Present:

Present: S.A. Davis, L. Pifer, N. Sidell, B. Holtman, H. Biblehimer, F. Chua, D. Rotella, B. Cunningham, W. Yacovissi, J. Phillips, A. Longoria, W. Thornsley, B. Smith, W. Sanders for B. Barton, M. Oyallon for W. Keeth, K. Thorne, H. Schintzius, K. Guenther, M. Syrett, M. Haner, D. Crowder, S. Brown, R. Keller, T. Madigan, L. Cass, N. Cooledge

I.I.

S. Davis called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m.

III.

Minutes for March 27, 2003 were approved. (K. Thorne/A. Longoria).

APPROVED

IIII.

Treasurer's Report (B. Holtman)

The current account balance is $399.

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APPROVED

IV.

Announcements

1. S. Davis read the resolution concerning recent Board of Governors actions passed by Clarion University. The resolution was similar to that passed by this body.
2. S. Davis reminded that new committee chairpersons will begin reporting following the election results. Appreciation was extended to current chairs for their service, insight and cooperation this past year.

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V.

Committee Reports

A.

Academic Affairs (H. Biblehimer)

The following motions were presented:

MOTION ONE: AAC moves to approve the new course NUR 4465 Rural Health Issues.
Purpose and Nature of Course: To introduce and familiarize Mansfield University students to both common and unique health care issues that confront rural citizens. The central focus of this course is to define and conceptually explore the essence of rurality and rural health issues.
Discussion: none. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION TWO: AAC moves to approve the Graduate Program change for the policy on academic dismissal.
Currently, the policy allows graduate students who receive an F in a course to remain in their graduate program. Graduate Council recommends dismissal of any graduate student who receives a grade of F. The appeal process allows exceptions for extraordinary reasons.
Discussion: none. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION THREE: AAC moves to approve the Graduate Program change for the Repeating a Course policy.
Currently, the policy allows graduate students who receive an F in a course to repeat the course. Graduate Council recommends dismissal of any graduate student who receives a grade of F rather than the opportunity to retake the course.
Discussion: Is this motion affected by the one just passed? Yes, it is implied, but for clarity this action is requested. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION FOUR: AAC moves to approve the program change to the Writing Across the Curriculum to include both Permanent writing courses and Semester designated writing courses.
There will be two types of Writing designated courses:
a) "Permanent" writing courses will be redefined to include courses that ALWAYS are offered with the "W" designation, regardless of the instructor.
b) "Semester" writing classes will be indicated in the way "W" courses are now designated. Department chairs will identify courses that should receive the "Semester" designation. These courses will be offered and taught as "W" courses only if the appropriate paperwork has been completed by the faculty member, submitted by the department chair, and approved by the WIG committee.
Discussion: none. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION FIVE: AAC moves to approve the BSE Art Education program change that will allow Art History to be specified in the Fine Arts block.
Rationale: Currently all art students must choose either theater or music in the Fine Arts Block. Placing ARH 1101 Introduction to Art under the Fine Arts block would free three credits. Freeing three credits would allow for an art history elective that would strengthen the BSE in Art Ed making it more compliant with PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education) and NCATE which desire more art history in an Art Education degree. Previously reducing the B.S. Art Ed degree to 120 credits reduced the art history credits from 12 to 9 hours, weakening the degree. We would like to rectify this weakness by adding an art history elective, bringing the total art history credits back to 12.
Discussion: Should departments be allowed to place their program courses under gen ed requirements? AAC felt that because this is a professional program, leeway should be given. Two other similar requests were not approved by AAC because they were not for professional programs under the same constraints. Is this action being pushed by the 120-hour requirement? The program is already down to 120 hours but the department feels this was accomplished at a cost and this action corrects that situation. PDE prefers students to have 12 credits in Art History, but they do not specifically require it. Was this precedent set earlier this year with the Music Department’s request, when Intro to Music was approved in the fine art’s block? Intro to Art is an Art History course. If this motion passes, Art History majors would not take Music or Theater, but be allowed to include Intro to Art as their fine arts requirement. Can this be done by advisement? No, not as the program is currently laid out. Is it appropriate for Music majors to put Intro to Music in their fine arts block and in their humanities block? At some point, do we need a policy that stops major courses from infringing on gen ed requirements? Concern was expressed that Intro to Theater was experiencing low fall enrollment because of competition with online offerings elsewhere in the block. The action approved earlier in the semester was Music 2220 was permitted in the humanities block. BM Music Ed program has fine arts removed from their program, effective Fall 2003. Any online course offers repercussions to traditional courses, a situation not unique in the fine arts block. Initially, Music’s request was not approved but only reconsidered reluctantly after the Board of Governors did not approve their requested exception to the 120-hour requirement. Senate should never adopt policy because administration tells us we should, as administration always has the prerogative to implement policy independent of Senate. AAC and Senate should not adopt policy that it does not support. Is there a way for Art History to count as a humanities course, similar to what was approved for Music? The issue is that Art’s program is already at the 120-hour requirement; Music was not. Thus, this appears to not be a comparable situation. Where does this end? Does this set a precedent? Music has a caveat in that the local standards indicate they need 30 percent of courses in gen ed instead of 40 percent. This has not been the case for Art. A hand count was taken. MOTION DEFEATED.

MOTION SIX: AAC moves to approve the amended Mansfield University Local Degree Standards.
Rationale: The changes to these standards are cosmetic and reflect the changes made by the SHEE Board of Governors, the institution of four digit course numbering, and the dissolution of the Evaluation Record.
Discussion: A handout was distributed, asking that AAC redefine the upper division courses as 2000 and above. A tremendous amount of advising time is spent helping students meet the upper division rule. The impetus for the original motion is to clarify, on the website, confusing local and Board of Governors standards. Could the original motion be approved and AAC consider the matter of defining upper division courses in the future? What would the requested change outlined in the handout accomplish? It would accomplish a simpler definition. If the handout’s action was adopted, there would only be freshmen and upper division courses. It was suggested that if the definition of upper division courses is problematic for some departments, AAC can look at this issue next year. The purpose of the original motion is to clean up existing standards, not make any changes to them. Variations in course levels for transfer students can be confusing; would this proposed action benefit transfer students? L. Cass clarified that if a course is offered at the upper division, either at the transferring institution or here, it is considered upper division for that student. Are these valid arguments for a standard course numbering scheme across the system? Should we be cautious with not encouraging longer community college stays? S. Davis ruled that the handout motion is out of order, as it does not specifically amend the original motion already on the floor. There was no additional discussion on the original motion. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION SEVEN: A motion was made to request AAC to examine redefining upper division courses as 2000 and above (K. Thorne/S. Brown).
Discussion: If this is a problem, it should be looked at. Would it be helpful for administration to clarify the 40 percent rule? Is the 40 percent rule supposed to be applied to every student or to programs? The rule comes from Board of Governors’ policy that says “degree.” Most system schools report not having a 40 percent rule. MOTION PASSED.

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B.

Academic Planning (M. Chester)

No report.

C.

Administrative Affairs & Elections (F. Chua)

1. The spring election will conclude on 4-11 at 4:00 p.m. By next week, results will be available and the newly-elected committee members will begin their work.
2. K. Thorne asked for assistance in having the whistling noise in Belknap stopped. This will be brought to the attention of S. Bronn.
3. L. Pifer requested that the sewer gas leak in the basement of Belknap also be addressed. Workers are still trying to identify the source of the problem, but sewer gas has been ruled out as the cause.
   
   

D.

Student Affairs & Admissions (D. Rotella)

No report.

E.

Information Technology (F. Craig)

No report.

S. Davis reminded Senators of the operating system change-over after the semester ends.

B. Holtman urged that faculty be aware of security issues in classrooms, which should be locked after use.

F.

Library Advisory (M. Syrett)

1. A report entitled “Copyright policy and copyright education program” was presented, as previously distributed.
   Discussion: Who does the first recommendation regarding the designation of “one staff person in each department” to serve as the copyright expert apply to? The library and IT departments only will assign a person to serve in this capacity. The committee was thanked for addressing an important area of need. REPORT ACCEPTED.
2. Many have responded to the on-line library survey, but the opportunity to participate is still open.
3. The library has been experiencing problems with books not being returned by faculty. The previous policy was to charge the item’s cost to the faculty member’s department if a borrowed item was not returned by that faculty member. Currently, no incentive exists for the return of loaned items. The committee is requesting feedback on what would be an appropriate way of inspiring faculty to return books. One difficulty is that books are overdue but are in use all semester. This is not a problem over one semester, but multiple terms. Is it the purview of this body to generate ideas for penalties? What happens when students do not return books? They are fined. Why is there a different policy for students and faculty? Faculty needs are different than student needs. Senate is a recommending body on policy and must exercise caution in this regard. Senate does not set policy.
   
   

Provost (N. Cooledge)

N. Cooledge reminded that W changes just implemented become effective Fall 2004, as current policies will remain in place for the next academic year. R. Cooper, B. Barden and B. Chabala are investigating a university college model. It will target undeclared and at-risk students, although details are not yet available. When it is implemented, it will be done as a pilot.

VI.

Old Business

L. Pifer gave a report of the Faculty Assembly.

1. Approximately 20 faculty discussed the I and G requirements. No one present spoke in favor of I and G in their current forms, although the majority wished to maintain it and to see it work more efficiently. For I, it was discussed that each department could offer two courses within their program. The majority of the discussion centered on G courses. It was felt by those present that some programs could not come up with an adequate number of G courses to meet the requirement within the programs. Those present felt that changes would be preferable to leaving the requirement as it is or simply reducing the requirement from three to two courses. Suggestions made included: ask the English Department to consider ENG 3313 as a G course; ask departments to offer more gen ed G courses; assess and publish the proportion of G courses to total courses as a means of assessing the curriculum instead of students; revise the definition of G to include “diversity” (although no one supported calling those courses GD); and consider combining WIG and GES committees. While combining might be beneficial, both committees are too new to undergo such a change. A plan was suggested of waiting a year, asking each committee to assess its duties and the time it spends, and await feedback before making structural changes. Since Senate’s Constitutional review will occur next year, this seemed reasonable.
2. Lastly, discussion was held that considered if APC duties could be combined with AAC. The assembly agreed that APC should be asked to assess its duties and time/effort required to complete them. The decision to keep or disband APC should also wait for Constitutional review.

VII.

New Business

None.

VIII.

Remarks for the Good of the Order

1. A. Longoria invited all to the last of the faculty film series events on 4-17 at 4:00 p.m. in Allen Hall. The Academy Award-winning “Bowling for Columbine” will be shown at no cost. One more set of one-act plays will be held on 4-22 at 8:00 p.m. and 4-23 at 4:00 p.m.
2. S. Davis reminded everyone of the major speaker event featuring Greg Gumbel on 4-16.
3. R. Keller announced a 4-16 Teach-In on the “New Nuclear Threat” in 307 Alumni at 4:30
   p.m. Four faculty members are providing perspectives on the issue and all are invited to attend.
4. H. Biblehimer reminded Senators that 4-11 at 4:00 p.m. is the deadline for submitting curricular actions to AAC this academic year. This was expressed with a great deal of pleasure.
5. L. Cass provided a reminder that all final grades will be submitted electronically. Department meetings have been scheduled with each department for training. Pleasure was expressed at not having bubble sheets to complete anymore.

IX.

Meeting adjourned at 4:38 p.m. (K. Guenther/A. Longoria).

Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy Sidell
Secretary of Senate