UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
Minutes No. 3
2001-2002
Thursday, February 21, 2002
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE: The James Madison University Council
met electronically on Thursday,
February 21, 2002.
PRESENT: Mr. Ralph Alberico, Dr. Jerry Benson, Dr. David
Brakke, Dr. Doug Brown, Dr. Barbara Castello, Dr. Stephanie Chisolm, Dr. Steve
Frysinger, Dr. Sharon Lovell, Dr. Dona Gilliam, Dr. Art Hamilton, Ms. Donna
Harper, Mr. Charles King, Ms. Meghann McCroskey, Dr. William O'Meara, Dr.
Linwood Rose, Dr. James Ruff, Dr. William Walker, Dr. Mark Warner and Dr.
Richard Whitman.
ABSENT: Mr. Charles Crosson, Mr. Brandon Durflinger, Ms. Rachel
Franco, Dr. Linda Halpern, Mr. David Mills, Dr. Robert Reid, Dr. Robert Scott,
Dr. Craig Shealy, and Dr. Anne Stewart.
II. COMMISSION/COUNCIL REPORTS:
Committee on Academic Programs:
Dr. Steve Frysinger, Chair, forwarded the following report.
The Committee on Academic Programs (CAP) has been formed (see
attached roster). Because of the size of the committee and the difficulty
in scheduling, our first face-to-face meeting will be on March 29th.
Therefore, I have started a "virtual meeting" through which we can
begin our organizing process. Taking the Faculty Handbook as the statute, we're
attempting to interpret the tasks described there and develop specific
operating procedures. Apart from the usual logistical details surrounding any
committee, we need to answer many policy and procedure questions, such as
"How are conflicts brought to the CAP, and who has standing to bring
them?" and "How will the CAP interact with academic issues that do
not move through the normal C&I process?". Because of the important
role served by this committee, it is my intention to establish clear and fair
operating procedures and policies so that the faculty at large understand how
we will conduct our business and address the issues brought before us.
Graduate Council:
Dr. N. William Walker, Interim Dean, forwarded the following report:
Old Business:
· Eighteen electronic Faculty/Instructor
approvals
· Three administrative Faculty/Instructor
approvals
· Eleven
electronic Course Approval/Changes approved
New Business:
1.
New policy: Eligibility Criteria for Assistantships -
approved.
2.
Issues
under discussion:
a.
Undergraduate
students taking grad courses
b.
Graduate
students enrolled in more than one graduate program simultaneously
c.
International
students seeking to extend program beyond completion of program requirements
d.
Notification
of rejection and/or failure to complete comps
e.
Adjunct
graduate faculty application form
3.
Decisions:
a.
Announcements
received at the College of Graduate and Professional
Programs will be scanned onto CGAPP web site with an email announcement sent to
Graduate Council members for their review
b.
The
electronic voting process will be revised so that members will have several
choices when voting
4.
Comments from the Advocacy and marketing sub-committee:
·
Need to emphasize what makes
graduate programs at JMU unique.
5. Comments
from the Certification development/approval process sub-committee:
·
Need to address defining the
terms: concentration, minor, and certificate.
6.
Comments from the
Analysis/allocation of graduate assistants sub-committee:
· Need to assemble data that shows graduate
assistant activities, then present information indicating the value of these
activities to the university.
7.
Discussion on the budget crisis
and our use of GA’s, i.e. whether to prioritize roles of GA/TA to emphasize
support of instructors
8.
Criteria for proposing new
programs was discussed
· Dr. Walker will ask members to submit suggestions for
new program proposal criteria
9.
Announcements:
· Graduate Council meetings for spring will be
held in Moody Lounge.
· There will be an annual retreat in May.
· Graduate Student Representatives are
beginning work on a Graduate Student Organization.
Commission
on Community:
Dr. Anne Stewart and Mr. Zeb
Davenport, Co-Chairs, forwarded
the following report.
Campus Climate Assessment.
The Commission is continuing to develop a strategy for conducting an
assessment of the campus climate.
a. The
scope of activities, projected timeline, and budget needs for the campus climate
assessment was discussed in more detail with Ms. Donna Harper and a written
charge was received in December. Ms.
Harper assisted the committee with our request for support to develop a
proposed methodology for the assessment.
As a result, Vicki Wise and Charles Lockett met with the committee to
discuss the charge, special considerations in implementing the assessment, and
concerns. The timeline for conducting
the assessment in a credible and useful manner continue to be a concern.
b. A
collection of articles and annotated bibliography for recommended practices in
climate assessment has been assembled.
Additional references and instruments and are continuing to be
collected. Zeb and Anne continue to make
contacts with other university personnel to learn how assessments have been
conducted at other universities.
Subcommittee
Structure and Activities. Members
have indicated on which Commission activities they prefer to work:
|
Climate Assessment
|
Davenport, Stewart
|
|
Diversity Defined
|
Wilborn, Allain, Edwards, Gatesman
|
|
Campus Training
|
Gibson, Wilkerson, Rosier
|
|
Community Connections Reception and Foundation account to
support area students from underrepresented populations.
|
Rabie, Knight
|
|
Infusing Diversity into the Curriculum
|
Sternberger (also Charles Lockett, Psychology faculty)
|
The Campus Training sub-committee reported they would like
to offer 2 workshops, April 4-5, one and ˝ hours in length and limit to 20
participants to each workshop. The focus of workshops would be an initial
awareness component and in future would expand to different levels. The
Commission members discussed the possibility of
· creating a “Passport Program” of workshops for faculty and staff
· incorporating the awareness workshops into the World of Difference
workshop series
· creating a logo for the Campus Training workshops.
IV. REPORT OF THE
FACULTY SENATE
Dr. William O'Meara
forwarded the following report: The Senate met the first Thursday of
December and the last Thursday of January and considered several issues,
including:
SACS Report and General Education Review
Martha Ross and Rob Koslow spoke in detail
with the Senate about SACS. They agreed
with the Senate that the statistical survey of faculty and administrators would
not be used as proof that JMU is in compliance with any of the "must"
statements required by SACS. The Speaker
had argued for the Senate's view that the actual number of faculty who
responded to the survey allowed for a 14 to 20% margin of error in interpreting
the results of the survey.
Violet
Allain also discussed the General Education Program Review. The Speaker asked that the Senate be able to
see the report for the External Review Team before the External Review Team
comes to campus. The Senate wishes to
have sufficient time to analyze the report so that we can participate fully in
the Review.
Parking
Ms. Towana Moore and the Senate discussed
parking problems on campus. She
announced that ten more faculty spaces in the parking deck would be added and
ten would be added in the lot across from the Business Building. If these spaces are not sufficient, more
spaces would be allotted to faculty in another month after close monitoring of
parking.
Academic Freedom
The Senate has considered a working document from the
Faculty Concerns Committee on some recommendations for improving the Faculty
Handbook statements on academic freedom and is continuing to consider this
matter for the purpose of making recommendations on academic freedom.
Thanks to JMU Foundation
The following motion to thank the JMU Foundation was
approved.
Whereas,
the
JMU Foundation has been extremely generous in its support of the JMU faculty
computer lottery; and
Whereas,
over
fifty faculty each year benefit from the computer lottery by receiving grants
of up to $500 to support computer related purchases; and
Whereas, these purchases allow faculty to enhance
their performance as teachers and scholars, thus improving the quality of
education at JMU;
Therefore, Resolved, that the JMU Faculty Senate extends their utmost gratitude to
the Foundation for their continued generosity and support.
Motion to Support Central Web Site for Syllabi
The Senate approved a motion to endorse a central web site
for faculty to voluntarily submit their syllabi so that students could have
more information about prospective courses and sections before they register.
General Education and Board of Visitors
At the Senate's January meeting, the Speaker reviewed Dr.
Erwin's report to the Board of Visitors' Committee on Education and Student
Life on the measurement of General Education at JMU. He asked the Academic Policies Committee of
the Senate to study this report. Since
the Committee of the Board of Visitors was so interested in the statistical
results, the Speaker has recommended to Dr. Brown that the university collect
the results of our seniors' performance on such national tests as the GRE, the
LSAT, the MCAT, and the GMAT. The
Speaker told the Senate that he had made this recommendation to the Academic
Vice President.
Surveys on Merit Pay and on Retirement
In February, the Senate conducted a survey of faculty
attitudes on merit pay and will be releasing the results of the survey
shortly. Senate will also do a survey of
faculty attitudes on factors affecting their decisions to retire from full time
teaching.
V. REPORT
OF THE STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
Mr. Dave Mills, SGA
President, forwarded the attached report.
VI. REPORT OF
THE HONOR COUNCIL
Ms. Meghann McCroskey, Honor
Council President, provided the following information.
Case Update:
Formal
Resolutions: 12
Awaiting
Appeal:
1
Informal
Resolutions:
Presentations
The council has
given over 50 representations in the classrooms. The presentation
consists of one or two representatives who introduce themselves, show the Honor
Council video, and conclude their presentations with important information and
questions. They have all been very successful in both educating the
community and increasing awareness of the Honor Code.
New Representatives
The council has
currently accepted students to sit on the council. Before their induction
they will be required to attend sessions to learn about the council, code and
hearing procedures.
Honor Awareness
Week
Our next major
project is honor awareness week which will take place the first week of April
(1-5). We will have representatives on the Commons and in the mailroom
that will hand out information and give-aways. We are also working on a
speaker and a film to show.
VII. REPORT OF UPB
Ms. Rachel Franco, presented
the following report.
NOTE: The
next meeting of the University Council is scheduled to meet electronically Thursday,
April 11, 2002.
Linwood H. Rose, President
Donna E. Burch,
Secretary
For questions, please contact burchde@jmu.edu.
