Synopsis: The Senate

(1) heard a report on distance learning from Bill Shapton.

(2) amended Proposal 11-01.

(3) introduced Proposals 10-01 and 23-00.

(4) approved Proposal 12-01.

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1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Keen called University Senate Meeting 348 to order at 5:38 p.m. on Wednesday, 28 March 2001, in Room B45 EERC.

Secretary Pickens called roll. Absent were At-large Senator Warrington and representatives from Education, Fine Arts, Mathematical Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mining and Materials Processing Engineering, Physical Education, Keweenaw Research Center, Auxiliary Enterprises, and Student Affairs and Educational Opportunity. Liaisons in attendance were Anup Bandivadekar (GSC), Jake Young (USG), and Becky Christianson (Staff Council).

2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Visitors included Steve Bowen (Vice Provost for Instruction) and Marcia Goodrich (Tech Topics).

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Keen presented the agenda. There were no objections to the agenda. [Appendix A. NOTE: Only official Senate and Library archival copies of the minutes will contain a full complement of appendices.]

4. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
The Fringe Benefits Liaison Group met on March 20. The focus of this meeting was to identify strategies to control health care costs.

The Search Procedures Task Force met on March 20. The goal of this task force is to revise the search procedures for the President, Provost, vice presidents, and other university wide administrators. The first task was to create a smaller group than the 18 person task force to facilitate development of the procedures. This group was created, and it is anticipated that the task force will have a proposal for Senate consideration before the end of the year.

The Budget Advisory Group (BAG) met on March 22. The educational phase for the BAG is completed, and it will now address financial and budgetary decisions.

The Vice President for Research Search Committee met on March 26. There is a good pool of internal candidates, but they would like to expand the pool, especially with external candidates. Keen asked for the Senate's help in identifying high quality candidates for this position.

The Strategic Planning Working Group met on March 16 and 23. They are finalizing procedures needed to request proposals to begin implementing the strategic plan.

The Senate will sponsor a forum to discuss the Michigan Tech Enterprise Park (MTEP) on Thursday, April 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Dow 642. Keen distributed a copy of an email he sent in response to an inquiry by Jim Mitchell, Board of Control member. [Appendix B] The reply was a modification of an earlier Executive Committee effort to craft a Senate statement on MTEP. The survey forms will be distributed to senators the day before the open forum. A web site is being developed with information concerning MTEP, which includes published and unpublished documentation about MTEP, assorted information about enterprise parks, and links to over 35 similar parks at different universities.

Proposal 13-01, Policy on Early-Term Class Surveys, and a proposed amendment to the proposal will be mailed to Senators and Alternates later this week. The amendment has been proposed by representatives from the Undergraduate Student Government. The proposal will be eligible for a vote at the April 11 Senate meeting.

The Senate will be electing four at-large Senators this spring, and Keen asked that we try to find qualified candidates.

Senator Williams has found that a campus rumor is not true. The rumor was that participants in the MPSERS retirement system who left with a spouse for a sabbatical would not be allowed to rejoin the MPSERS system on their return. There is no MTU policy or practice that would prohibit the person from returning to MPSERS, and the state, which administers the system, currently does not restrict employees from rejoining the system. Please contact the Benefits Office for more information.

5. COMMITTEE BUSINESS/REPORTS
Distance Learning -- Bill Shapton [Appendix C]
Bill Shapton, Director of Distance Learning for the College of Engineering, provided a report on the current status of distance learning at MTU. The major focus of distance learning is continuing education, which is an activity that MTU has traditionally not been very involved in because we are in a very low population area. Although some of our distance learning offerings are targeted at individuals, most are offered in cooperation with industrial clients. The classes are generally offered using taped lectures. Lectures delivered to live classes are preferred, but this is not always possible. The tapes are viewed by the class, with a class moderator in attendance. The moderator also administers tests. Extensive information about the various programs offered was presented.

Several senators expressed concern about some of the graduate degrees offered by distance learning. The primary focus of this concern was the PhD program offered through ME-EM. Students entering this program must have a masters, and it requires thirty credits. However, none of these credits need to be earned from MTU. Senator Barna asked if it was possible to complete a PhD degree from MTU without ever being on campus. Shapton responded that they did not need to take any classes on campus, but that there are three different two-week periods when the student must be on campus. Senator Ftaclas expressed concern that these students were progressing through the system faster than our on-campus PhD students. He noted that the PhD programs he was familiar with have at least a one-year residency requirement on campus, and stated that he was very uncomfortable with the absence of a residency requirement. Shapton responded that our industrial partners have much more advanced facilities to do the required research, and that he believes this advantage outweighs the disadvantage of very limited expose to MTU. These facilities also have extensive technician support which allows them to do the research more quickly. Ftaclas responded that doing the technical aspects of the research project are, in fact, a major component of the educational process. Shapton added that GM must agree to fund faculty advisors for at least two summers. Ftaclas asked if there are any publication requirements or other constraints that must be satisfied to earn this PhD Shapton responded that there are no requirements or limitations. There is an intellectual properties agreement to assure that legal ownership of innovations is clear.

Senator Hodek asked what GM's goal is in the program. Do they primarily want the person to have the PhD credential? Shapton responded that GM's primary goal is to have one of their engineers reach world-class status in a specific area of scientific inquiry.

Senator Beck asked if the distance learning PhD Students take the same comprehensive examination as the ME-EM on-campus PhD Students. Shapton responded that they do.

6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Proposal 11-01, Amendment to Requirements for Graduation [See minutes, page 8984, for a copy of this proposal.]
Ftaclas MOVED and Pennington seconded the motion to approve Proposal 11-01.

Senator Barna indicated that the fact that the residency requirement could be satisfied by MTU distance learning courses was of concern to his constituents. Senator Ftaclas noted that one of the BS distance learning degrees just presented by Bill Shapton would not satisfy the residency requirement even if the distance learning courses were included. That degree program is the Bachelor of Science in Engineering with an option in Mechanical Design. It would not satisfy the requirement because it could not satisfy clause (a), which requires that 30 of the last 36 credits be from MTU; this degrees has 9 of the last 36 credits taken by distance education at other universities. Senator Ftaclas asked if distance education classes were really to be considered equal to classes taken on campus at MTU. Senator Snyder responded that the Curricular Policy Committee intended that distance learning classes be treated the same as classes taken on campus, and that the policy is designed to not discourage study abroad and co-op experiences. He added that the proposed policy is identical to the University of Michigan policy.

Vilmann MOVED and Pennington seconded the motion to strike item a. Senator Sutter commented that the School of Technology programs would generally not satisfy item b, and that he would rather see a more comprehensive solution. He suggested that it might be a better solution to require that a certain proportion of the total credits be earned at MTU. Senator Seidel commented that he would prefer to see a clause in (a) that would permit approved degree programs that do not otherwise meet the conditions of (a). There was no further discussion. The motion FAILED on a voice vote.

Snyder MOVED and Hodek seconded the motion to add the following to the end of the proposal.

Degree programs which cannot meet the requirement that their students complete 30 of the last 36 hours at Michigan Tech due to curricular design constraints may apply for an exemption to requirement (a). The President or his designee, the Provost, may grant such programmatic exemptions upon recommendation of the Senate Curricular Policy Committee.

Pennington MOVED and Strong seconded the motion to amend the first sentence of the amendment as follows.

Degree programs with special requirements may apply for exemptions.

Discussion ended. The motion to amend the amendment PASSED on a voice vote with dissent.

Barna MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to amend the second sentence of the amendment as follows.

The President or his designee, the Provost, may grant such programmatic exemptions upon approval of the Senate.

Discussion ended. The motion to amend the amendment PASSED on a voice vote with no dissent.

President Keen ruled that this amendment is a significant change in the proposal; the proposal cannot be voted on until 10 days have passed unless the Senate decides to treat it as an emergency proposal.

Barna MOVED and Sutter seconded the motion to add regular to the following:

Courses which meet the "at Michigan Tech" requirement are defined as courses listed in the course catalog and taught by regular Michigan Tech faculty either on campus, at field locations, or through distance learning.

Senator Pennington commented that this would cause problems while a faculty member is on sabbatical and their classes are taught by adjunct faculty. Several other Senators noted problems that could occur within their degree programs if this amendment was included. Barna clarified that his concern was primarily that there are many adjunct faculty who are at remote sites, and that monitoring quality would be a problem.

Discussion ended. The motion to amend FAILED on a voice vote.

There were no further amendments.

The amended proposal will be distributed soon, and will be considered at the next meeting.

President Keen requested a variance from the approved agenda to introduce new business items A and C. There were no objections to the request.

7. NEW BUSINESS
A. Proposal 10-01, Supplemental Contribution to Eligible TIAA/CREF Employees [Appendix D]
Keen introduced the proposal. Senator Barna asked that the proposal be circulated to the constituents.

C. Proposal 23-00, Amendments to Proposal 13-95, Faculty Grievance Policy and Procedures [Appendix E]
Keen introduced the proposal. Keen provided background information on the proposal. It was approved by the Senate last October, and has been reviewed by the administration and their legal counsel. This review resulted in several suggested modifications. The Faculty Grievance Task force, chaired by Senator Reed, has reviewed and approved the document in the proposal. There are two substantive changes from the proposal approved last October. The first is that the current proposal prohibits legal council for either side from attending the proceedings. The second is the elimination of text at the bottom of page 2 of 6 and continuing to the top of page 3 of 6.

B. Proposal 12-01, Search Procedures for Dean of the Graduate School [Appendix F]
Keen introduced the proposal. The Administrative Policy Committee, chaired by Senator Oberto, drafted the proposal and forwarded it to the Senate with their support.

Vilmann MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to approve Proposal 12-01.

There was no debate. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

8. ADJOURNMENT
Hodek MOVED and Malette seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

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