Faculty Senate

CCSU Faculty Senate

Minutes—March 10, 2008

VAC 105   3:00 PM

Next Meeting of the Faculty Senate on April 14, 2008, 3 pm Vance 105

 

Present:  Adams, A., Al-Masoud, N., Barrington, C., Bernstein, S., Bigelow, L., Bigley, M.P., Cohen, S., Craine, T., Crundwell, G., Cummiskey, M., Czyrnik, K., D’Addio, D., Daigle, R., DelAma, J., Deloy, P., Donis, F., Duquette, J., Durant, M., Dziuda, D., Fallahi, C., Fangiullo, B., Foshay, J., Frank, T., Garcia-Bowen, M., George, L., Glagovich, N., Hammad, M., Harris, D., Jones, J., Kapper, M., King, T., Kurkovsky, S., Larsen, K., Latour, F., Leong, L., Mamed, O., Morales, A., Mulcahy, C., Murphy, G., Northrop, J., O’Connor, J., Raajpoot, N., Sianez, D., Sims, D., Slaga, S., Spector, D., Stankewicz, K., Strickland, A., Tait, C., Wagner, L., Wang, W., Warshauer, M., Wright, E.

 

Ex-Officio: Kremens, Lemma, Lovitt, Pease, Sakofs, Shojai

 

Parliamentarian: Charles Dimmick

 

Guests: Margaret Mitchell (Management), Judith Walo (Accounting), Cyrus Shojai, Marianne D’Onofrio (MIS), Doug Carter (Biology), Ghassan El-Eid (Political Science), Michael Gendron (CCSU-AAUP), Braden Hosch (Institutional Research & Assessment)

 

1.   Announcements
1. AAUP President Michael Gendron announced a series of events, including the ongoing CCSU-AAUP elections, April 15 sponsorship of “The Tempest,” and April 30 chapter meeting on national re-organization.  He reported that the March 5 Lobby Day was a success.
2. SUOF-AFSCME member Otis Mamed announced the March 19 training for all CSU executive officers.
3. Senate President Tim Craine welcomed an announcement by librarian Emily Chasse on the “TurnItIn” pilot program of an online plagiarism service.

2. Senator Murphy moved the approval of the February 25, 2008 minutes: Passed.

 

3.  New Business: a) Senator Frank reported on the ongoing nominations process for Faculty Standing committees as well as Senate officers. Sufficient nominations have been received to fill all existing vacancies on committees elected by the senate, except the P&T Committee which will be elected in September.  There are need 15 additional nominations to committees elected by the faculty. From the floor, the following nominations were received.  Kathy Martin-Troy for the CSU Trustees Research award; for the CSU Trustees Teaching Award, David Fearon, Guy Crundwell, Tim Craine; Sabbatical Leave, Tom King; Kris Larsen for Termination Hearings.

For the Senate Offices, the following Senators were nominated: for President, Candace Barrington and Neil Glagovich; for Vice President, Guy Crundwell; for Secretary, Donna Sims.

           b) Jim Mulrooney moved the following for the Academic Standards Committee: The Academic Standards Committee supports the development of an early intervention/student success initiative for first year students that may involve voluntary faculty participation in identifying students at academic risk. The Committee endorses this proposal with the expectation that the University will develop and fully fund a program to support these at-risk students. 

            Senator Warshauer move the following amendment: The committee will submit to the Senate any mechanisms of reporting and interventions as they are developed: Passed

            Main motion, as amended: Passed.

                c) Academic Standards moved the following:  Central Connecticut State University recognizes the IB Diploma Program and will consider for course credit and advanced placement any higher

level IB subject in which a grade of 5 or higher has been earned. Credit is awarded at the discretion of individual departments through the Office of Admissions: Passed.

            d) Academic Standards move the following to replace the current undergraduate dismissal/probation policy of a sliding scale of good academic standing with a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all students regardless of number of credits or full/part-time status. The new policy is:

 

“After first semester with less than a GPA of 2.0 for all students (first-year/first-time, continuing, or transfer):

           

Probation: Probation letter informs student of an academic intervention (nature to be determined) and the dismissal/probation policy; expectation that student will be at 2.0 or higher by the end of the subsequent semester; offer opportunity to meet with representative of Dean’s office to discuss academic status. Letter will further emphasize that student is required to participate in the academic intervention or probation will not be granted should they petition for such at the end of the next semester.

 

At the end of the next semester for all students still having less than a 2.0:

 

Academic Dismissal: may be appealed to the Dean’s office only for documented extenuating circumstances; non-appealable if it is mathematically impossible for the student to reach 2.0 by the end of the subsequent semester. In absence of extenuating circumstances, Dean will have discretion to grant probation if the student has 2.0 in the previous semester, even if cumulative GPA is less than 2.0.”

 

            A motion to postpone discussion to the next Senate meeting of April 14, given the lack of clarity about how many students the new policy would affect: Failed.

            Senator Duquette moved an amendment to clarify that the new policy would apply first to the Class of 2009: Passed.

            Main motion: Passed.

 

            e) Senator Crundwell moved the following, which Passed: A Clarification Document Highlighting the Involvement of Department Chairpersons in Activities Originating Outside of Their Departments.

Department Chairpersons are elected to serve three year terms by members of their respective academic Departments. As such, they represent their Departments to their Deans, the Provost, and other Departments. Chairpersons are, first and foremost, members of the faculty elected by the faculty. They serve primarily to facilitate the functioning of their Department and to lead in the daily academic functions of their Department.

Like the faculty in their Departments, Department Chairpersons have contractual duties which extend into teaching, research, and service. Campus colleagues are asked to respect the unique situation of the Chair as the academic leader and administrative liaison for the Department. Also, one should recognize the following points when asking for the assistance of Chairpersons.

1)      Department Chairpersons shall exercise their judgment on what decisions and actions are to be delegated within their Departments.

2)      Since assessment of any load credit activity is required contracturally, evaluations of chairpersons shall continue to be the responsibility and duty of Department faculty .

3)      As a best practice for a timely and informed response, any request upon chairpersons must reflect the time required for them to adequately consult with their faculty. During the academic year when courses are in session, a general rule for adequate planning shall be that Chairpersons should have at least two weeks minimum to consult with their faculty on actions that originate outside of their Department. In the event that duties must be performed on a shorter timescale, Chairpersons shall seek additional time such that their faculty can be consulted adequately if need be.

4)      Summer duties place special burdens upon Chairpersons without 12-month appointments. It should be recognized that Department Chairs on 10-month contracts have limited summer contractual obligations. Therefore, during the winter and summer sessions when Chairpersons and their faculty may be away from campus for an extended period of time, a general rule for adequate planning shall be that Chairpersons should have four weeks minimum to consult with their faculty on actions that originate outside of their Department. In the event that duties must be performed on a shorter timescale, Chairpersons shall seek additional time such that their faculty can be consulted adequately if need be.

5)      For all meeting requesting the attendance of a Chairperson, the Chairperson shall be allowed to send a designee if unable to attend.

6)      The University recognizes that any change, any revision, or any new policy or procedure that affects a Chairperson ability to “leading the department in fulfilling its responsibilities in academic and personnel areas” and in “facilitating the need of the Department” [from Section 5.23 of the CSU-AAUP/BoT Contract] shall be presented and discussed by the Provost, the Deans, the Department Chairpersons, as well as the CCSU-AAUP executive council. 

      f)  Senator Adams moved to divide the March curriculum report to consider the proposed program and course changes: Passed.  The Curriculum committee moved the following program and course changes: Passed. 

g)      Curriculum Committee moved the following resolution regarding the undergraduate catalogue: Passed.

  Whereas the deadline for the print publication of the undergraduate catalog has been the deadline for the April curriculum meeting and whereas the subsequent publication of the catalog has been in late summer and whereas the incoming freshman have not been given the new catalog during freshman orientation, it is resolved that the deadline, which shall take effect in Fall 2008, for submissions to be accepted for the undergraduate catalog shall be the deadline for the December curriculum meetings in even years.

Note: The revised deadline under this proposal will be around November 7, 2008 for the 2009-2011 Undergraduate Catalog.

h)      Parker English presented the University Athletic Board report.

Senator Spector moved, from pages 13 an 14 of the UAB report, that the University administration develop a measurement tool for the following four key measurable areas that “can be used to help the University community gauge whether or not its present athletic operation and Division I status are compatible with its goals:

· Team APR and overall departmental score

· Competitiveness

· Fundraising

· Public Relations

Additionally, benchmarks and milestones should be implemented with the goal of reviewing ICA’s [Intercollegiate Athletics’] progress on a six to seven year basis. At the conclusion of such a timeline, it would be appropriate for a community discussion about the status of ICA and CCSU….[A] yearly report to Senate regarding these four measures would appropriately prepare Senate for an evaluative discussion of our Division I status in another six to seven years. Equally importantly, we must know the extent to which our Division I status influences the decisions of students to enroll. This might be accomplished with several probing questions on the biennial CIRP Freshman Survey”: Passed.

            Senator Duquette moved to apply the same criteria as those found in previous motion to all extra-curricular programs: Failed.

            Senator Duquette moved to assess all extra-curricular programs on a regular basis: No second.

 

i)  Provost Lovitt presented his report on the Shojai-Parsi issue, followed by comments by Professor Norton Mezvinsky, Dean Siamack Shojai, and many others.

 

4. . Senator Murphy moved to adjourn at 6:12 pm: Approved.