Senators Present: K. Alligood, K. Avruch, A. Berry, E. Blaisten-Barojas, D. Boileau, T. Brawley, B. Brown, L. Brown, J. Censer, R. Coffinberger, J. Crockett, R. Davis, S. deMonsabert, R. Ehrlich, E. Elstun, T. Friesz, K. Gaffney, G. Galluzzo, D. Gantz, H. Gortner, E. Gunn, J. Hale, R.C. Jones, A. Kolker, D. Kuebrich, L. Lederman, B. Manchester, A. Merten, J. Metcalf, J. O'Connor, J. Reid, L. Rigsby, R. Ruhling, J. Sanford, J. Scimecca, L. Seligmann, P. So, A. Sofer, D. Struppa, C. Sutton, C. Thomas, H. Tongren, H. Williams, J. Wood, J. Zenelis, S. Zoltek

Senators Absent: L. Bowen, R. Carty, K. Clements, T. Domzal, J. Flinn, M. Grady, L. Griffiths, M. Holt, M. Krauss, M. LeBaron, L. Rockwood, E. Thorp, S. Weinberger, P. Wilkie

I. Call to Order
Chair Don Boileau called the meeting to order at 3:04 PM.

II. Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of the May 5, 1999 Faculty Senate Meeting (continued on May 12, 1999) were approved after several corrections and will be distributed as approved.

III. Announcements
D. Boileau welcomed everyone to the Faculty Senate for the 1999-2000 academic year. In addition, it was noted that the Faculty Senate meeting room had undergone some renovations and that the Faculty Senate Office is in the process of moving. (New Location: D109 Mason Hall -- other contact information remains the same, as follows: MSN 5E5; telephone 3-2990; and fax 3-3006).

D. Boileau announced that the Faculty Senate meetings with Provost Candidates, two of which have happened, the third meeting will be tomorrow (September 16). A fourth candidate may be forthcoming.

D. Boileau announced that letters were express mailed to members of the Board of Visitors regarding procedural violations in dealing with the curriculum issues last Spring.

Additionally, D. Boileau announced that the Office of the President and the Faculty Senate reported jointly to the Board of Visitors on "what faculty thought" of the BOV's handling of the issues last May. D. Boileau announced that the Senate had formed the Committee to establish informal contact with the BOV. Rector Meese stated that he was in favor of members of the Board and a faculty committee meeting to discuss "process."

D. Boileau announced that the Senate worked closely with Interim Provost Joe Wood on the General Education issue and believes that the relationship between the Faculty Senate and the Provost will continue to grow. D. Boileau also reported that Mack Holt moderated a forum on General Education co-sponsored by the Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost. The Forum continued the discussion begun last year, and Faculty, Administration and at least one member of the Board of Visitors who attended viewed the Forum as a "constructive start" to the examination of the General Education issue at GMU.

D. Boileau stated that announcements will be coming electronically for future meetings.

IV. Unfinished Business
D. Boileau asked if any of the Committee Chairs from the University Standing Committees scheduled to report at the May Faculty Senate meeting whose reports were postponed to the first Fall meeting had a report for the Senate. Since no Committee reports were presented to the Senate, Chair Boileau requested that the Committees submit a written report to the Secretary.

V. New Business

A. Committee Reports

1. Executive Committee
D. Boileau stated that the meeting schedule for the Executive Committee had been developed in conjunction with the Provost.

2. Academic Policies Committee
There was nothing to report at this time.

3. Facilities and Support Services Committee
S. Zoltek reported that a new Search Committee for the Chief of Police was appointed and that the search was starting over following the unsuccessful search last Spring. S. Zoltek also reported that the Bookstore has requested that all faculty get in their book orders as early as possible to avoid potential Y2K problems.

4. Faculty Matters Committee
There was nothing to report at this time.

5. Nominations Committee
L. Miller reported that the slate of Nominees was distributed via e-mail, and that the Senate may nominate from the floor for all vacancies. The Nominees for the Committees were reported and it was stated that the slate as revised on the Senate floor would be elected by a motion to elect the entire slate, rather than voting on each Committee individually. The following is the slate of nominees as revised on the Senate floor:

University Faculty Standing Committees:

Academic Appeals Committee: (3 vacancies)Continuing Members: Mary Lee Vance, Provost Designee (ex-officio), Richard Coffinberger (00) (Senator), Jeanne Sorrell (00),
Nominees: Whitney Shiner (CAS), Robert Ruhling (GSE, Senator), Alan Christensen (CAS)
Admissions Committee: (3 vacancies, one must be a Senator)
Continuing Members: Director of Admissions, Provost Designee (ex-officio), Yariv Ephraim (00), Amelia Rutledge (00)
Nominees: Alok Berry (ITE, Senator), Aliza Kolker (CAS, Senator), Tom Brawley (CAS, Senator)
Athletic Council: (2 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Gerald Cook, Janet Hale (00) (Senator), Larry Rockwood (00) (Senator)
Nominees: Matthew Karush (CAS), Deborah Kaplan (CAS)
Effective Teaching Committee: (2 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Ann Palkovich, Provost Designee (ex-officio), Elizabeth Gunn (00) (Senator), Mike McDermott (00), Robert Pasnak (00)
Nominees: Hugh Sockett (CAS), Karen Studd (IOA)
External Academic Relations Committee: (New Committee: 5 vacancies, 3 must be Senators)
Provost Designee (ex-officio)
Nominees: Ann Cary (CNHS), Steve Zaccaro (CAS), Larry Bowen (GSE, Senator), Ariela Sofer (ITE, Senator), Charles Thomas (GSE, Senator)
Grievance Committee: (2 vacancies)
Continuing Members: James Fletcher (00), Kathleen Gaffney (00) (Senator), James Lawrence (00)
Nominees: Jim Bennett (CAS), Randy Lytton (CAS)
Library Committee: (1 vacancy, must be a Senator)
Continuing Members: John Zenelis, University Librarian (ex-officio), Suzanne Carbonneau (00), Mary Ann Dzama (00), Ted
Gessner (00), Mary Silva (00)
Nominee: Thomas Brawley (CAS, Senator)
Minority and Diversity Issues Committee: (2 vacancies, 1 must be a Senator)
Continuing Members: Jim Lepore (00), Jen Eng Lin (00), Sylvia Sanchez (00)
Nominees: Mark Hicks (ITE), Bruce Manchester (CAS, Senator)
Non-Traditional, Interdisciplinary, and Adult Learning Committee: (3 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Donna Bafundo (ex-officio), Robert Hawkes (00), David Kuebrich (00) (Senator)
Nominees: Nancy Hanrahan (CAS), Hung Nguyen (CAS), Molly Davis (CAS)
Resource Allocation Task Force: (2 vacancies, 1 must be a Senator)
Continuing Members: Mark Spikell (00), Al Torzilli (00)
Nominees: Herma Williams (GSE, Senator), 1 Nominee Sought
Salary Study Committee: (1 vacancy, must be a Senator,) (3 year term)
Continuing Members: Provost Designee (ex-officio), Equity Officer, Ann Cary (00), David Wong (01)
Nominee: Alok Berry (ITE, Senator)
Writing Across the Curriculum Committee: (6 vacancies)
Continuing Members: WAC Coordinator (ex-officio), Stanley Zoltek (00) (Senator)
Nominees: Mary Silva (CNHS), Rick Davis (IOA), Sharon deMonsabert (ITE), Robert Ruhling (GSE), Ashley Williams (NCC), 1 Nominee Sought from (SOM)

Senate Committees:

Academic Policies Committee: (2 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Harold Gortner (00), Jane Flinn (00), James Sanford (00)
Nominees: Esther Elstun, R. Christian Jones
Faculty Matters Committee: (3 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Sharon deMonsabert (00), Mack Holt (00)
Nominees: Brack Brown, John Crockett, Joseph Scimecca
Facilities and Support Services Committee: (2 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Alok Berry (00), Thomas Brawley (00), Leo Rigsby (00)
Nominees: Janet Hale, Stanley Zoltek
Organization and Operations Committee: (3 vacancies)
Continuing Members: Kathleen Alligood (00), Clifton Sutton (00)
Nominees: Kevin Avruch, Estela Blaisten-Barojas, Hale Tongren
Nominations Committee: (2 vacancies) Must be made from the floor
Continuing Members: Lorraine Brown (00), Jack Censer (00), James Metcalf (00)
Nominee: Richard Coffinberger (SOM)
Only 1 vacancy was filled pending clarification of the status of the continuing members.

Other Positions and Committee Vacancies:

Senate Secretary: Donald Gantz

It was moved and seconded to elect the slate of nominees for the Committee vacancies as listed above. The motion passed and the slate represents the membership of the Committees for the 1999-2000 year. In keeping with Senate procedure, the member of each Committee whose name occurs first alphabetically should organize the first meeting of the Committee. In addition, at the first meeting of each Committee, a Chairperson should be selected, and the name of the Chair should be submitted in writing (or by e-mail) to the Faculty Senate Office.

B. Other Action Items

1. Approval of the 1999-2000 Faculty Senate Meeting Schedule
D. Boileau inquired about the meeting date for the October meeting, and after a brief discussion, it was determined that the October meeting would be best on October 20. It was moved and seconded to approve the meeting schedule as developed, the motion passed, and the meeting schedule is attached to these minutes as Attachment A.

2. Motions on General Education
E. Elstun introduced the original motion which was co-sponsored by numerous Senators and is included as Attachment B to the Agenda for this meeting. Discussion of the main motion ensued. It was moved and seconded to amend the motion by changing "May 2000" to "April 2000" (in the last line) as the final reporting deadline. The motion to amend passed. It was moved and seconded to amend the main motion to increase the Committee membership from nine to eleven members to include representation from all academic units with undergraduate programs (adding GSE and NCC). Discussion of the motion to amend included a motion to substitute an amendment to strike the phrase "two from the College of Arts & Sciences, and one from each of the other academic units engaged in undergraduate education (CNHS, IOA, IT&E, SOM)" and the motion to substitute failed by a 23-15 vote. The motion to amend (to increase the membership size of the committee from nine to eleven members) failed. Returning to the main motion, a vote was called for, and the main motion on General Education passed.

The first of the two additional motions from the Agenda, which were contingent on passage of the main motion, were introduced. The motion passed. The second motion, contingent on the passage of the main motion, was introduced, amended to indicate "April" instead of "May" in keeping with the main motion, and was voted on and the motion passed. The complete text of the motions as they were passed are at the conclusion of these Minutes as Attachment B.

3. Motion on Faculty Senate Meeting Location
The motion (Attachment C of the Agenda for this meeting) was introduced by D. Boileau who stated that M. Krauss was unable to attend due to an accident. L. Lederman moved to postpone the motion until M. Krauss was able to attend. The motion was seconded and passed. The motion will be placed on the Agenda of a future meeting, when it is determined that M. Krauss will be able to attend.

4. Exception on the Name of Institute for a Non-Degree Program
Dean G. Galluzzo introduced the following motion, which was distributed and was instructed to be printed in these Minutes in its entirety:

Whereas the Center for Human disAbilities (Chd) in the Graduate School of Education received a $3.2 million gift from Arthur and Elizabeth Kellar of Fairfax Virginia; and

Whereas the gift supports in perpetuity a named unit in GSE in honor of their daughter, Helen A. Kellar; and

Whereas the purpose of the gift is to enable GSE to meet the needs of the disability community in Virginia and the nation; and

Whereas the gift supports the promotion of scholarship, support of graduate students, leadership through an endowed chair, and opportunities to enhance outreach to the community; and

Whereas the Kellars have previously endowed a "Kellar Center" in Fairfax City as part of the INOVA Hospital of Fairfax; and

Whereas the Kellars have indicated that they would like the unit named as the Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities to avoid confusion in the community; and

Whereas the unit will continue to be a part of the Graduate School of Education; and

Whereas the unit will not grant degrees within the university; and

Whereas the unit will not require independent Senate representation; and

Whereas there is another non-degree granting Institute at GMU, the Krasnow Institute; and

Whereas the university needs to have greater flexibility in the assignment of the title of institutes and centers to named units in order to respond to the requirements of future donations to GMU by other benefactors;

It is moved that the name of the unit be approved as "The Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities".

Following several brief comments on the motion, it was seconded and the motion passed.

5. Extension on Implementation of Hour Limits for Students who have Low GPAs
The motion was introduced, and Registrar S. Jones made some statements to justify the need for a Semester extension on the implementation of the Senate action passed last Spring. Registrar Jones indicated that the time would be used to finish developing the necessary guards to accommodate grade changes, incomplete grades and potential Y2K glitches in addition to creating the necessary communication system to adequately inform students. The motion passed.

VI. Other New Business

A. President Merten's Address to the Faculty Senate on General Education
President Merten spoke of the importance of general education, and indicated that the discussions regarding the general education issue have begun and will continue into the future. He said that we need to examine the issue carefully and determine what we want to be able to say that our students can do and what they know. Merten stressed that the combination of skills and knowledge is important to all the communities involved. Furthermore, the faculty as a whole has rights and responsibilities with regards to general education: the right to get general education defined and prepared for implementation; and the responsibility to do so in a relatively quick time frame.

President Merten stated that our current system is not good. He insisted that there are too many options and that there is no way to guarantee a common body of knowledge and skills. He reiterated that faculty have a responsibility to all students to ensure that they have a common knowledge and skill base. The "collective faculty" of all units are responsible for general education, and the "individual faculty" of each unit is responsible for the specific program of study.

President Merten stated that a great deal of catalog cleaning needs to be done, and this must be done with a focus on reorganizing and eliminating excessive course offerings. He said that GMU has become ingrained in a 3-credit phenomenon and that we must break free from the idea of every unit offering their 3-credit course to fulfill the general education requirement. He emphasized the importance of creating team teaching scenarios and fewer numbers of individualized courses.

Merten indicated that general education changes must be done by us (faculty), now, or else we will be told what those changes will be by someone else. His vision of general education incorporates what students and society need and would be indicative of "what all students at GMU have learned". President Merten stated that determining what the courses are that define that common knowledge is the important and difficult challenge that confronts us, but we are currently a long way from where we need to be.

VII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 PM.

Meeting Date                               Deadline for Agenda Items

Wednesday, September 15             Friday, September 3
Wednesday, October 20                 Friday, October 8
Wednesday, November 17              Friday, November 5
Wednesday, December 8                Monday, November 29
Wednesday, January 26                  Friday, January 14
Wednesday, February 16                Friday, February 4
Wednesday, March 8                      Friday, February 25
Wednesday, April 5                        Friday, March 24
Wednesday, May 3                        Friday, April 21
[with possible continuation on May 10]

MOTION:
That the Faculty Senate create an ad hoc University Committee on General Education, as follows:

1. The nine-member committee will consist of six tenured members of the teaching faculty, two from the College of Arts & Sciences, and one from each of the other academic units engaged in undergraduate education (CNHS, IOA, IT&E, SOM), appointed by the Chair of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the Senate's Nominations Committee; the Interim Provost; one other academic administrator appointed by the Interim Provost; and one undergraduate student appointed by the Student Senate.

2. The charge of the committee is to act expeditiously to: (a) gather, study, discuss and draw conclusions from information about successful revisions of the general education curriculum at other institutions, in particular those that are comparable to GMU; (b) solicit ideas and opinions from GMU faculty (especially, but not limited to, those who teach general education courses) and appropriate academic administrators; (c) make progress reports to the Faculty Senate in December 1999 and February 2000; and (d) present a final report with recommendations for Senate consideration and action no later than April 2000.

MOTION: The Faculty Senate strongly recommends that the Office of the Provost provide resources to the newly-created ad hoc University Committee on General Education in support of its research, information gathering, and the other aspects of its charge.

MOTION: In recognition of the fact that committees report to their parent organizations, the motion establishing the ad hoc University Committee on General Education provided for that committee to report to the Faculty Senate at stipulated times (December 1999; February 2000; April 2000). By passage of the pending motion the Faculty Senate authorizes and encourages the committee to report also, if requested to do so, to the Board of Visitors and its Faculty & Academic Standards Committee, which has made general education one of its declared priorities.

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