University Governance

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

October 6, 2009, 3:00 P.M., Provost’s Conference Room

 

Approved 10/20/09

PRESENT: John Stratton, Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Jim Daugherty, Ada Emmett, Barbara Phipps, Kellee Kirkpatrick, Jeannette Johnson, Mary Ann Baker,  Andrea Peterson, Mason Heilman.

 

EXCUSED: JJ Siler, Paul Farran, Steven Maynard-Moody, Ben Eggleston, Dennis Constance

 

ALSO PRESENT: Molly Mulloy and Kathy Reed, Governance

 

            Chair John Stratton called the meeting to order.

 

MINUTES for 9/22/09 were approved.

 

STANDING REPORTS

 

SenEx Chair.

            John Stratton reported he has been in communication with the chairs of O&A, Retirees, and AP&P concerning their charges.

 

Faculty Senate President

            Lisa Wolf-Wendel noted that the Board of Regents will meet next week. She reported that a commercial company has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain grade distributions for all classes and instructors at KU in order to sell that information to students.  The Registrar and the Provost are considering making this information available free of charge on the Registrar’s website and are seeking feedback from the Faculty Senate on Thursday.

 

Student Body President

            Mason Heilman said students are in the midst of mid-term exams, and there is nothing new to report this week.

 

Unclassified Senate President

            Jeannette Johnson reported the full Unclassified Senate meets tomorrow.

 

University Support Staff President

            No report.

 

STUDENT SENATE AMENDMENT TO NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

            John Stratton distributed copies of an email he received from Provost Anderson that included opinions from the offices of the General Counsel and Human Resources on the proposed amendments. He fully supports the intention of the policy, but believes the phrase “actual or perceive”  may cause confusion and is not needed.   Lisa Wolf-Wendel/Ada Emmett moved that the proposed amendment be approved with the words “actual or perceived” removed from lines 50 and 67. Passed. The amendment will be discussed by University Senate on Thursday.  Ex-officio member Jeannette Johnson cannot vote but also voiced support of the amendment.

Members discussed the implication of the proposal in regard to restroom facilities and the fact that the University is not in a financial position to renovate current restrooms to make them gender-neutral. Lisa Wolf-Wendel has requested that students in a Service Learning Project prepare an audit of campus buildings to determine which ones already have gender-neutral restrooms.  She will report the findings to the Provost.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE ACADEMIC POLICIES & PROCEDURES COMMITTEE

AP&P Charge #1 – Recommendations from Dean Sara Rosen re Grade Menus for Graduate Students

            Stratton explained that AP&P unanimously agrees with Dean Rosen’s recommendations, as described in her 7/21/09 memo to Stratton, that a CR/NC option and NP (“No Progress”) option be made available to graduate students.  AP&P recommends that the proposal be forwarded to the Organization & Administration Committee so that they can draft amendments to the University Senate Rules (USRR) to implement these changes.  However, SenEx members raised several questions in regard to implications of the policy: (1) How will the proposal affect graduate teaching assistantships, which require that students make progress toward their degrees?  If a GTA receives an NP grade, will he/she lose the assistantship? (2) If a student receives an NP for a course, does he/she still receive credit for them or does one lose credit? The consensus of SenEx was to ask AP&P to investigate these two questions and report back to SenEx before the issue is sent to O&A.

 

AP&P Charge #2 – TOEFL Requirement for Undergraduate International Students

            Members referred to a report by the Ad Hoc Committee on English Proficiency Requirements for Undergraduate Admission dated 3/12/09.  Stratton noted that AP&P unanimously approved the recommendations made in the report, as did Provost Danny Anderson.  Andrea Peterson/Ada Emmett moved to endorse the report and forward it to the Faculty Senate.  Passed.  Stratton added that Hodgie Bricke, who chaired the ad hoc committee, will be present at the Senate meeting to answer any questions.

 

Clarification of AP&P Specific Charges #4 and #5

Charge #4.  After discussing  AP&P’s  Charge #4 to examine the consistency of the +/- grading policies of the various professional schools and the college, Andrea Peterson/Kellee Kirkpatrick moved to replace current Charge #4 with a new charge to AP&P to:  1)  ask the Registrar’s Office which schools use the +/- option, 2) determine whether the decision to use the +/-  is up to each professor’s discretion  or whether it is department-wide or school-wide, and 3) find out how often faculty members in each school are actually using the plus/minus grade option.  Passed.  Mason Heilman added  that students who are serious about their GPAs are concerned that receiving an A-  rather than an A in certain classes (where +/- grading is used) lowers that course GPA from 4.0 to 3.7.  Members agreed that AP&P should be asked to invite Heilman to visit with them to report on student concerns.

 

Charge #5.  In regard to this charge to review the withdrawal policy relative to tuition and fees, Mason Heilman said he is visiting with the University Registrar on this issue. The AP&P Committee believes this is an administrative issue in which governance does not play a part.  Ada Emmett/Andrea Peterson moved that AP&P retain this charge but put it on hold until more information is provided by Heilman. Passed.

 

 EDITORIAL CHANGES TO THE CODE AND USRR

            Lisa Wolf-Wendel/Ada Emmett recommended approval of the changes in Section 12.2 of the Code and in Section 2.3.3 of the USRR. Passed.

 

            Members discussed the provisions in the University Senate Code, Art. XX, Section 2, regarding the procedures to approve editorial/technical  changes to the Code/USRR/FSRR. The current  rule requires that  editorial changes be approved by the University/Faculty Senate.  The consensus of SenEx was that such changes need only be approved by SenEx/FacEx.  Lisa Wolf-Wendel/Andrea Peterson moved to strike the last sentence of Article XX, Section 2. Passed.  An amendment will be forwarded to the University Senate for approval.   

 

NEW BUSINESS

            John Stratton distributed copies of an email he received yesterday from former SenEx member May Davis asking for the AP&P committee to clarify whether classes taken in a student’s minor are eligible for Credit/No Credit.  Davis has a major in Journalism, and was denied permission to change a philosophy courses to CR/NC because it was in her minor. USRR 2.2.7.2 states that students may not take CR/NC in their major, but does not say anything about the minor.

In the discussion that followed, Stratton pointed out that page 38 of the KU Undergraduate Catalog, under the section entitled “Credit/No Credit,” states: “You may enroll in one course per semester under the option, if the course is not in your major or minor; ”  this implies that it is a university-wide rule to not allow the CR/NC option in one’s minor.  While the accompanying chart on page 38 states that students enrolled in the College may not take CR/NC for courses in the major or minor, this is not clearly stated on the chart for other schools. Several SenEx members thought the CR/NC option for courses in a student’s minor might be up to the individual schools and this is why it is not included in USRR 2.2.7.2.

John Stratton will seek clarification from the Registrar’s Office regarding information in the text vs. the chart on page 38 of the Undergraduate catalog before responding to Ms. Davis.

 

No further business.

Respectfully submitted,

Molly Mulloy