Minutes of the University Senate Meeting (Revised)

October 6, 2005

 

1.

 

The October meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, 2005 in Room 7, Gamble Hall.  Sue Jeno presided. 

 

2.

 

The following members of the Senate were present:

 

Alfonso, Peter

Anderson, Cindy

Benoit, Joseph

Benoit, Virgil

Berne, Jane

Blackburn, Royce

Boyd, Robert

Braden, Chris

Bradley, April

Campbell, Katherine

Christopherson, Joel

Cripe, Haylee

DeMers, Judy

Dewar, Graeme

Drewes, Mary

Elbert, Dennis

Ellis, Rick

Elsinga, Lillian

Fivizzani, Al

Flom-Meland, Cynthia

Flynn, Aaron

Gallager, Robert

Goenner, Cullen

Goodwin, Janice

Hans, Birgit

Haskins, Robert

Herrick, Ryan

Jackson, Jon

Jackson, Margaret

Jeno, Sue

Jerath, Sukhvarsh

Kim, Ju Hyo

Krogh, Nancy

La Duke, John

Lane, Jason

LaVenture, Andrew

Lovelace, Kent

Mahar, Patricia

Mamaghani, Iraj

Martindale, Nathan

Mayzer, Roni

Moen, Janet

Mullegama, Saman

Munski, Doug

Myers, Bradley

Nies, Gerry

Obma, Robert

Perry, David

Potvin, Martha

Remfert, Matt

Rex, Janet

Rice, Daniel

Robertson, Charles

Rosenberger, Thad

Sadeh, Eligar

Schumacher, Peter

Semke, William

Shaeffer, James

Smart, Kathy

Stolt, Wilbur

Streibel, Kent

Weisenstein, Greg

Wettersten, Kara

Widmer, Donovan

Williams, Jim

Wu, Min

Yurkovich, Eleanor

 

3.

 

The following members of the Senate were absent:

 

Anderson, Christopher

Covington, Chandice

Doze, Van

Gosnold, Will

Grant, Emmanuel

Kupchella, Charles

LeBel, Paul

McBride, Rosanne

Mochoruk, James

Nowacki, Michael

Olsen, Glenn

Petros, Tom

Picklo, Matthew

Routon, Claudia

Schnellert, Gary

Schwartz, Rhonda

Skramstad, Allan

Smith, Bruce

Strand, Robin

Vande Brake, Katie

Watson, John

Wilson, H. David

 

4.

 

The following announcements were made:         

 

  1. The chair announced that the University Council will meet on October 18, 2005 at 3:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Ms. Jeno will present Senate updates and the President will unveil the Strategic Plan.

 

 

 

  1. Agenda item seven on the business calendar will be tabled because the presenter was unable to attend. The document will be in the final form for the November agenda and the chair asked the senators to read the document to be ready for consideration at the November meeting.
  2. The Chair announced that the United Way campaign is underway and UND hopes to surpass previous donation and participation levels.
  3. The sick leave policy passed by the Senate at the May, 2005 meeting has been added to the faculty handbook. The dean’s council will form a sub-committee to consider maternity and breast feeding policies. A member of the Senate Compensation Committee will represent the Senate on that Committee.
  4. The State Board of Higher Education passed policy 609, regarding language proficiency which requires each institution to establish a process to verify communication skills. The University is beginning to work on this process.
  5. Ms. Jeno announced that Carmen Williams will serve as interim registrar and secretary to the Senate, and Ms. Jeno thanked Ms. Krogh for her service to the Senate.
  6. Jim Shaeffer will also be leaving UND and the chair thanked him for his service as a senator.

 

5.

 

The Chair asked for corrections or additions to the September 1, 2005 minutes. The minutes were approved as distributed with one typographical error corrected. 

 

6.

 

The question period was opened and closed at 4:12 p.m.

 

7.

 

The annual reports of the Senate Committee on Committees and the Senate Continuing Education, Distance Education & Outreach Committee were approved unanimously.

8.

 

The chair announced that the Compensation Committee, the Faculty Instructional Development Committee, the Honors Committee and the University Assessment Committee annual reports are now past due.  The General Education Requirements Committee, the Honorary Degrees Committee and the Standing Committee on Faculty Rights annual reports are due in November. 

 

9.

 

Mr. Robertson moved to accept the report from the Curriculum Committee.  The report was approved on a vote of 65 to 1.

 

10.

 

The Senate discussed proposed revisions to the Conflict of Interest Policy presented by Mark Askelson, chair of the Senate Conflict of Interest Committee. He stated that the goal of any new policy should be to manage the issues regarding potential conflicts and to facilitate activities for faculty or other UND employees to protect the interests of the employee and the University. Mr. Askelson reviewed some of the differences between the proposed policy and the previous policy and some of the factors influencing the proposed changes, such as changes in Federal funding rules in agencies like the National Institute of Health. Discussion followed. 

 

Mr. Virgil Benoit remarked on how much work the committee must have done on this, and suggested that the Senate recognize and thank the committee for all of their efforts. Ms. Jeno also stated that it is important to recognize the hard work of this and other committees.  Ms. Jeno thanked Mr. Askelson for his presentation. 

 

11.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 p.m.

 

Nancy Krogh,

Secretary to the Senate