November 14, 2011
FACULTY SENATE MEETING MINUTES
November 14, 2011
3:15 p.m., 601 Rudder Tower
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
Present: Louise Abbott, Derya Akleman, Jorge Alvarado, Carisa Armstrong, Judith Ball, Michael Benedik, Leonard Bierman, Doug Biggs, Edward Brothers, Patrick Burkart, Joe Cerami, Jonathan Coopersmith, Joe Dannenbaum, Walter Daugherity, Darryl De Ruiter, Ron Douglas, Janice Epstein, Jose Fernandez-Solis, Edward Funkhouser, Norma Funkhouser, Holly Gaede, Fran Gelwick, Ira Greenbaum, Janet Hammer, Mike Hanik, Dirk Hays, Kim Quaile Hill, Shelley Holliday, Richard Hutchinson, Wendy Jepson, Guido Kanschat, Karen Kubena, Paulo Lima-Filho, Thomas Linton, Carol Loopstra, Blanca Lupiani, Igor Lyuksyutov, Clint Magill, Kathryn McKenzie, Stephen Miller, Jeffrey Morris, A. Gene Nelson, Brian Perkins, Harland Prechel, Leslie Reynolds, Dale Rice, J. Maurice Rojas, Luis San Andres, Jason Sawyer, Karen-Beth Scholthof, Brian Shaw, Kathleen Speed, John Stallone, Bob Strawser, Mike Thornton, Grace Townsend, Manuelita Ureta, Wyoma vanDuinkerken, Gary Varner, William West, B. Dan Wood, Richard Woodman
Absent: Ergun Akleman, Jaime Alvarado-Bremer, Perla Balbuena, Maria Barrufet, Hassan Bashir, Charles Bollfrass, John Carhart, Gwendolyn Carroll, Gwan Seong Choi, William Bedford Clark, Mark Clayton, Richard Curry, Robin Dabareiner, Swaroop Darbha, Louise Darcey, John Edens, Gioia Falcone, L. Paige Fields, Clare Gill, Stephen Guetersloh, Ed Harris, Karl Haupt, Kevin Heinz, Andrew Klein, Patrick Louchouarn, Vanita Mahajan, R.N. Mahapatra, Sam Mannan, Christopher Mathewson, Michelle Pine, Sudarsan Rangan, Richard Stadelmann, Douglas Starr, Elizabeth Tebeaux, Winfried Teizer, Jijayanagaram Venkatraj, Wei Wan, Tryon Wichersham, Jim Woosley, Keyan Zhu-Salzman
Call to Order:
Speaker Benedik called the meeting to order at 3:20 P.M. There were two senators from Galveston and one senator from Qatar present via videoconferencing.
Speaker Comments:
Speaker Benedik discussed the national AAUP conference on Shared Governance that he just returned from. A few common themes ran through all the sessions at the conference, first Faculty involvement in shared governance and participation in Faculty Senates was a universal problem and not just our own. There were no great suggestions offered except to have cookies available and use guilt. We do both. Secondly, despite our protestations, Texas A&M is doing fairly well in terms of our participation in shared governance. The tales of woe coming from other institutions gave me optimism. While we certainly aren’t the best in terms of policies, we are far from the worst.
Speaker Benedik made a few brief comments on General Studies. Associate Provost Lesia Crumpton-Young briefed the EC last week and will be here to brief the full Senate next month. The current proposal – these items are in a constant state of flux, can be summarized as follows:
- Trying to move as many students as possible out of General Studies and into majors – mostly a request to colleges to accept those with a 2.75 GPA (instead of 3)
- Other students need to develop a transition plan to select a major and generate a degree plan
- Admissions to General studies was closed for about 1 month but will be re-opened tomorrow (hopefully)
There will be enrollment caps into General studies for those students who express interest in specific colleges. These vary by college and the intent is to not have an excess of students trying to get into the space limited colleges
- The option will be removed from the Texas Common Ap next year but undecided students and Blinn Team will be allowed to enroll (up to 100- 200 cap)
- General Studies can still be used for a transition between majors for max of 2 semesters or for students dismissed from their major
- Transfer students will not be admitted to general studies except in special circumstances
He stated the Faculty Senate was not involved in generating this proposal nor was it consulted and he finds this problematic and will continue efforts to ensure we are part of the process where appropriate.
Guest Speakers:
Speaker Benedik introduced Ben Wu, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, who presented an update on the new Faculty Teaching and Learning Portal, http://learning.tamu.edu, which is operational now although still being completed.
Speaker Benedik then introduced Brooks Moore from the System office of general counsel to discuss public information requests. He said that under state law, the System cannot decide for itself that something should be withheld from a requester, but has to request a decision from the state attorney general within ten business days; there are exceptions for medical information, unpublished research, and commercializable information. (This is different from the federal Freedom of Information Act rules.) Last year there were over 600 public information requests, many from students, of which about 200 went to the attorney general for an official opinion on what must be released. “Public information” does not include purely personal emails, but does include information relating to employment, evaluations, promotion and tenure, etc. Standard Administrative Procedure 29.01.99.M2.01 defines what is a “state record” subject to retention rules. He recommended auto deleting email to reduce the volume. Requesters can be charged a limited amount for supplying the information, but this does not cover the full cost.
The minutes of the October 10, 2011, faculty senate meeting were approved as corrected. Motion Passed FS.29.53
Attachment A
Consent Agenda
After removing CHEM 640 and 644 from Attachment B, and removing Attachment U, both at the request of Clint Magill (Agriculture and Life Sciences), the remaining consent agenda items were approved.
GRADUATE COUNCIL
New Courses - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
ANSC 621 |
Issues in the Equine Industry |
FS.29.54 |
CVEN 765 |
Advanced Civil Engineering Systems |
Attachment B |
FINC 649 |
Financial Modeling |
|
FINC 660 |
Fixed Income Analysis |
|
PETE 656 |
Advanced Numerical Methods for Reservoir Simulation |
|
SCSC 644 |
Forage Ecology and Management |
|
VIBS 620 |
Cytogenetics |
|
VLCS 622 |
Equine Disease & Epidemiology |
|
Course Changes - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
CPSY 626 Psychopathology FS.29.55
CVEN 606 Environmental Engineering Design I Attachment C
ESSM 685 Directed Studies
FINC 664 Portfolio Management
SCSC 657 Environmental Soil Science
Special Consideration - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Engineering FS.29.56
Attachment D
Proposed changes for the Qatar Campus Engineering Graduate Faculty to Graduate Faculty Membership
Special Consideration - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.57
Proposed Master of Equine Industry Management Attachment E
Special Consideration - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.58
Proposed Master of Science in Plant Breeding – Distance Attachment F
Special Consideration - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.59
Proposed PhD in Plant Breeding – Distance Attachment G
Special Consideration - October 6, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.60
Proposed Master of Recreation Resources Development – Distance. Attachment H
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
New Course - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
ACCT 403 |
Energy Accounting |
FS.29.61 |
ALED 350 |
Global Agricultural Issues |
Attachment I |
BIOL 300 |
Research Seminar: Tropical Ecology in Costa Rica |
|
BIOL 487 |
Biomedical Parasitology |
|
FINC 350 |
Ethics in Financial Decision-Making |
|
FINC 368 |
Trade Floor Dynamics |
|
FINC 428 |
Fixed Income Analysis |
|
FINC 449 |
Financial Modeling |
|
Withdrawal of Courses - October 14, 2011
EURO 425 French Film
EURO 434 Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany
EURO 435 German Film
EURO 455 Italian Film
Change in Courses - October 14, 2011
ARTS 304 Graphic Design II
ARTS 305 Painting I
ARTS 403 Graphic Design III
FINC 421 Investment Analysis
FINC 425 Portfolio Management
FINC 434 Managerial Finance I
IDIS 303 Mechanical Power Transmission
IDIS 364 Distributor Operations and Financial Management
IDIS 420 Electronic Distribution Networks
IDIS 424 Purchasing Application in Industrial Distribution
IDIS 430 Sales Engineering
IDIS 434 The Quality Process for Distributors
IDIS 444 Leadership in Technology
MEEN 315 Principles of Thermodynamics
MGMT 363 The Management Process
MGMT 372 Managing Organizational Behavior
Change in Curriculum - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.62
Department of Agricultural Economics Attachment J
B.S. in Agricultural Economics Finance and Real Estate Food Marketing Systems Policy and Economic Analysis Rural Entrepreneurship
Change in Curriculum - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Architecture FS.29.63
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Attachment K
B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning
Change in Curriculum - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.64
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering Attachment L
B.S. in Chemical Engineering
Change in Curriculum - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed Dwight Look College of Engineering FS.29.65
Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution Attachment M
B.S. in Industrial Distribution
Administrative Change - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed College of Liberal Arts FS.29.66
B.A. in International Studies Attachment N
Arabic and Asian Language Office Asian Studies Program
Department of European and Classical Languages and Cultures
B.A. in Classics
Request to reorganize the interdisciplinary programs within the College of Liberal Arts and one academic unit into the Department of International Studies
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.67
Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Minor in Forestry Attachment O
Minor in Rangeland Ecology and Management Requirement changes
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed College of Agriculture and Life Sciences FS.29.68
Department of Poultry Science Attachment P
Minor in Poultry Science – requirement changes
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Architecture FS.29.69
Department of Visualization Attachment Q
Minor in Art – increase in program hours
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Liberal Arts FS.29.70
Africana Studies Program Attachment R
Africana Studies Minor – requirement changes
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Liberal Arts FS.29.71
Department of Communication Attachment S
Request for a Communication and Global Media Certificate
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Passed
College of Liberal Arts FS.29.72
Department of Communication Attachment T
Request for a Communication Leadership and Conflict Management Certificate
W-COURSES |
|
October 25, 2011 |
W certification: |
|
Motion Passed |
ENTC 419 |
Technical Project Management |
FS.29.73 |
ANTH 423 |
Bioarcheology |
Attachment V |
INFO 300 |
Business Communications I |
|
C certification:
VIBS 489 Science in Cinema & Society
INFO 400 Business Communications II
W recertification:
ANTH 340 Folklore and the Supernatural
COSC 494 Professional Internship
DCED 301 Dance History
ECON 312 Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy
FREN 336 Contemporary France
INFO 439 Management of Information Systems
MUSC 312 Music in Modern Western Culture
SOCI/WGST 424 Women and Work in Society
End of Consent Agenda
Committee Reports
CORE CURRICULUM COUNCIL
CCC Committee Report
Co-chair Dale Rice reported on the Core Curriculum Council. After holding hearings on the science core with respect to new state requirements, the Council voted to do away with the present two-tier approach and to require that all core science courses have all the components specified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (including teamwork and communication) when the courses are recertified. All core science courses will have to be recertified to comply with the new requirements.
The Council intends to have a complete proposed 42-hour core curriculum by February, to hold hearings on it in March, and to present it to the faculty senate for consideration in April. Next academic year hundreds of course reviews will have to be done, for all core curriculum courses. The purpose of the state’s new requirements is to smooth transfers.
Unfinished Business
CHEM 640
CHEM 644
Laboratory Methods in Biological Chemistry Natural Products Biosynthesis Motion Passed
FS.29.74
Attachment B1
Clint Magill (Agriculture and Life Sciences) asked that the catalog course descriptions for CHEM 640 and 644 be edited to conform to the proper style; Holly Gaede (Science) agreed to have this done. With those editorial changes CHEM 640 and 644 were approved.
Special Consideration - October 14, 2011 Motion Tabled
Texas A&M University Attachment U
UCC supports the action taken by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and recommends approval of the program phase-outs and consolidations.
Regarding Attachment U, Senator Magill noted that many of the programs being eliminated were graduate programs but the attachment had not been considered by the Graduate Curriculum Committee. After some discussion, Gene Nelson (Agriculture and Life Sciences) moved to table Attachment U; the motion to table the item passed.
Committee of the Whole
There being no further business to come before the faculty senate, Speaker Benedik turned the chair over to Speaker-Elect Stallone to convene the Committee of the Whole. Clint Magill (Agriculture and Life Sciences) said that the university rules about former deans and department heads need to be strengthened regarding their relinquishing their administrator’s pay, returning to a regular faculty salary, etc.
Kim Hill (Liberal Arts) said he had heard that an outside consulting firm was being hired to analyze the productivity of faculty (including publications), and wants to make sure it is done right. Ann Kenimer from the Dean of Faculties Office said the vendor is Academic Analytics and the purpose is to provide comparative department and unit productivity measures versus our peers; this will be used to respond to Association of American Universities rankings and for departments to set priorities. Paulo Lima-Filho (Science) noted that most departments have done external reviews and asked what this will add, and will it cause a lot of extra work?
Jonathan Coopersmith (Liberal Arts) said that reasons justifying the engineering dean’s large retirement package have not yet been given, and this damages all faculty in the public’s perception: why should donors’ contributions and students’ tuition increases go to fund someone’s retirement package?
Past Speaker Bob Strawser said that he was invited to appear on another Texas Public Policy Foundation panel, in Washington, D.C., but is unable to attend, so Jaime Grunlan will substitute. He also reported that the “Student Bonfire” is under construction. Finally, he humorously noted the “problems” with TAMU’s football fight songs (e.g., “We’ve got to fight, boys” might be considered sexist, non-inclusive, and insufficiently diverse; singing “Saw varsity’s horns off” when we will likely not play The University of Texas again till 2019 seems misdirected) and proposed some new verses such as “Clip the War Eagles’ wings” (against Auburn University, one of our new Southeastern Conference opponents).
Guido Kanschat (Science) reported that his dean was asked to increase the number of graduating seniors from 550 to 850. Jorge Alvarado (Engineering) asked why and Senator Kanschat said he didn’t know.
Several senators questioned the expense and value of hiring consultants when people are losing their jobs and young faculty are leaving because they don’t get raises.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:02 P.M.