation. Changes in the Strategic Planning Committee include Kent Wray for John Sellers, Bob Keen for Bruce Seely, Michele Miller for Brett Hamlin, and Bruce Rafert for Ed Fisher. All other members will be the same, and Kent Wray will chair the group. He asked the Senate to focus on the process used in developing the plan, and requested input with respect to the process being used. The target schedule is to have recommendations ready for the annual Board of Control retreat, and to address the details of strategic plan implementation. The strategic plan should be dynamic, and evolve as the situation changes.

Budget process should be driven by the strategic plan, but operate on a three-year process. The University budget balanced last year, and the approved budget for this year projects a balanced budget. He also expressed appreciation that we received the best appropriation from the state since he has been here. He did express concern that current balanced budgets may be misleading because current and past activities have committed us to a sequence of expenditures in the future, and these commitments must be accommodated within the budget process.

The campus master plan needs to include the many dimensions of MTU's development, including traditional concerns such as residence halls and parking as well as emerging programs such as distance learning and academic initiatives. Bill Blumhardt will head up the revision of the campus master plan. The Center for Integrated Learning is the first project in this process, but where we go after that depends on emerging issues and should be consistent with the strategic plan.

He asked us to attend the annual convocation September 20 in the Rosza Center, and to encourage our constituents to attend.

Senator Roggemann asked if we were really committed to reaching Carnegie I status. President Tompkins said that Carnegie has changed their categories, and that MTU is now in a category named doctoral research intensive. The other category we might have gotten into if we had more fields of doctoral study is Doctoral Research Extensive. MSU, UM, WSU, and Western were put into the extensive category. The Doctoral Research Extensive is considered more prestigious, and it would be better if we were in that category. He believes we should get up to 20 doctoral fields by 2005, but does not know if that is possible. He did emphasize that we should worry about what is best for us, and what fits our vision rather than just to match the Carnegie categories. However, the state budget process seems to favor the Doctoral Research Extensive category. He would like resource allocation decisions to consider, but not be driven by, the Carnegie classification.

Senator Ftaclas suggested single-item meetings with Tompkins to encourage communication. President Tompkins was supportive, and also suggested that the vice presidents could also be included in some way. He also announced that Provost Kent Wray and his wife Wanda would host the annual breakfast and lunch meetings with the faculty and staff.

5. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Keen reported that Proposals 12-00, Encouragement of Sabbatical Leaves; 16-00, Certificate in Design Engineering; 17-00, Certificate in Media; 18-00, Certificate in Writing; 19-00, Non-Departmental PhD Program in Propulsion Systems Engineering; and 22-00, Recommendations on Medical and Health Insurance Benefits were transmitted to the administration. [Appendices B-G]

He also reported that Proposals 14-99, Proposal to Institute Double Majors; 5-00, Changes to University Sabbatical Leave Policy; 14-00, BS Degree Program in Biomedical Engineering; 16-00, Certificate in Design Engineering; 17-00, Certificate in Media; 18-00, Certificate in Writing; and 19-00, Non-Departmental PhD Program in Propulsion Systems Engineering were approved by the President.[Appendices H-N]

Proposal 7-00, Tenure, Promotion and Reappointment Procedures is under review by the Provost.

Keen will meet with Interim Provost Bowen to discuss Proposals 12-00, Encouragement of Sabbatical Leaves; and 23-00, Amendments to Senate Proposal 13-95, Faculty Grievance Policy and Procedures.

Keen reported that Senate Proposals 1-99 through 4-99 (dealing with separation) have been reviewed by legal counsel. President Keen will discuss the status with President Tompkins.

Don Beck has agreed to replace Phil Sweany as Senator At-large until the next election cycle.

6. 2000-2001 MEETING SCHEDULE
Keen presented the proposed Senate meeting dates for 2000-2001. [Appendix O] Pegg MOVED and DePuydt seconded the motion to approve the meeting schedule as presented. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

7. SENATE COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Jeanne Meyers, Senate Assistant, distributed a preliminary list of Senate standing committee assignments. Keen directed the interim chairs to convene their respective committees for the purpose of electing chairs prior to the September 13 Senate meeting. Chairs also serve on the Senate Executive Committee. Senators wishing to change assignments should contact Jeanne by September 12.

8. UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE VACANCIES
Meyers distributed a list of vacancies on University committees. Senators are urged to nominate individuals to serve on these committees.

9. SEARCH COMMITTEE - SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT AND MARKETING
Keen summarized the policy, and indicated that it is not clear that the Senate needs to be involved in this search. The duties which VP Sellers had that were directly under the Senate's oversight, primarily enrollment management, have been moved back to the Provost. Senator Pegg asked what the breakdown of tentative committee membership was, and Keen responded that the committee was mostly staff with one student and one or two faculty. Senator Ftaclas asked about the nature of the marketing component of the position. Interim Provost Bowen clarified that the marketing component was to promote the general image and visibility of the University. Senator Lutzke asked if there was still enough marketing associated with position, given the move of Enrollment Management to the Provost, to justify retention of "Marketing" in the title. Bowen said that the exact title is not final at this point. Senator Strong voiced support for having the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee serve on this search committee. Ftaclas expressed concern that there were no academic duties, and therefore no Senate involvement, associated with the position when VP Sellers was hired, but Enrollment Management was later moved under his control.

Williams MOVED and Synder seconded the motion that President Tompkins accept on the Senior Vice President for Advancement and Marketing search committee a member of the Senate elected by the Senate. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

Senator Pennington said that we must move quickly, and suggested that we make this an emergency motion; we should either pick the candidate now or select one in our meeting in two weeks at the latest.

10. DISCUSSION OF SEARCH PROCEDURES FOR UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS
Keen noted that there were major problems with our policy for senior administrative search procedures, and reminded the Senate that there will soon be a search for Sung Lee's replacement. Keen will direct the Administrative Policy Committee to review the search procedures for University administrators.

11. ADJOURNMENT
Strong MOVED and Roggemann seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by James B. Pickens
Secretary of the University Senate