Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate

[Approved November 13, 2006]

November 6, 2006

St. Mary’s 113 B; 10:00 AM

Present: J. Biddle, D. Biers (presiding), D. Courte, P. Johnson, W. Luckett, M. Morton, J.O’Gorman, R. Penno, F. Pestello, M. Schmitz, A. Seielstad, R. Wells

J. Farrelly (Faculty Board)

Roll Call:

All twelve members of the Committee were present.

Prayer:

D. Biers opened the meeting with a Highlander’s Blessing.

Approval of Minutes:

October 30, 2006 approved.

Announcements:

· D. Biers announced that J. Biddle will be on sabbatical next semester and has asked to be replaced on ECAS and as chairperson of APCAS. The representative from Education to ECAS will be elected at the December meeting of the Academic Senate. The standing committee will elect a new chairperson. Biers expressed the thanks of the Executive Committee to Jim for his steadfast service.

Old Business:

The following reports were received:

· J. Biddle reported for the Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate. He distributed a handout outlining the process for handling Doc 06-09 in the academic Senate. Discussion of this was postponed for later in the meeting in conjunction with New Business. The standing committee expects to receive a recommendation from the Calendar Committee for consideration at its meeting on November 9.

· D. Biers reported for the Faculty Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate. They met on November 3. J. Untener presented a revised version of the faculty background check document. He will make a few more changes in the document and add rationale and implementations sections. The document should be ready for Senate action at the December meeting.

· W. Luckett reported for the Student Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate. They have met and are working on the Honor Code statement of purpose. They have also been discussing the other documents assigned to them. They did not have a quorum at the last meeting and so could not make any final decisions.

· D. Biers distributed the agenda for the Provost Council meeting held on October 24. Unit Review plans discussed at that meeting are available in the ECAS room of the Academic Senate quickplace. He reminded members that the first Enrollment Management candidate will be on campus November 8 and 9.

· R. Penno presented a draft proposal for reconstituting a committee on committees, probably with a new name. He asked members to review the proposal and the attached list of current committees and send him suggestions and information. He will provide P. Johnson with an electronic copy of the report to post on the Senate quickplace. The report and recommendations will be discussed next week.

New Business:

P. Johnson distributed a memo outlining concerns that have been expressed to her relating to the process being used by the Academic Senate in relationship to DOC 06-09, and the related concerns about precedent that might be implied by that process. The memo also set out constitutional questions related to this document and to Doc 06-10 and DOC 06-11. The fundamental concern is about the distinction in the Constitution of the Academic Senate between Legislative Authority and Legislative Concurrence. Because ECAS has labeled DOC 06-09 as “legislative” it is not clear to faculty whether the Academic Senate plans to act with Legislative Authority or Legislative Concurrence. J. Biddle reviewed the handout that he had distributed earlier in the meeting outlining the process for consultation on DOC 06-09. The Executive Committee had a lengthy discussion about the issues raised. It was decided that a clear statement should go out to the University community about the current process of review of the document. D. Biers and J. Biddle will work on this statement and D. Biers will distribute it. P. Johnson moved that the Action line of the document as posted be corrected to read “Legislative Concurrence.” Dale Courte seconded the motion. The motion failed with 4 votes in favor. It was decided that members of the Executive Committee needed further time to review the Constitution of the Academic Senate. The issue will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:40 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Patricia A. Johnson, Secretary