[Approved February 3, 2006]
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate
St. Mary’s 113
B;
Present: J. Biddle, D.Biers (presiding), D. Courte, D. Gudaitis, S. Hileman, P. Johnson, M. Morton, R. Penno, R. Wells.
Excused: J. O’Gorman, F. Pestello, A. Seielstad,
Opening Prayer: The opening prayer was offered by Dave Biers.
Roll Call: Nine of the twelve members of the Committee were present.
Approval of Minutes:
Announcements:
There were no announcements.
Old Business:
1. Meeting
Schedule: The meeting schedule for ECAS members for winter 2006 has been
finalized and distributed to all members.
2. Review
of President Curran: Dave Biers has reviewed the tapes of the Senate
discussion and compiled a list of issues to be included in the report for the
Board of Trustees. He will have a
written draft of the report out to members on Monday, January 30, for review and
revision. The letter needs to be sent by
February 2.
3. Provost
Committee Lists: Dave Biers
distributed the Fall 2005 document from the Provost Council on
“Foundational Issues.” There are eleven
working groups identified in that document.
ECAS reviewed the groups, identifying ECAS representation.
a. Catholic
and Marianist
b. Department Finances – Summer Returns (This may need a representative from ECAS.)
c. Faculty Grants and Sponsored Research (Mary Morton)
d. Evaluation of Faculty Teaching (Dave Biers)
e. International Strategy (Mary Morton)
f. Post-Tenure Review (Rebecca Wells)
g. Teaching Loads, Workload, and Faculty Mix (Dave Biers, Mary Morton)
h. University-Wide Tenure and Promotion Policy Process (Jim Biddle)
i. Academic Identity (Jack O’Gorman)
It was noted that the work of a
number of these groups will need to come to the Academic Senate. It is important to have open and timely
communication between ECAS and these groups, especially on the issues that will
become the work of the Academic Senate.
4. Logistical
Issues for the Functioning of the Senate: Pat Johnson asked for approval of
the process for posting minutes to the Senate web-site. ECAS agreed that sub-committee minutes will
be posted when they are approved.
Sub-committees are asked to approve minutes in a timely manner. Minutes of the full Academic Senate will be
posted in unapproved form and replaced by approved minutes immediately after
the meeting at which they are approved.
If there are significant changes these will be identified in bold in the
approved minutes as well as in the minutes of the meeting at which they are
approved.
5. North
Central Review Committee: Rebecca
Wells will take the lead on developing a response for the North Central Review
Committee about the functioning and effectiveness of the Academic Senate.
New Business
Committee Reports
a. Academic
Policies Committee of the Academic Senate: Jim Biddle reported for APCAS. Unapproved
minutes of the
i.
The committee is discussing the role of APCAS in
leading/initiating academic policies.
They are looking at the oversight responsibilities of the committee
(Committee on General Education and Competencies and the Calendar Committee)
and how best to carry out those responsibilities while also initiating
discussion and work on issues of importance to the academic agenda of the
University. In some instances the
responsibility for oversight is not clear.
The Stander Symposium Committee was used as an example of the issues
being raised. What is its relationship
to the Academic Senate? Should it at least be providing and annual report? This example resulted in a lengthy discussion
by the Executive Committee. What is the
relationship of the Academic Senate to standing committees and to ad hoc
committees? How can the Academic Senate
function to provide a better flow of information between these groups and with
faculty? How can the Academic Senate
best provide faculty, as well as the Senate itself, with a forum for initiating
and influencing academic policies? How
do we increase faculty involvement and engagement in these processes? This discussion will resume at the next
meeting when the Provost will be in attendance.
ii.
Course Withdrawal Policy: The committee will meet
iii.
Class Scheduling and Classroom Analysis: With the increase in pedagogy that connects
different classes and makes use of block scheduling, that makes use of a
wide-range of class sizes, and that uses a wide range of classroom
configurations, there is a need to address this complex issue. The committee will be working with Associate
Provost Bickford and the classroom analysis in their discussion of how best to identify
those who should be part of the discussion and what should be included in the
discussion.
iv.
Calendar Committee Recommendations: The committee has a request from the
Calendar Committee regarding study days and start days for final examinations.
b. Faculty
Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate:
Dave Biers reported for FACAS. Unapproved
minutes of the
i.
Faculty background checks: The committee has
requested a copy of the revised proposed policy. They have also requested a meeting with
ii.
Timing of faculty elections for the Academic Senate:
The committee requests time at the February 10 meeting of the Academic Senate
for a discussion of the sense of the Senate regarding changing faculty terms to
follow the academic year rather than the calendar year. The change to the current process was made
because of Senate involvement in the budget process. That involvement no longer seems to be
fundamental to the work of the Senate.
The committee would like to discuss three questions: Should this change be made? If so, should current terms be extended or
reduced to accommodate the change? If
so, should the new Senate take effect immediately after the final meeting of
the Academic Senate in the academic year (normally late April)? This would require a Spring meeting for the
election of the Executive Committee and officers. The new Executive Committee would then be in
place over the Summer.
iii.
Issues regarding the Constitution and processes of
the Academic Senate: The committee
is reviewing a request from Jim Farrelly concerning the processes and
Constitution of the Academic Senate.
This will be the focus of their meeting on
c. Student
Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate: Steve Hileman reported for SAPCAS. The Committee will meet on
Setting the Agenda for the Full Senate Meetings:
Approval of Committee Membership (ECAS)(February)
Discussion of the suggestion to move the elections and beginning of terms of office of faculty representatives to the Academic Senate (FACAS) (February)
Report from the working group on
issues of Marianist Education (College of A&S-Benson) (March)
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully Submitted,
Patricia A. Johnson
Secretary