THE
university SENATE OF
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Meeting 448
31 January 2007
Synopsis:
The Senate
(1) heard that the search committee for the Dean of the College of Sciences and Arts is nearly complete
(2) heard that the State Academic Officers approved the new Ph. D. program in Atmospheric Sciences and MS in applied Natural Resource Economics
(3) passed Proposal 15-07, Minor in Diversity Studies
(4) passed Proposal 17-07, Amendment to Proposal 12-01, Search Procedures for Dean of the Graduate School
(5) passed Proposal 18-07, Departmental Name Change from Department of Education to Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
(6) passed Proposal 19-07, Amendment to Proposal 19-01, Search Procedures for College Deans
(7) passed Proposal 20-07, Amendment to Bylaws, Senate Standing Committees – Organization
1. CALL TO
ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Sloan called the University Senate Meeting 448 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, 31 January 2007, in Room B45 EERC.
Secretary Glime called roll. Absent were at-large Senators Michele Miller, Larry Sutter, Brenda Helminen, and Scott Pollins, and representatives from Army/Air Force ROTC, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Fine Arts, Geological and Mining Eng & Sci, Library, Materials Sci & Eng, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics. Nick Nanninga attended as GSC liaison. Academic Services C, Advancement, and Auxiliaries currently have no elected representatives.
2. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Guests included Max Seel (Sciences & Arts), Dave Reed (Provost), and Brad Baltensperger (Education).
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Waddell MOVED and Clancey seconded the motion to approve the agenda. 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 appendices.]
4. approval of minutes from meeting 447
Waddell requested two changes to the minutes on discussion on Proposal 15-07. In paragraph 3, "a January 15 Washington Post reported" should read "a January 15 Washington Post article reported." In paragraph 4, "Spanish and French are the ones taught regularly" should read "Spanish and French are taught regularly."
Waddell MOVED and Gorman seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 447 as modified. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
5. President’s Report
President Sloan thanked former Senate assistant Paige Hackney, who has been helping us until we hire a new assistant. The Senate officers are interviewing candidates and hope to have a new assistant by our next meeting.
Searches: The search committee for the dean of the
State Approval: Last week the State Academic Officers approved Michigan Tech’s proposals for a new PhD program in Atmospheric Sciences and a spin-off MS program in Applied Natural Resource Economics.
Student Issues: USG president Liz Van Heusden called President Sloan this morning to discuss the current policy on probation and pledging; USG may have recommendations on it. The Senate Instructional Policy Committee is working with USG on calendar matters and exam scheduling.
Next Meeting: You will have noticed that we have no new business today. There is some Senate business in the committee pipeline. However, if we do not have adequate business for the next meeting scheduled for Valentine’s day, we will cancel that meeting.
6. old Business
Gorman MOVED and Jambekar seconded the motion to approve Proposal 15-07. There was no discussion. The motion PASSED on voice vote of academic units with no dissent.
B. Proposal 17-07, Amendment to Proposal 12-01, Search Procedures for Dean of the Graduate School
President Sloan explained that the number of Graduate Faculty Council members from the faculty had been changed from 6 to 7 to be consistent with the addition of a representative from the School of Technology (3.1), as discussed in Meeting 447.
Jambekar MOVED and Polzien seconded the motion to approve Proposal 17-07. There was no discussion. The motion PASSED on voice vote of the full Senate with no dissent.
C. Proposal 18-07, Departmental Name Change from Department of Education to Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Waddell MOVED and
Hagenbuch seconded the motion to approve Proposal 18-07. There was no discussion. The motion PASSED on voice vote of academic
units with no dissent.
D. Proposal 19-07, Amendment to Proposal 19-01, Search Procedures for College Deans
This proposal has
been modified [Appendix B] to eliminate the designation of tenured or
tenure-track for faculty, making it possible for lecturers to participate. President Sloan ruled the change as
editorial, based on the discussion at Meeting 447. There were no objections.
Clancey MOVED and
Gorman seconded the motion to approve Proposal 19-07. The motion PASSED on voice vote of the full
Senate with no dissent.
E. Proposal 20-07, Amendment to Bylaws, Senate Standing Committees – Organization
President Sloan
explained that the proposal [Appendix
C] had been modified for
clarification. Item 7 now indicates that
the Registrar will serve as a "non-voting" ex officio member
of the Curricular Policy and Instructional Policy Committees, to be inserted as
#7 in the bylaws.
Johnson MOVED and
Kern seconded the motion to approve Proposal 20-07. There was no discussion. The motion PASSED on voice vote of the full
Senate with no dissent.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm.
Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime
Secretary of the University Senate