January 23, 2012
FACULTY SENATE MEETING MINUTES
January 23, 2012
3:15 p.m., 601 Rudder Tower
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
Present: Louise Abbott, Derya Akleman, Ergun Akleman, Jorge Alvarado, Carisa Armstrong, Hassan Bashir, Michael Benedik, Leonard Bierman, Edward Brothers, John Carhart, William Bedford Clark, Jonathan Coopersmith, Richard Curry, Robin Dabareiner, Swaroop Darbha, Walter Daugherity, Darryl De Ruiter, Janice Epstein, Jose Fernandez-Solis, Edward Funkhouser, Norma Funkhouser, Holly Gaede, Fran Gelwick, Clare Gill, Ira Greenbaum, Janet Hammer, Mike Hanik, Ed Harris, Kevin Heinz, Kim Quaile Hill, Shelley Holliday, Richard Hutchinson, Wendy Jepson, Guido Kanschat, Andrew Klein, Karen Kubena, Paulo Lima-Filho, Blanca Lupiani, Igor Lyuksyutov, Clint Magill, Vanita Mahajan, Stephen Miller, Jeffrey Morris, A. Gene Nelson, Brian Perkins, Harland Prechel, Sudarsan Rangan, Leslie Reynolds, Dale Rice, J. Maurice Rojas, Luis San Andres, Jason Sawyer, Karen-Beth Scholthof, Brian Shaw, Kathleen Speed, John Stallone, Elizabeth Tebeaux, Mike Thornton, Grace Townsend, Manuelita Ureta, Gary Varner, Wei Wan, William West, Tryon Wichersham, B. Dan Wood, Richard Woodman, Jim Woosley, Keyan Zhu-Salzman
Absent: Jaime Alvarado-Bremer, Perla Balbuena, Judith Ball, Maria Barrufet, Doug Biggs, Charles Bollfrass, Patrick Burkart, Gwendolyn Carroll, Joe Cerami, Gwan Seong Choi, Mark Clayton, Joe Dannenbaum, Ron Douglas, John Edens, Gioia Falcone, L. Paige Fields, Stephen Guetersloh, Karl Haupt, James Heilman, Thomas Linton, Carol Loopstra, R.N. Mahapatra, Sam Mannan, Christopher Mathewson, Kathryn McKenzie, Michelle Pine, Richard Stadelmann, Douglas Starr, Bob Strawser, Winfried Teizer, Wyoma vanDuinkerken, Jijayanagaram Venkatraj
Call to Order:
Speaker Benedik called the meeting to order at 3:17 P.M. There were two senators from Galveston present via videoconferencing.
Speaker Comments:
Speaker Benedik discussed the Senate Officers' visit at our Qatar campus. He said they were able to meet with one of the Senators, Ed Brothers, and a large fraction of the TAMU faculty at Qatar to learn about the unique faculty issues they have.
Dr. Benedik then stated President Loftin briefed the EC last week. He has made a request for a substantial tuition hike to meet the increased costs that are anticipated for next year. He acknowledged that Merit increases are well overdue and has gotten that message loudly from the faculty and from the Deans. On top of which are significant increases in unfunded legislative mandates. Once there is a better idea on what the BOR will support, President Loftin has agreed to update the Senate on what that means for next years budget. It is still too early to know.
Speaker Benedik briefly discussed how the Core Curriculum Council has been working hard on developing a plan to meet the new requirements from the Coordinating Board and how he thinks we are still on schedule for that to come to the full Senate in March or April.
He announced that we are still planning to have our regularly scheduled Senate meeting in February on the 13th and the joint UT Faculty Caucus and TAMU Faculty Senate meeting is also scheduled for late February.
Speaker-Elect Stallone previewed the upcoming February 27, 2012, annual joint meeting with the University of Texas’ Faculty Council and announced that in addition to the two university presidents, state senators Steve Ogden (Senate Finance Committee Chair) and Judith Zaffirini (Senate Higher Education Committee Chair) will speak in the plenary sessions. There will also be three breakout sessions, on core curriculum, faculty accountability, and faculty rights (academic freedom and speech). The meeting will be held in the Hagler Alumni Center.
Speaker Benedik noted that today the senate office emailed senators proposed changes to the core rule on faculty responsibility, promotion, tenure, and review; he encouraged prompt feedback. He then encouraged senators to come to the second Faculty Night Out at the University Club, Friday, Jan 27.
Guest Speaker:
Speaker Benedik introduced guest speaker Pamela Matthews, who provided an update on the upcoming decennial SACS reaccreditation visit April 2-5, for which our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is mandatory. Ben Wu’s slides from the last meeting are posted at http://provost.tamu.edu/initiatives/QEP. She said Texas A&M won’t be reaccredited without approval of our QEP, and the SACS visitors will ask faculty about it; consequently she urged faculty to see this as an opportunity to focus on all aspects of student learning, and welcomed feedback on our QEP. She is currently preparing Texas A&M’s response to the SACS off-site report; this response is due February 20th. The next Commitment to Excellence Dialogue, to be held at 4:00 P.M. on February 2nd in Rudder Theater, will focus specifically on our QEP, "Aggies Commit to Learning for a Lifetime."
Kim Hill (Political Science) asked for clarification on her recent message underlining that every course and program change, no matter how small, must go through the full approval process. Pamela Matthews confirmed that this is correct. Kim Hill then asked what the Strategic Plan 2010-2015’s call for increasing our undergraduate graduation rate will mean in practice, and how the college targets were determined. Pamela Matthews said it was by discussion with the deans. It was noted that our target is the four-year graduation rate, while federal statistics track the six-year graduation rate.
Karan Watson elaborated that modeling based on our peer institutions indicated that our annual graduation rate should increase from 11,300 to 12,500 and this has been apportioned to the colleges. Part of that is the number of incoming freshmen and transfers, and part is the rate of progress (which has been for the most part been below that of our peers).
Beth Tebeaux (Liberal Arts) said some states have high requirements for high school graduation. Karan Watson said Texas has kept changing the state tests and requirements, and noted that A&M and UT see a need to distinguish “Tier-1 college ready” from “college ready.”
The December 12 Faculty Senate meeting minutes were approved as submitted. Motion Passed
FS.29.108
Attachment A
Consent Agenda The consent agenda was approved as submitted. Motion Passed
GRADUATE COUNCIL FS.29.109
New Courses - December 1, 2011 Attachment B
ARCH 669 |
Foundations of Research in Architecture |
|
EDCI 632 |
Program Evaluation in Curriculum and Instruction |
|
GEOL 653 |
Geobiological Research |
|
HORT 626 |
International Floriculture Marketing |
|
MARB 604 |
Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals and Seabirds of New Zealand |
|
SCSC 629 |
Laboratory Quality Systems |
|
SCSC 634 |
Regulatory Science: Principles & Practices in Food Systems |
|
SCSC 635 |
Comparative Global Standards in Food Systems |
|
SCSC 636 |
Regulatory Science Methodology in Food Systems |
|
VIBS 611 |
Tumor Cell Biology and Carcinogenesis |
|
VIZA 630 |
Contemporary Art Studio/Seminar I |
|
VIZA 631 |
Contemporary Art Studio/Seminar II |
|
VTMI 629 |
Laboratory Quality Systems |
|
WFSC 643 |
Geospatial Technology in Military Land Management |
|
Course Changes - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed
AERO 625 |
Digital Control of Aerospace Systems |
FS.29.110 |
AGEC 605 |
Rural Real Estate Appraisal and Organization |
Attachment C |
ARCH 601 |
Design Fundamentals I |
|
ARCH 610 |
Visual Communications |
|
ARCH 619 |
Applied Solar Energy |
|
ARCH 621 |
Energy Optimization in Building Design |
|
ARCH 625 |
Sustainable Housing Design |
|
ARCH 631 |
Architectural Structures III |
|
ARCH 633 |
Environmental Systems III |
|
ARCH 634 |
Architectural Lighting |
|
ARCH 647 |
Recording Historic Buildings |
|
GENE 643 |
Quantitative Genetics and Plant Breeding |
|
SCSC 643 |
Quantitative Genetics and Plant Breeding |
|
Course Withdrawals - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed
ARCH 677 Neuroscience and Architecture FS.29.111
FLOR 691 Research Attachment D
FLOR 693 Professional Study
Special Consideration - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed College of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning FS.29.112
Proposal for a 4+2 Program for BLA + MUP Attachment E
Bachelors of Landscape Architecture + Masters of Urban Planning
Special Consideration - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed College of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning FS.29.113
Proposal for a 4+2 Program for BLA + MSLD Attachment F
Bachelors of Landscape Architecture + Masters of Science in Land evelopment
Special Consideration - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.114
Proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Film and Media Studies. Attachment G
Special Consideration - December 1, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.115
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences Attachment H
Proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Science in Food Systems
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE Motion Passed
New Course - December 8, 2011 FS.29.116
ALEC 450 Global Social Justice Issues in Agriculture Attachment I
ALEC 494 Internship
ANTH 323 Nautical Archaeology of the Mediterranean
ANTH 360 Ancient Civilizations of the World
ANTH 412 Archaeological Theory
ANTH 418 Romans, Arabs, and Vikings—Seafaring in the Mediterranean during the
early Christian Era
ANTH 434 Human Evolutionary Ecology II: Reproduction and Parenting
ANTH 440 Studies in Globalization
ANTH 445 Studies in African Diaspora
ANTH 461 Environmental Archaeology
BIOL 350 Computational Genomics
BIOL 400 Tropical Ecology Costa Rica
BMEN 427 Magnetic Resonance Engineering
COMM 437 Visual Communication
COMM 471 Media, Health and Medicine
ECEN 463 Magnetic Resonance Engineering
ECEN 465 Experimental Optics
ENTC 333 Product Development
HISP 201 Current Issues in Hispanic Studies
HISP 205 Don Quixote and the Other Arts
HISP 206 Food in the Hispanic World
JOUR 455 Literary Nonfiction
MATH 437 Principles of Numerical Analysis
MEEN 361 Materials and Manufacturing in Design Laboratory
MEEN 417 Basics of Plasma Engineering and Applications
PHYS 102 Freshman Physics Orientation II
PHYS 444 Art of Communication in Physics I: Communicating Science to Scientists
PHYS 445 Art of Communication in Physics II: Communicating Science to Non-Scientists
VIST 442 Digital Characters: Art, Technology, Uses and Meaning
VMID 927 Community Connections
WFSC 433 Molecular Ecology in Wildlife and Fisheries
Change in Courses - December 8, 2011
AGEC 484 Internship
AGEC 485 Directed Studies
AGEC 491 Research
ANTH 424 Introduction to Human Evolutionary Ecology
ASTR 119 Big Bang and Black Holes: Laboratory Methods
BIOL 358 Ecology Laboratory
CHEM 102 Fundamentals of Chemistry II
CHEM 112 Fundamentals of Chemistry Laboratory II
CHEM 238 Organic Chemistry Laboratory
COMM 230 Communication Technology Skills
EHRD 408 Diversity Issues and Practices in HRD
ENGL 221 World Literature
ENGL 222 World Literature
ENGL 227 American Literature: Colonial to American Renaissance
ENGL 232 Survey of English Literature II
ENGL 321 Nineteenth-Century Literature (Romantic)
ENGL 331 Fantasy Literature
ENGL 337 Life and Literature of the American South
ENGL 350 Twentieth-Century Literature Pre-World War II
ENGL 352 Twentieth-Century Literature Post-World War II
ENGL 360 Literature for Children
ENGL 361 Literature for Adolescents
ENGL 376 Twentieth-Century American Novel
ENGL 377 English Novel to 1870
ENGL 378 The English Novel, 1870 to Present
ENGL 386 Creative Nonfiction
HIST 360 History of the American Petroleum Industry
HIST 435 Tudor England, 1450-1603
HIST 436 Stuart England, 1603-1714
HIST 447 Constitutional History of the United States to 1901
JOUR 230 Communication Technology Skills
MATH 172 Calculus
MATH 220 Foundations of Mathematics
MATH 304 Linear Algebra
MATH 309 Linear Algebra for Differential Equations
MATH 311 Topics in Applied Mathematics I
MATH 323 Linear Algebra
MATH 415 Modern Algebra I
MATH 416 Modern Algebra II
MATH 417 Numerical Analysis I
MATH 491 Research
MEEN 221 Statics and Particle Dynamics
MEEN 360 Materials and Manufacturing Selection in Design
MODL 221 World Literature
MODL 222 World Literature
NVSC 102 Leadership and Management I
NVSC 203 Naval Ships Systems I: Engineering
NVSC 302 Naval Operations and Seamanship
PHYS 101 Freshman Physics Orientation
PHYS 119 Big Bang and Black Holes: Laboratory Methods
**Attachment J moved to Committee Reports
Attachment J under Committe Reports
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Architecture FS.29.117
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Attachment K
B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.118
Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution Attachment L
B.S in Engineering Technology
Electronics Engineering Technology Option
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.119
Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution Attachment M
B.S in Engineering Technology
Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology Option
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.120
Department of Nuclear Engineering Attachment N
B.S. in Nuclear Engineering
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Geosciences FS.29.121
B.S. in Environmental Geosciences Attachment O
**Attachment P moved to Committee Reports
Attachment P under Committe Reports
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.122
Department of Communication Attachment Q
B.A. in Communication
B.A. in Telecommunication Media Studies
B.S. in Telecommunication Media Studies
Attachment Q
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.123
Department of Hispanic Studies Attachment R
B.A. in Spanish
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.124
Department of Psychology Attachment S
B.A. in Psychology
B.S. in Psychology
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Science FS.29.125
Department of Mathematics Attachment T
B.S. in Mathematics
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences FS.29.126
D.V.M. Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine Attachment U
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.127
Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Watershed Certificate – requirement changes Attachment V
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.128
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Attachment W
B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Option
Natural Resource Collections & Museums Emphasis Aquatic Ecology and Conservation Option
Fisheries Ecology Emphasis Aquatic Emphasis
Vertebrate Zoology Option Pre-professional Emphasis
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emphasis
Request to remove emphases
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.129
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Attachment X
B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Option Aquatic Ecology and Conservation Option Vertebrate Zoology Option
Request to change grade requirements
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Architecture FS.29.130
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Attachment Y
B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture and M.S. in Land Development Request for a 4+2 Degree Program
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Architecture FS.29.131
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Attachment Z
B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture and M. of Urban Planning Request for a 4+2 Degree Program
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
Mays Business School FS.29.132
Department of Accounting Attachment AA
Request for a new Certificate in Energy Accounting
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
Mays Business School FS.29.133
Attachment BB
Department of Information and Operations Management BBA in Information and Operations Management
Request to create two stand-alone degree programs
(BBA in Management Information Systems and BBA in Supply Chain Management) and discontinue the existing degree program
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Geosciences FS.29.134
Minor in Earth Science – requirement changes Attachment CC
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Geosciences FS.29.135
Minor in Environmental Geosciences Request for a new minor Attachment DD
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Liberal Arts FS.29.136
General Degree Requirements-Electives Attachment EE
Request to change number of hours allowed for electives
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.137
American Studies Program Attachment FF
B.A. in American Studies
Request to discontinue degree program
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.138
Department of Anthropology Attachment GG
B.A. in Anthropology
Request for a new Archaeology Track
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.139
Department of European and Classical Languages and Cultures Attachment HH
B.A. in French
B.A. in German
B.A. in Russian
Request to consolidate degree programs into B.A. in Modern Languages with concentrations in French, German, & Russian
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.140
Department of Hispanic Studies Attachment II
Minor in Spanish – requirement changes
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.141
Minor in Religious Studies – requirement changes Attachment JJ
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.142
Department of Psychology Attachment KK
Minor in Psychology – requirement changes
Special Consideration - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Science FS.29.143
Department of Biology Attachment LL
Minor in Biology – requirement changes
Special Consideration - From November 2011 UCC meeting Motion Passed
Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.144
University Studies Degree Attachment MM
Area of Concentration - Telecommunications Technology Request to discontinue degree program
Special Consideration - From November 2011 UCC meeting Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.145
Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution Attachment NN
B.S. in Engineering Technology
Telecommunications Engineering Technology Option Request to discontinue degree option
Texas A&M University at Galveston Motion Passed
New Courses - December 8, 2011 FS.29.146
MARE 314 |
Gas Turbine Power Generation |
Attachment OO |
NAUT 200 |
Basic Communications, Navigation and Seamanship |
|
NAUT 300
NAUT 400 |
Intermediate Communications, Navigation and Seamanship Advanced Communications, Navigation and Seamanship |
|
Change in Courses - December 8, 2011
NVSC 203 Naval Ships Systems I: Engineering
NVSC 320 Naval Operations and Seamanship
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed Texas A&M University at Galveston FS.29.147
Department of Marine Biology Attachment PP
B.S in Marine Biology-License Option
W-COURSES Motion Passed
December 16, 2011 FS.29.148
W certification: |
|
Attachment QQ |
ENGL 481 |
Senior Seminar: The Cultural Jane Austen |
|
INST 462 |
Language Acquisition and Development |
|
CLAS 491 |
Research |
|
ENGL 481 |
Senior Seminar: History of the Book |
|
W recertification:
ANSC 414 Sheep and Goat Production
ANSC 491 Undergraduate Research with Writing Credit
COMM/WGST 407 Women, Minorities, and Mass Media
COMM 410 Radio, Records and Popular Music
COMM 415 New Media and Civil Society
COMM/AFST 425 Rhetoric of Social Movements
COMM 447 Communication, Group Processes and Collaboration
GEOL 311 Principles of Geological Writing
MATH 220 Foundations of Mathematics
MATH 491 Research
OCEN 410 Ocean Engineering Laboratory
PHIL 381 Ethical Theory
POLS 323 Political Systems of Latin America
RDNG 371 Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Literature of Middle Schools
RLEM 430 Advanced Restoration Ecology
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Motion Passed
Proposed Revisions to Student Rules 1.7, 8.4.3, and 14.21 FS.29.149 Attachment RR
End of Consent Agenda
Committee Reports
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE Motion Passed
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 FS.29.150
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Attachment J
B.S. in Environmental Studies
Attachment J was moved and opened for discussion. Janice Epstein (Science) asked why there were two identically named degree programs. Sarah Bednarz (Associate Dean of Geosciences) was recognized; she said when the program was created it was a shared program between the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and of Geosciences, but the programs are now separate. Attachment J was approved.
Change in Curriculum - December 8, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Geosciences FS.29.151
B.S. in Environmental Studies Attachment P
New Business
Committee of the Whole
Speaker Benedik then turned the chair over to Speaker-Elect Stallone to convene the Committee of the Whole.
Clint Magill (Agriculture and Life Sciences) recommended that to improve continuity the membership of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure (CAFRT) be changed to three members from each college and the libraries, with one of the three elected each year for a three-year term.
Bob Bednarz (Geosciences) observed that due to construction, the sidewalk between the new Humanities building and Animal Industries serves a large number of pedestrians, who are endangered by bicyclists who ride on the sidewalk instead of walking their bikes or using streets and bicycle lanes. He was able to get “No Riding” signs posted there, and asked that the University Police be requested to enforce that periodically. Clint Magill (Agriculture and Life Sciences) said those signs have been removed and the walkway widened.
Bedford Clark (Liberal Arts) said it is difficult to walk from Blocker to Rudder without being clipped or nearly run over by bicyclists riding carelessly and at high speed, and urged that something be done sooner rather than later to improve pedestrian safety.
Adjourn
There being no further business to come before the Committee of the Whole, Speaker-Elect Stallone returned the chair back to Speaker Benedik who adjourned the meeting at 4:09 P.M.