Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate

[Approved April 2, 2008]

March 26, 2008

St. Mary’s 113 B; 12:00 PM

Present: D. Biers (presiding), T. Eggemeier, P. Johnson, R. Kearns, L. Laubach, J. O’Gorman, R. Penno, F. Pestello

J. Farrelly (Faculty Board)

Roll Call:

Eight members of the Committee were present.

Prayer:

The meeting opened with a prayer offered by P. Johnson.

Approval of Minutes:

Minutes of March 12, 2008 were approved.

Announcements:

Lunch will be provided at the April 23 meeting of the Executive Committee thanks to the Provost.

Old Business:

D. Biers reviewed some of the issues that are on the working agenda of the Executive Committee or that may be coming to it. He also provided information from the Provost Council meeting on some of these issues.

English Composition Competency and General Education Requirement: The proposed changes in the English composition requirement are on the agenda for the Committee on General Education and Competencies at their meeting at 8:00 AM on March 27. Executive Committee members are invited to attend if their schedules permit. If that committee makes a positive recommendation on the proposal, it will be brought to the Executive committee.
Quantitative Reasoning Competency Requirement: As noted in the minutes of the Executive Committee on March 12, there is concern about the first Quantitative Reasoning Competency in relationship to graduation. Members of the Executive Committee who are also on the Committee on General Education and competencies were asked to convey the importance of bringing forward a proposal from the Department of Mathematics. It was noted that this issue will also impact Summer graduates.
Honor Code: The Executive Committee has received a proposed draft of the Honor Code document. This has been reviewed and commented on by the Provost Council. Comments should be sent to Andrew Fist so that the Executive Committee can review a document at its next meeting.
University Committees: The Provost Council reviewed the information that L. Laubach and T. Stevens have compiled on University Committees. They recommend restricting published lists to the University-wide standing committees. They also expressed some concern about providing contact information on a public website. The Provost Office has compiled information on peer institutions to wee how other institutions handle dissemination of this information on websites.
Further discussion on the issue of diversity.

New Business:

P. Johnson will date the current draft of the “Processes and Procedures of the Academic Senate.” It is available to members of the Executive Committee on the Academic Senate Quickplace. On the first page, click on the link on the left by that name.
New Degree Programs

The College Academic Affairs Committee has approved a new undergraduate major: Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts. The Executive Committee discussed the proposal and agreed that it did not need to be taken to the full Academic Senate. It was moved and seconded that the proposal be approved. The vote in favor of this motion was unanimous.
The College Academic Affairs Committee has approved the addition of the major of Sociology to the BA Program in India. The Executive Committee discussed the proposal and agreed that it did not need to be taken to the full Academic Senate. It was moved and seconded that the proposal be approved. The vote in favor of this motion was unanimous. The Executive Committee notes the importance of developing and maintaining the library holdings and on-line access to materials for the Bangalore Campus.

D. Biers distributed a request from the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Allies Steering Committee. They would like to schedule a meeting with the Executive Committee. Because there are only three meetings left this academic year and because of the number of issues still in progress, it was decided to try to set this for early in the Fall term.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:50 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Patricia A. Johnson, Secretary