UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON

DAYTON, OHIO

MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE

April 25, 2008

KU West Ballroom

 

Senators Present: P. Benson, D. Biers (presiding), C. Bowman, L. Cook, R. Crum, D. Darrow, G. DeMarco, W. Diestelkamp, G. Doyle, C. Duncan, T. Eggemeier, A. Fist, E. Gustafson, A. Jipson, P. Johnson, R. Kearns, J. King, L. Kloppenberg, L. Laubach, R. Marek, M. Moss, J. O'Gorman, R. Penno, F. Pestello, D. Poe, J. Saliba, R. Wells

 

Senators Excused: A. Brian, R. Frasca, R. Larson, T. Lasley, C. Letevac, M. Patterson, Y.  Raffoul,  A. Seielstad, D. Sink, L. Snyder, T. Stevens, T. Sutter,

 

Guests: D. Bickford, T. Skill, K. Webb, J. Owen, Y. Copeland

 

New members of the 2008-2009 Academic Senate:  B. Duncan, H. Gauder, J. Huacuja, V. Jain, N. Jolani, H. McGrew, A Reichle, S. Richards, S. Swavey, K. Trick

 

1.  Opening Prayer:  Senator Duncan opened the meeting with prayer.

 

2.  Roll Call:  Twenty-seven of thirty-nine Senators were present.

 

3.  Minutes: April 11, 2008:  Moved and seconded, minutes were approved.

 

4. Announcements: D. Biers thanked members of the Academic Senate who are completing terms this year.  He welcomed those who will be beginning terms for 2008-2009.  Thanks to everyone, especially D. Biers, for all of the work accomplished this year.

 

5. Doc 05-01 Revision of Undergraduate Standards of Conduct and Establishment of Undergraduate Honor Pledge:

Senator Fist introduced the document for the Student Academic Policies Committee.  He noted that while there is little procedural change from the current policy which was approved in 1978, this document emphasizes integrity.  By signing a pledge, students are asked to think about the meaning of integrity.  Discussion on the document included the following points:

  • Senator Doyle asked for some clarification about when students would be asked to sign the pledge and whether they would be required or requested to sign. After discussion to clarify that students would be requested to sign the pledge upon matriculation, a friendly amendment to the final sentence of paragraph two in section Section I and to the second sentence of Section II was accepted.
  • Senator Doyle also asked about the requirement that the appropriate dean’s office be notified.  It was clarified that notification takes place when academic dishonesty is established.  Senator Poe noted that it is important that a record be maintained when violations take place.  Senator Gustafson affirmed this need.
  • Senator Wells asked for a rationale for signing a pledge, rather than simply having, a code. Senator Fist suggested that just having the code does not sufficiently achieve the goal of developing a climate of academic integrity.
  • Senator Fist noted that information about the Honor Code will be part of student orientation.
  • Senator Kloppenberg noted that signing the pledge does not constitute a legal agreement.  She also noted that the School of Law uses a similar process and it does lead to discussion about academic integrity and to students taking responsibility for issues of integrity.
  • Senator Fist noted that the document under consideration should be considered a first step in the process of developing a climate that affirms greater integrity.
  • Senator Gustafson suggested that section V. B. should be revised to end sentence one at the word “appeal.”  This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

With a reminder that this document applies to undergraduate students only, the vote was taken:  26 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions.  The Provost did not vote.

 

6. Doc 07-05 Processes and Procedure of the Academic Senate:

Senator Biers presented the document for the Executive Committee.  He noted that this document pulls together information from the Constitution of the Academic Senate and a number of other documents.  It clarifies issues about quorums for meetings, establishing committee meeting times, and the process for election of members to the Executive Committee.  He thanked Senator Johnson for her work in developing the document.  Discussion included the following:

  • Senator Darrow suggested that the document should also include information related to sabbaticals.  Senators taking sabbaticals may continue to serve on the Academic Senate, but are expected to meet all responsibilities, including attending the meetings of their assigned standing committee.  If they are unable to meet these responsibilities or choose not to serve during the sabbatical period, they need to inform the President of the Academic Senate so that they can be replaced for that period.  Senator Johnson will add this to section II. B.

With the reminder that this document is an on-going document and is to be reviewed at the April meeting of the Academic Senate each year, the vote was taken;  26 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions.  The Provost did not vote.

 

7.  Reports of the Standing Committees:

  • Senator Doyle reported for the Faculty Affairs Committee. The work of the Committee this year has focused on three issues:
    • Post-tenure Review (Doc 06-11) – The FAC developed a philosophy for post-tenure review of faculty.  Its attempt to specify new review procedures met with resistance from senators and other faculty.  As a result the FAC concluded that it would be best to use the present review instruments that exist at the university.  To that end it was requested that the Provost have an audit conducted over the summer to determine the practices in all units as to the sabbatical leave, promotion and annual review policies.  This information will be used by the FAC to integrate a post-tenure review into those policies.  The Academic Senate approved this policy at the April 11, 2008 meeting

 

    • Teaching Evaluation for Tenure (Doc 06-08) – The FAC edited a teaching evaluation report developed by an ad hoc committee chaired by Steve Wilhoit.  It was decided to limit the present teaching evaluation policy for purposes of tenure only.  Policies for teaching evaluation for post-tenure and merit will be delayed until the audit of present review policies have been formulated into a post-tenure review policy.  .  The Academic Senate approved this policy at the April 11, 2008 meeting

 

    • Maternity Leave (Doc 04-06) – The Academic Senate passed a maternity leave policy four years ago with the stipulation it would be reviewed after two years.  It was decided that a questionnaire would be developed and submitted to the faculty to better understand the awareness of the faculty to this policy, and more importantly the experiences of department chairs, deans and women who have given birth since the enactment of the present policy.  Lisa Rismiller developed the questionnaire with input from the FAC, and will compile the results.  The FAC will consider the results of the questionnaire and other gathered information in revising the present policy.

 

  • Senator Darrow reported for the Academic Policies Committee.  They have addressed the following issues this year:

1.  Review of the following documents passed by the Senate:

a. DOC 07-01 Change of Reporting of Grade-In-Progress from ‘P’ to ‘IP’

b. DOC 07-02 University of Dayton Assessment Plan

c. DOC 07-03 Guidelines for the Development of Course-Based Graduate Certificate Programs

 

2.  Continued work on the following matters before the Senate:

a.  DOC 06-09 Habits of Inquiry and Reflection:  Beginning in the fall, the APC reformatted the consideration of this document, replacing the system of working groups with a single subcommittee (which subsequently became known as the CAP Subcommittee).  The APC charged the subcommittee with completing a set of curricular recommendations and submitting them as a working document by August 15, 2008.  Throughout this process, the APC has received regular reports from the subcommittee’s chair, Dr. Don Pair.  At times the APC has offered suggestions, but most of its relationship with the subcommittee has centered on ensuring that the subcommittee has consulted with key stake-holding groups on campus, and that it is making progress toward producing a working paper for campus-wide discussions in the fall.   I’m pleased to say that the subcommittee is on track to meet its deadline, and that we will have a document before us on August 15 that will include: 1. recommended curricular vehicles for delivering a common academic program that meets the HIR learning outcomes; 2. a proposal for how these vehicles might be phased in over time, and; 3. an inventory of resources needed to ensure the success of implementation.

Throughout the process, the subcommittee has considered the following questions/issues: 1. What should the make-up of the list of specific required courses look like? 2. Which of these courses will be provided by a specific discipline? 3. What are the courses that will not fit into the first two categories? 4.  How will co-curricular learning experiences be connected to classroom experiences? 5.  How will the intercultural and international components of the learning outcomes be embraced without simply creating more courses? 6.  How can diversity and concepts of diversity be infused into the curriculum without simply creating more courses.  CAP has been working on this topic with Jack Ling.

The subcommittee will be soliciting feedback on a number of its ideas at a combined Humanities Base and Cluster meeting on the morning of May 6.  All members of the community are invited (and encouraged) to attend this meeting.

 

b. Senate DOC I-07-04 Challenges and Recommendations for the University of Dayton Honors and Scholars Programs:  The APC did not believe that this document was ready to be considered by the Senate in its current form.  To this end, it has been consulting with the Honors and Scholars Team to revise the document.  Honors and Scholars will meet with the APC again on May 1 to provide answers to some of the questions we raised and provide an update on where it is in the revision process.

 

  • Senator Fist reported for the Student Academic Policies Committee.  The committee is pleased to have completed work on Doc 05-01, Revision of Undergraduate Standards of Conduct and Establishment of Undergraduate Honor Pledge:

 

  • Senator Biers reported for the Executive Committee.  The Committee has had an interesting and productive year.  He emphasized the importance of the members of the Academic Senate taking responsibility for communicating with members of the University community about issues that are before the Senate.

 

8.  Adjournment:  Moved and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 4:15 PM.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia A. Johnson

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON

DAYTON, OHIO

MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE

April 25, 2008

KU West Ballroom

 

Senators Present: P. Benson, D. Biers, C. Bowman, L. Cook, D. Darrow, G. Doyle, B. Duncan, C. Duncan, T. Eggemeier, H. Gauder, J. Huacuja, V. Jain, A. Jipson, P. Johnson, N. Jolani,  R. Kearns, L. Kloppenberg, L. Laubach, H. McGrew, R. Marek, M. Moss, F. Pestello(presiding), D. Poe, A Reichle, S. Richards, J. Saliba, S. Swavey, K. Trick

 

Senators Excused: A. Abueida, J. Firestone, R. Frasca, J. Greenlee, T. Lasley, Lewis, William, Shank, Matthew, A. Seielstad, L. Snyder

 

The Provost conducted elections for representative in humanities, natural sciences, business, engineering, and the academic dean. Members of the 2008-2009 executive committee are

 

Benson

Biers

Darrow (President)

Doyle

Greenlee

Kearns (Vice-President)

Laubach

Gauder

Seielstad (Secretary)

 

The standing committees met to organize.  Membership and chairpersons are:

  • Academic Policies Committee:  Benson, Darrow, Huacuja, Marek, C. Duncan (chairperson) Cook, Frasca, Bowman, Saliba, Jain, Seielstad, Eggemeier, Gauder
  • Faculty Affairs Committee: Johnson, Snyder, Swavey, Jipson, Biers, Lewis, Firestone, Lasley, Laubach, Doyle (chairperson), Kloppenberg, student yet to be identified
  • Student Academic Policies Committee: Poe, Marek (co-chairperson), Kearns (co-chairperson), Shank, Greenlee, Richards, Moss, B. Duncan, Reichle, Trick, McGrew, Jolani, student yet to be identified

 

 

 

 Adjournment:  Moved and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 4:50PM.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia A. Johnson