SENATE MINUTES

Meeting Date:

2/21/02

Status of Minutes:

APPROVED

Senate Session:

XVIII

Meeting Number:

11

Present:

P. Travis, S.A. Davis, N. Sidell, C. D'Ortona, H. Biblehimer, B. Ganong, D. Rotella, B. Cunningham, R. Maris, J. Tan, A. Longoria, S. Thornsley, W. Sanders, B. Holtman, R. Dodson, W. Evans, M. Matarese, A. Gaskievicz, M. Syrett, J. Werner, M-D. Schmid, S. Brown, R. Keller, A. Mabe, L. Cass, J. Warner, M. Lane, N. Cooledge, J. Halstead.

I.

P. Travis called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m.

II.

Minutes of February 7, 2002 were approved as electronically distributed (Mabe/Schmid). Motion Three was amended to include five minor language changes related to Geography and Geology.

APPROVED

III.

Treasurer's Report (P. Travis for C. D'Ortona)

The account balance is $734.

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APPROVED

IV.

Announcements

1. J. Halstead approved the nine Senate actions of 1/24/02: changes to the Women's Studies program, changes in Languages & Literature, course changes in Respiratory Therapy, prerequisite changes to COM 301, changes in Psychology, changes in Criminal Justice, decrease in credits for Political Science degree, changes in Mathematics, and course changes in Business Administration.
   
   
2. P. Travis urged attendance at the Town Meeting set for 2/28 at 12:15 in AHSC 307. The topic will be retention and a light lunch will be provided.

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V.

Committee Reports

A.

Academic Affairs (H. Biblehimer)


The following motions were presented by AAC:

MOTION ONE: AAC moves to approve the curricular change for the department of Business and Economics:

Action: Change prerequisite: ACC 111

Purpose and nature of change: Change prerequisite. Add ACC 110 as a prerequisite. ACC 111 is a continuation of ACC 110. Most students will not have sufficient background to take ACC 111 without ACC 110.

Discussion: none. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION TWO: AAC moves to approve the curricular changes requested by the Department of Languages and Literature:

Action: Course Change: Change Number ENG 224 Intro to Linguistics

Purpose and Nature of Change: Change course number ENG 224 to ENG 280 in order to correspond to cross listing with ANH 280.

Intro to Linguistics is typically an upper division course.

Discussion: none. MOTION APPROVED.

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B.

Academic Planning (B. Ganong)

No report.  

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C.

Administrative Affairs & Elections

P. Travis reported that the committee will meet with S. Bronn next week. A call for nominations will be mailed next week, with a return due date of 3/12. Spring elections will be conducted via paper ballot.

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D.

Student Affairs & Admissions (D. Rotella)

The Wellness Committee has received a small grant and will plan another wellness program in the spring. The committee will meet next week.

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E.

Information Technology (B. Holtman)

C. Beckman reported to the Committee that there were less than 4 hours of actual downtime related to the moving of the network structure to Memorial Hall. The move of Retan faculty to Doane and Alumni also went very well. Belknap was mostly operational the first day of classes. The grand opening celebration of Memorial Hall was well attended. The issue of changing the e-mail domain name to Mansfield.edu rather than mnsfld.edu will be discussed. A concern was raised regarding scheduling classes in Allen Lecture Hall. Perhaps scheduling of the room can be re-evaluated. A concern was also raised regarding Microsoft's offer of free software that was extended to C. Beckman. The message was not worded clearly and she did not respond. Neither did anyone from SSHE.

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F.

Library Advisory (M. Syrett)

A focus group consisting of students was held earlier today. Findings will be reported soon.

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G.

Provost (M. Lane)

Applications and acceptances for fall semester are up three percent. This increase in applications is allowing us to place marginal students on a waiting list and will hopefully result in an increase in average SAT scores. The new course catalogue is being reorganized to include departments being listed alphabetically and gen ed moving to the academic section. These changes are in direct response to faculty and student requests. There are presently a total of 19 faculty searches open. J. Halstead indicated that, pending finalized discussion with AFSCME, we are moving towards celebrating Martin Luther King Day as a full holiday for both classes and employees. The President's Council on Diversity has been instructed to more fully develop activities for that week and for Black History Month. Search committees for the two vice president vacancies have been formed and first meetings are being arranged. The contract award for the dining services vendor will be announced on 2/25.

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VI.

Old Business

None.

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VII.

New Business

1. P. Keller gave an overview of the Middle States accreditation process. Senators were asked to brief their departments on the visit's importance. The eight site team members will visit campus from 3/17 &endash; 3/20 and will meet with a wide range of constituencies. The full Middle States report is available for viewing on my.mansfield. Among the material the team has received is an e- portfolio that will be available on the webpage soon. A virtual tour of campus was also shown.
   
   
2. A. Longoria announced the 100th anniversary of the birth of Richard Rogers. The musical "Oklahoma!" begins tonight and runs through 2/24. Tickets will be available at the door.
   
   
3. R. Dodson invited all to attend the Contradance planned for 2/28 in the Kelchner Fitness Center. Instructions for beginners will be held at 7:00 and athletic shoes must be worn.
   
   
4. N. Cooledge asked that students be made aware of the Middle States accreditation process also.
   
   
5. P. Travis reminded that Senate will meet again after spring break.

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VIII.

Meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m. (Davis/Evans).

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Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Sidell
Secretary of Senate