The November meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2003 in Room 7, Gamble Hall. Walter Tschacher presided.

The following members of the Senate were present:

Anderson, Amanda
Baker, Adam
Baldwin, Gayle
Boyd, Robert
Bridewell, John
Coleman, Joyce
Crawford, Richard
Dearden, Bruce
Effertz, Kayla
Elbert, Dennis
Erickson, Daniel
Fivizzani, Albert
Gard, Betty
Goenner, Cullen
Goodwin, Janice
Gust, Amber
Handy-Marchello, Barb
Heitkamp, Thomasine
Helgeson, Diane
Hume, Wendelin
Kenville, Kimberly
Keyser, Dorothy
Klumb, Travis
Krogh, Nancy
Kupchella, Charles
Kweit, Mary
LaDuke, John
Lee, Randy
Lieberman, Victor
Muggli, Darrin
Munski, Doug
Murphy, Eric
Myers, Bradley
Myrick, Matt
Northagen, Tanya
Nutz, Amber
Parrish, Brad
Perry, David
Poochigian, Donald
Rakow, Lana
Reese, Ty
Relling, David
Rice, Daniel
Salehfar, Hossein
Schuetzle, Jordan
Smart, Kathy
Smith, Bruce
Steen, Tom
Stofferahn, Curtis
Stolt, Wilbur
Thureen, Faythe
Tiffany, Mark
Tozer, Ray
Tschacher, Walter
Venhuizen, Brett
Vestal, Amber
Watson, John
White, Daniel
Williams, Jim
Yurkovich, Eleanor
Zierdt, Candace

The following members of the Senate were absent:

Alfonso, Peter
Benoit, Joseph
Blackburn, Royce
Chen, Tar-Pin
Claflin, James
DeMers, Judy
Dever, Adam
Diez, Ray
Doze, Van
Elsinga, Lillian
Ettling, John
Gallager, Robert
Hoffmann, Mark
Jackson, Jon
Jenniges, Sharleen
Marshall, David
McLennan, Kathleen
Mochoruk, James
Nichols, Elizabeth
Parnell, Philip
Picklo, Matthew
Potvin, Martha
Rendahl, Stephen
Robertson, Charles
Shaeffer, James
Stevens, Wes
Sukalski, Katherine
Wilson, H. David

The Chair asked for announcements. There were none.

The Chair asked for corrections or additions to the October 2, 2003 minutes. There being none, the minutes were approved as distributed.

The Chair opened the question period at 4:07 p.m. Mr. Dearden asked the Senate officers and the student body officers about the number of books ordered by the Barnes and Noble Bookstore and what may have caused shortfalls in books for students. Mr. Baker responded that he has had conversations with the bookstore about these issues and they are exploring how it can be addressed. Mr. Dearden asked if Student Government would be monitoring how well the bookstore is doing in meeting the need for course books. Mr. Baker replied that they will consider this. Mr. Dearden asked the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) if the bookstore advisory committee was terminated. The SEC will follow up to see if there is a bookstore committee and to whom it reports.

Mr. Murphy asked if there was any response back to the resolutions sent to the State Board of Higher Education. No one knew of a response. Mr. Lee asked the SEC if the resolutions were also sent to the Council of College Faculties (CCF). Mr. Stofferahn replied that a copy had been provided to them. Mr. Lee replied that the State Board of Higher Education considers the CCF as the official communication vehicle from faculty, and in the future all correspondence should be sent to the CCF to allow them to communicate to the Board. Mr. Kupchella agreed that the Board does rely on the CCF to understand faculty opinion. The President asked when the Board got the correspondence. He pointed out that they needed to receive things at least two weeks before a meeting for it to be on their agenda. The question period closed at 4:20 p.m.

Mr. Lee moved to approve the consent calendar. Mr. Dearden pointed out a correction in dates in the General Education Requirements Committee annual report. The reports of the University Assessment Committee, Student Policy Committee, and General Education Requirements Committee, as corrected, were approved.

Mr. Kupchella reviewed some of the comments on assessment given by the North Central Association site visit team at the exit interview. He commented on the focused review that will be scheduled in four years, and the effort the University will need to make to correct any deficiencies in assessment that will be identified in the final report. The Senate discussed the materials the team may have examined. Mr. Lee suggested that any meeting to review the NCA report on assessment should include the Senate University Assessment Committee. Mr. Kupchella suggested that perhaps the Assessment Committee should see it first to help deans and department chairs to get done what needs to be done. Mr. Kupchella noted that the University can respond to errors in fact in the report and later respond to their judgement in the findings.

Mr. Boyd moved that the Senate acknowledge Mr. Rice and all who worked with him to make the NCA site visit successful. The Senate responded with applause in appreciation.

Mr. Tschacher requested that an item be added to the business calendar to allow discussion on the proposed revisions of Senate bylaws and standing rules. There were no objections.

Ms. Bruce presented the report from the Senate Curriculum Committee. Mr. Perry moved to approve the report. The report was approved unanimously.

The Senate considered the motion from the Intellectual Property Committee for a copyright policy. The Senate discussed. Mr. Lee asked a point of order about the motion. The Chair replied that the motion under consideration was to approve the policy. Discussion continued. The motion was approved on a vote of 59 in favor and 1 against.

The Chair asked the ad hoc committee on bylaws and standing rules to address the proposed revisions. Mr. Fivizzani and Ms. Goodwin presented ideas for changing the bylaws. They presented a proposal to elect a vice chair to serve as vice chair, chair, and past chair for three consecutive years. They stated that this would give a vice chair a year to learn the responsibilities and to better prepare for the duties as chair, and would allow a chair more time to prepare for service. Mr. Murphy asked if this would effect term limitations. Mr. Fivizzani replied that the standing rules could reflect ex officio membership on the Senate for the vice chair. Another solution would be for the Committee on Committees to only nominate senators who have three years of eligibility left. Ms. Heitkamp spoke in favor of this change to provide continuity in the Senate leadership. Mr. Kupchella asked what the start date of the chair would be, and Ms. Goodwin stated that the proposal was to begin the term at the September meeting. The President spoke in favor of this change to allow the chair-elect to participate in summer planning activities with the administration. Mr. Lee stated that he supported this idea and that some institutions offer release time for faculty governance duties and a budget for faculty government activities. A student senator stated that since students serve only one year this will limit their ability to elect their chair. Ms. Northhagen commented that the staff senate holds elections at the April meeting with duties to begin at the May meeting. The discussion ended and the ad hoc committee agreed to draft a proposed change for formal consideration by the Senate.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Nancy Krogh
Secretary to the Senate