The University Senate

of Michigan Technological University

Minutes of Meeting 465

17 September 2008

Synopsis:

The Senate

• heard a report on Fall 2008 admissions and enrollment from John Lehman
• elected Travis Pierce Vice President
• elected Jean Mayo to the Academic Integrity Committee, Paul Charlesworth to the Distance Learning Implementation Committee, and Dana Johnson to the Sabbatical Leave Committee
• approved the proposed Senate meeting dates for 2008-09
• approved the updated Senate standing committee list.

1. Call to order and roll call. President Sloan called the University Senate Meeting 465 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 in room B45 EERC. Secretary Cooper called roll. Absent were at-large Senators Michelle Miller and Nick Koszykowski and representatives from Army/AirForce ROTC, Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Academic Services A, and Finance. Liaison Heather Jordan (GSC) was in attendance. Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics and Auxiliaries and Cultural Enrichment currently have no elected representatives.

2. Recognition of visitors. Guests included John Lehman (Enrollment Services) and Lesley Lovett-Doust (Provost).

3. Approval of agenda. Hamlin moved approval of the agenda and Malette seconded. The motion to approve passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

4. Fall 2008 admissions and enrollment presented by John Lehman.

John Lehman reported that this fall MichiganTech enrolled the largest first-year class since 1983: new first-year students on campus number 1,365, up 143 students over 2007. The number of first-time transfer students enrolled is 215, down 13 students from 2007. Applications were up 17 percent, and acceptances were up 9 percent. The acceptance rate including incomplete applications was 74.9 percent; the acceptance rate (subtracting incomplete applications) was 84 percent. Measured both ways, the acceptance rate was lower than any year in the period reported (2004-08).

New undergraduate enrollment (first-year and first-time transfer students) was up in all schools and colleges except the School of Business and Economics. The highest increase was in the College of Sciences and Arts, with 83 new students, followed by undesignated (66 students), and the College of Engineering (54 students). New undergraduate domestic minority students were up 11 students over 2007; the number of new international students declined by 21 students. The category of “multiracial” is a new one, and it is not clear who is self-identifying in that category. Lehman suggested it might be that the decline in African American and Hispanic students might be a shift in how they are identifying themselves. Newly enrolled undergraduate students are 23.2 percent female and 76.8 percent male.

Luck asked what was the acceptance rate for female and male students; Lehman replied that he didn’t know and would have to get that figure.

Chard asked about the decline in new international students. Lehman replied that it was way up last year. Also, we did more recruiting in South America and less in China and that might have had an effect.

Vogler asked whether the new ESL students were included as first-time first-year students; Lehman said yes.

New first-year students’ ACT Math scores fell by .3 points; ACT English scores rose by .2 points; and the composite ACT score remained the same at 25.6 points, compared to the national composite ACT average of 21.1 points. Preliminary analysis of high school ranking of new first-year students shows 28 percent in the 90th percentile. The average percentile for new first-year students is 74.3. The average high school GPA of new first-year students is 3.53.

First-time enrollment in graduate programs was up slightly: enrollment in masters’ programs was up by 32 students, but there was no change in the number of new doctoral students.

Total enrollment this fall is 7,014 (which includes 21 distance-learning students), up 276 students over fall 2007 and exceeding the goal of 7,000 students by 2010. Total enrollment is up in the College of Engineering (by 160 students), the College of Sciences and Arts (by 120 students), and the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences (by 6 students); total enrollment is down in the School of Business and Economics (by 10 students) and the School of Technology (by 39 students). Of the total enrolled students, the number of domestic minority students has fallen by 13 students; the number of international students has risen by 168 students. The number of female students has risen by 70 students; the number of male students has risen by 206 students. Female students make up 24.5 percent of total enrollment, and male students 75.5 percent.

On campus undergraduate enrollment over the past decade has risen most in the School of Business and Economics (up 47 percent), the School of Technology (up 30 percent) and the College of Sciences and Arts (up 28 percent). Enrollments in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences have risen by 9 percent; they have fallen by 5 percent in the College of Engineering. The number of distance-learning students enrolled has declined substantially since 2001.

The retention rate from first to second year is 81.9 percent. Lehman commented that the goal is to get that rate up to 84 percent. The retention rate for transfer students is 85.6 percent.

Sloan asked whether the fact that 31.3 percent of graduate students are women (compared to 23.4 percent of undergraduate students) is due to disciplinary differences. Lehman replied that he hadn’t looked at the disciplinary breakout of graduate students.

Gregg asked why the number of distance-learning students has fallen. Lehman replied that this is due to the ending of the General Motors program. Gregg asked for projections on distance-learning students; Lehman replied that an increase in professional masters students (MBA, for example) is expected.

Vable asked about a seeming anomaly in the 2007 report in which headcount increased but the FTE dropped, and asked whether credit hours decreased. Lehman replied that credits did decrease in 2007 but they increased in 2008, and he commented that perhaps students more students are doing co-op and more students are taking fewer credits per year because they are resigned to staying at Tech longer.

Smith asked whether students are transferring in more credits; Lehman replied that there is a big boom in AP transfer credits.

5. Approval of minutes. 463 Travis moved approval of the minutes of Meeting 463 as presented and L. Davis seconded. The motion to approve passed on a voice vote with no dissent. Chard moved approval of the minutes of Meeting 464 as presented and Johnson seconded. The motion to approve passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

6. President’s Report. President Sloan welcomed all new and continuing senators or alternates to the first meeting of the 2008-09 academic year. She noted with approval the remodeling of room B45 and reported on the following proposals.

On April 28, 2008, the administration approved:

16-08: Proposed Graduate Faculty Council and University Senate Joint Resolution Regarding the Roles of the Graduate Faculty Council and the University Senate in Guiding Graduate Education at Michigan Technological University

21-08: Academic and Provisional Calendars for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011

26-08: Syllabus Requirement for All Courses at Michigan Technological University

The administration has not acted on:

20-08: Amendment to Proposal 42-04: Evaluation Procedure for the President

22-08: Revised Procedures for the Establishment and Amendment of Charters

The Senate approved both these proposals on April 2.

7. Old business.

a. Election of Senate Vice President. Travis Pierce has been nominated. President Sloan invited other nominations from the floor for Vice President. There were none. Hamlin moved that nominations be closed and Johnson seconded. The motion to approve passed on a voice vote with no dissent. L. Davis moved that Travis Pierce be elected Vice President by acclamation and Vogler seconded. The motion to approve passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

b. University Standing Committee vacancies.

Academic Integrity Committee. Jean Mayo was nominated for the faculty member vacancy. There were no other nominations, and Mayo was declared elected.

Academic Tenure Committee. There were no nominations for the two vacancies, and the election was deferred.

Conflict of Interest Committee. There were no nominations for the vacancy, and the election was deferred.

Distance Learning Implementation Committee. Paul Charlesworth was nominated. There were no other nominations, and Charlesworth was declared elected.

Faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee. There were no nominations for the vacancy, and the election was deferred.

Faculty Review Committee. There were no nominations for the vacancy, and the election was deferred.

Sabbatical Leave Committee. Dana Johnson was nominated. There were no other nominations, and Johnson was declared elected.

President Sloan urged senators to seek nominees for the vacant positions, especially for the Academic Tenure Committee, which needs two tenured/tenure-track faculty members, for the Conflict of Interest Committee, which needs one member, and for the Faculty Review Committee, which needs a faculty member not from the department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, the School of Forestry, or the School of Technology.

8. New business.

a. Approval of proposed Senate meeting dates for 2008-09. Storer moved approval and Hamlin seconded. Sloan noted that the dates have been reviewed by Senate Executive Committee which saw no problems with the dates. There was no further discussion, and the motion passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

b. Approval of updated Senate standing committee list. Hamlin moved approval and Chard seconded. There was no discussion. The motion passed on a voice vote with no dissent.

9. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 6:08 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Marilyn Cooper

Secretary of the University Senate