THE
university SENATE OF
Minutes of Meeting 428
12 October 2005
Synopsis:
The Senate
(1) Heard a report from Les Cook that enrollment is increasing and applications for fall 2006 are up.
(2) Heard a report from John Lowther on the sabbatical leave data for the past four years.
(3) Heard a report from Marty Smith on recommendations for the summer school and distance learning programs.
(4) Introduced Proposal 2-06 defining and clarifying the approval of undergraduate certificates.
1. CALL TO
ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Sloan called the University Senate Meeting 428 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, 12 October 2005, in Room B45 EERC.
Secretary Glime called roll. Absent were at-large Senators Larry Sutter and Scott Pollins and representatives from Civil & Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, and Academic Services C. Liaisons in attendance were Becky Christianson (Staff Council), Liz Van Heusden (USG), and Nick Nanninga (GSC). Army/Air Force ROTC currently has no elected representative.
2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Guests included Kurt Hauglie (Daily Mining Gazette), Les Cook (VP Student Affairs), Marty Smith (Committee on Summer School and Distance Learning), and John Lowther (University Sabbatical Leave Committee).
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Sloan asked to rearrange the agenda so Les Cook could speak next because he had to leave for a USG meeting at 6. The other committee reports by guests would follow.
Maplethorpe MOVED and Waddell seconded the motion to approve the agenda as modified. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no dissent. [Appendix A. NOTE: Only senate and library archival copies of the minutes will have a full complement of appendices.]
4. Reports
Cook presented three brochures that are being used for marketing. The Table Piece reflects the fact that students thought that our advertising should embrace the idea that MTU students are smart. The View Book presents activities and language that would appeal to 17 and 18-year olds. The Be Assured brochure is for parents and is very content oriented.
The fall enrollment on campus shows a 3% increase in undergraduate students and 10% in graduate students. This amounts to 116 new students (accounting for graduating a smaller class than the ones already here). Recently added programs are accounting for notable increases in numbers of students in those programs; for example, wildlife ecology and management increased from 2 to 20. There was an increase of 101 freshmen and 15 transfer students.
Prospects for 2006 indicate 27% more total applications and 45% more completed applications than at this time last year. The university had asked the Board of Control to approve a free online application process so that students would complete applications sooner, permitting the university to target individual students sooner. International applications for 2006 are up 100%, minority up 26%, and female up 57%.
Senator Amato-Henderson asked what percentage change there is in those who come vs. those who complete the application. Cook responded that the yield had increased because the pool was larger.
Senator Gorman asked if the 2006 applicants had received the brochures. Cook responded that they had received the Table Piece but not the View Book.
Senator Nordberg asked if we are getting data on the quality of the applications. Cook responded that the university has changed its scholarship policy in ways that will target the best students (see minutes of meeting 427).
Senator Heiden asked how our increases compare with other schools. Cook responded that we have in place a better tracking system and will be getting those data.
Senator Boschetto-Sandoval asked which minority groups were increasing. Cook responded that the Hispanic applications have increased, but that African American applications are down.
b. Report of the Sabbatical Leave Committee –
John Lowther
Approved applications for sabbatical leave were as follows:
2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02
21 17 23 22
Successful proposals were those that included research goals, professional goals, and well-described activities. Those needing minor revisions usually required that the chair or dean write more than a simple okay. Those needing major revisions were returned to the applicant and most were resubmitted.
Applications were divided among those where research was based in the local area and those where the research was to be done elsewhere.
2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02
local 9 6 16 12
away 12 10 7 8
Projects during sabbatical leaves included manuscript writing, research and papers, new areas of teaching or research, music, and teaching at another university.
Senator Nitz asked how many faculty are eligible. Lowther responded that he didn't know the numbers but that a person had to be here 6 years before being eligible for a sabbatical leave.
President Sloan asked how many took year-long vs. semester-long leaves. Lowther responded that those numbers are in the report and are approximately half for each.
Senator Nitz commented that the number taking sabbatical leaves is only half of what it could be. There could be as many as 50 eligible per year.
The committee consisted of Marty Smith (chair), Bev Auel, Beth Reed, John Lehman, Anita Quinn and Tim Schulz.
The committee felt that MTU summer school was under-utilized. Basically a department or faculty member tries to find the number of students required to cover the salary of the instructor.
The report hasn't been accepted by the Administration yet. Both the chairs and the Administration were skeptical of the recommendations. The chairs thought it would result in $200,000 going to the Administration, whereas the Administration thought it would result in $350,000 going to the departments. The recommendation was that 2/3 of the revenue should go to the department.
The committee wants to talk to the students early for input. Ten students in a 3-credit grad course would result in $9,360 to the department; faculty would be paid from that amount. The 2005 revenue from summer school has still not been credited to the departments. The committee recommends departments be given immediate credit. They also recommend combining summer school with distance learning. In response to Katrina, 160 schools offered courses online within 3 weeks; MTU offered 3 of these, showing that we have the ability to respond quickly when there is a need. Our students complain that the courses they need are not offered in the summer.
Senator Gorman asked what the existing model is. Smith responded that you take a person's salary, divide it by 24 and multiply by 3 to determine the amount needed for salary. The department/school makes 1/12 of the excess money. If the course doesn't break even, the department realizes only 1/12 of the loss.
Gorman asked how many students enroll in summer school. Senator Janners responded that there are about 1000.
Senator Waddell asked if we recruit students from other
schools for summer school. Smith
responded that we don't do much. We
should try using distance learning for summer school. The
Senator Waddell asked the percentage of students who take summer school courses at home vs. the number who take them elsewhere besides MTU. Smith responded that most take them near home.
Senator Turnquist commented that many students have indicated they don't do co-ops because the courses they miss during the co-op are not offered in the summer.
Vice President Christianson commented that the summer fees are prohibitive. Smith responded that the university is considering a different set of fees in the summer. Distance learning students pay a fixed fee of $38 per credit.
Senator Wood commented that the departments are not aware of what courses students want.
Senator Milligan asked what we are doing for marketing for students who are here. What are their needs? Smith responded that MTU is department-based and this makes it difficult to get the big picture.
Senator Boschetto-Sandoval stated that local teachers don't know what is going on at MTU. Smith had talked to Brad [Baltensperger]. 700-1200 teachers in MN need to finish their degrees in mathematics within three years and there is no distance education available for them to do it.
Secretary Glime added that in her experience as an advisor she found there are not enough appropriate courses for students to earn 12 or more credits. We need more offerings of distribution courses, especially in track B.
Senator Flaspohler stated that we could solicit faculty to find out what courses they might be willing to offer before we survey the students.
5. approval of minutes from meeting
Senator Amato-Henderson pointed out that no representative from education had been at the last Senate meeting.
Clancey MOVED and Nordberg seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 427 as corrected. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
6. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
a.
The Administration has approved Proposal 1-06,
2006-2007 Academic Calendar.
b.
The
Provost notified the Senate President that he would be unable to attend this
meeting or the next one.
c.
Thanks
to your cooperation we’ve made great progress in selecting chairs for Senate
committees; only two—Benefits and Administrative Policy—lack chairs and we
understand they are both meeting this week.
d.
The
Executive Committee met Monday of last week and plans to meet Monday of next
week. We reviewed progress on proposals and started to look at how well our
current complement of Senate committees contributes to our mission.
e.
Senate
Secretary Janice Glime has been active in seeking representation for those
academic departments who are not yet represented. She has worked with the
Provost to authorize representation from Biomedical Engineering and Engineering
Fundamentals. We hope those two departments will soon elect Senators and join
us here.
f.
At the
request of the Provost, a small group has looked into restructuring the office
of the ombudsman. A proposal on this is close to submission.
g.
With
Senate committees close to being fully operational, we need to turn our
attention to other committees for which the Senate contributes members. I’m
asking your help in finding people who would be willing to serve on the
following seven committees. Paige will send a follow-up e-mail on these
committees. So far as we know, none of these committees is term-limited so
members whose terms have expired who wish to continue are welcomed. The first
five need faculty members, in some cases tenured faculty members. The last two
are open to both faculty and professional staff.
Academic Integrity Committee—Faith Morrison’s term has ended, and she is on sabbatical leave. Other
members are Gregg Bluth and Hugh Gorman. The Senate selects one faculty member
for a three-year term.
Academic Tenure Committee—The terms of Tom Merz and Michele Miller have ended as well as the term
of Tom Snyder, who was selected by the President. The academic faculty needs to
elect two tenured faculty members for three-year terms.
Athletic Council—The terms of Carl Vilmann and Randy Freisinger have ended. Bob Baillod continues. The Senate needs to
select a slate of tenured faculty members from which the President will appoint
two for three-year terms.
Sabbatical Leave Committee—The terms of Sandra Boschetto-Sandoval and John Lowther have ended.
Continuing members are Sonia Goltz, Kurt Paterson, and Gerry Caneba. The Senate
needs to provide the President a slate of faculty members for five-year terms.
Faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee—The terms of Kathy Halvorsen, Ted Soldan,
and Blair Orr have ended. Other members are Peck Cho [who is on sabbatical
leave] and Sylvia Matthews. The Senate needs to elect one faculty member and
the faculty need to elect two to this committee.
Inquiry Committee (Scientific Misconduct)—The term of Marvin McKimpson has ended.
Remaining members are Jim Loman and Brad King, with Dave Nitz, alternate. The
Senate needs to elect another member.
Conflict of Interest Committee—Susan Amato-Henderson’s term has expired. We need to elect someone to
replace her for a three-year term and there may be another vacancy. Deb Bruch is the other known member of the
committee.
h.
There are other committees whose terms of
membership or even continuing existence are unclear. The Senate Executive
Committee will be looking closely both at Senate committees and at University
committees for which the Senate deals with the selection to ensure that all
necessary committees are staffed.
7. New business
Proposal 2-06,
Undergraduate Certificates
Senator Gorman presented Proposal 2-06 [Appendix B]. He stated that the committee encourages departments to use minors or concentrations instead of certificates whenever appropriate. Certificates are listed on the transcript. A new certificate is being proposed in coaching.
7. Adjournment
Turnquist MOVED and Maplethorpe seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 6:44 pm.
Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime
Secretary of the University Senate