UNIVERSITY
COUNCIL
Minutes No. 4
2002-2003
Thursday, April 10, 2003
I. CALL TO ORDER
AND ATTENDANCE: The James
Madison University Council met electronically on Thursday, April
10, 2003.
PRESENT: Mr. Ralph Alberico, Dr. Jerry Benson, Dr. Patricia Brady, Dr. David Brakke, Dr. Doug Brown, Dr. Michael Busing, Ms. Andrea Fischetti, Dr. Karen Forcht, Dr. Steve Frysinger, Mr. Christopher Gatesman, Dr. Linda Halpern, Ms. Donna Harper, Mr. John Horigan, Mr. Charles King, Ms. Amanda Jordan, Dr. Sharon Lovell, Dr. Ramon Mata-Toledo, Dr. Robert Reid, Dr. Lin Rose, Dr. Michael Smilowitz, Dr. Kathy Stafford, Dr. William Walker, Dr. Mark Warner, Dr. Richard Whitman, and Dr. David Zimmerman.
ABSENT: Mr. Levar Stoney
II.
COMMISSION/COUNCIL REPORTS:
Committee on Academic
Programs:
Dr. Steve Frysinger, Chair,
reported that the Committee had met on March 28, 2003. Several topics were discussed:
1. Occupational Therapy Program
ISSUE: Occupational
Therapy is presently an undergraduate program. They plan to change it to a graduate level
program. The accreditation is
competency-based.
ACTION: The
committee approved the request.
2. Program change for the Early Childhood
Master of Arts in Teaching
ISSUE: To approve
a program change.
ACTION: The
Graduate Council did not have a quorum at their meeting on March
27th so they were unable to approve the change. Therefore, CAP could not
approve.
3. GenEd Cluster One
Changes
ISSUE: Cluster One
changes.
ACTION: The
committee approved the request.
4. Nomenclature Committee
Update
ISSUE: A SACS
recommendation directed that nomenclature for academic programs be
made more consistent. Nancy Nichols
presented the report of the faculty committee and answered
questions.
ACTION: CAP
members reviewed the report and made some editing changes. Nancy Nichols will make the suggested
changes to the document; send it to Alvin Pettus, Chair of the
Nomenclature Committee. After his
review, he is to send it to Kristi Shackelford, Catalog Editor, who
will proofread the document and make sure it uses consistent
language. After these editing
changes have been made, it will be posted to CAP's blackboard site
for review, after which CAP will vote on the document
electronically.
5. Review deletion of 2 minors for
College of Arts and Letters
ISSUE: Department
of Foreign Languages and Literatures proposes to delete:
-Website/Software Localization minor
-Technical Translation minor
ACTION: The committee
approved the deletions.
Graduate
Council:
Dr. N. William Walker, Dean, reported that the
Graduate Council had met both electronically and as scheduled for the months of February and March, 2003. The following actions are being reported:
Results of electronic voting:
1. Twenty-two
electronic faculty/instructor approvals
2. Twenty-seven electronic course approval/changes
approved
3. Revised programs in
School of Education for Adult Education/Human Resource Development and School
Administration
4. New program of
Masters in Art in Teaching in Early Childhood Education for
students from other disciplines seeking career change to teaching
profession.
5. Approved request by
School of Education that education 5
th year MAT programs
allow JMU undergraduates enrolled in the program not be required to
take the standardized tests as criteria for acceptance into the
graduate program.
New Business included the following:
1. An Entrepreneurial Advisory
Council was formed to speak to the Professional Programs side of
CGAPP. This Council will advise CGAPP on continuing education and
other entrepreneurial activities.
2. Issues under discussion:
Issue: Ken Bahn presented an
issue regarding 6 prerequisite (500-level) courses that are required for MBA
students who do not have the necessary business background upon entering the program. These courses are not requirements for graduation from the MBA program but are currently listed on the graduate transcript. Since current policy states that earning two C's in graduate work places a student on probation and, upon earning the third C the student is expelled, the 500-level courses could potentially place a student on probation before he/she actually enters formal MBA coursework.
ACTION: The suggestion was made to
make the courses undergraduate level but require permission to take
the courses so only graduate level students are permitted to
register for the courses.
ISSUE: Discussion regarding
criteria for graduate faculty status revolved around whether every
faculty member should be granted graduate faculty status or stay
with current criteria.
ACTION:
Since not all
programs need the same criteria, Dr. Walker will send out questions
to group electronically for suggestions and then meet as a smaller
group to discuss.
ISSUE: 5-year Plan.
Discussion revolved around faculty reaction to
the draft of the 5-year plan distributed by Dr. Walker.
A suggestion was made to ask university
administrators to meet with graduate faculty to help folks
understand graduate education and the direction the university is
planning for graduate education in the future.
ACTION: Dr. Walker will form a
sub-committee of volunteers to discuss the 5- year plan in
preparation for the upcoming retreat.
ISSUE:
Dr. Walker requested that interested members willing to serve on an
assistantship sub-committee send him an e-mail.
Some issues for the group to address:
-Establishing ratios for different categories of assistantships as
defined in the graduate assistantship university policy #2103
-Assistantship "contracts" with supervisor, and "learning goals"
plan
-How can we get more assistantships?
-How can we raise the stipend amounts?
-Impact of varying lengths of assistantship on overall
assistantship program
-Splitting assistantships between part-time students
-New strategies to make other assistantship opportunities available
-What can we offer to out-of-state students to compensate for
rising tuition rates?
ISSUE:
Kay Veith
reported that CGAPP staff periodically receives questions from
students, who have been accepted into a program, regarding how long
they have to accept or decline the offer. The CGAPP staff currently refers students to
the program for the answer since this is a program decision.
ACTION: CGAPP, with the help of the graduate
coordinators, will develop a new procedure to address this
issue.
ISSUE: The MBA program has an option for a 12 month graduate
program primarily for JMU students starting in August, finishing
the following August.
Ken Bahn
asked whether the tuition covered by assistantships could be for 12
credits per semester for the full year instead of 9 credits for 4
semesters.
ACTION:
Council members recommended that the MBA program work with the
stipend amount they are given through the budget process for
assistantships to allocate how the assistantships are
assigned.
UPDATES
1. Stephanie Dupal distributed a handout to
Council members and asked that they encourage their faculty and
students to participate in submitting articles to the CGAPP
Gazette, (the CGAPP newsletter), to participate in the Graduate
Student Organization Spring 2003 Workshop Series, and to
participate in and distribute flyers advertising the 2003 Madison
Graduate Conference. The 2003
Madison Graduate Conference is co-sponsored by the English
Department and CGAPP. A suggestion
was made that in the future sponsorship could rotate among programs
to provide university-wide symposiums. The name of the graduate
student association has been changed to Graduate Student
Organization.
2. The GSO is
planning to have a graduate student reception on the evening of May
9 to help celebrate the accomplishments of graduating graduate
students. This will be the first of
its type in JMU history.
3. The graduate course grading option change has passed
through all review bodies. The
information will be submitted to Sherry Hood for Fall 2003. The numerical value of a B+ will change
from 3.5 to 3.3. The change will be
addressed in the Graduate Catalog.
4. Web recruiting: CGAPP
has purchased the package offered by Petersen's and will continue
to use Gradschools.com. Petersen's
has both a book and the website advertisement.
5. Reba Leiding reported that the Library is getting
ready to do a journal review.
Inflation has caused about a 10% increase in the cost of journals
and the Library will be cutting about 12% from the total journal
budget. She encouraged Council
members to work with their library liaison to let them know the use
of the journals and which journals they would like to keep. It is more difficult for the Library to
track usage now that there are various media for journals.
6. Results of data from programs regarding number of
students staying in VA:
The survey to
graduate programs indicated that approximately 70% of graduates
from our graduate programs stay in VA and contribute to the
Commonwealth's work force.
7. Dr. Walker announced that he has created a survey
that is being sent out to graduate coordinators asking how teaching
assistants are trained in order to satisfy SACS concerns. The survey asks what we do and how we do
it, especially with regard to teaching assistants who have English
as their second language.
8. SACS: Differentiating
graduate from undergraduate in program descriptions/ mission and
incorporating graduate goals. With
the help of Kristi Shackelford, mission statements are currently
being overhauled by graduate program coordinators to be certain
there is clear differentiation between the graduate program and the
respective undergraduate component.
Specific, measurable goals are being incorporated as well. This
will eliminate the need for a sub-committee for re-wording current
mission statements to comply with SACS criteria. Dr. Walker thanked
the graduate coordinators for working with Kristi to get mission
statements completed in time to print in the 2003-2004 Graduate
Catalog.
9. Dates and meeting place for Spring semester Graduate
Council meetings are (note retreat day):
a. April
17
Moody Lounge
b. May 16 Retreat Festival Dining Room is tentative site
(Regular meetings are scheduled from 2:00 p.m.- 3:30
p.m.)
10. The next CGAPP Newsletter will be published in early April.
There is still time for programs to submit articles to be
included.
11. Other announcements: CGAPP is planning activities for a
graduate education week, which will be held during the same week as
the Annual Graduate Information Fair, scheduled in November. CGAPP is also planning activities for
celebrating 50 years of graduate education at James Madison
University in 2004.
Commission on
Community:
Mr. Christopher Gatesman, reported that the
Commission on Community met on March 7, 2003.
Where We Were
All members were mailed a copy of the Mission of the
Commission on Community. During this meeting Chris and Renee Staton
shared their understanding of how the Commission on Community has
changed over the years. We no longer have grant money to
distribute. Some past Commission members and chairs have expressed
frustration regarding the university's response to Commission
findings and suggestions. That leads us to?
Where We Are
We have been asked to operate as a task force to
determine what role the Commission on Community should have at
JMU.
What This Means for Where We're
Going
Our charge suggests that we must determine whether or
not JMU needs a Commission on Community. Therefore, members present
agreed that we should first identify programs, offices, and
services at JMU and in the surrounding community that address
diversity and community concerns. Then, we can look for overlap and
gaps that could suggest the future focus and direction for a group
like the Commission on Community.
Immediate tasks
1. Identify groups that we can survey regarding
programs and services that relate to diversity and
community
2. Develop criteria for our survey, including at least:
type of service offered (social/educational); target
audience (students/staff/faculty/community members); sponsoring
organization, if any.
We are currently developing our list of groups and the
survey criteria.
III. REPORT
OF THE FACULTY SENATE
Dr. Michael
Smilowitz forwarded the following
report:
A. Standing
Committees
Academic
Policies
1.
The committee
concluded there is insufficient need and insufficient interest in
examining the scheduling of the Thanksgiving break.
2.
The committee
was finally successful in gathering grades distribution data, and
is in the process of data analysis to prepare a set of
recommendations.
Faculty Concerns
Committee
1. The Faculty
Affairs Committee arranged the purchase of gifts for retiring
faculty and is planning an April 24th reception at 5:00
p.m.
2. The committee
has completed a survey form to assess the needs of faculty with
rotating term appointments.
3. The committee
identified the procedures through which part-time faculty may
access the Library and UREC during summer.
B. Ad Hoc
Committees
Expanding
Horizons
The Expanding Horizons project
is fully operational and experiencing considerable success. As of March 31st, there have
been three Saturday meetings, which included a presentation on
philosophy and ethics by Professor O'Meara, a tour of TV 3's
studios and a presentation by TV 3 Danielle Banks, and a
presentation by Professor Giovanetti on the physics of computers
complete with the participants each constructing a simple
computer. On April 5th,
the participants will attend a performance of Shakespeare's
Tempest, at the Blackfriars Theatre in
Staunton.
Faculty Emeriti
Initiative
As expected, the committee left
its winter hibernation at spring's thaw. They administered a web-based survey of the
entire faculty, and the committee is currently analyzing the
data. By mid-April, its
recommendations for utilizing retired faculty more effectively and
its report of any needed changes that may enhance recruitment and
retention of faculty, should be available.
C. Other Business
1. The Senate
endorsed the Speaker's formation of a budget advisory committee
which will provide the Provost with the faculty's recommendations
on budgetary matters. The committee membership has been identified, and its report is expected in mid-fall.
2. The Faculty
Handbook Committee will post on the Senate's website its
recommendations for the changes to the Handbook.
3. The Senate's
Steering Committee is preparing to administer the Biannual Faculty
Morale Survey and will meet during summer to prepare the
report.
IV. REPORT OF THE
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
No report was received.
V.
REPORT OF THE HONOR COUNCIL
Mr. John Horigan, Honor Council
President, provided the following information.
Informal Resolutions: agreements
between a faculty member and a student accused of violating the
Honor Code. The agreement is
essentially a contract between the instructor and the student
regarding the violation, generally including an admission of guilt,
and the sanction for that violation. The maximum sanction that may be imposed by
this course of action is failure of the course without the option
to repeat/forgive. Average number
of Informal Resolutions for any academic year is highly
variable.
As of 4/2/03 for the academic year 2002-03: 56
Formal
Resolutions: hearings
granted to a student accused of violating the code for any of the
following reasons: First, the accused refuses to sign an Informal
Resolution, or denies guilt.
Second, the faculty member involved deems the violation too serious
to be dealt with by only one faculty member. Third, the student has one or two prior
violations, whether informal or formal. A Formal Resolution requires that a hearing
panel be convened with four students (three Honor Council
Representatives and the Council Vice President), and three faculty
representatives as the deliberations panel. The decision of guilt is made before intent
and sanctioning. Only after a
decision regarding guilt is made is the panel informed of any prior
violations. Minimum sanctions that
apply are as follows: for a first violation there is no minimum
sanction. For a second violation
suspension for one academic semester and failure of the course
without the option to repeat forgive. Lastly, for a third violation the minimum
sanction is expulsion. In past
years the average number of Formal Resolutions per year has
fluctuated around two.
As of 4/2/03 for the academic year 2002-03:
-6 completed
formal resolutions
-6 under
investigation/pending hearings.
There is currently one appeal pending.
One appeal has been heard by an appeal panel.
Representatives
Seven new representatives were selected from 9
applicants. The new representatives
are:
|
Robert S. Allensworth
|
Lauren N. Newman
|
|
Morgan Browning
|
G. Nicholas Perkinson
|
|
Jennifer L. Costanzo
|
Megan C. Sette
|
|
Naomi K. Knutti
|
|
Student Education Committee
The Student Education Committee has completed 7
Residence Hall presentations on the topic of the Honor Code in an
effort to increase awareness of the importance and value of
academic integrity at JMU. The committee's focus is on classroom presentations in the fall semester.
The committee will be charged with determining a
more effective means of educating all students on the Honor
Code. The Honor Advisory Board has suggested the use of an informational video on the Code during freshman advising sessions at orientation. I have contacted Dr. Ward regarding this possibility but have not yet received a reply.
Faculty Relations Committee
The Faculty Relations Committee is currently
working on preparing two tri-fold pamphlets for faculty members on
how to report violations as well as how to get involved in the
council. Two drafts have been submitted to the executive council and will hopefully be circulated in the fall.
Publicity Committee
The publicity committee is currently focusing on
publicizing the openings on the executive council for
Investigators. Applications will be made available on the 4th of April, due the 17th, and interviews will be held on the
23rd.
Honor Advisory Board
The Honor Advisory Board met on March 6, 2003. Debate was re-opened on altering the second sanction of the Honor Code to include a notation on the student's transcript. All members
of the board agreed that there would be no vote on the issue until
further research has been completed. Katie Ferguson, Head Investigator, has
undertaken large parts of the research and will present her findings in a proposal to the Board at the end of the year. It has been agreed, however, that due to recent input from the Registrar's office, that the second sanction will need to be altered so as to be consistent with the policies
and capabilities of that office.
VI. REPORT
OF UPB
Ms. Amanda Jordan, the new executive
director for the University Program Board, presented the following
information.
Some of the recent events have included the
speaker, Chazz Plaminteri, rapper Nas and Yakudo-Traditional
Japanese drummers. One upcoming
event is Larry the Cable Guy with Ron White, comedians from The
Blue Collar Comedy Tour on April 15.
NOTE:
This is the
final meeting for the 2002-2003 academic
year.
Linwood H. Rose,
President
Donna E. Burch,
Secretary
