Synopsis: The Senate
(1) elected Patricia Heiden (Chemistry) to the Faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee (FDSAC).
(2) approved the slate for the FDSAC ballot.
(3) approved Proposal 20-02, Amendments to Proposal 10-98, Emeritus/Emerita Professor Policy.
Secretary Craig Waddell called roll. Absent were At-large Senators Don Beck and Lee Oberto and representatives from Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ME-EM, Mining and Materials Processing Engineering, Physics, Keweenaw Research Center, and Student Affairs and Educational Opportunity. Liaisons in attendance were Becky Christianson (Staff Council) and Wayne Johnson (USG).
2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Visitors included Marcia Goodrich (Tech Topics).
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Keen presented the agenda and asked for
amendments. There were no amendments or
objections to the agenda as presented. [Appendix
A. NOTE: Only official senate and library archival
copies of the minutes will contain a full complement
of appendices.]
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MEETING 366
Keen presented the minutes from meeting 366
and asked for corrections. Waddell noted that on
page 9600, Kelly Strong should be identified as the
faculty MTEPS representative, not as the senate
MTEPS representative. He also noted on page
9606, "The R&I fund is now suffering because of
these transfers, but Michigan Tech would be in even
worse condition if it had not been for the $3.9
million transferred to the general fund" should be
changed to read, "The general fund is now
suffering, but it would be in even worse condition if
it had not been for the $3.9 million transferred from
the R&I fund."
Keen asked if there were objections to the minutes as amended. There were none. The minutes were declared approved as corrected.
5. PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Keen reported that the senate had forwarded to
Provost Wray and President Tompkins Proposal 13-02, Enterprise Minor. [Appendix B]
Keen said that a Master of Engineering report was called for in Proposal 5-98. The two-page cover memo for this report was attached to the agenda for Senate meeting 367; an eight-page attachment with further details is available in the senate office or from Associate Dean of Engineering Neil Hutzler. Keen asked if the senate would like Hutzler to discuss the Master of Engineering program with the senate. No one requested such a discussion. Keen said that he would notify Hutzler that the Master of Engineering report was satisfactory to the senate. [Appendix C]
The proposal for a Manufacturing Minor submitted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics was reviewed by the Senate Curricular Policy Committee and returned to ME-EM with requests for amendments. Senator Dieter Adolphs said that ME-EM is working to amend this proposal.
Keen said that the Benefits Liaison Group is working on a retirement plan. Senator Tony Rogers will present the details of that plan to the senate in four weeks. The plan will be presented to the Academic Forum at about the same time.
The Strategic Planning Working Group has been developing measurables for the objectives in the strategic plan. The SPWG will work on this plan with the Board of Control during the board's March 14 retreat. The SPWG will then return to the constituent units to further develop the strategic plan.
Keen said that the senate had passed Proposal 14-02, a brief, Board of Control Financial Policy. This policy was tabled at a Board of Control meeting. The Senate Executive Committee conferred with some members of the Board of Control and decided to produce a substitute motion for the board, which will be voted on at the board's March 15 meeting. Keen read the following, substitute motion into the minutes:
"13.24 FINANCIAL CRISIS
The Board of Control, upon recommendation of the
President, has the authority to declare the existence
of a financial crisis. The President, in accordance
with established university procedures, shall
implement the necessary actions for determining
and managing a financial crisis."
Keen said this substitute motion accomplishes what the senate wanted to accomplish. Adjacent to this motion in the Board of Control's agenda is the full text of Proposal 15-02, Financial Crisis Policy, together with a letter of transmittal from Keen and the approval of Provost Wray and President Tompkins. Keen said that this is probably the first time that such a letter has appeared in the Board agenda and that this represents an advancement for shared governance.
Keen said that the Board of Control has and is sympathetic with the senate's plan for financial crisis. The plan for financial stress should soon be returned to the senate, after having been reviewed by the university's attorney.
Keen said that two of the three proposals for search procedures have been reviewed and requests for clarifying language have been made. Later this week, these amended proposals will be returned to the senators for their review. The third proposed search procedure, 17-01, Presidential Search Procedure, is under review by the Board of Control.
The senate will meet informally with President Tompkins on Thursday, May 2, from 3-5 p.m. in Ballroom B of the Memorial Union Building.
6. COMMITTEE BUSINESS/REPORTS
University Committee Elections
Keen said that the Faculty Distinguished Service
Award Committee consists of five members: two
elected by the faculty at large, two elected by the
senate, and one appointed by the provost. The
terms of one of the members (Bogue Sandberg)
elected by the faculty at large and one of the
members (Barry Pegg) elected by the senate expired
on 31 August 2001. The remaining members of the
committee are Carl Anderson, Dennis Lewandowski,
and Susan Martin.
Nominees to replace Sandberg are Susan Amato-Henderson (Education), Cindy Selfe (Humanities), and Ted Soldan (Fine Arts). Keen opened the floor for additional nominations. There were none. There were no objections to closing the nominations. The academic faculty will elect from the slate.
The nominee to replace Pegg is Patricia Heiden (Chemistry). Keen opened the floor for additional nominations. There were none. There were no objections to closing the nominations. Heiden will serve a three-year term.
Keen urged senators to solicit candidates/nominees for the Conflict of Interest Committee. He said that this committee meets infrequently but addresses significant issues when it does meet.
7. NEW BUSINESS
Proposal 20-02, Amendments to Proposal 10-98,
Emeritus/Emerita Professor Policy [Appendix D]
Keen said that the intention of this proposal was
to allow all emeritus or emerita faculty to assume
the rank of Professor Emeritus/Emerita, regardless of
their previous academic rank. However, some
faculty who retire at a lower rank may prefer to
retain this rank, and some faculty who retire at a
higher rank (e.g., Presidential Professor) may prefer
to retain this rank. Hence, the Senate Academic
Policy Committee proposed amending the proposal.
Keen asked Senator Carol MacLennan to comment.
MacLennan said that the proposed amendment would give emeritus or emerita faculty the option of becoming professor emeritus/emerita or of retaining the title they held at the point of their retirement; e.g., Presidential Professor Emeritus/Emerita. The proposed amendments read as follows: Section 1 "Independent of their previous positions, all emeritus/emerita have the same rank, Professor Emeritus/Emerita, except that the retired faculty member may elect to retain the title at which they retired"; Section 5, "except that the emeritus/emerita faculty may elect to retain the title at which they retired."
MacLennan said that objections to the original proposal came from people who felt that they weren't consulted in the development of this proposal. She recommended that in the future, the senate involve retirees in the development of policies that will affect them.
Pickens MOVED and Martin seconded the motion to approve Proposal 20-02.
There was no discussion. The motion to approved PASSED on a voice vote of the academic departments with no dissent.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Bruch MOVED and Gale seconded the motion to
adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Craig Waddell
Secretary of the University Senate