Minutes of the University Senate Meeting

January 11, 2007

1.

The January meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2007 in Room 7, Gamble Hall. Douglas Munski presided.

2.

The following members of the Senate were present:

Anderson, Cindy

Anderson, Suzanne

Bass, Gail

Berne, Jane

Boyd, Robert

Bradley, April

Buhr, Jordan

Campbell, Katherine

Drewes, Mary

Elbert, Dennis

Ferraro, Richard

Fisher, Jay

Folkestad, Sara

Gosnold, Will

Heitkamp, Thomasine

Hilliard, Nathaniel

Hume, Wendelin

Iiams, Michele

Iverson, Joneen

Jackson, Jon

Jeno, Sue

Jerath, Sukhvarsh

Kelsch, Steven

Kitzes, Adam

Kupchella, Charles

Lawrence, David

Light, Steven

Little, Michael

Lothspeich, Jason

Mahar, Patricia

Martindale, Nathan

Mayzer, Roni

Moen, Jan

Munski, Douglas

Owens, Sarah

Perkins, Dexter

Petros, Thomas

Picklo, Matthew

Poochigian, Donald

Potvin, Martha

Rakow, Lana

Rex, Janet

Rice, Daniel

Rieke, Judy

Rosenberger, Thad

Seddoh, Samuel

Smith, Bruce

Stofferahn, Curtis

Stolt, Wilbur

Venhuizen, Brett

Watson, John

Weisenstein, Greg

Williams, Jim

Wittgraf, Michael

3.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

Alfonso, Peter

Baker, Mary

Behrmann, William

Benoit, Joseph

Covington, Chandice

Cripe, Haylee

Dewar, Graeme

Elsinga, Lillian

Erickson, Daniel

Faruque, Saleh

Flom-Meland, Cynthia

Gallager, Robert

Haskins, James

Jackson, Margaret

Jacobson, Rachelle

Johnson, Stefan

Koeser, Brandon

Lane, Jason

LaVenture, Andrew

LeBel, Paul

Mamaghani, Iraj

Marasinghe, Kanishka

Murphy, Eric

Myers, Bradley

Nowacki, Michael

Olsen, Glenn

Perry, David

Rendahl, Stephen

Robertson, Charles

Schnellert, Gary

Smart, Kathy

Streibel, Kent

Wilson, H. David

Yurkovich, Eleanor

4.

The following announcements were made:

a. On behalf of a group of students, Mr. Munski reported on a project to clean up the English Coulee and listed the following website for additional information: CooleeCrisis@gmail.com.

b. The Senate took a moment of silence to recognize the death of Professor Libby Rankin on January 5, 2007. A memorial service will be held on January 14 in Burtness Theatre, with a reception to follow at the N.D. Museum of Art.

c. Wellness Center representatives Laurie Betting and Amanda Eickoff gave a presentation on the Worksite Wellness program, which is free to all benefited employees and will run from January through June, 2007.

d. President Kupchella reported on the Bismarck Showcase and his presentation to the appropriations committee, in which he gave a status/progress report describing UND’s funding status and the impact involved if funding would be provided. Additional areas he covered in his report included: the faculty salary problem; the deferred maintenance situation; and the fact that tuition has gone up approximately 60% over five years (to illustrate the need for relief to students). President Kupchella also described research opportunities and new degree programs UND would like to pursue if funding was available. The President also made a presentation to the Rotary Club and met with the editorial board of the Bismarck Tribune.

5.

The Chair asked for corrections or additions to the December 7, 2006 minutes. Hearing none, the minutes were approved as distributed.

6.

The question period was opened and closed at 4:35 p.m.

7.

Mr. Perkins moved to accept the annual report of the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

8.

Mr. Poochigian moved to approve the proposed Audit Policy. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

9.

Mr. Little moved to accept the revised Curriculum Committee report. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

10.

Mr. Remer, chair of the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee, presented the nominations for honorary degrees. Mr. Jackson moved to approve the nominations. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

11.

Mr. Gosnold presented a resolution in support of the President’s initiative to move toward a tobacco-free campus and made a motion to approve the resolution. Ms. Jeno seconded and the motion was approved with a vote of 39 for, 2 against, and 5 abstentions (see attachment #1).

12.

On behalf of Student Government, Mr. Hilliard, student body vice-president, presented a resolution regarding the change in the honors policy which was approved by University Senate in April, 2006. The new policy had three parts: 1) to use UND graded work only; 2) to require 50 minimum graded hours; and 3) to use new GPA levels of 3.5/3.7/3.9 for cum/magna/summa. The proposed resolution requested to postpone implementation of the GPA level change only to the 2008-2009 academic year for the December, 2008 commencement.

Mr. Hilliard explained that the need for the postponement is to more efficiently publicize and communicate this change to the campus. He indicated that students and many campus staff are not yet aware of the policy change. Mr. Munski suggested a vote in favor of the resolution with the Academic Policy Committee providing catalog wording. Mr. Hilliard indicated that he would add an additional whereas clause stating that it be “further resolved that the University Senate direct the Academic Policy Committee to present wording for the catalog.” Mr. Petros moved to approve the resolution with the additional clause. The motion was seconded and passed with a vote of 40 for, 2 against, and 1 abstention (see attachment #2).

13.

The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Suzanne Anderson

Secretary to the Senate