The University Senate
of Michigan
Technological University
Minutes of Meeting 515
1 February 2012
Synopsis:
·
Introduction
of Proposal 12-12: “BS in Engineering Management” (Voting Units: Academic)
presented by Dean Darrell Radson, Curricular Policy and Finance Committees
·
Presentation:
“Graduate Student Government” by Kevin Cassell and Margo Woller-Carter
·
Discussed Proposal 11-12: “Evaluation
Procedure for the University Senate” (Voting Units: Full Senate) presented by
Senator Madhu Vable
1. Call to order and roll call. President Rudy Luck called the
University Senate Meeting 515 to order at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 1,
2012. The Senate Secretary Brian Barkdoll called roll. Absent were
representatives of Army/Air Force ROTC, Biomedical Engineering, Material
Science and Eng., Physics, Auxiliaries and Cultural Enrich., Advancement, IT,
Student Affairs, Undergraduate Student Government,
and Staff Council.
Recognition of visitors. Guests
included Max Seel (Provost Office), Stacey Kukkonen (Daily Mining Gazette), Anita Quinn (Human
Resources), Kyle Axline (Undergraduate Student Government), Darrell Radson
(School of Business and Economics), Jackie Huntoon (Graduate School), Travis
Pierce (Student Life), Brad Wagner (School of Business and Economics), Margo Woller-Carter (Graduate Student Government).
2. Approval of agenda. Luck
asked if there were any changes; there being none Luck declared the agenda
stood approved.
3. Approval of minutes from Meetings
514. Luck asked
if there were any changes; there being none Luck declared the minutes stood approved.
4. Introduction
of Proposal 12-12: “BS in Engineering Management” (Voting Units: Academic)
presented by Dean Darrell Radson, Curricular Policy and Finance Committees
Radson gave some background why the degree
is needed stating that some alumni of COE are concerned about curriculum and
are asking for this type of degree.
Firms want to hire people as managers that have both a technical and
business background. Other universities
have this type of program. Graduates
from Radson’s previous university had no problem getting jobs with this degree
in technical sales, product management etc.
and are respected by both management and
engineers. This degree fits with the SBE
mission of merging business and engineering.
The degree is cross-disciplinary and was developed with help from Leonard
Bohmann from the College of Engineering.
Students will be able to specialize in one of the engineering
disciplines. Riehl asked where students
will come from. Radson replied that at
other universities students were about 70% directly into the program and 30% transfer
from engineering. Riehl asked if there
were any advantages over a student getting an engineering degree and an MBA? Radson replied that it could save time and it’s what
companies want, according to advisory board member(s). Luck asked if the
student will get much engineering knowledge. Radson
answered that they would get as much as companies may want or they could learn
more on the job. Vable asked what effects the program would have on the student
body, i.e., more quality or quantity? Radson stated that freshman enrollment is
declining due to high tuition in SBE.
This degree will attract more students.
Seel added that even internal transfer to this program will help
increase retention. Onder asked what the difference was between this program
and the current Service Systems Engineering program. Radson replied that there
is more business including our business two-semester capstone courses. Riehl asked if employers were looking for
more of an industrial/service systems engineer with an engineering focus or
more on an engineering manager with a management focus. Radson replied that
they are looking for more balance of both technical and business skills. Also, this program will have a Business Development
Experiences 2-course capstone sequence that SSE does not have in which business
and engineering enterprises work together.
Luck asked for comments from the Curricular Policy Committee and the
Finance Committee. Storer stated that CPC supports it. Mullins suggested that the program be made
accreditable by both the business accreditation body, AACSB and the engineering
accreditation body, ABET. Radson replied
that AACSB accredits schools, but they look at each program. This program will be in the next accreditation
cycle for SBE. Seel said that they had
been talking for 2 years and had input from alumni, SBE, and COE already and
that changes could be made later.
Mullins expressed concern that graduates could not go on for an
engineering graduate degree unless the program was ABET accredited. Seel said
that the program was not designed for that.
Luck asked if they have looked at how many more courses to make it ABET
accredited. Mullins stated that ABET
accreditation does not go by the number of courses. Mullins also asked for clarification of the
definition of adding “30-40 students.” Radson
replied that these were total in the program over the next 3-4 years and added
that these were usually smaller programs.
5. Presentation:
“Graduate Student Government” by Kevin Cassell and Margo Woller-Carter
Cassell
and Woller-Carter, gave a presentation addressing several issues of
interest. Cassell encouraged faculty to
attend the Graduate Research Colloquium. He gave an update on GSG travel
grants. The graduate students were asked
about reducing Thanksgiving break to two or three days and the general feedback
was not to do so. They also did not feel
that a 2-3 day study break after the sixth or seventh week of the semester was
necessary or would help relieve student stress.
Regarding a survey about what could be done to make graduate students
more research active, the responses suggested having more research topics, allowing
more than 30 credits in the masters degree, getting more details about research
options, making the Annual Research Report accessible, and online sharing of
research interests. Woller-Carter gave
info on health care stating that graduate students would like a walk-in clinic at
the SDC. There are courses on health
issues. Some feel that there currently is not adequate care. GSG is working
with Huntoon and the Benefits Committee.
One option is to have a mid-level person such as a physician’s assistant
that is overseen by a doctor. GSG is working
with an MTU committee on going smoke-free, and suggested having help available
for quitting smoking. Some international
students are used to socialized medicine and our health system is confusing. Portage Health personnel came in to explain
the system to them. Regarding parking,
there is concern over increased parking fees, issues with Lot 39 spaces cut,
and accessibility. Which lots will be plowed at 7AM so graduate students can come
in early to set up for 8AM labs? Students want extended bus hours after 5PM if
they work late. Also, the Emergency
phones on campus are hard to find.
Additionally, students want improvement on IT issues such as speed. Onder asked about the smoke-free committee
and stated that he worked on it previously. Woller-Carter stated that a new committee
is working on it now.
6) Reports
a. Senate President
Luck gave an update on the BLG meeting
regarding health care stating that MTU is considering going from self–insured
to fully insured or networking with other universities. Consultants have been hired and will report
more later.
Also, the MI Senate exempted universities from health care exemptions
for domestic partners. Luck thanked the MTU Senate for their Sense of Senate
resolution on this matter. Luck asked
for approval of typo correction regarding dates on the proposals regarding the
newly proposed physics degrees and it was passed. Seel said that the typos were found before
approval by the MI Senate. Luck stated
that Onder was appointed as the Convener for the Research Policy Committee and Riehl
for the Elections Committee.
b. Senate Standing
Committees
Caneba said that a draft is ready
of the President and VP evaluation and was forwarded to the President for any
additional questions to add. Onder encouraged feedback on the new MTU Conflict
of Interest Policy once it is finalized by the Office of Research and Sponsored
Programs. Luck also encouraged feedback.
c. Provost
Seel
stated that the Senate President will now introduce the graduating class at the
commencement ceremony. Seel also thanked
the Research Policy Committee and former Chair Barkdoll for administering the
Research Productivity Survey. Reed is
discussing the suggestions from the survey with his staff and will make details
known at
a later date. Seel also stated that he will follow
up on smoke-free issue.
7) Old Business:
None
8) New Business:
Proposal
11-12: “Evaluation Procedure for the University Senate”
(Voting Units: Full Senate) presented by Senator Madhu Vable
Vable emphasized that the evaluation
procedure is for Senate processes, priorities, and communications. No
individual senator or Senate committee will be evaluated. He said the feedback
from the Senate constituents on Senate issues will make the Senate more
relevant in the operation of the university.
He followed the proposal for the evaluation survey of the
administration. He suggested the work
could be reduced by conducting the survey every other year and by collating the
comments for each question for distribution to Senators. Unlike administration
evaluation there are no individuals being evaluated hence the need for
confidentiality is small and the comments associated with each question could
be distributed to the Senators for synopsis. He asked for feedback from the
Senators. Herbig asked if the questions
could be added to the survey evaluating the administration. It was generally
concluded that this would be confusing to the respondents. Storer pointed out that there could be
hundreds of comments. Vable pointed out
that there is typically about a 25% response rate. Storer suggested adding to
the proposal about all senators helping organize the responses. Onder wondered how it will help the Senate
improve itself. Vable responded that a
formal structure gets more information than informal suggestion. Vable suggested the Administrative Policy
Committee should be responsible for coordinating the Senators and overseeing
the evaluation. There was no immediate answer. Vable will make
some changes and send out a revised version.
Caneba mentioned that there is a lot of work involved with regard to the
administration evaluation that it might be possible to with have his committee
be a coordinating committee with Senators pitching in to write the synopsis for
1 question each.
Storer suggested no open-ended questions at
first, then modify later based on responses.
Woller-Carter
said that university-sanctioned survey software allows for follow-up
questions only if dissatisfied and that that may limit the amount of open-ended
comments to read through.
9. Adjournment.
Onder moved to adjourn; Scarlett seconded the motion. President Luck
adjourned the meeting at 6:45pm.
Respectfully submitted
by Brian Barkdoll
Secretary of the University Senate