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:
 
  1. 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)
  2. Other students need to develop a transition plan to select a major and generate a degree plan
  3. 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
 
  1. 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)
  2. General Studies can still be used for a transition between majors for max of 2 semesters or for students dismissed from their major
  3. 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.