[APPROVED 10-13-06]

 

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON

DAYTON, OHIO

MINUTES OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE

September 15, 2006

KU 331, 3:00 p. m. 

 

Senators Present: A. Abueida, J. Biddle, D. Biers (presiding), M. Brill, L. Brislin, C. Chen, D. Courte, A. Crow, D. Darrow, G. DeMarco, G. Doyle, C. Duncan, T. Eggemeier, E. Elam, J. Farrelly, A. Fist, E. Gustafson, B. John, P. Johnson, T. Lasley, C. Letavec, W. Luckett, D. Parker, R. Penno, F. Pestello, C. Phelps, D. Poe, A. Seielstad, R. Wells

 

Senators Excused: R. Hardie, L. Kloppenberg, P. Meyers, I. Morgan, M. Morton, J. O'Gorman, J. Saliba, M. Schmitz, L. Simmons, B. Turk

 

Guests: D. Bickford, M. Patterson (Faculty Board), J. Untener,

 

1.  Opening Prayer:  Senator Gustafson opened the meeting with a prayer focused on remembering the obligations of duty.

 

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

 

3.  Minutes:

April 21, 2006:  Moved and seconded, minutes were approved as written.

 

4.  Announcements:

Senator Biers announced a number of transitions in the membership of the Academic Senate.  Barbara John is replacing Monalisa Mullins; Daren Parker is replacing Sandy Singer; Matt Schmitz is the graduate student representative; Laura Brislin is the Humanities student representative.  After the meeting he also confirmed that James Farrelly is replacing Pamela Thimmes.

 

5.  Open Faculty Forum :

As announced at the Fall Faculty Meeting (September 8, 2006), the first part of the meeting of the Academic Senate was made available for any faculty who wished to raise questions about the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the Academic Senate to do so.  The proposal is outlined in DOC 06-05 and involves changing the timing of elections and terms for faculty, instructional staff, and student representatives of the Academic Senate.  There were no questions.  Voting will begin on Monday, September 18, and will continue through 4:30 PM on Monday, September 25, 2007.  For the amendment to succeed at least 50% of the tenured faculty (n=220) must vote and at least 2/3 of those voting must favor the amendment.

 

6.  Major Action items for the 2006-2007 Academic Year:

  • Senator Biers announced that the Provost has forwarded the report of the Marianist Working Group, “Habits of Inquiry and Reflection:  A Report on Education in the Catholic and Marianist Traditions at the University of Education.”  The Provost has requested, on behalf of the Provost Council, that the Senate evaluate the report to determine if it captures the goals of education for a Catholic and Marianist university.  He requests that this evaluation include broad campus discussion of the document’s mission statement, educational aims, and core learning outcomes.  If the campus is supportive of these, he further requests that the Academic Senate take appropriate action to generate a set of specific recommendations regarding specific programs, infrastructure, faculty development, and resources necessary to realize educational aims and learning outcomes.  Biers indicated that ECAS has had preliminary discussions of assignment of the document and will probably assign the document to all three standing committees.  He also noted that there is no time table attached to the Provost charge.  Senator Doyle asked about the relation of this document to the accreditation process and to the upcoming campaign.  Associate Provost Untener indicated that this action would not negatively impact the accreditation process and could be viewed as on-going review for the purpose of continuous improvement.  Biers indicated that this document was not at this point connected to the campaign.  The University Strategic Plan, which is in the final stages of formulation and which should go to the Board of Trustees in October, is what will guide the campaign. 
  • Senator Biers indicated that three other issues, all of which impact the lives of faculty as professionals, will be brought forward this year.  All three were the subject of sense-of-the-Senate discussions last academic year.  The Provost Committee working on a University –wide committee on promotion and tenure processes reports that its work is in final form and will be forwarded to the Academic Senate.  The Committee working on the Post-tenure Review document will meet September 26 to decide the status of its work.  The Committee working on the Evaluation of Teaching has sent the document to external consultants who have suggested needed revisions.  All three standing committees will be involved in the review and evaluation of these documents and campus discussions will be facilitated on the issues.
  • The Faculty Affairs Committee is still working with Human Resources concerning the issue of background checks for faculty.
  • The Calendar Committee is addressing the “common sense” exam policy proposal and will report to the Executive Committee regarding its recommendation.  In addition, a sub-committee working on suggestions regarding the academic schedule has floated a draft proposal to some members of the University community for response.  Senator DeMarco asked for information about the proposal.  Senator Biers briefly described the scheduling proposals.  Senator Gustafson, Chairperson of the calendar Committee, indicated that that proposal will have to move through the Calendar Committee for evaluation. There will be opportunity for broad campus in-put before any proposal is brought forward.  Senator Penno noted that Senate Document 04-09 related to this issue. 
  • The Student Academic Policies Committee is continuing work on an Honors Statement.

 

7.  Senate Quickplace:

Senator Johnson reported that IT has requested that the Academic Senate begin using a Quickplace in order to minimize the traffic of documents delivered by e-mail.  She has begun to organize the site and introduced Senators to it.  She requested that the Standing Committees send her requests for structuring the rooms.  It was decided that all members of the Senate will be given reader privileges in all rooms.  Those on each committee will be given author privileges for the room or rooms delegated to the Committees on which they serve.  She will do some more work on the site and then notify all members.

 

 

8.  Adjournment:  Moved and seconded, the meeting adjourned at 3:35 PM. Standing committees used the remainder of the time for organizational meetings.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Patricia A. Johnson