The University Senate
of Michigan Technological University
Minutes of
Meeting 502
16 February 2011
Synopsis:
The Senate
·
Annual Report on “Tenure, Promotion,
and Reappointment” by Provost Max Seel
·
Presentation: “Report on
Undergraduate Student Government (USG)” by Erik Riutta
·
Proposals 13-11 passed
1. Call to order and roll call. President Rudy Luck called the University Senate Meeting 502
to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 16, 2011. The Senate Secretary Marty
Thompson called roll. Absent were Senators Koszykowski, and Kangas and representatives
of Army/Air Force ROTC, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Science
and Engineering, Admissions and Research.
2. Recognition of visitors. Guests included Max Seel (Provost Office), Joe Herbig (Accounting
Services) and Jackie Huntoon (Graduate
School).
3. Approval of agenda. Luck asked if there was approval of the
agenda. No changes were requested. The agenda was approved unanimously on a
voice vote.
4. Approval of minutes from Meeting 501. Luck asked if there was approval of the
minutes. No changes were requested. The minutes were approved unanimously on a
voice vote.
5. Annual Report on “Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment” by Provost Max
Seel
Seel, Provost’s Office, stated that
eight individuals were granted tenure, one tenure application was denied and
four individuals were promoted. Mullins asked if the number of applications for
promotion could be reported. Seel noted that four faculty applied for promotion
from associate to full professor and that of the eight faculty approved for
tenure, six were promotions from assistant to associate professor.
6. Presentation: “Report on Undergraduate Student Government
(USG)” by Erik
Riutta
Riutta, Undergraduate Student
Government, started by describing the organization, role and budget of USG. He
discussed several issues important to undergraduate students, including; blue
light phones, campus safety and crime, and problems with accessibility for
disabled persons. Riutta brought up several new program ideas, including;
personality profiling, career planning, empowerment, increase difficulty of
exams, and alter student-faculty dynamics. Events such as Senior Prom and MTU’s
Got Talent were also discussed. Mullins noted the Graduate Student Government representative
raised concern over the lack of a campus healthcare facility and asked if USG
has had such discussions with its constituency. Riutta said that issue was not
discussed. Scarlett asked for details regarding Senior Prom. Riutta clarified
that it was an event for senior citizens.
7. Report from the Senate President
Luck lauded a recently published
book authored by Caneba. He then divulged senate assistant Smigowski’s role on
the pit crew for her son’s rally race car. Tim won an award
for the race. Luck informed the senate
that John Velat is the new chair of the Fringe Benefits Committee.
8. Report from Senate Standing Committees
There were no reports.
9. Old Business
Proposal 13-11: “Proposal to Establish Guidelines for
Accelerated Master’s Program’s at Michigan Tech”
Storer, Curricular Policy Committee,
started by clarifying the senior rule and how it is related to this proposal.
He also noted terminology changes from ‘professional focus’ to ‘accelerated
masters’ which were made for consistency throughout the proposal. Storer discussed
the six dual counting credits that may be applied to both the BS and MS and
noted that individual programs are not obligated to accept dual counting
credits. Luck stated ten credits can be taken by undergraduates at the
undergraduate tuition rate and if denoted upon registration, apply to the
master’s degree. Yarroch noted the total number of credits cannot be less than
150 credits. Mullins noted this was in addition to and not replacing senior
rule. Storer confirmed that senior rule will stay the same. Guy asked why a thesis
based master’s degree is not included in this proposal. Storer said that
committee removed the thesis (research) based degree portion to ensure
committee support. He added that a comparable proposal addressing research
based master’s degrees will come in as a separate proposal. Onder stated his
support of the proposal, but did express concern over separating the coursework
and research-based accelerated master’s programs into two separate proposals. He
suggested a textual change to address counting research credits only taken as a
master’s student. Onder motioned to
amend the proposal. Cooper seconded.
Storer stated he liked the wording changes and felt they would fit in quite
well into a separate proposal for the research-based accelerated master’s
degree. He added that he would not support the amendment since it was not
supported by the CPC and discussion would need to take place. Onder noted that
the current wording was acceptable aside for the exclusion of research-based master’s
degree. Luck stated that any senator can introduce changes or amendments to a
proposal to be voted on the floor so long as they are germane to the proposal.
Luck cited the CPC chair’s statement that a second proposal containing wording
comparable to Onder’s suggested changes to address the lack of a research-based
master’s degree. He added that it might be helpful to have the CPC describe
what it is doing to realize this aim. Storer said the CPC will work with the
Dean of the Graduate School to produce a second proposal expanding the types of
master’s degrees detailed in Proposal 13-11 to contain research-based degrees
and bring the resulting proposal to the senate. He stated the key concerns in
separating the proposals were whether students should be prevented from getting
a graduate degree at the same institution they received their baccalaureate
degree. Snyder felt this was an interesting philosophical point, but students
can already stay at Tech to get graduate degrees and this proposal does nothing
to prevent a student from choosing to stay at Tech for multiple degrees. Yarroch
noted there were four types of master’s degrees and that the students pay for
the non-research degrees as opposed to research-based graduate degrees where
the research advisors usually pays a student’s tuition and fees. He added that
other institutions describe BS/MS degrees differently. Onder felt applying this
proposal to all master’s degree options was a benefit to the university and he
felt credit counting methods would not be a limiting issue. Snyder asked the Dean
of the Graduate School if the application for the accelerated master’s degree
follows the normal process. Huntoon affirmed this. Yarroch said this proposal
applies to existing programs and that each will need to be approved. He also
inquired about the amended text. Scarlett asked the senate to trust the CPC and
let them bring a second proposal to the floor. Luck asked for a voice vote; the
amendment to the proposal was defeated by a majority vote. Barkdoll asked about
the role of the advisor in this program. Storer said application of this
program is dependent on individual departments. He added that the advisor and advisory
committee still have the final say as is the case in all graduate degrees. Luck
asked for a voice vote; the proposal passed by a majority vote.
10. New Business
Proposal 14-11: “Proposal for an Undergraduate Certificate
in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” presented by Curricular
Policy Committee
Storer, Curricular Policy Committee,
described this certificate as requiring five classes in sequence. He added this
proposal has the support of committee. Mullins, chair of the Finance Committee,
said the program is a good one, but the lack of information on the financial
impact prevents the committee from assessing the impact. Luck asked who should provide
the financial information. Storer said the originating department needs to
provide the requested information. Mullins said he will request the relevant
information and noted that, if provided in timely manner, will be ready for the
next senate meeting.
Proposal 15-11: “Concentration/Options Within Degree
Programs” presented by Curricular Policy Committee
Storer, Curricular Policy Committee,
described the goal of the proposal as clarifying what concentrations or options
are within degree programs and to differentiate between focus and technical
areas of emphasis. The title will be changed to index more easily. Also
addressed is how these terms appear on a transcript and approval mechanism.
Proposal 16-11: “Proposal for an Interdisciplinary Graduate
Certificate: The International Profile Certificate” presented by Curricular
Policy Committee
Storer, Curricular Policy Committee,
described this proposal to recognize advance study in any field for students
with advanced international perspectives. The new course proposed is a seminar
class. This proposal has approval from relevant deans and chairs, as well as
the support of the CPC. Mullins said he did not receive any financial information.
Siegel stated that an updated course list will be provided.
11. Adjournment. Onder moved to
adjourn; Scarlett seconded the
motion. President Luck adjourned the meeting at 6:42pm
Respectfully submitted
by Marty Thompson
Secretary of the University Senate