university
SENATE OF
Minutes of Meeting 422
13 April 2005
Synopsis:
(1) The Presidents' Council Academic Affairs Officers have approved all six new degree programs and the name change in Law and Society Concentration in Social Sciences.
(2) Proposal 32-05, Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, will be voted on at the next meeting.
(3) Senate Officer nominations for next year include Martha Sloan (President), Becky Christianson and Joanne Polzien (Vice President), and Janice Glime (Secretary). Elections will be held at the next meeting.
(4) The Senate approved Proposal 27-05, Late Course Add and Drop Policies
(5) The Senate approved
Proposals 28-05, 29-05, 30-05, and 31-05, all name changes in degrees offered
by the
(6) The Provost will report to the Senate on the budget at a special meeting on 27 April.
1. CALL TO
ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Monson called University Senate Meeting 422 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, 13 April 2005, in Room B45 EERC.
Secretary Glime called
roll. Absent were At-large Senator Marty
Janners, and Senators from Army/Air Force ROTC, Chemistry, Computer Science,
Education, Fine Arts, ME-EM, Physics,
2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Guests included Mike
Neuman (Biomedical Engineering), Mike Powers (
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Monson requested that Proposal 32-05 be added to New Business, but would be discussed right after the President's report.
C. Selfe MOVED and Waddell 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 the appendices.]
4. approval of minutes from meeting 421
Maplethorpe MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 421. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
5. Committee business/reports
President’s Report
1. Madhu Vable resigned as a member of the Provost Search Committee. After consultation with the Executive Committee, President Monson appointed Ralph Hodek to serve as Vable's replacement.
2. The Presidents' Council Academic Affairs Officers approved all six new degree programs and the name change in Law and Society Concentration in Social Sciences. The six proposals will be on the 29 April 2005 Board agenda for final approval.
3. Two proposals have been brought forward that will need to be considered at our next meeting. These are the Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and the change in the E* and U* grades. The Ph.D. proposal in Biomedical Engineering will need to be considered as an emergency proposal because it circulated only 8 days before the vote.
4. President Monson has scheduled a special meeting of the Senate on 27 April 2005 so that the Provost can give us a budget update. By that time, the Provost will have met with the Board Finance Committee and should have more specifics concerning next year’s provisional budget. We hope to video-stream his presentation and will advertise the broadcast times for video replays on the educational channel (20). Senators should solicit questions from their constituents to bring to that meeting.
5. On 20 April 2005, the Senate will hold a special meeting to elect officers for the coming academic year. All newly elected Senators need to attend this short meeting to participate in the election. After this election, all current Senators will meet to continue business for this academic year, which will include presentations from Les Cook on his operations, from Warren Perger on the conclusions of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Information Technology, and from Ingrid Cheney from the Benefits Liaison Group, plus consideration of Proposals 26-05 and 32-05.
6.
Introduction of Proposal 32-05, Ph. D. Program
in Engineering – Biomedical Engineering
[Appendix B]
Senator Gorman represented the Curricular Policy Committee and presented their concerns regarding the proposal. First, they had no indication of a commitment from the Administration for $400,000 needed for startup. This money would most likely be needed the first three years, primarily for graduate student support and library support. The proposal states that a yearly increase of $4000 is needed for the library to support books and subscriptions, but the library estimates that it will cost $58,000 to support their needs, based on current use by undergraduates. There is no medical school to support the program. The proposal is interdisciplinary, but there seems to be no tight connection with any other department.
Mike Neuman, Chair of the Department of Biomedical
Engineering, responded that the library resources are indeed a problem. Phyllis Johnson, Director of the Library,
agreed that the library would do the best it could to support the program. At present, 175 undergraduates plus 10
graduate students are costing the library $58,000 in interlibrary loans. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is
working with the Portage Health System and with
The department would like to make this a departmental degree in biomedical engineering rather than using the general engineering umbrella.
Senator Nordberg asked if the administration is supportive of the proposal and if the amount requested would have to be shifted from the resources currently allocated to other departments.
Provost Reed responded that the administration is very supportive of the proposal. One item requested is graduate student lines, and this allocation would have to come from current lines.
Senator Gorman agreed that the needed money is mostly to support students and library needs. Reed responded that they anticipate that the actual library needs would be about $15,000 additional money.
Senator Johnson stated that we had been focusing on the problems with the program. What are the advantages?
Neuman responded that we need an active faculty to stay at the cutting edge and support the undergraduate program. The department currently has 5 1/3 faculty and is searching for another 1 2/3. It is hard to attract faculty with no Ph. D. program.
Senator C. Selfe stated that it would be wonderful to have this program at MTU. She is concerned that the Senate has to decide without knowing all that we need to know about how it will affect other programs in the University.
Senator Milligan stated that the department is currently advising Ph. D. students who are earning their degrees in other departments.
Marty Smith, Dean of the
Secretary Glime asked about the need for graduate support. Neuman responded that they would need money for graduate students to get started. It would be several years before the students would be able to write supportable proposals and before faculty could get support for students through their own grants. NIH grants usually get returned for re-writing on the first round. Thus it would be several years before the graduate program could be supported by grant funding.
Provost Reed added that they hope to be able to add these graduate research positions without having to take them from somewhere else.
Senator Mattila stated that it is normal for new faculty to need startup funds and this would be the same sort of thing.
Secretary Glime asked if we currently have any signed
agreements with any hospital facilities.
Dean Smith responded that Mechanical Engineering already has an
agreement with Mayo. Reed added that the
terms of that agreement are mutually agreed to and it will be easy to add the
biomedical engineering Ph.D. degree to the agreement. Neuman stated that there is already a draft
agreement with
Nordberg stated that asking where $400,000 comes from is a legitimate question. He asked rhetorically how many people in the room have the top ten resources they need in the library. He would like to see more of the actual costs to put together a good program.
Gorman stated that if the proposal is changed to a departmental Ph. D. we need to be sure to change the proposal language before it goes to the state.
Senator Wood asked what would happen to the program if this proposal is not approved. The biomed program needs to move ahead.
Reed responded that the proposal has been in Senate Committee for more than one year.
C. Selfe stated that it is difficult to make a decision. The Senate needs to come up with a process for approving new programs in the absence of a particular program. It is hard to turn down a proposal after so much time has been spent to develop it.
Reed responded that one cause of the delay had been that the Senate re-wrote the process and then the department chair had to re-write the proposal. Gorman added that the new format conforms with that required by the state.
C. Selfe stated that we still don't know where the money comes from. Senator Beck stated that the administration should write all the things departments want or need. The Senate can't make these choices.
President Monson stated that if the proposal has been forwarded to the Senate from the administration, then they have made their choice.
Mattila stated that the real hesitation is whose "turnip" it comes from. If a person or unit is against the proposal, it is viewed as opposing growth in the university.
Senator Sloan stated that it is time to think of the overall good of the university. We need a lot of growth. We can only recommend. We must hope that the people making the money decisions are looking at the good of the university.
Mattila asked if other schools have a biomed Ph. D.
program. Neuman responded that
Liaison Forel (GSC) stated that we must look at the return on the investment. Will it provide a return on our investment in a few years? How soon?
Reed stated that $320,000 is needed for graduate student support. The potential to bring in money is far greater on the positive side. This should occur in 2-3 years.
6. UNFINISHED business
Proposal
27-05, Late Course Add and Drop Policies
[See minutes, page 11430, for a copy of this proposal]
Senator Wagner stated that the word "late" should be omitted from the proposal because it was not restricted to late drop and adds. She also requested that the last sentence in the proposal be changed from "A student who drops all of their courses" to "Students who drop all of their courses." These were accepted as editorial corrections.
Wagner MOVED and Nordberg seconded the motion to approve Proposal 27-05 as corrected. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no opposition.
Proposal 28-05, Proposal to Change the title "Bachelor of Science in Surveying" to "Bachelor of Science in Surveying Engineering"
[see minutes, page 11432, for a copy of this proposal]
Johnson MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to approve
Proposals 27-05. Mattila stated that he
felt that any engineering program should be in the
Sutter responded that the licensing board for surveying is
driving the change. They want it to be
an engineering degree. They want the
students/graduates to be viewed as professionals. This would also make it possible for the
surveying students to sit for the engineering licensing exam. The
Mattila stated that he finds it fascinating that engineering grads can't sit for the surveying exam and that the surveying students can't sit for the engineering exam with the current degree.
Monson asked what would happen if the proposal fails. Sutter responded that we could still offer the program and students could get licensed, but they could not sit for the PE exam.
Senator Soldan stated that he agreed with Mattila that we shouldn't dilute the meaning of engineering. He asked if our surveying students would succeed on an engineering exam. Sutter responded that at Ferris, most students sit for both exams. Our students have not had the opportunity to take the engineering exam, but they have a much higher success rate on the surveying exam than do students at Ferris.
Mattila stated that faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering had a mixed response. Will this increase the number of students? Sutter responded that we can't say. Mattila added that a graduate needs four years of experience for each field and can't use the same for both.
The motion to approve proposal 28-05 PASSED on voice vote with no opposition.
Proposal 29-05, to change the name "Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology with concentration in Construction Management Technology" to "Bachelor of Science in Construction Management."
[see minutes, page 11434, for a copy of this proposal]
Mattila stated that he has 13 years of experience in the
construction industry and is the only construction engineer at MTU. Our program duplicates the programs at
Sutter stated that the department wanted to remove any connection with the "E" word.
Mattila stated that we will need more faculty to make the program successful. Monson asked how many students are in the program now. Gorman responded that it is hard to answer because they are all lumped under BSE in Technology and can't be identified by concentration. That is one reason they want to change the name. There are probably about 30 students now.
C. Selfe stated that approval for the program did go to the state level to see if would be competing, but it was approved. Mattila stated that it didn't compete then because it was the only one going to that accrediting agency. Now it will go to the same accrediting agency as the other programs. Reed added that they have just approved a program for MSU and when he reported our proposed name change they had no problem with duplication of programs.
Waddell stated that the restriction on duplication of programs has been around for a long time and has been ignored; two new programs in technical communication, started by our graduates, are approved for MSU and Northern and now compete with us.
Wagner stated that the new title is more understandable for new students.
The motion to approve Proposal 29-05 PASSED on voice vote with one opposing vote.
Proposal 30-05, to change the name "Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology with concentration in Mechanical Engineering Technology" to "Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology."
[see minutes, page 11436, for a copy of this proposal]
Clancey MOVED and Sutter seconded the motion to approve Proposal 30-05. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no opposition.
Proposal 31-05, to change the name "Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology with concentration in Electrical Engineering Technology" to "Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology."
[see minutes, page 11438, for a copy of this proposal]
Waddell MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to approve Proposal 31-05. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no opposition.
7. new business
Proposal 26-05, Additional Grades of E* and U* change to
Proposal 28-04.
[Appendix C]
Pat Gotschalk explained that the F* grade is a special failing grade for academic integrity discipline. The U and E grades are not currently covered in the same way. This proposal cleans up the language to make the procedures the same as those for the F* grade.
Elections Committee Report
Senator Nordberg reported on the elections. We have made a good faith effort to alert
Senate constituents to the various openings in the coming Senate year. There is one opening for an At-large Senator
from the academic units. There is only
one candidate for the position of academic Senator At-large – Larry Sutter from
the
Senator Wood asked why we have Senators-at-large. Nordberg responded that they provide representation for the greater interests of the university, not of a particular unit.
Nordberg asked once more if there were any nominees for the position of At-large Senator for the academic units, stating if there were none, then he'd like to make a motion to approve Larry Sutter to serve a full three-year term starting in 2005 and ending in 2008. Discussion ensued suggesting that an election would be a waste of time. President Monson indicated he would check on interpretation of the Constitution in that regard.
There are two new openings for At-large Senators from the professional staff units. The committee confirmed four nominees for these two openings:
-- Lynn Artman, Sponsored Educational Programs
-- Brenda Helminen, Telecommunications Engineering/Auxiliary
Technologies & Information Technology
-- Mark Maroste, Golf Course/Sports and
Recreation
-- Scott Pollins, Administrative Computing Services
Paper ballots have gone out to the full professional staff constituency. They are due in on Monday and the ballots will be counted on Tuesday. The person receiving the highest number of votes will serve a full three-year term, while the person receiving the second-highest number of votes will serve a special two-year term. This will allow for some continuity. We should be able to seat the two new At-large Senators for Tuesday's meeting.
Units need to elect their senators and alternates. He thanked Mechelle Normand, the Senate Assistant, who is working on this.
On Wednesday, 20 April 2005, the Senate will actually hold two meetings. Before our regular meeting, with the existing senators for 2004-2005, there will be a special meeting at which we need to have Senators and Senators-elect who will serve in next year's Senate. The main purpose of this meeting will be to elect Senate executives for the 2005-2006 year. We have received two names for the vacancy of President, and there is a third who has yet to confirm their involvement.
Martha Sloan from Electrical Engineering has agreed to run for President. We have also confirmed two candidates for Vice-president. Becky Christianson, from Human Resources has agreed to stand for re-election, and Joanne Polzien from Research has agreed to have her name put forward. We have only identified one candidate for the position of Secretary. Janice Glime has agreed to stand for re-election.
When we come to the elections next Wednesday, we will deal with each of the positions separately.
-- A final call for nominees will be made and nominations will be accepted from the floor. Nordberg asked that those considering making a nomination from the floor please invite the candidate to attend so that we can confirm their willingness to serve if elected.
-- After nominations for a particular position have been closed, each of the candidates will be invited to make a 5-minute statement if they choose. They will also be able to take a question or two from the Senate. It is hoped that this might allow Senators a chance to gage the different candidates and their thoughts on the coming year. We will not be printing a voter’s guide.
-- A paper ballot will be distributed for the election for each office.
-- The Senate bylaws indicate that a "majority vote is needed for the election of an officer. If there are more than two candidates and a majority is not obtained, the candidate with the lowest number of votes shall be stricken from the list of candidates and another vote shall be taken until a majority is obtained." (Senate bylaws section E)
Nordberg will not be able to attend the meeting on 20 April, but is making provisions for other members of the Elections Committee, with the assistance of others, to complete this process.
He thanked Mechelle Normand and members of the Senate Executive Committee for their assistance.
C. Selfe asked if we could have alternates for the At-large Senators. Nordberg indicated that Senators can designate someone to take their place when an alternate is not available, including at-large Senators.
8. Adjournment
Clancey MOVED and Polzien seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime
Secretary of the University Senate