SENATE MINUTES

Meeting Date:	01/27/00	Status of Minutes:	APPROVED
Senate Session:	XVI	Meeting Number:	9

Contents
Treasurer's Report Announcements Academic Affairs Academic Planning	Administrative Affairs & Elections Student Affairs & Admissions Information Technology Library Advisory	Provost's Report Old Business New Business

MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY SENATE SESSION XVI, MEETING #9 January 27, 2000
Present:			B. Loher, P. Travis, M. Lambert, W. Yacovissi, J. Kirby, R. Timko, K. Thorne, D. Rotella, D. Kotkowski, T. Loomis, A. Ghods, M. Robinson, S. Woolley, W. Sanders, H. King, K. Guenther, L. Schankman, J. Mumma, N. Boston, T. Young, M. Chester, S. Brown, R. Keller, A. Mabe, C. Burns, J. Halstead, J. Moore, S. Bronn
I.	Loher called the meeting to order at 3:35. K. Guenther is the senator representing Hist/Pol Sci for S 2000 term.
II.	Ghods/Keller moved approval of minutes for December 9, 1999.					PASSED
III.	Treasurer's Report (Lambert)					To Contents
	Current balance $802. MOTION from Senate Executive Committee to authorize transfer of $500 to the Senate Scholarship Account for Spring 2000. This covers the second half of the scholarship payment.
						MOTION PASSED
IV.	Announcements					To Contents
	A.	Dr. Bronn, the new VP for Administration and Finance, provided an update to Senate on the following items:
		1.	Parking garage: under design, building schedule not determined yet, probably begin early summer 2000, with intended completion fall 2000.
		2.	Child Care Center: construction has begun. Intend completion by end of spring 2000 term. Dr. Bronn will have a design plan available soon in his office for interested persons to examine.
		3.	Infrastructure project: many facets are underway. Most work will be done toward the end of this semester and during the summer. Intend completion mid to late fall 2000. Because of savings on the project there may be some money available for other related infrastructure needs not included in the current infrastructure project list (improvement to parking areas may be possible, among other needs).
		4.	Renovation of Belknap and Retan: final designs completed mid-Fall 2000. There will be a tower between the two buildings providing handicapped access. Because it is a long project, one building will be done at a time, with Retan first.
		5.	The SSHE requested proposals from MU for new capital projects for the next funding cycle. MU proposed renovations to Grant Science, Allen, Elliot instructional technology, Straughn small addition to improve stage and storage space. The proposals must be approved by the Legislature and the Governor.
		6.	President Halstead noted that we will have monthly facilities updates on the Web. He also noted that Dr. Bronn's expertise in fiscal management will be important in the coming years.
		The Senate welcomes Dr. Bronn to Mansfield.
	B.	President Halstead APPROVED the Senate action of 12-9-99: New course NUR 433.
V.	Committee Reports
	A.	Academic Affairs (Yacovissi)				To Contents
		Motion 1
		To approve a new 18 sh minor in Gerontology, with the following courses: Soc 101, Swk 320, Soc 322, Psy 324, Swk 300 OR Psy 290 OR Psy 421; Swk 497 OR Psy 497 OR Soc 497 Independent Study. The Department states that Gerontology will grow in importance as the population ages. The minor should be of interest to Psychology majors as well. P. Travis asked in what department is the program housed? It is in the Swk/Anthro/Soc Department.
						MOTION PASSED
		Motion 2
		To approve a new course, Swk 320 Issues in Gerontology. This new 3sh course will support the new Gerontology minor as well as provide a good elective course for Social Work Majors and others.
						MOTION PASSED
	B.	Academic Planning (Kirby)				To Contents
		No Report.
	C.	Administrative Affairs & Elections (Timko)				To Contents
		Meetings scheduled for Feb. 4, Mar. 17, April 14. Committee will begin the elections process. Timko noted that if the proposed new structure for the Professional Committee is approved [by State APSCUF], we will need more faculty to run for election, but the individual workload of the three committees (Tenure, Promotion, Sabbatical) will be less. The Committee is exploring the possibility of conducting the elections through secure electronic balloting.
	D.	Student Affairs & Admissions (Rotella)				To Contents
		No Report
	E.	Information Technology (Thorne)				To Contents
		No Report
	F.	Library Advisory (A. Longoria)				To Contents
		No Report
	G.	Provost (J. Moore)				To Contents
		1.	Spring enrollment is 2750-2800. Freeze date is around March 1.
		2.	Three new programs were approved by the Board of Governors [B.S. Applied Statistics & Data Analysis, B.S. Sports & Fitness Nutrition, M. Ed. School Library Information Technology. APC and others are working on a few new programs, and other programs will be reviewed for possible moratorium status.
		3.	The Provost will bring a new academic dismissal policy to AAC: move to spring dismissals only for first term students. All others will undergo review in December and May, as at present.
		4.	The Department Chairpersons will discuss the proposed changes to the class meeting schedule. The Provost intends to address the issue of class scheduling anomalies which affect some students because of the non-standard meeting times.
		5.	Study Abroad: Carol Alexander will sign required paperwork for students; Brian Barden will deal with credit transfer issues for students interested in study abroad.
		6.	Course audit policy may be being used inappropriately by some professors. A student auditing should not be participating and taking faculty time; they are to sit and listen to the classes.
		7.	The Provost will be sending Summer School and Distance Education information to Chairs, with CBA considerations.
		8.	The Provost is working with the Advising Resources Group toward on-line registration. They will pilot the process with a few departments this spring for the F 2000 preregistration.
		9.	Searches: there are approximately 13 to 15 searches underway to fill vacancies.
		R. Timko asked the Provost about starting classes at 8:30 a.m., rather than 8:00. The Provost believes that this creates other problems with the end of the day schedule. Timko also inquired about the proposal for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS). The Provost responded that it is still under review. They will work on it and other programs this year, intending to allow time for community review and response. Implementation would not be before Fall 2001.
VI.		Old Business				To Contents
		G.E. - P. Travis reported on the timetable: GE team leaders meet Feb. 2 to discuss the responses they've received, work on refining proposals, perhaps combining some so we have fewer to deal with. Hope to get revisions out to campus around Feb. 10. A Faculty Assembly is scheduled for Wed. March 15 at 4:00 p.m. in Allen Hall to discuss the revised proposals. Other meetings may be held before March 15. We may want to deal with the First Year course concept separately. Comments from the floor indicated that the teams should be specific about the revisions, discuss how to deal with WAC and other issues. Senate was reminded that the 40% rule applies to the programs, not the whole ER.
		a.	The Provost commented that if we adopt a model this spring, then the administration will work to implement it. The GE committees working at this time do not have to design the implementation as part of the models. An implementation committee could begin work F 2000. A question was asked about the role of the Provost in the GE issue: Dr. Moore said that we need an overhaul, the five proposals all have something to offer, and he will work to implement what the faculty wants, administering "budgets and personnel to make sure it works."
		b.	S. Woolley asked if Senate will look at the approval process itself. B. Loher said that if we want to change the established approval procedure rules, it would require a Senate vote to change the rules.
		c.	J. Mumma complimented H. King for his work on the GE Message Board and B. Loher for the Senate Web Pages which facilitated the discussion.
VII.		New Business				To Contents
		There was no new business.
VIII.		The meeting adjourned at 4:22 (Chester/Kirby)
Respectfully Submitted, Priscilla Travis, Senate VP and Secretary-of-the-Day

Please address corrections to

cdortona@mnsfld.edu

Back to Mansfield University Senate Home Page
Back to Mansfield University Home Page