The April meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, 2003 in Room 7, Gamble Hall. Jan Goodwin presided.

The following members of the Senate were present:

Alleva, Patti
Anderson, Angie
Bagheri, Fathollah
Baker, Adam
Bartsch, Brent
Blackburn, Royce
Boyd, Robert
Bridewell, John
Effertz, Kayla
Elsinga, Lillian
Ettling, John
Fivizzani, Albert
Gagnon, Gregory
Gallager, Robert
Gerber, Anne
Goenner, Cullen
Goodwin, Janice
Hansen, Kenneth
Heitkamp, Thomasine
Hoffmann, Mark
Hume, Wendelin
Jackson, Jon
Jenniges, Sharleen
Jeno, Susan
Jerath, Sukhvarsh
Jose, Matt
Kenville, Kimberly
Krogh, Nancy
Kupchella, Charles
Lee, Randy
Marshall, David
Murphy, Eric
Nichols, Elizabeth
Norman, Katherine
Perry, David
Petros, Thomas
Rakow, Lana
Romanick, Mark
Ryan, Steffen
Shaeffer, Margaret
Sheridan, William
Smith, Bruce
Stanlake, Lowell
Stofferahn, Curtis
Stolt, Wilbur
Sukalski, Katherine
Thompson, Myra
Venhuizen, Brett
Watson, John
Zidon, Margaret

The following members of the Senate were absent:

Alfonso, Peter
Benoit, Joseph
DeMers, Judy
Drewes, Mary
Downie, Morgan
Elbert, Dennis
Hanhan, Sara
Hikins, James
Hildre, Nate
Knight, Barbara
Levang, Chris
Lovseth, Jon
McBride, Rosanne
Porter, James
Porter, Kimberly
Potvin, Martha
Rice, Daniel
Romero, Alan
Ruff, Nick
Shaeffer, James
Skramstad, Allan
Tschacher, Walter
Thureen, Faythe
Tiffany, Mark
Wilson, H. David
Zierdt, Candace

The following announcements were made:

A.  The President announced that in a few years the University will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding. He will be putting together a committee to plan for this event, and he encouraged people to let him know of anyone who might have interest in participating.

B.  President Kupchella announced that we have in place a policy that requires an annual written employee evaluation, but we do not have a policy for the evaluation of senior administrators. He plans to put something in place for the vice presidents. Mr. Sheridan stated that approximately ten years ago there was a committee that created a plan to evaluate the performance of administrators but this was tabled. The President reiterated that comments about this would be helpful.

C. Ms. Goodwin announced that the Spring 2003 meeting of the University Council will be held on Monday, May 5, at 3:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

D. The 34th annual Time Out and Wacipi celebration is underway on campus and the chair encouraged everyone to take part.

The chair announced a correction to the March 6, 2003 minutes. In item 9 the second sentence should read "The chair invited nominations from the floor for all committees, and there being none, asked each member to record his or her preference for each committee for the final ballot at the April meeting." The minutes were approved as corrected

The question period opened at 4:17 p.m. Mr. Gagnon asked the chair if the Senate should consider the guidelines for the Centers of Excellence because the current guidelines exclude many areas on campus because of staffing, budget, and grant minimums. Ms. Goodwin stated she would bring it to Senate Executive Committee for consideration at the May Senate meeting. President Kupchella stated that there were subordinate clauses attached to the requirements for these centers that allowed for equivalent requirements. Mr. Gagnon replied that the people concerned were aware of the subordinate clauses but that the center guidelines were predisposed to the sciences and this sent a message to the rest of the University. Mr. Petros asked if there would be a public meeting by the Research Council to hear the comments that have come in and if there could be a public discussion. President Kupchella replied that he did not know if such a forum was planned, but that the suggestion would be sent to Mr. Alfonso.

Mr. Murphy asked about the Faculty Research Seed Money Program and about issues including the fact that the program is not on the Office of Research and Program Development website and the difficulty of finding due dates and other information. He also questioned who has oversight of this program. Ms. Goodwin stated that the Senate officers have had conversations with various people about these issues, but that it had been set aside because of other issues such as the constitution. Mr. Murphy will send the concerns to Ms. Goodwin and she will follow up.

Mr. Ettling asked if the Senate knew that a steering committee has been working for the last year and a half on an institutional self-study document for the North Central Association visit scheduled for next fall. He urged the Senators to look at the document and make suggestions for improvements and corrections.

The question period closed at 4:34 p.m.

Mr. Lee moved that the annual reports of the Conflict of Interest/Scientific Misconduct Committee, the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, and the Intellectual Property Committee be received and filed. The motion was approved unanimously.

The Curriculum Committee presented a slate of curriculum changes for approval to the Senate. The motion by the committee to approve the changes was passed unanimously with one abstention.

The Committee on Committees presented the ballot for elections to Senate committees. The ballot was approved unanimously.

The Senate considered the Guidelines for Faculty Engaged in Employment Controversy with the University and the resolution distributed at the meeting regarding these guidelines from the Standing Committee of Faculty Rights. Mr. Lee reported that a meeting of the Standing Committee on Faculty Rights and the Conflict Resolution Center occurred and he stated the current document under consideration reflected the changes suggested at the meeting. Mr. Lee also asked that a change be made in the current document on page 9, part l, by changing the words "mediator" to "mediation" in the first sentence after the heading. Mr. Ettling offered that item 2. of the resolution be changed to read:

Delegates to its Executive Committee the authority to amend and republish parts I through VIII, inclusive, of the "Guidelines" any time Board of Higher Education amendments to relevant Board policies or Legislative amendments to sections of the Century Code sited in the guidelines necessitate a change in those part I through VIII, inclusive.

Mr. Lee, on behalf of the committee, accepted this friendly amendment. Discussion by the Senate ensued. The motion to approve the guidelines and the resolution was approved 47 in favor with 3 abstentions.

The proposed change in the faculty resignation policy presented by the Standing Committee on Faculty Rights was considered. After discussion the motion carried on a vote of 45 in favor with 1 opposed and 2 abstentions.

The proposed admission policy presented by the Admissions and Academic Policies Committee was considered and discussed.

Mr. Petros moved to extend the meeting until 5:45 p.m. The motion carried on a vote of 40 in favor and 7 opposed.

The discussion on the proposed admission policy continued. The motion carried on a vote of 32 in favor, 11 opposed with 1 abstention.

Ms. Goodwin explained the need for the Senate to reconsider the amended UND Constitution before it can be forwarded to the State Board of Higher Education. She asked if there was support for a special Senate meeting in April to consider the changes.

Mr. Petros moved to extend the meeting until 5:50 p.m. The motion carried on a vote of 33 in favor and 9 opposed.

Mr. Murphy moved to have a special Senate meeting on April 24, 2003 to discuss the constitution and to handle any other needed Senate business. The motion carried unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 5:48 p.m.

Nancy Krogh
Secretary to the Senate