THE university SENATE OF MICHIGAN
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Minutes of Meeting 409

15 September 2004

Synopsis:

(1) The Senate passed Proposal 51-04, Criteria for Financial Evaluation of Proposed Academic Programs

(2) The Senate passed Proposal 1-05, Academic Calendar for 2005-6.

(3) The Senate voted to change the next meeting date from 29 to 30 September, and if the faculty elect to join the AAUP union, to meet again the following Wednesday.

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

President Monson called University Senate Meeting 409 to order at 5:35 PM on Wednesday, 15 September 2004, in Room B45 EERC.

Secretary Glime called roll. Absent were at-large Senators Beck and C. Selfe and representatives from Army/Air Force ROTC, Fine Arts, Physics, Keweenaw Research Center, Academic Services – Non-Engineering, Enrollment Management and Student Records and Registration, and Finance and Advancement. Liaisons in attendance were David Forel (GSA), Philip Ribeiro (USG), and Becky Christianson (Staff Council). Humanities, Academic Services – Engineering, and Auxiliary Enterprises currently have no elected representatives.

2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS

Guests included Kent Wray (Provost) and Marcia Goodrich (Tech Topics).

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

There were no changes to the agenda. [Appendix A. NOTE: Only official senate and library archival copies of the minutes will contain a full complement of the appendices.]

4. approval of minutes from meeting 408

Senator Amato-Henderson stated that she would like to see more detail in the minutes to reflect the discussions. Pollins MOVED and Rogers seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 408. The motion PASSED on voice vote with dissent.

5. President's report

President Monson introduced Amie Ledgerwood, who was recently hired as the Senate Assistant.

President Monson has inquired about the status of Proposal 9-04 (Enhancing the Campus and Community) and was told by Pres. Mroz that administrative action will be forthcoming.

President Monson corrected his statement in meeting 408 which stated that Jay Meldrum had been appointed to the Conflict of Interest Committee; he has found that the Senate must elect members to the Conflict of Interest Committee.

President Monson reminded Senators of his promise to contact representatives from other universities where a Senate and AAUP co-exist. He had reported several already with the Senate agenda and distributed one from Joel Russell, AAUP Grievance Officer from Oakland University. President Monson had asked Ellen Horsch to check with MERC regarding the effective date of faculty being represented by the AAUP in the event AAUP is elected as the faculty bargaining unit. Denise Hinneburg responded from MERC that the representation would be effective upon certification, which requires about two weeks. Monson announced that the officers had decided not to present a proposal to change the constitution until after the election. To facilitate response to the election, they recommended that the next meeting be held on Thursday, 30 September, following the availability of the election results, rather than Wednesday, 29 September. The Provost will be unable to attend that day.

Board Chair Roger Kershner has requested that materials to be considered by the Board be sent to the board members two weeks before the Board meeting. President Monson will attach such reports to the Senate agenda to become part of the Senate record.

President Monson announced that Senate committees will need to meet soon to select their chairs so that the Executive Committee can meet prior to the next Senate meeting.

The Smart Zone program will sponsor grant-writing workshops 4-5 October. More information is available from Alan West, 487-7000. He has asked West (CEO) to give a report later this fall on the Smart Zone's financing and activities.

6. Unfinished Business

A. Senator Davis presented Proposal 51-04, Criteria for Financial Evaluation of New Academic Programs [See minutes, page 11234, for a copy of this proposal]. He pointed out that proposals for new programs often lack financial information. Although the Senate can only advise on financial matters, it is desirable to consider the cost in approving new programs.

Senator Amato-Henderson suggested that the word "new" be changed to "proposed." Davis accepted this as a friendly amendment.

Nordberg MOVED and Amato-Henderson seconded the motion to approve Proposal 51-04 with the friendly amendment. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.

B. President Monson presented Proposal 1-05, Academic Calendar for 2005-06 [See minutes, page 11236 for a copy of this proposal]. This would start the academic year on 29 August, end the first semester exams on 16 December, start second semester on 9 January and end it on 29 April. Summer school would be 8 May to 12 August.

Wood MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to approve proposal 1-05. The motion PASSED on voice vote of academic department Senators with no dissent.

7. NEW BUSINESS

A. President Monson presented the Senate Committee Assignments that the officers put together. These will be voted on for approval at the next Senate meeting. Anyone wanting to change committee assignment or who has not yet responded should contact the Senate President. Those names with an asterisk will be the conveners of the first committee meeting. S and A refer to Senator and Alternate, respectively. Senator Wagner asked if there are items waiting for committee action. President Monson replied that he would provide charges to the conveners.

B. University committee nominations require Senate elections. The list of nominees was distributed. In some cases there are two nominees, but the terms are of different lengths; the one receiving the most votes will have the longer term.

More nominees are needed for the Sabbatical Leave Committee.

Nordberg MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Hugh Gorman to the Academic Integrity Committee. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Pollins MOVED and Waddell seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Larry Lankton and Larry Sutter to the Athletic Council. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Williams MOVED and Pollins seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Judy Endsley to the Computer Executive Committee. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Waddell MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Michael Gretz to the Distance Learning Implementation Committee. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Waddell MOVED and Janners seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Sylvia Matthews to the Faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Clancey MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to close the nominations of Jim Loman and Brad King to the Scientific Misconduct Inquiry Committee. A secret ballot was conducted to determine which would serve the longer term (the one with more votes). The motion PASSED on voice vote. Brad King was elected to the longer term with 22 votes and Jim Loman was elected to the shorter term with 7 votes by secret ballot.

Rogers MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Terry Monson to the Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation Board. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

M. Johnson MOVED and Amato-Henderson seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for Dana Johnson to the Presidential Commission for Women. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

Rogers nominated John Williams for the slate of candidates to be presented to the University President for the Sabbatical Leave Committee; Williams accepted the nomination. Clancey MOVED and Waddell seconded the motion to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for John Williams. The motion PASSED on voice vote.

No vote was taken on the nominations for the Conflict of Interest Committee because nominee Jay Meldrum is an administrator (Director of KRC) and is not eligible.

C. President Monson presented a proposal to change the date for Meeting 410 from 29 September to 30 September. Senator Milligan expressed concern that there would not be enough time to get input from constituents between the AAUP election and the meeting. President Monson responded that there would be sufficient time to get constituent input before the second vote at a meeting the following Wednesday. He would seek contingency approval from the Board at their next meeting.

Senator Janners asked what would happen if the constituents vote no. President Monson responded that the Vice President of the Senate would then lead the Senate since the faculty would no longer be members. The remaining Senators would then have the choice to include or not include the faculty in future Senate business.

Senator Waddell reminded the Senate that the exclusionary nature of the Senate Constitution might not be legal. What would happen if the staff were to join the AAUP? President Monson said that it might be better to refer to the exempt staff or non-represented groups as a means to include professional staff.

Senator Amato-Henderson asked why the UAW membership couldn't be part of the Senate, and shouldn't we look at that. President Monson responded that they might not be interested in the things the Senate typically discusses. Secretary Glime added that it would take at least a year to lay the groundwork to add them to the Senate constituency; it took two years to lay the groundwork to succeed in bringing the professional staff into the Senate. We need wording now that can be accomplished quickly.

Sloan MOVED and Rogers seconded the motion to approve the proposal to change the date of Meeting 410. Senator Johnson suggested we should find out who would be able to attend on the new date. Four Senators indicated that they could not, but it was not known if their alternates could attend. The motion to change the next meeting date and if necessary add a meeting the following Wednesday PASSED on voice vote with dissent.

D. Larry Glenn, a representative of the national AAUP, presented a brief summary of AAUP/Senate relationships in the University of Connecticut system. President Monson asked that the presentation and discussion be limited to 30 minutes. Dr. Glenn reported that in 1975 the full-time faculty elected AAUP for their representation. In 1982, the part-time faculty joined the represented group, including 1200 members in each group.

Glenn served on the Senate from 1977 to 1991. He served as Senate president 1985-88. He served as president of the AAUP at his university from 1991 until 2002 when he retired. Since then he has served at the national AAUP level.

The Connecticut system has four campuses. Southern has a faculty senate and the other three campuses have university senates. They agreed to set broad rules with latitude for the local senates that would allow such institutions as the promotion and tenure structure to continue and that each campus could continue whatever parts of their present governance system that has worked for them. This arrangement brought more legitimacy to the senate. The contract with the AAUP made the senate responsible for certain decisions and documents. Therefore, all documents written pursuant to the contract are grievable. Both the Senate and union gained from their mutual support and the senate became more powerful. The university president had to respond within 14 days whenever the senate sent legislation to the administration.

Senates usually have problems getting people to serve, so making the activities of the senate more important makes people more willing to serve.

Senator Wood inquired how the vote went. Glenn responded that there is always a choice of "no agent." In the final vote of AAUP vs no Agent, the AAUP received 70% of the votes.

The union avoided trying to direct the senate. The AAUP union differs from the Senate in having legal responsibility to all members in the unit. The senate has no legal responsibility to represent the unit members.

Senator Milligan asked how to handle the situation when the senate represents non-AAUP members. Glenn responded that the senate had asked the union to make the president responsive. The majority of the senate had to be comprised of instructional faculty. Glenn was more concerned about the units that were non-represented. He reported that at Southern the professional staff got AFSME to give them senate representation. However, the senate said no, so it became a divisive issue.

Glenn pointed out that MTU had department and school charters. It would be best to recognize these in the contract. Don't throw away the parts that work. The administration is usually more comfortable with the senate in charge than with a union in charge because there is no contract with the senate. The faculty at MTU have a reputation of being cooperative and it is important to continue that. The Board is often fearful of unions because they have a business experience with unions. Glenn felt the job got easier after the union. Collective bargaining puts rules in writing, with rules if those contract rules are violated. He again cautioned to try to avoid a confrontational model. Administrators often want to have a lawyer at the table, but that is a terrible idea.

Senator M. Johnson expressed disagreement with Glenn. He pointed out that having unions in this country is causing us to lose jobs to overseas. Glenn responded that the jobs will go due to the economics. The promise of improved skills by out-sourcing labor jobs has not happened. But education should not be a "for profit" enterprise. The fight with the public and governments who fund education must be joined by faculty who know what is required to educate.

Johnson responded that the AAUP can't help us to stop that problem. Glenn replied "Don't give up now." We must convince MTU of the value that must continue.

Johnson continued that unions had bred mediocrity. Glenn countered that faculty are professionals who compete for status, not money.

8. Adjournment

Pollins MOVED and Sloan seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime

Secretary of the University Senate