The October meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2003 in Room 7, Gamble Hall. Walter Tschacher presided.

The following members of the Senate were present:

Anderson, Amanda
Baker, Adam
Baldwin, Gayle
Blackburn, Royce
Boyd, Robert
Bridewell, John
Claflin, James
Coleman, Joyce
Crawford, Richard
Dearden, Bruce
DeMers, Judy
Dever, Adam
Doze, Van
Elbert, Dennis
Elsinga, Lillian
Erickson, Daniel
Gallager, Robert
Gard, Betty
Goenner, Cullen
Goodwin, Janice
Heitkamp, Thomasine
Helgeson, Diane
Hoffmann, Mark
Jackson, Jon
Jenniges, Sharleen
Keyser, Dorothy
Klumb, Travis
Krogh, Nancy
Kweit, Mary
LaDuke, John
Lee, Randy
Marshall, David
McLennan, Kathleen
Muggli, Darrin
Munski, Doug
Murphy, Eric
Myers, Bradley
Myrick, Matt
Nichols, Elizabeth
Northagen, Tanya
Nutz, Amber
Parnell, Philip
Parrish, Brad
Perry, David
Picklo, Matthew
Poochigian, Donald
Potvin, Martha
Rakow, Lana
Relling, David
Rendahl, Stephen
Rice, Daniel
Robertson, Charles
Schuetzle, Jordan
Smart, Kathy
Smith, Bruce
Stevens, Wes
Stolt, Wilbur
Thureen, Faythe
Tozer, Ray
Tschacher, Walter
Vestal, Amber
White, Daniel
Williams, Jim
Yurkovich, Eleanor

The following members of the Senate were absent:

Alfonso, Peter
Benoit, Joseph
Chen, Tar-Pin
Diez, Ray
Effertz, Kayla
Ettling, John
Fivizzani, Albert
Gust, Amber
Handy-Marchello, Barb
Hume, Wendelin
Kenville, Kimberly
Kupchella, Charles
Lieberman, Victor
Mochoruk, James
Reese, Ty
Salehfar, Hossein
Shaeffer, James
Steen, Tom
Stofferahn, Curtis
Sukalski, Katherine
Tiffany, Mark
Venhuizen, Brett
Watson, John
Wilson, H. David
Zierdt, Candace

The following announcements were made:

A.  Mr. Rice announced that the North Central Higher Learning Commission will be on campus October 20-22, 2003. He distributed copies of the executive summary of the self-study and encouraged senators to read it and attend any sessions they are invited to. The Commission may be especially interested in assessment and he encouraged senators to be prepared to discuss this topic.

B.  Mr. Tozer announced that Philip Parnell has been appointed as the third staff senate representative to the University Senate.

The Chair asked for corrections or additions to the September 4, 2003 minutes. There being none, the minutes were approved as distributed.

The Chair opened the question period at 4:09 p.m. There were no questions.

Mr. Poochigian asked about faculty members who are coming up for tenure and promotion. He asked when the process left the department and went through the University and on to the State Board of Higher Education, how is the faculty member notified. There was no one to address the question. Mr. Robertson commented that the faculty member has the right to withdraw the packet at any time. If the person does not know where the process is, how could he/she withdraw? Mr. Dearden stated that in his experience he has not encountered problems with notification until it reaches the State Board of Higher Education. Ms. McLennan asked if the Senate Executive Committee could research this and address it at the next Senate meeting.

Mr. Marshall moved that the annual reports of the Faculty Instructional Development Committee, Committee on Committees, and Honors Committee be received and filed. The motion was approved unanimously.

The chair announced the addition of the report of the Curriculum Committee and a report from the Council of College Faculties to the business calendar. There was no objection.

Mr. Marshall moved to accept the report from the Curriculum Committee. The motion was approved unanimously.

Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Smart introduced the model of the UND web course information site assisted by Lori Swinney from the Center for Instructional and Learning Technology. The two models each include a brief biography of the instructor, course descriptions, grading methods, and instructor course evaluations. Ms. Goodwin proposed that the Senate endorse a pilot study that will use Blackboard for a few departments and also use a stand-along system for a few departments to have data to compare the two models presented.

Comments and questions from the Senate included: whether a standard format would be required; why test a system other than Blackboard when it is so widely used; how student comments could be incorporated; and how some of this information could be entered automatically. Ms. Smart commented that more integration will be possible long-term with the implementation of PeopleSoft. Questions continued about how courses taught by different instructors would be handled. The answer given was that there are different scenarios on campus and examples were supplied regarding how these might be handled. Mr. Claflin urged caution in any screening of student comments because of legal considerations. We do not have a right to restrict speech. Discussion continued about what information should be included in the model.

Ms. Goodwin moved to endorse a one-semester pilot project to evaluate a web-based course description and faculty biography project. The Senate discussed the motion. A friendly amendment was offered that the motion include that the pilot project contain a course evaluation component and Ms. Goodwin accepted. The motion carried on a vote of 35 for and 23 against with 1 abstention.

The chair introduced Mr. Petros who gave a report from the Council of College Faculties (CCF). He reported that there were two issues at the CCF meeting held on campus last week. The first issue is the proposed textbook adoption policy introduced for a first reading by the State Board of Higher Education. Mr. Petros also reported that the Board announced the formation of the search committee for the chancellor. The CCF was concerned whether there was enough opportunity for faculty input. Ms. Goodwin moved to adopt the following resolution:

Whereas: The proposed State Board of Higher Education Policy, Section: 611.9, Selection of Textbooks and Other Curricular Materials, did not have any faculty input when it was developed,

Whereas: Point 2 of the policy seems to prohibit a faculty member from using his or her materials (textbook, study guide, whatever) in his or her class when the material may have been created for precisely that reason,

Whereas: Point 2 of the policy appears counter productive and inconsistent with the spirit of the roundtable and the desire for faculty to become more entrepreneurial,

Be it resolved that the University Senate requests that the State Board of Higher Education create a joint Academic Affairs Council/Council of College Faculties(AAC/CCF)Committee to look at the proposed policy and solicit broad faculty and administrative input to develop a policy that would protect against unethical behavior during textbook adoption.

The Senate discussed. The motion carried on a vote of 51 in favor with 3 opposed and 4 abstentions.

Ms. Goodwin moved to adopt the following resolution:

Whereas: A number of those stakeholders, most notably faculty and students, will want to have a convenient forum for accessing the candidates so as to form their opinions based upon an adequate behavioral sample and be in a position to communicate their opinions to other representatives on the Chancellor Search Committee,

Be it resolved that the University Senate of the University of North Dakota requests that the State Board of Higher Education direct the Chancellor Search Committee to have the candidates for the chancellor position give public addresses and hold meetings over IVN so that all interested parties statewide can have convenient access to the candidates.

The Senate discussed. The motion carried on a vote of 54 in favor with 2 opposed and 2 abstentions.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Nancy Krogh
Secretary to the Senate