Present:

Present: C. Burns, J. Murphy, K.S.Young, B. Holtman, F. Blanco, P. Savoye, J. Benjamin, M-D. Schmid, L. Rashidi, S. Holderby, D. Seigart, C. Bloom, R. Stender, C. Hoy, V. Jenkins, M. Zelkowitz, S. Stein, M. Gaballa, J. Tan, H. Pieper for A. Longoria, N. Werner-Burke, T. Murphy, W. Keeth, K.Thorne, J. Bosworth, A. Johnson, D. Dietz, D. Crowder, I. Newman, S. Brown, A. Chavira-Prado, M. Moore.

I.

C. Burns called the meeting to order at 3:36 p.m. Minutes of March 24, 2005 were approved (K. Thorne/J. Benjamin).

APPROVED

II.

Treasurer's Report (B. Holtman)

The current account balance is $195.

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APPROVED

III.

Announcements

1. Charles Hoy will be the faculty representative for SGA for the remainder of this year and all of next year.
2. 2005/2006 Senate meeting schedule posted on University Senate website
3. Congratulations to new officers and committee members. New representatives/officers to take office after April 15 and at Senate on April 21, 2005. C. Burns will send out letters.
4. President Halstead approved the curricular actions of March 24, 2005.
5. Chris Vaughn spoke concerning scholarships. Senate scholarship is the largest of the returning student scholarships. They advertise in January; applications are due in March. The committee reviews the files. There is a mix of people on the committee. Members, individually and subjectively, rank-order the applications. “Need” is not considered. Point total is assigned. No set of criteria for giving the award. Whether they have scholarships “may” be considered. Sometimes they have fewer applicants. Example of honors scholarships—had 4 to give and only 3 applicants.
   
   

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IV.

Committee Reports

Academic Affairs (F. Blanco)

AAC moves to approve the following description of Attendance Policy for the catalogue:

Mansfield University Attendance Policy

(PLEASE NOTE THIS POLICY WAS ALTERED DURING DISCUSSION)

Regular and punctual class attendance is expected. Documented excuses because of illness, serious mitigating circumstances, or official university representation will be accepted by all faculty members, thus permitting students to make up missed tests and/or graded assignments in a reasonable manner at a time agreeable to instructor and student. Students must provide documentation before absences can be excused. All instructors are expected to make their class participation and attendance policies clear in the course syllabus.

Discussion: Questions about what happens when students miss 1/2 of the class? Have too many serious mitigating circumstances? Can faculty specify a maximum number of absences in their syllabi? F. Blanco stated that if it is clear in the syllabi, it should be OK. P. Keller sent statement supporting this motion to the effect that a policy shouldn’t be more specific or loose. W. Keeth proposed a friendly amendment to change the language of the policy. Motion accepted. More discussion about how the policy will be interpreted. Talk about whether “excessive absenteeism” should be specified. L. Rashidi/T. Murphy moved to go back to the original wording. J. Murphy called the question. Motion to call the question carried. Main motion carried. T. Murphy/L. Rashidi moved to change the second sentence to read as follows: Documented excuses because of illness, serious mitigating circumstances, or official university representation will be accepted by all faculty members and will permit students to make up missed tests and/or graded assignments in a reasonable manner at a time agreeable to instructor and student. More discussion about interpreting policy. Motion carries. Motion to accept the final attendance policy carries. Final attendance policy reads:

Regular and punctual class attendance is expected. Documented excuses because of illness, serious mitigating circumstances, or official university representation will be accepted by all faculty members and will permit students to make up missed tests and/or graded assignments in a reasonable manner at a time agreeable to instructor and student. Students must provide documentation before absences can be excused. All instructors are expected to make their class participation and attendance policies clear in the course syllabus.

B.

Academic Planning (P. Savoye)

No report.

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C.

Administrative Affairs & Elections (J. Benjamin)

New chairs need to send committee member changes to B. Holtman.

D.

Student Affairs & Admissions (S. Holderby)

No report.

E.

Information Technology (M.-D. Schmid)

• The Microsoft Outlook/Office 2003/Exchange project is moving forward smoothly for faculty and staff. (Students and general email accounts will not migrate to Exchange – they will remain on the present Imail system.) The administrative floor in North Hall and all of Alumni Hall have been transitioned to the new products. Faculty and Staff in the Library were scheduled to begin migration on April 4 and Doane Center will transition also in April. In late April, Pinecrest administration will move and faculty will transition beginning with moves to Hemlock. Our goal is to have all faculty areas transitioned by August 1.
• Labs will be pushed with the new Office products immediately after the Spring graduation. If you are teaching in a lab this summer and require Office 2003 to match your text, please send Alex Miller an email and advise him of the lab room number and the date of your class. (amiller@mansfield.edu) We will prioritize those classrooms to be done first.
• Our Wireless project continues to move forward as well. AHUB wireless is completed as well as the Manser food court. I.T. has planned a wireless clinic to help students set up their laptops for the access points in early April. Instructions for setting up a laptop computer for our hotspots are also available on the web from the student technology pages under wi-fi or at wireless.mansfield.edu. We have begun installation in North Hall, expecting to complete that over the summer. We have also engaged the electricians to run wiring for a wireless hotspot at the Soupy Sales food court in Butler. A wireless hotspot exists on the deck in front of IT, Memorial Hall and on the outside bench areas of Alumni Hall. We are also working on having an external hotspot in South Hall Mall and on the grass outside of Elliot and Grant Science during the summer.
• I.T. hosted its second Brown Bag forum in AHUB 307 for Spring 2005 on March 28 talking about Spam and Email filtering and the Exchange project. 80% of all mail to the campus is SPAM. We filtered over 11,000,000 messages in the last semester as SPAM. When we are fully on Exchange, some personal filtering options will be available for users that were not available in Eudora.
• I.T., on behalf of the Provost, reminds faculty who are thinking about needs for next year for instructional technology or software to discuss their projects with their Department Chair. The Department Chair will submit proposal requests for their department to the Provost before graduation for funding consideration. There are always more requests than there are funds to cover. Part of the proposal justification should include the impact on students and how the new technology will be used.
• I.T. also reminds faculty that classrooms must be locked when not in use. We have had several incidents of theft, vandalism and unauthorized access in the Spring semester – particularly in Belknap, Retan and Grant. We ask that you are especially vigilant as we come toward the end of the semester.

F.

Library Advisory (L. Rashidi)

No report.

Provost (P. Keller)

No report.

V.

Old Business

1. No faculty assembly has been scheduled.

VI.

New Business

None.

VII.

Remarks for the Good of the Order

• Announcement—new library director will begin the end of June.
• Announcement—Verdi Requiem 4/9 in Steadman, 4/10 in Corning.

VIII.

Meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m. (J. Murphy/J. Benjamin).

Respectfully submitted,
K. Sue Young
Secretary of Senate