ATTENDEES: Curtis, Dickerhoof, Frost, Harrison, llIangasekare, Kee, Kidnay, Lu, Navidi, Nickum, Olson, Ross, Nickum

APOLOGIES: E. Pang

VISITORS: VPAA Nigel Middleton and Associate VPAA, Barbara Olds

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Navidi will preside at today’s Senate meeting. Pang is out-of-town.
2. Pang has scheduled an additional Senate meeting for April 16 at 2:00 pm.
3. There will be a special Faculty Senate meeting at noon April 23 in Hill Hall 300. Lunch will be served.
4. Faculty awards and promotion/tenure decisions will be announced at the Faculty Forum on April 24 in Metals Hall at 4:00 pm.

COMMENTS FROM VPAA NIGEL MIDDLETON:

1. The Department Heads/Division Directors and the Executive Committee are discussing using graduate students as teachers.
2. The following have been appointed to the Curriculum Steering Committee: Barbara Olds, Bob Frost (Senate), John Humphrey, Tony Dean, Ruth Streveler, Barb Moskal, Jim McNeil, Ely (Department Heads), Carl Mitcham, Bill Hoff and Tom Boyd.
3. Strategic Planning Task Force will meet with several groups on campus.
4. Fall freshman enrollment was predicted to exceed 700. Applications are up 60 percent, but acceptances are lower.
5. Initially, the State’s rescission to CSM’s budget was approximately $750,000; however, the Joint Budget Committee indicates that the rescission may be less than $400,000-500,000.

COMMENTS FROM ASSOCIATE VPAA BARBARA OLDS:

1. North Central Association will visit CSM October 28-30, 2002. The last NCA accreditation visit was in 1992. Academic affairs anticipates no problems and request that the Senate be involved. A committee is preparing the data for the NCA Self Study document and will have a Web page up this spring. Whereas ABET evaluated each department/division; NCA evaluates the institution.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: The minutes of the March 19, 2002 Faculty Senate meeting were approved.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Dead Week - Dean Harold Cheuvront’s response states the students’ position.

   I’m responding to your question on the common exam period and to your question from a while back on the issue of exams during dead week. First of all, the easy one. Moving the common exam start time from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm is a great idea and would be very helpful to the athletes.
   The issue of exams during dead week is a little more complicated. The students’ positions are as follows:

   
   
   1. If a “quiz” is given, it should be no more than 10-15 minutes in length.
   2. If the exam to be given during dead week is the 2nd, 3rd or 4th exam, and the final exam would follow during finals week, the students’ response is a resounding NO. Their primary reason is that such a system would just add to the amount of work during the last two weeks. They also have a good point when they say that they wouldn’t be able to get the exam back in time to help them with their preparation for the final exam.
   3. If faculty want to give students the option of moving the final exam into dead week, and the class goes along with the move, students have no issue with doing so. This may come as a surprise, but their feeling is that it really is a favor to most students because it decreases the pressure of finals week. They added that most students don’t feel that this is an undue imposition and is not a big issue for a lot of students.

   No action was taken as Nickum requested that the Undergraduate Council be allowed to revisit this issue.
   
   
2. Administrative Evaluations for Spring 2002 (Olson) A draft of a review process, “which promotes discourse between the office holder and faculty, students, and staff as a means to improve effectiveness of various offices,” was introduced.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Senate Distinguished Lecturer Nomination (Navidi) The Senate requested that the Faculty Senate Distingished Lecturer Nomination Committee send a letter to the Senate stating the process used to choose the 2002-03 Senate Distinguished Lecturer.
2. Faculty Handbook (Ross)
   1. 5.4.12 and 5.4.13 should not be included as changes for this year. They were made last year.
   2. Proposed changes for this year include:
      1. 6.6.2b – language to prevent adjunct faculty from printing business cards.
      2. 6.6.2f – revisions to grievance procedure
      3. 7.1 – performance evaluation—specifies each year
      4. 7.1b – performance ratings, adding excellent between exemplary and satisfactory
      
      Ross moved and Dickerhoof seconded a motion to recommend to the Handbook Committee that the underlined sections of 6.6.1 regarding faculty grievances be removed; the vote was 7 in favor, 4 abstentions, and 0 opposed. Motion passed.

3. Financial Aid for Field Sessions (Frost) There is financial aid for Field Sessions.
4. Committee Nominations (Harrison) A request has been received from the Athletic Department that it be represented on the Faculty Senate. However, the Athletic Department faculty are not listed as faculty in the Faculty Bylaws. At the February 19, 2001 Faculty Senate Meeting, a motion was passed to accept “the Athletic Department’s request to affiliate with the Faulty Senate.” A motion was made to inform the faculty that they will be asked to vote on amending the Faculty Bylaws. The amendment would designate athletic faculty as academic faculty and be represented on the Faculty Senate. The motion was made by Dickerhoof, seconded by Ross. and passed unanimously.
5. Graduate Student Teaching – The Senate requested that the Department/Division Heads clarify item 3 - the proposed policy on compensation for the academic term, put back item 7 that had been in earlier versions and add acknowledgement of effort by faculty mentor. The Senators also wanted a statement declaring whether or not a graduate teaching fellow can assign final grades.
6. House Bill 1410 - Concealed Weapons - It was moved, seconded and passed to send a letter to the CSM Board of Trustees stating that they oppose House Bill 1410 that would allow a person to carry a concealed weapons even on a campus of higher education.
7. Administrative Evaluation (Olson) A review process that would “promote discourse between the office holder and faculty, students, and staff as a means to improve effectiveness of various offices” was introduced.
8. TV and Radio Tower on Lookout Mountain - The Senate requested that Pang inform Robert Moore that this is not an issue for the Faculty Senate. It would be more appropriate for individual departments/divisions to decide.
9. Policy Implementation Proposal - Using Graduate Students and Adjuncts in the Undergraduate Program - The Senators requested that this agenda item be held until Phil Romig would be available to meet with the Senate.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM