GEORGE MASON
UNIVERSITY
APPROVED
MINUTES OF THE FACULTY SENATE
February 17,
1999
Senators Present: K. Alligood, A. Berry, E.
Blaisten-Barojas, D. Boileau, L. Bowen, T. Brawley, J. Censer, J. Crockett, S.
deMonsabert, M. Deshmukh, R. Ehrlich,
E. Elstun, K. Gaffney, D. Gantz, H. Gortner, E. Gunn, M. Holt, D. Kuebrich, C.
Lont, B. Manchester, K. McCrohan, L. Miller, S. Muir, A. Palkovich, L. Rigsby,
D. Rine, L. Rockwood, R. Ruhling, J. Scimecca, A. Sofer, C. Sutton, E. Thorp,
H. Tongren, H. Williams, J. Zenelis, S. Zaccaro
Senators Absent: L. Brown, R. Carty, K.
Clements, R. Coffinberger, T. Domzal, J. Flinn, G. Galluzzo, M. Grady, L.
Griffiths, J. Hale, M. LeBaron, L. Lederman, A. Merten, J. Metcalf, J.
O’Connor, E. O’Hara, D. Potter, J. Reid, J. Sanford, D. Struppa, A. Taylor, K.
Vaughn, S. Weinberger, P. Wilkie, S. Zoltek
Guests Present: S. Jones (Registrar’s
Office)
I. Call to Order
Chair
Esther Elstun called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM.
II. Approval of Minutes
Several corrections were made to the Minutes of
the January 27, 1999, Meeting. The Minutes of the January 27, 1999, Faculty
Senate Meeting were approved as corrected.
III. Announcements
1. The
forum on General Education recently sponsored by the Provost and the Faculty
Senate generated some animated discussion--then and since. Warm thanks again to all who participated!
Senate secretary Don Gantz and I have been “commissioned” to prepare
a summary of the presentations; it will be available on-line, and paper copies
will be distributed to the administrators of academic units that are engaged
in undergraduate education. Please
notify our staff secretary, Scott Petitto, if you too would like a paper copy,
and he will send you one when the summary is ready.
2.
This announcement concerns some upcoming dates and events. Some are immediately ahead; others will seem
rather far in the future, but our calendars fill up fast, so I ask at least
to “pencil in” these items, with the understanding that more detailed information
will be provided in the weeks ahead.
(a)
“The Scholarship of Teaching” is scheduled for Tuesday, 23 February,
2-4:00 p.m. in SUB I, Rooms A-B. This
event is part of the university’s “Celebration of Learning.” I know that faculty are sometimes made to feel
that teaching and scholarship are dichotomous activities, but as the title
of this event suggests, they are in fact inseparable. I hope you will come--unless of course, you are engaged in the scholarship
of teaching at that hour!
(b) Because
of the spring break, the March meeting of the Faculty Senate will be earlier
than usual: Wednesday, 10 March, 3-4:30
in Robinson B-113.
(c)
The planning committee for the Senate’s 25th anniversary celebration
is working on a variety of events and activities (see the minutes of the January
meeting of the Senate for committee chair Jim Metcalf’s detailed report). Please reserve the following dates: Monday, 5 April at 1:30 for an address by a
keynote speaker; and Monday, 26 April from 12-1:30 for a luncheon symposium
on the Senate’s evolution, its major milestones, and the future of faculty
participation in institutional governance.
3.
Dr. Merten has notified the President’s Council (on which--as Faculty
Senate chair--I am the lone faculty voice) that the search for a new Vice
President for University Development and GMU Foundation President is nearing
completion. He has asked members of
the council to make themselves available for meetings with the finalists beginning
the end of this week. This is not
an administrative position for which, under the terms of the Faculty Handbook,
extensive consultation with faculty is required, but if you have ideas, concerns,
opinions that I should know about before the meetings with finalists take
place, please convey them to me no later than early morning on Friday, 19
February.
R.
Ehrlich announced that Therese Zawacki accepted the position of WAC Coordinator
for the Writing Across the Curriculum Committee.
IV. Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
V. New Business
A.
Committee Reports
1. Executive Committee
E.
Elstun reported that the Executive Committee met with the Provost on Monday,
February 15. The guidelines for the conferral of honorific
titles were approved, and will be distributed to faculty and academic administrators
in a memo from Provost Potter and Senate Chair Elstun.
Additionally,
E. Elstun reported that Don Gantz, Don Boileau and David Potter are working
on arrangements for the forum on criteria for program discontinuations with
university-wide impact. It will be
co-sponsored by the Senate and the Provost, and is scheduled for Tuesday,
March 30 at 3:00.
Finally,
E. Elstun reported that the Committee also agreed to prepare a summary of
the recently-sponsored general education forum.
It will be distributed to deans and directors of units that are involved
in undergraduate education and also available on-line; we hope it will help
to “keep the conversation going” and perhaps serve as the basis for a second
general education forum that deals with additional issues.
2. Academic Policies Committee
L.
Bowen reported that the Committee has been working on several items including:
academic credit for ROTC; the Martin L. King, Jr. holiday issue; and, the
Spring calendar issue. All three of these items will be on the March
agenda for Senate consideration.
3. Facilities and Support Services Committee
A.
Berry reported that the Committee is continuing its work on the new contract
for the Bookstore before the July 1 deadline.
Contact S. Zoltek ([email protected]) or A. Berry ([email protected]) regarding
any concerns, questions or comments on the Bookstore.
4. Faculty Matters Committee
E.
Thorp reported that the Faculty Evaluation of Administrators is nearly prepared
and hopefully will be distributed next month.
5. Nominations Committee
L.
Miller presented two nominees to fill the two vacancies on the Non-Traditional,
Interdisciplinary and Adult Learning Committee (NIAL).
The nominees were: Robert Hawkes
(CAS) for a two year appointment; and, Marie Kodadek (CNHS) for a one year
appointment. There were no nominees from the floor, and
the nominees were elected.
6. Organization and Operations Committee
E.
Blaisten-Barojas reported that the Committee is continuing with a study of
the possible creation of a Committee on Legislative and Community Relations. The O&O Committee is seeking any opinions, comments, suggestions
or questions with regards to the creation of such a Committee and faculty
are encouraged to contact K. Alligood with any concerns on this matter.
Additionally, the Committee is in the process
of surveying past members of University Committees to evaluate and better
distribute workloads for the various Committees.
B.
Other Reports
1. Senate Liaisons to the Board of Visitors
A.
Sofer reported that the Board of Visitors is currently meeting, and that H.
Tongren remained while A. Sofer returned to report to the Senate.
A. Sofer’s report is attached to these minutes as Attachment A.
2. Representatives of the Faculty Senate of Virginia
E.
Elstun reported that the Senate is meeting this Saturday in Richmond with
Legislators, SCHEV representatives and E. Flippin (Chair of the Governor’s
Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education).
Additionally, the Senate will act on Nominations for the Award for
Distinguished Service in Higher Education.
3. Senate Composition Task Force
A.
Sofer reported that the Committee will have an action item for the April Faculty
Senate meeting.
4. Faculty Senate Anniversary Committee
M.
Deshmukh reported that planning is continuing, and that H. Heclo is creating
a website and is seeking relevant information from all faculty.
A panel symposium will be held on April 26, from 12-1:30 p.m. in the
Johnson Center Room H. This luncheon
symposium will include a Representative from AAUP, GMU Senators and a Representative
from the Faculty Senate of Virginia from Virginia Tech and will address faculty
governance. Additionally, a well known
keynote speaker for the Anniversary celebration is still being sought.
VI. Other New Business
Senators
raised questions concerning the current BOV review of New Century College.
In particular, Senators wondered if this was the regular periodic reviewor
a special review. It was suggested
that J. O’Connor be contacted for additional information regarding the NCC
review.
Regarding
advisory committees being formed to assist BOV Standing Committees, it was
suggested that the Executive Committee speak with the Provost regarding the
appointment process for membership to Committees that take action over areas
which fall under the Senate’s purview or previously required Senate action. It was stated that the Senate could be helpful
and should be involved in these matters.
VII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 PM.
Respectfully
submitted,
Donald
T. Gantz
Faculty
Senate Secretary
As
the Faculty Senate went into meeting, the meeting of the Faculty and Academic
Affairs Committee of the Board of Visitors was in session, with the Meeting of
the Full Board scheduled for soon thereafter.
The
Committee heard a brief presentation from Professor Linda Schwartzstein, Vice
Provost for Strategic Planning, regarding performance measures for the
University. Professor Schwartzstein
reported on a meeting she had had with Visitors Murray and Golec on this
subject. At issue is what performance measures should GMU be using to assess
its performance. Some possibilities
would be the measures used by SCHEV, or US News and World Report; alternatively
GMU could develop its own measures.
Committee Chair DiGennaro urged Visitors Murray and Golec to make sure
that the Board would get recommendations on this matter before the end of the
academic year.
Another
topic on the agenda was a status report of the review of New Century College
(which is external to NCC but internal to GMU). There was however some confusion however between the Committee
and Dean O'Connor, since the Committee assumed that they would be receiving a
report from Dean O'Connor, while Dean O'Connor expected to hear from the
Committee regarding their expectations, and had not yet been notified of the
Board Liaison to the Review Committee. The Board asked Dean O'Connor to present
a report in their March Meeting.
During
the meeting a question regarding the status of ROTC at GMU was raised. The Committee asked that the Faculty Senate
provide a report on this issue in the Board's March meeting.
Finally,
the names of members of the Faculty and Academic Standard Committee who are
serving on the five committees addressing the Committee's priorities were
announced. These are:
1.
Performance Measures for the University:
Visitors Golec and Murray
2.
General Education Requirements and Course Offerings: Visitors
3.
New Century College Review: Visitor
Fuelner
4.
Policy Studies: Visitors Miller and
McGeary
5.
Prince William Campus: Visitors Pomata
and Olson.
Earlier
that day, the Student Affairs Committee of the BOV held its meeting. In the
previous two weeks, six committee members had met either once or twice with
small groups of students to discuss their experiences at GMU. They reported on their findings to the
committee at the meeting.
In
general the students were highly satisfied with their teachers, and with the
academic programs and their level. There
were, however, some complaints about a few specific classes, where students
felt there was insufficient rigor. Another
concern was that there are too many large classes; students would like the
opportunity to break down into smaller
Committee
members noted that they had only met with a small set of students, and in
all cases at night--not necessarily a representative sample. They would like
to conduct a survey among students
regarding those areas that were of concern.
They identified the following possible areas of focus for the survey:
1.
Large class size
2.
Academic Advising
3.
Maintenance and housing
4.
Parking
5.
Need for social locations for students to meet
6.
Hours of campus services (computer labs, food service).
7. Non-uniformity of teaching quality
8. Commute between campuses
9. Communication of campus events
10.
Dorm security
12.
Attitude
13 Availability of classes.
President
Merten thanked Committee Chair Visitor Lauterberg, and Committee members for
their work, and asked that they continue to do such face-to-face discussions
in the future. He discussed the notion
of the student as a customer and emphasized that he is a strong proponent
of this notion when it comes to services, but that when it comes to academics,
the decisions are up to the faculty.