FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Minutes
March
19, 2007
Present: Abbott, Akleman, Armstrong, Aufderheide,
Bangerth, Battle, Bednarz, Benedik, Blasingame, Cagin, Carlson, Carrigan, Cobb,
Ellis, Feldman, Fike, Gawande, Geva, Grant, Heilman, Hobbs, Hobson, Kelly, Kenimer, Klein, La-Pastina, Lard, Loudder, Machann,
Magill, McGeachin, Meagher, Messina, Moreira, D. Peterson, Price, Reddy, Reese,
Riccio, Rich, Schultz, Shandley, Smith, Speed, Stabile, Stadelmann, Stallone,
Stein, Stewart, Straube, Strawser, Toby, Vedlitz, Vogel, Walker, Warden, Welsh,
Whiteacre, Winemiller, Woodman, Woosley
Bazzi, Thornton (
Watson (Dean of Faculties)
Absent: Arant-Kaspar,
Aune, Boyd, Cepeda-Benito, Cetinkaya, Chaffin, Curry, Estrada, Fink, Hall,
Harms, Harris, Hise, Ing, Kirkendall, Linton, Luiselli, Mahapatra, Martindale,
McIntyre, Merrell, Pearl, P. Peterson, Slack, Toliyat, Vaid, Valasek, Volkman,
Ward, Webb-Johnson
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 3:20 by Speaker-elect
Angie Hill Price.
Speaker Comments:
The meeting was called to order by Speaker-elect Angie Hill Price who
explained that Speaker Slack is part of the University delegation participating
in the opening of a 500,000 sq. ft. center for the engineering programs offered
there by TAMU.
Minutes of the February 12, 2007
Faculty Senate Meeting were approved with a correction noting that the by-laws
discussion in the previous meeting was for discussion only and no vote was
taken and are available on the Senate website.
Motion
Passed F.S. 24.109
Consent Agenda:
Consent Agenda items all passed unanimously.
Graduate Council Motion
Passed F.S. 24.110
New Course Requests-February
1, 2007 Attachment B
EPSY 652 Theory
of Hierarchical Linear Models
POSC 634 Diseases of Poultry
BUSH 648 Performance Management in the Public and
Nonprofit Sectors
Motion
Passed F.S. 24.111
Change in Courses-February
1, 2007 Attachment C
CPSY 630 Foundations
of Counseling – Credit Hours
MATH 611 Ordinary
Differential Equations – Title, Prerequisite, Course Description
MATH 612 Partial
Differential Equations – Prerequisite and Description Change
University Curriculum Committee Motion Passed
F.S. 24.112
New Course
Requests-February 9, 2007 Attachment D
IBUS 403 International
Market Entry Strategies
MKTG 403 International
Market Entry Strategies
PHIL 334 Philosophy
of Law
Committee
Reports:
Executive Committee
Graduate Council
New Department of
Visualization Attachment E
University Curriculum Committee
Special Consideration –
February 9, 2007 Motion
Passed F.S. 24.114
Department of Health and Kinesiology
Area of Concentration – Dance
New Courses:
DCED 161 Visual
and Performing Arts – Ballet II
DCED 162 Visual
and Performing Arts – Ballet III
DCED 168 Visual
and Performing Arts – Jazz Dance III
DCED 172 Visual
and Performing Arts – Modern Dance II
DCED 173 Visual
and Performing Arts – Modern Dance III
DCED 306 Dance
Composition I
KINE 175 Gender
Neutral Partnering
Change in Courses:
DCED 303 Practices
for Dancers
DCED 400 Dance
Competition II
KINE 160 Visual
and Performing Arts – Beginning Ballet
KINE 161 Visual
and Performing Arts – Intermediate Ballet
KINE 162 Visual
and Performing Arts – Advanced Ballet
KINE 166 Visual
and Performing Arts – Beginning Jazz Dance
KINE 167 Visual
and Performing Arts – Intermediate Jazz Dance
KINE 168 Visual
and Performing Arts – Advanced Jazz Dance
KINE 169 Visual
and Performing Arts – Beginning Tap Dance
KINE 170 Visual
and Performing Arts – Intermediate Tap Dance
KINE 171 Visual
and Performing Arts – Beginning Modern Dance
KINE 172 Visual
and Performing Arts – Intermediate Modern Dance
KINE 173 Visual
and Performing Arts – Advanced Modern Dance
Special Consideration –
February 9, 2007 Motion
Passed F.S. 24.115
Department of Health and Kinesiology
Minor in Sport Management
Discussion on Attachment
G: Magill asked if it wouldn’t be a good
idea to include course names on any similar requests for minors that come
forward in the future. The course
numbers provide no informational content to those in other fields.
Special Consideration –
February 9, 2007 Motion
Passed F.S. 24.116
Department of Geography
Area of Concentration
Geography
Motion Passed F.S. 24.117
W
Courses – Request for Course Additions – February 22, 2007 Attachment I
ECON 440 Experimental Economics
GEOG 324 Global
Climatic Regions
GERM 310 German
Conversation and Composition
RUSS 302 Advanced
Grammar and Composition
WFSC 201 Wildlife
Conservation and Management
Core Curriculum Committee Motion
Passed F.S. 24.118
New courses approved Attachment J
BIMS 489 History of Veterinary and Human
Medicine from the Late 18th to the Late 20th Centuries
MGMT 489 Special
Topics in International Transfer Pricing
Recertification of University Core Curriculum Courses
EPSY 320 Child Development
EPSY 321 Adolescent Development
INST 310 Understanding International Populations
Discussion on Attachment
J: Magill stated he appreciated seeing
the Coordinating Board documents listing the core category requirements, but
wondered if it wouldn’t be appropriate to mention which of the categories the
recommended courses fall into. Senator
Robin Smith speaking for the Core Curriculum Committee said that the inclusion
of the state regulations rather than the standard documents was a mistake. Another member of the committee recollected
the two new courses approved were in TAMUs International and Cultural Diversity
category.
Graduate Council
Proposed Graduate Programs Attachment K
University
Curriculum Committee Motion Passed F.S. 24.120
Special Consideration –
January 12, 2007 Attachment
L
Department of Agricultural Leadership,
Education, and Communications
Area of Concentration –
Leadership Studies
Motion
Passed F.S. 24.121
Area of Concentration – Agriculture and
Life Sciences Studies
Old Business
After
discussion in favor (institutional memory, lack of concern over power
concentration, need to fill slots) and against (need for new ideas, need to
encourage broader participation, perception of static power base) a vote was
taken on the resolution brought forward by the By-laws committee (via committee
Chair Stadelmann) to remove the statement “No senator shall serve more than
seven years in a ten year period” from section I-c of the bylaws. The resolution carried 42-14, providing the
2/3 in favor required to put the issue before the entire faculty for vote.
New Business
Senator
Geva introduced Dr. Louis Tassinary who asked that the Senate discuss the issue
of level of evidence that should be required during Aggie Honor Council
hearings. He suggested that the current
policy “preponderance of evidence” should be replaced by “clear and
convincing”. Having made this request
before with no response other than the Executive Committee had considered and
decided not to bring it to the full Senate, he asked that it be discussed. Since it was not an agenda item, Senator
Blasingame moved that the executive committee should be asked to reconsider the
issue, in a motion that was modified to say: I move that the Senate request
that a review of the standards and practices of the Aggie Honor Council be
initiated by the executive committee of the Faculty Senate”. Most of the discussion concerned the
perception that whatever standard the Honor Council is following leads to
relatively few convictions and that many faculty were reluctant to report cases
of cheating they observed, but dealt with them individually. An argument against this is that repeat
offenders will not be detected. Several Senators suggested that we hear a
presentation from the director of the Honors Council. Even though the motion failed 24-34, Senator
Stadelmann indicated that the Executive Committee was likely to take up the
issues raised even though the motion failed and would very likely charge a
committee to examine the issues. He also
recommended that Senators review the guidelines on the several ways to get an
item on the Senate agenda.
Committee of
the Whole
Senator
Carlson suggested that action needs to be taken for the sake of safety since
construction fences have forced students onto
Senator
Carlson suggested that faculty need to be made aware of and follow the
University rule that states make-ups for excused absences should be offered
within 30 days
Senator
Stewart indicated that Faculty should also be reminded and follow the rule
against giving long take-home exams during the final exam period.
Senator
Ellis questioned if there is a University policy concerning holding
departmental events after 5 pm, when many of the younger faculty with children
have a conflict. Dean Watson indicated
that while some departments have such a rule, there is no University or System
rule in place, despite our claim to offer “family friendly atmosphere”. Senator Stadelmann indicated that 30 years
ago, a great deal of effort was put into convincing the administration that
faculty positions are not 8 am to 5 pm jobs, which may have contributed to the
calling of “after hours meetings.
Senator
Blasingame, who recently was appointed to one of 2 Faculty Senate positions on
the Graduate Council (GC), asked for advice on how to handle the current
situation, where the Graduate Operations Committee (GOC) and the GC hold only
joint meetings chaired by the Dean of Graduate Studies. According to Senate Bylaws, the GC should
establish policy to be implemented by the GOC and the Chair of the GC must be
elected from its membership (this excludes the Dean of Graduate studies who is
an ad hoc member). While the committee
seems to function, in part because for many colleges the same individual serves
on both committees, either the bylaws should be changed, or the committees
should be separated and the GC appointments made to better follow Senate
guidelines.
Senator
Magill asked anyone with concerns about the Barnes and Noble bookstore
operations to pass the word forward.
Barnes and Noble is hoping to build a permanent west campus bookstore,
but seems to be more interested in sales of items other than books in
establishing a prime location.
Adjourn
The
meeting was adjourned at 4:45 pm.