[Approved February 17, 2006]

Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate

February 3, 2006

St. Mary’s 113 B; 1:30 PM

Present: J. Biddle, D.Biers (presiding), D. Courte, D. Gudaitis, S. Hileman, P. Johnson, M. Morton, J. O’Gorman, R. Penno, F. Pestello, R. Wells.

Absent: A. Seielstad,

Opening Prayer: Dave Biers began the meeting with a reading from the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Roll Call: Eleven of the twelve members of the Committee were present.

Approval of Minutes:

November 29, 2005, not available

December 6, 2005, not available

December 13, 2005, not available

January 27, 2006: Minutes were approved with minor corrections about the review process for the letter to the Board of Trustees regarding the evaluation of President Curran and with a correction in Senator Penno’s membership on the Provost ad hoc committees.

Announcements:

There were no announcements.

Old Business:

1. Review of President Curran: Dave Biers carried out electronic consultation with the Executive Committee during the previous week and sent a letter summarizing the Senate discussion to the Board of Trustees in care of its chairperson, Dan Sadlier.

2. Faculty Background Checks: This policy will continue through the Academic Senate for consultative review. Joyce Cater and Tory Washington will meet with the Faculty Affairs Committee and then the policy will be reviewed by the Executive Committee before a discussion at the full Senate meeting.

3. Committee on Committees: The Executive Committee continued the discussion about appointment of committees from the previous meeting. Dave Biers suggested that the Committee on Committees should be reconstituted in order to ensure a more active and representative role for faculty in the functioning of the University. Fred Pestello reviewed the history of the elimination of this committee and assigning responsibilities to the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate. He noted that this move has left some committees functioning well because they have taken responsibility for appointment of members and other committees untended. Bob Penno will explore the list of committees, searching the archives and making use of the records in the Provost Office. He will bring a proposal to the Executive Committee.

New Business

Committee Reports

a. Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate: Jim Biddle reported for APCAS. The Committee will meet on February 6. They will consider:

i. Course Withdrawal Policy: Jim Biddle met with ARSIC and will present the proposal to change the Withdrawal Policy. The proposal is to change the wording to require documentation for non-academic reasons and to delete “change in career objectives” as an acceptable reason. The Committee will look at the dates that other universities use for the final date for withdrawal.

ii. Class rank on transcripts: The Committee will also review a proposal from ARSIC about the removal of class ranks from the official transcripts.

iii. Calendar Committee Recommendations: The Committee has a request from the Calendar Committee regarding study days and start days for final examinations. This proposal has been returned to the Calendar Committee for clarification. Student input is needed. The Academic Policies Committee needs to know if this is a request for an exception to policy. A statement of rationale is needed. Jim Biddle will convey these requests to Elizabeth Gustafson, chairperson of the Calendar Committee.

iv. P&T: Jim Biddle has asked that the Academic Policies Committee begin discussions in relationship to the work of the Provost Committee on Promotion and Tenure. Specifically, he is asking for a discussion of what consistent substantive criteria of promotion and tenure across the units of the University would mean.

b. Faculty Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate: Dave Biers reported for FACAS. Approved minutes of the January 18, 2006 meeting were distributed to the members of ECAS. The Committee will meet on Wednesday, February 8, 2006. Joyce Carter and Troy Washington will meet with the Committee to discuss the issue of background checks for prospective faculty. The Committee requests that the February 10, 2006, meeting of the Academic Senate include a discussion of the sense of the Senate on changing date for the election of faculty Senators. In preparing the agenda for the February 10 meeting, the Executive Committee had an extensive discussion about this issue. Fred Pestello reviewed past and current practices, noting that the ELC meets less frequently than it once did and that much of the work of academic planning now takes place in the Provost Council Meetings. There is concern that a change in the election dates should not compromise the ability of faculty to influence budgetary decisions. The concern was expressed that such a change not preclude faculty from becoming more intimately involved with the budget process.

c. Student Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate: Steve Hileman reported for SAPCAS. The Committee met on Tuesday, January 31, 2006. They developed a version of an Honor Pledge for use with tests and examinations. The Executive Committee reviewed the current proposal and asked that it be written in a document form with a clear rationale. It will then need to be reviewed by the Academic Policies Committee before review by the full Academic Senate.

Setting the Agenda for the Full Senate Meetings:

The Executive Committee discussed whether or not there was enough business to hold the scheduled February 10, 2006 meeting. It was decided that this would be an opportunity to invite brief reports from the Provost working committees. Agenda for the meeting will include:

· Approval of Sub-Committee Membership

· Discussion of the suggestion to move the elections and beginning of terms of office of faculty representatives to the Academic Senate (FACAS). A sense of the Senate document will be distributed.

· Reports from the standing committees

· Reports from the Provost committees explaining the purpose and goals of each committee and the status of their work. These reports will provide an update so that the Academic Senate can determine how best to become involved in the process of the tasks of these working groups. Dave Biers will contact the chairpersons of these committees to determine who will report for each group.

Items held over for future meetings:

· Report from the working group on issues of Marianist Education (College of A&S-Benson) (March)

ECAS Meetings: The Executive Committee will not meet on February 13 but will meet on February 17.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 2:45 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Patricia A. Johnson

Secretary