Minutes of the University Senate Meeting

October 1, 2009

1.

The October meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2009 in Room 7, Gamble Hall. Wendelin Hume presided.

2.

The following members of the Senate were present:

Anderson, Ernest

Anderson, Suzanne

Bakke, Matthew

Bass, Gail

Bates, Sandi

Berry, Colleen

Bibel, George

Blackburn, Royce

Bonner, Melissa

Boyd, Robert

Brekke, Alice

Bridewell, John

Broedel, Hans

Crawford, Sean

Drewes, Mary

Elsinga, Lillian

Ferraro, Richard

Fershee, Josh

Fincke, Adam

Flower, Ann

Grandstrand, Tyrone

Graziano, Rocky

Guy, Mark

Hartman, Joseph

Haskins, James

Heitkamp, Thomasine

Higgins, James

Hume, Wendelin

Iiams, Michele

Jeno, Sue

Kelley, Robert

Khavanin, Mohammad

Kitzes, Adam

Lawrence, David

LeBel, Paul

Lee, Ethan

Lei, Saobo

Liepold, Loren

Light, Steven

Little, Michael

McBride, Rosanne

Munski, Doug

Murphy, Eric

Pelton, Brady

Pohlman, Shelley

Poochigian, Donald

Rahn, Joshua

Rand, Kathryn

Rice, Daniel

Schwartz, Rhonda

Smith, Wesley

Stofferahn, Curt

Stolt, Wilbur

Tyree, Elizabeth

Ullrich, Gary

Wang, Enru

Werner, John

West, Jordan

Widmer, Donovan

Worley, Deborah

3.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

Anderson, Julie

Barkhouse, Wayne

Benoit, Joseph

Borgerson, Matthew

Bowman, Frank

Christie, Isham

Dewar, Graeme

Elbert, Dennis

El-Rewini, Hesham

Erickson, Daniel

Goodwin, Janice

Graham, Cody

Houdek, Sherryl

Johnson, Phyllis

Kenney, Lynda

Kenville, Kimberly

Knight, Barbara

Marasinghe, Kanishka

O’Keefe, Tim

Perkins, Dexter

Petros, Thomas

Potvin, Martha

Rakow, Lana

Riedy, Joshua

Seddoh, Samuel

Smart, Kathy

Smith, Bruce

Tienter, Dan

Wynne, Joshua

4.

The following announcements were made:

a. Ms. Hume requested an addition to the business calendar: an approval of a faculty appointment on the Multicultural Awareness Committee. Mr. Munski moved approval, Mr. Little seconded, and the motion was approved with a vote of 48 for and 1 abstention.

2. President Kelley reported that the SBHE extended the deadline regarding the nickname decision to no later than November 30, 2009. He encouraged the senators not to have a sense of discouragement, and to keep an eye on the University’s core mission.
3. Ms. Hume shared a message from Mr. Jackson, faculty representative to the SBHE. He called attention to the statement from the SBHE regarding the nickname.
4. There was an announcement from Student Government that the student senators and student committee appointees are established. The last appointments will be ratified at the upcoming meeting on Sunday.
5. Ms. Hume announced that there will be a report from Alice Brekke at the November meeting regarding the Higher One Task Force.
6. Ms. Hume indicated that if there are other issues of campus-wide interest or concern, senators should contact her and she will facilitate reports or announcements regarding those issues.

5.

Ms. Hume asked for corrections or additions to the minutes of the September 3, 2009 meeting. Hearing none, the minutes were approved as distributed.

6.

The question period was opened at 4:10 p.m.

1. Mr. Murphy asked President Kelley about the composition of the search committee for the Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine. He expressed a concern about the number of faculty on the committee. President Kelley replied that he understood the concern and indicated that he made the decision on the committee composition and explained the specific constituencies. He believes there is full representation, but will discuss the concern with the committee chair. There was a clarification of a comment regarding a consultant by Ms. Flower who indicated the consultant met with faculty. Mr. LeBel clarified the purpose of the consultant’s campus visit. He further indicated that there will be a lot of input from faculty during the process through several forums.
2. Mr. Murphy asked whether there had been a response to the question regarding dining and food choices on campus. It was clarified that Alice Brekke sent information to the senators via the listserv.

The question period closed at 4:20 p.m.

7.

The annual report of the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee was presented. It was moved by Mr. Murphy and seconded by Mr. Pelton to accept the report. There was no discussion and the report was approved.

8.

The Curriculum Committee report was reviewed. Mr. Munski moved approval. Mr. Little seconded and the report was approved with a vote of 49 for and 1 abstention.

9.

The proposed change to the Conflict of Interest Policy was presented by Mr. Myers, chair of the Conflict of Interest/Scientific Misconduct Committee. He addressed the questions that had been presented to him since the last meeting. He indicated that there will have to be implementation work done on this policy by the various vice presidents. Ms. Heitkamp moved approval and Mr. Poochigian seconded the motion. Mr. Myers requested a friendly amendment to correct a typographical error and minor word change. Ms. Heitkamp and Mr. Poochigian accepted the friendly amendment. Discussion ensued. The vote was taken and the motion was approved with a vote of 45 for, 2 against and 5 abstentions.

10.

The Essential Studies Committee change in membership proposal was presented by Mr. Kitzes and Ms. Coleman, past and current chairs of the Committee. Mr. Kitzes requested permission for Ms. Coleman to speak as a non-senator. Mr. Haskins moved to approve the request. Mr. Bakke seconded, and the motion was approved with a vote of 43 for and 1 against. Ms. Coleman explained the request to increase faculty membership from 10 to 13 with specific representation from the area of Arts and Sciences. The request would also add the Essential Studies Director to the committee as an ex-officio, non-voting member. Approval was moved by Mr. Haskins and seconded by Mr. Broedel. There was a concern that the actual revised document was not being presented. Although there was no disagreement with the proposal, there was agreement to postpone the vote until the Committee could present the actual document with the changes indicated for the vote. Discussion then ensued regarding possible changes in student numbers and the possibility of staff involvement. Mr. Haskins withdrew his motion.

11.

Ms. Hume presented the faculty representative for the Multicultural Awareness Committee, Robert Randall West, who had been selected by that committee. Mr. Stofferahn moved to approve the appointment. The motion was seconded by Mr. Blackburn and approved with a vote of 44 for and 6 abstentions.

12.

There was a motion by Mr. Munski and a second by Mr. Liepold to adjourn. The motion was approved and the meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Suzanne Anderson

Secretary to the Senate