Minutes for Faculty Senate Meetings

March 28, 2002

Number 6

1. The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:15 p.m. in room 113 White Hall, Chairperson Peters presiding.

All members were present except Senators Ariew, Burbank, Felner, Finizio, Heikes, Karow, Lehrer, Nippo, Paton, Pegueros, Veyera, Wichelns, Wills and Xiao; Vice Presidents Beagle and Stark; Vice Provost Trubatch; Deans Farmer, Gandel, Letendre, Mazze, McKinney, Richmond, Shukla and Taggart; Mr. Amidon.

2. A motion was made to approve the Minutes of Faculty Senate Meeting #5, February 28, 2002.

Chairperson Peters asked if there were any additions or corrections to or questions about the Minutes. There were none.

The motion to approve the Minutes of Meeting #5 carried.

3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A. Chairperson Peters said that he had been asked by Dean Brownell to announce that the departments of Communication Studies and Journalism were sponsoring a panel discussion titled "Sending the Right Message in Bad Times: The Legacy of 9/11" on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Club. This is part of the Manning, Selvage & Lee Distinguished Newsmakers Lecture Series.

B. Vice Chairperson Goldsmith said that the minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #17 through #19 appeared on pages 4-12 of the Agenda. She asked if there were any questions.

Chairperson Peters responded to a question about the minutes.

4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Chairperson Peters announced that President Carothers had been unable to remain at the Faculty Senate meeting because he had to be in Providence by 4:00 p.m. to attend a meeting of the Rhode Island Senate Finance Committee.

Chairperson Peters said that Provost Swan had no report on behalf of the President but would be willing to bring Senators' questions and comments to President Carothers. There were none.

5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES

A. Senator Hickox presented the Four Hundred Third Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on pages 14-17 of the Agenda. He said that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Senator Hickox said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

Senator Hickox said that Section III was a joint report of the Curricular Affairs Committee and Graduate Council on 400-level courses. He noted that part A was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Senator Hickox said that part B of Section III required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

Senator Hickox said that Section IV was a report on open-ended courses. He moved that the Faculty Senate approve the following changes to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL to become effective as of the spring 2003 semester (changes are in boldface):

8.81.20 An Open-ended Course shall be administered by the department which originated it. Initially, an open-ended course shall be proposed and approved in the same manner as other permanent courses (8.81.10 above). Prior to offering a specific topic the content of the course shall be approved in a department meeting.

8.81.21 After approval of each offering of an open-ended course topic, a copy of the title, subtitle, and description shall be forwarded for schedule authorization to the Office of Enrollment Services via the dean of the college in which the department resides. The dean's authorization shall ensure that no overlap exists between specific topics and existing courses.

8.81.22 A specific topic within an open-ended course may be offered three times. After three offerings the topic shall be approved through the appropriate channels as either a permanent course or as a permanent topic within an open-ended course and shall be included in the University Catalog.

8.81.60 Limitations. It is the responsibility of the Office of Enrollment Services to limit the offering of a temporary course to only twice during a two-year period and to limit to three times the offering of a specific topic within an open-ended course.

8.81.61 A course that has been formally deleted may not be offered again without formal approval. The code and number of a deleted course may not be re-used before four academic years have elapsed.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, the motion carried.

C. In Vice Provost Trubatch's absence, Dean Kulberg presented Curricular Report No. 2001-02-6 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on pages 18-19 of the Agenda. She said that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Dean Kulberg said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

D. Professor Wenisch presented the Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee Report #2001-02-2 which appeared on pages 20-21 of the Agenda.

He moved that, in conjunction with the referendums approved recently, a referendum be conducted on the following changes to Article VII of the Faculty Senate Constitution:

Add to the beginning of VII/1:

"Except as provided in VII/3,..."

VII, paragraph 1, would read (Change in boldface)

1. Except as provided in VII/3, amendments shall be proposed to the General Faculty by a majority of the total voting membership of the Senate, and ratified by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the General Faculty voting on the question, excluding abstentions, as determined by a mail ballot conducted by the Executive Committee and by three tellers appointed by the President of the University.

Add three new paragraphs, VII 3-5:

3. Proposals for changing titles of ex officio members of the Faculty Senate shall be submitted to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. If in the judgment of the Committee, a title change is of a nature such that incorporating it into the Membership Article (III) of this Constitution does not require a referendum, the Committee shall report this finding to the Faculty Senate, together with a recommendation for an appropriate change of the Membership Article. Unless specified otherwise in the recommendation, the change shall become effective upon a two-thirds majority vote of the senators present and eligible to vote. The recommendation may not be voted upon at the meeting at which it is first moved

4. Any member of the Senate may challenge a finding of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee that a change of the title of an ex officio member of the Faculty Senate can be incorporated into the Faculty Senate Constitution without a referendum. Such a challenge may be presented only prior to the actual vote on the change. If the challenge is upheld by a majority of the senators present and eligible to vote, the title change shall be submitted to the referendum process as outlined in Article VII, 1 and 2, of this Constitution.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, the motion carried.

Professor Wenisch moved that the Faculty Senate amend section 2.7 of the By-Laws as follows (changes are in boldface):

2.7 A senator whose three-year term expires may not be re-elected until the lapse of one year, except that a senator who has not served for two or more consecutive semesters of a three-year term on account of an officially sanctioned leave (sabbatical, medical, and the like) shall be eligible for re-election without a one-year hiatus.

Professor Wenisch explained that a by-laws change may not be voted upon at the meeting at which it is first moved and would, therefore, return to the Senate as unfinished business on April 18. He said that in light of the ambiguity of the present rules, the CBUM committee has agreed to allow the senator in question to run for re-election under the circumstances envisioned by the amendment. He noted that if the By-Laws change is not approved at the April 18 meeting of the Faculty Senate, the election of the senator would be considered void.

Discussion ensued on the proposed By-Laws change.

E. Professor Luebke presented the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee Report #2001-02-1, which appeared on pages 22-24 of the Agenda.

Professor Luebke announced that Part I of the report was an informational report on plagiarism and asked if there were any comments or questions.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, Senator Hickox moved that the Faculty Senate endorse the report of the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee on Plagiarism. The motion carried.

Professor Luebke moved approval of Part II, the revised calendar for spring 2003 that appeared on pages 23-24 of the Agenda.

Discussion ensued.

After discussion, Senator Leo moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion to adjourn failed.

Discussion resumed on the proposed calendar.

Following discussion, the main motion failed.

6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. Chairperson Peters announced that action on the following recommendations from SECTION IV of the 402nd Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee had been postponed until March 28 because changes in the Faculty Senate By-Laws may not be voted upon at the meeting they are first moved. He said that the following recommendations were now on the floor and required a 2/3-majority vote for approval:

DELETE: Sections 4.85 through 4.91 of the By-Laws of the Faculty Senate, which describe the charge to and membership of the following subcommittees:

1. The Curricular Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Student Writing

2. The Curricular Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Community Service

3. Curricular Affairs Subcommittee on Prior Learning Assessment
REPLACE: Existing sections 4.80-4.91 of the Faculty Senate By-Laws with the following new sections:

4.80 The Curricular Affairs Committee shall maintain liaison with the Director of the Faculty Institute on Writing to support the success of WI courses and shall approve the assignment of the writing intensive label [WI] to courses deemed appropriate in accordance with sections 8.81.40-41.

4.81 The Curricular Affairs Committee shall maintain liaison with the dean of University College and Special Academic Programs for mutual information and joint action regarding the place of community service in the university's curricula. The Curricular Affairs Committee shall review and act upon proposals for existing Community Service courses and, when appropriate, propose revisions to the procedures for course approval and the standards for such courses, and recommend changes in Community Service course offerings.

4.82 The Curricular Affairs Committee shall maintain liaison with the Feinstein College of Continuing Education for mutual information and joint action regarding policies and procedures for the assessment of students' prior college-level learning through non-collegiate activity.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, the motion carried.

B. Chairperson Peters explained that when the February 28, 2002 meeting of the Faculty Senate adjourned, PART II of the University College and General Education Committee Report #2001-02-1 was under consideration. He said that a motion to refer Part II back to the UCGE Committee to reconsider the portion relating to the FL/CC core area was being considered.

Chairperson Peters said that there was no need to pursue the motion to refer back to committee because in effect, the UCGE Committee had begun to reconsider the portion of the report relating to FL/CC by meeting with the members of the Foreign Language/Cross-cultural Competence working group. He said that the UCGE Committee was in the process of resolving the outstanding issues and would, hopefully, report back on April 18.

It was agreed that the motion would remain on the Agenda as unfinished business.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman
for Marjorie McMahon
Secretary