FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Minutes

February 12, 2007

 

         Present:  Akleman, Arant-Kaspar, Armstrong, Aufderheide, Aune, Battle, Bednarz, Benedik, Beskok, Blasingame, Cagin, Carlson, Carrigan, Cepeda-Benito, Cobb, Ellis, Feldman, Fike, Geva, Grant, Harms, Heilman, Hobbs, Hobson, Ing, Kelly, Kenimer, Kirkendall, Klein, La-Pastina, Lard, Machann, Magill, Mahapatra, Martindale, McGeachin, Meagher, Messina, Price, Reddy, Reese, Riccio, Rich, Schultz, Shandley, Slack, Smith, Speed, Stabile, Stadelmann, Stallone, Stein, Stewart, Strawser, Toby, Vaid, Vedlitz, Vogel, Volkman, Walker, Ward, Webb-Johnson,  Winemiller, Woodman, Woosley

 

               Bazzi, Thornton (Qatar Senators)

              

Absent:  Abbott, Bangerth, Boyd, Cetinkaya, Collisson, Curry, Estrada, Fink, Gawande, Hall, Harris, Hise, Linton, Loudder, Luiselli, McIntyre, Merrell, Moreira, Pearl, Petersen, Straube, Thornton, Toliyat, Valasek, Warden, Welsh, Whiteacre

 

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 3:20 by Speaker Slack

 

Speaker Comments: 

The meeting was called to order at 3:20 pm by speaker Slack.  The Speaker asked Senators to mark Monday, March 5 on their calendars as the date for the joint meeting with the UT Faculty Council, to be held in Austin. The meeting will begin with a luncheon with administrators and legislators. Bus transportation will be available.  He also announced the items EE and FF on the agenda are being delayed for consideration until the next meeting. 

 

James Aune was sworn in as a member of the Senate.

. 

 

         Minutes of the January 22, 2007 Faculty Senate Meeting were approved as distributed and are available on the Senate website.                   Motion Passed F.S. 24.75

                                                                                       Attachment A

 

Consent Agenda:

Senator Magill requested that LBAR 698 (Attachment G) and VMID 698 (Attachment I), both courses titled “Writing for Publication” be removed for separate consideration.  The remainder of the items were approved as submitted.

 

University Curriculum Committee                                 Motion Passed F.S. 24.76

New Course Request-January 12, 2007                    Attachment B

            EURO 425      French Film

            EURO 443      Contemporary Russian Prose

            FILM 425         French Film

            FILM 455         Italian Cinema

            HIST 221         History of Islam

            HIST 322         History of the Iberian World

            HIST 329         Modern Mediterranean World

            HIST 334         History of Europe in the Nineteenth Century

            HIST 353         Modern South Asia

            MKTG 327       Retail Merchandising

            PHYS 420       Concepts, Connections, and Communication

            RELS 221       History of Islam

            RUSS 443       Contemporary Russian Prose

            SOCI 337        International Migration

            WMST 401      Feminist Theory

            WMST 463      Gender in Asia

           

University Curriculum Committee                                 Motion Passed F.S. 24.77

Attachment C

   Withdrawal of Courses-January 12, 2007                                                                 

            ARCH 306       Architectural Design III

            ENDS 392       Pre-Professional Residency Experience

Change in Courses-January 12, 2007

            ACCT 467       Ethics in Business

            FREN 414       Contemporary French Film and Media

            WMST 481      Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies

                       

  

 

Graduate Council                                                           Motion Passed F.S. 24.78             

Change in Courses-January 4, 2007                          Attachment D

            VIBS 604         Neuroendocrine Anatomy

 

New Course Request-January 4, 2007                      Motion Passed F.S. 24.79

                                                                                     Attachment E

            URSC 642       Analytic Methods in Landscape and Urban Research

 

New Course Request-December 7, 2006                  Motion Passed F.S. 24.80

 Attachment F

            ALEC 605        Facilitating Complete Secondary Agricultural Science Programs

            ALEC 620        Instrumentation Survey Research Methods

            ALEC 693        Professional Study in Agricultural Leadership Education Communications

            ALEC 695        Frontiers in Research

            ANSC 623       Precision Diet Formulation

            BICH 664         Fluorescence Spectroscopy

            BUSH 617       State and Local Government: Institutions and Policy

 

New Course Request-December 7, 2006                  Motion Passed F.S. 24.81

Attachment G

            CVEN 640       Project Development: Methods and Models

            EPSY 651       Theory of Structural Equation Modeling

            HIST 629         Research Methods and Professional Development

            HLTH 669        Professional Skills Development for Health Educators

            LBAR 600        Liberal Arts Study Abroad

            MARB 656       Tropical Marine Ecology

            MEEN 607       Polymer Physical Properties

 

New Course Request-December 7, 2006                  Motion Passed F.S. 24.82

Attachment H

            OCEN 675      Nonlinear Wave Dynamics

            PLAN 629        Neighborhood Revitalization

            PLAN 627        Economic Development

            PLAN 628        Affordable Housing Development

            POLS 625       Seminar in Comparative Race and Ethnic Politics

            POLS 644       Seminar in Politics of Race, Ethnicity and Public Policy

            POLS 674       Seminar in Race, Ethnicity and American Politics

            PSYC 635       Behavioral & Cellular Research Seminar

 

New Course Request-December 7, 2006                  Motion Passed F.S. 24.83

Attachment I

            STAT 657        Advanced Programming Using SAS

            VTPP 623        Biomedical Physiology I

            VTPP 625        Pharmacology

            VTPP 627        Biomedical Physiology II

            VTPP 634        Physiology for Bioengineers I

            VTPP 635        Physiology for Bioengineers II

            WFSC 619      Wildlife Restoration

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.84

                                                                                    Attachment J

                        CPSY 633       Introduction to Group Process

                        CPSY 634       Group Counseling and Psychotherapy

                        CPSY 639       Counseling Practicum I

           

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.85

                                                                                    Attachment K

                        CVEN 458       to CVEN 339

                        COSC 621      Advanced Topics in Scheduling and Project Management

                        COSC 624      Project Acquisitions & Control

                        CPSY 630       Foundations of Counseling                                        

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.86  

                                                                                     Attachment L

                        RLEM 607       Range Plant Ecophysiology

                        WFSC 630      Ecology for Teachers

                        HORT 601       Nutrition of Horticultural Plants

                        CVEN 628       Advanced Hydraulic Engineering

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.87

                                                                                    Attachment M

            CPSY 684       Professional Internship

            EDTC 651       Computer-Assisted Instruction

            EDTC 660       Interactive Video/Multimedia

            EPSY 610       Hispanic Bilingual Assessment and Monitoring Students

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.88

                                                                                    Attachment N

            CPSY 678       Couples Therapy

            CPSY 679       Multicultural Counseling

              

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.89

                                                                                    Attachment O

            CPSY 672       Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy                         

            CPSY 673       Advance Psychotherapeutic Skills

            CPSY 676       Family Counseling and Psychotherapy

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.90

                                                                                    Attachment P

            SPSY 683       Field Practicum

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.91

                                                                                     Attachment Q

            SPSY 641       Child Therapy for School Behavior Problems

            SPSY 644       Child Therapy:  Advanced Theory and Techniques

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.92

                                                                                    Attachment R

            EPSY 613       Spanish/English Biliteracy

            EPSY 614       Bilingual Education Curriculum Development

            EPSY 616       Spanish for Bilingual and Dual Language Programs

 

Change in Courses-December 7, 2006                     Motion Passed F.S. 24.93

                                                                                     Attachment S

            EPSY 611       Dual Language Program Methodologies

            EPSY 612       Content Area Instruction for Hispanic Bilingual Programs

 

 

Committee Reports:

        

Executive Committee

 

Graduate Council                                                                               

                                                                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.94

               Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering   Attachment T                                            Change INEN course prefix changed to ISEN

                                                                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.95

               Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering            Attachment U   

                           Change ELEN course prefix to ECEN           

 

University Curriculum Committee

Changes in Curriculum – January 12, 2007                 

                        College of Architecture                               Motion Passed F.S. 24.96

                  Department of Architecture                                  Attachment V

                                       Bachelor of Environmental Design

                                       Visual Studies Option

                           New Courses:

                           ENDS 474       Design for the Web

                           VIST 271         Computing Environments

                           VIST 441         Scientific and Technological Developments in Visual Arts

 

                        College of Architecture                               Motion Passed F.S. 24.97                                                                                                    Attachment W

Department of Construction Science

B.S. in Construction Science

New Course:

COSC 364      Construction Safety I

Change in Courses:

COSC 321      Structural Systems I

COSC 323      Soils in Construction

COSC 440      Interdisciplinary Capstone

COSC 441      Residential Construction

COSC 442      Commercial Construction

COSC 443      Industrial Construction

COSC 444      Highway/Heavy Construction

COSC 446      Specialty Construction

COSC 464      Construction Safety

 

College of Liberal Arts                                 Motion Passed F.S. 24.98   

Department of English                        Attachment X

B.A. in English

Literature Track

Creative Writing

Rhetoric Track

College of Science                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.99   

            Department of Biology                        Attachment Y

                        B.A. in Biology

                        B.S. in Biology

                        B.S. in Microbiology

                        B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology

                        B.S. in Zoology

College of Science                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.100

            Department of Chemistry                   Attachment Z

                        B.A. in Chemistry

                        B.S. in Chemistry

            New Courses:

            CHEM 327       Physical Chemistry I

            CHEM 328       Physical Chemistry II

 

College of Science                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.101                          Department of Mathematics               Attachment AA

                        B.S. in Applied Mathematical Sciences

                                    Applied Mathematics Emphasis

                                    Computing Science Emphasis

                                    Economics Emphasis

                                    Mathematical Finance Emphasis

                        B.A. in Mathematics

                        B.S. in Mathematics

College of Science                                       Motion Passed F.S. 24.102                          Department of Physics                   Attachment BB

                        B.A. in Physics

                        B.S. in Physics

 

New Degree Program – January 12, 2007                    Motion Passed F.S. 24.103

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Attachment CC

            Department of Entomology

                        B.S. in Forensic and Investigative Sciences

            New Courses:

            FISC 205         Introduction to Forensic and Investigative Science

            FISC 291         Research

            FISC 316         Biotechnology and Forensics

            FISC 415         Practice and Principles of Science and Law

            FISC 431         The Science of Forensic Entomology

            FISC 432         Applied Forensic Entomology

            FISC 435         Case Studies in Problem Solving

            FISC 481         Seminar

            FISC 482         Occupational and Professional Development

            FISC 484         Professional Internship

            FISC 491         Research

            Change in Courses:

            ENTO 435       Problem Solving in Entomology

            ENTO 482       Career and Professional Development in Entomology

 

Degree Program Name change – January 12, 2007                Motion Passed F.S. 24.104

College of Education and Human Development  Attachment DD

                           Interdepartmental Degree Program

                                       B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies

                                                   Human Resource Development Option (Non-Certification)

                                                   Technology Management Option (Non-Certification)

 

Other Items  – January 12, 2007                                               Motion Passed F.S. 24.105 

               New course – August 2006                                        Attachment GG

            AGSC 380       Workshop in Agricultural Science

Change course – September 2006

            ENTC 381       Electronics Manufacturing

                                                                                                                

W Courses – Request for Course Additions - January 25, 2007 Motion Passed F.S. 24.106                                                                                                     Attachment HH

            COMM 435      Rhetoric of Television and Film

            COMM 454      Telecommunication Policy

            POLS 309       Polimetrics:  Quantitative Analysis in Political Science

            POLS 442       Social Welfare Policy

            PHIL 480         Medical Ethics

 

Report of the Bylaws Committee                                              Motion Passed F.S. 24.107

                        Amendment to the Bylaws                                          Attachment II

                                    Reapportionment

 

Agenda item II, Report of the Bylaws Committee:   An amendment of the bylaws to allow the use of adjustable multipliers to establish the number of Senators per unit in order to meet the constitutional limit of 100 was introduced by Senator Stadelmann, Chair of the Bylaws Committee.  Senator McGeachin, Chair of the Elections Committee provided a handout showing the effects that reapportionment would have in the upcoming election.  Basically, the Mays school will lose 1 Senate seat, Science will gain one while the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Architecture will each gain 2 seats.  Comments from the floor included a request that smaller units not be asked to provide a member of every standing committee and the fact that the principle of electing one third of the Senate each year needs to be addressed by each caucus, as errors in the past, often stemming from filling of vacant seats, have led to abnormal distributions.  The amendment approving the change in the by-laws was approved unanimously.

 

Amendment to the Constitution                                  For Discussion Only

Term Limits                                                     Attachment JJ

 

Agenda item JJ, Report of the Bylaws Committee: A resolution was offered for discussion only, as it recommends changing the constitution by eliminating the term-limiting phrase “with no senator serving more than 7 years in a 10 year period”.  Arguments in favor of the amendment included the fact that there are often seats that are vacant, that in many colleges, anyone who chooses to serve is automatically elected, that former senators would often be willing to serve again and the observation that long-term service would not establish an unhealthy power or monetary base as can be the case in national or state elections.  The primary argument against the resolution was the need to introduce fresh faces and ideas into the Senate.  Senator Carlson suggested amending the resolution to permit continued service in those cases where no new candidates could be identified. The amendment will be offered at the next meeting for consideration by the Senate where if passed by 2/3 majority the faculty at large will be asked to vote, again with a 2/3 of those voting required for passage. 

 

 

Old Business

Senator Magill indicated that his basis for requesting that the two “Writing for Publication” courses be considered separately from the consent agenda is that it appears the courses will be taught by the same person at the same time and location, eventually as 698 courses across a number of Colleges.  He suggested they should be cross-listed for the following reason: Rule 5 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board requires that 5 students be registered for each graduate class, but exception 5.26-5 permits an exception for “cross-listed courses taught as a single class by the same faculty member at the same station”, so long as the combined enrollments do not constitute a small class.” Senator Mahon, LA, indicated that the English Department did not favor cross-listing and the Speaker indicated that it is not the position of the Senate to force unwanted cross-listing.  However, Larry Oliver pointed out that neither course is designated as an English course and that the class size issue was likely to create a problem.  A motion to return the courses to the GOC for reconsideration was offered, seconded and approved. 

 

New Business

The Senate moved into a closed session for the purpose of evaluating requests for honorary degrees.  Two issues that can be reported were a recognized need to change existing regulations concerning timing requirements of the application and review process, and the need to have a representative of the Honorary Degree Committee be available for additional information if needed during the Senate consideration process. 

 

Committee of the Whole

1) Richard Stadelmann spoke in remembrance of Shelby Metcalf, long term coach of the Aggie basketball team.  Senator Vedlitz suggested the Senate might want to consider a resolution honoring the memory of Dr. Metcalf. 

 

2 ) Senator Fike asked that an update be supplied on the current status of the “Deans and Department Heads” rules that were passed by the Senate last fall.

 

3) Senator Woosley asked Senators to look over a proposal (provided) that will be considered at the next meeting concerning non-tenure-track faculty titles. Any questions, concerns or observations should be directed to him or Dean of Faculties Watson

 

4) Senator Aufderheide who serves on the campus Security Awareness Committee reminded the group that the University Police website offers an interactive report system that is monitored all times for use in reporting any unsafe or dangerous conditions.

 

5) Senator Strawser, speaking on behalf of Senator Blasingame, asked the Speaker for an update on the President search committee.  Speaker (and search committee chair) Slack reported that the committee will soon release an advertisement to be published in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other appropriate outlets defining the position.  He urged anyone with thought of a good candidate to get the name to him. 

 

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 pm.