JAMES
MADISON UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
Minutes No. 4 2000-2001
Thursday, April 12, 2001
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE: The James Madison University Council met electronically on Thursday, April 12, 2001.
PRESENT:
ABSENT:
II. COMMISSION/COUNCIL
REPORTS:
Undergraduate Curriculum Council:
Dr. James Ruff, chairperson, reported that the Undergraduate Curriculum Council had not met and therefore had no report.
Graduate Council:
Dr. Dorothy Boyd-Rush, Chairperson, forwarded the following report:
The Graduate Council
met 20 February 2001 with the following agenda items:
Dr. Clint Bennett,
Communication Sciences and Disorders, discussed issues regarding the new
clinical doctoral programs for both speech-language pathology and audiology;
The following Program Action Requests were submitted for
this meeting and included:
The following
Graduate Faculty Applications were approved as submitted:
Old Business:
included discussion of problems related to PeopleSoft and members were given
the catalog copy deadline for inclusion in the new catalog.
New Business: items included discussion of expanding
standardized tests to include Miller Analogy, MCAT, etc. Also discussed were
SACS “must” statements.
The Graduate Council
met 20 March 2001, with the following agenda items:
Dr. Clint Bennett again fielded questions regarding the new clinical science degrees.
The following Program Action Requests were submitted and
approved for this meeting and included:
The following
Graduate Applications were approved as submitted:
Old Business:
discussion of SACS “must” statements and discussion of changes from the current
standardized tests requirement to include other standardized tests.
New Business: discussion by council member Ralph Alberico
of his response to a memo from the Educational Resources SACS committee on
campus libraries and support of graduate program
Commission on Community:
No report was received from the Commission on Community.
III. REPORT OF THE FACULTY
SENATE
Dr. James Couch, Speaker of the Faculty Senate, presented the following report:
The following items have been discussed or acted upon at meetings of the Faculty Senate in February, March and April.
· A revision of the Faculty Senate Constitution was distributed to Senators for their critique. The draft was approved and is now before the faculty for a vote. The voting on the draft ends on April 15.
· The Senate presented medallions to two graduating seniors on March 12.
· New Senators have been elected by their academic units. On April 5 the Senate for 2001-2002 met and elected the following officers:
Speaker --- William O'Meara - Philosophy and Religion
Speaker Pro Tempore and Chair, Faculty Concerns Committee --- James Ruff- English
Secretary --- David Zimmerman - School of Education
Treasurer --- Jamie Winebrake - ISAT
Marshal and Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee --- Larry Ham - Kinesiology
Chair, Academic Policy Committee --- Beth Eck - Sociology and Anthropology
Chair, Student Relations --- Reba Leiding - Library
Chair, Reconciliation Committee --- Art Hamilton - College of Business
These officers will begin their terms on May 1, 2001.
· At the meeting of March 1 the following resolution was passed:
It
is the responsibility of each faculty member to prepare and enact a clearly
stated grading procedure for each assigned class that appropriately evaluates
students in terms of their classroom and other related academic
performance. This procedure will be
reviewed with students in class and will implement the standard (A, B, C, D, F
+/- ) grading scale of the University.
· At the meeting of March 22, the Senate recognized the members of the Faculty Handbook Taskforce for their excellent work in bringing forth a draft of a new Faculty Handbook.
· Dr. Rose addressed the March 22nd meeting of the Senate and responded to questions.
·
The Faculty Handbook was given to the Education and
Student Life Committee of the Board of Visitors. The members of this committee will review the handbook and
consider it at their next meeting.
IV. REPORT OF THE STUDENT
GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
Introduction: The Student Government Association has continued to work with many students and organizations over the last few months in order to respond quickly and effectively to the concerns of students.
Academic Concerns: The Student Government Senate has passed the following resolution concerning faculty hiring and retention at JMU. It is our hope that the university might find this statement useful as a guide on student opinion on faculty concerns. I know that the university has been working tirelessly with legislators in Richmond on funding issues, and we offer this resolution as support for those efforts.
Whereas, James
Madison University in a nationally recognized university with a strong academic
program and,
Whereas, the
faculty are one of the essential components of this program and,
Whereas, recent
growth of the James Madison University student body has not been sufficiently
met by an increase in faculty,
Be it resolved,
that the Senate of the James Madison University Student Government Association
strongly support the faculty and their efforts to educate the student body and,
Be it further resolved,
the Senate of the James Madison University Student Government Association
strongly promotes the hiring of additional, diverse, and well-qualified faculty
members to meet the increasing academic needs of the university.
Furthermore, the Senate has passed a second resolution to support the establishment of a standard, consistent grading policy:
Whereas, James
Madison University is a nationally recognized university with a strong academic
program and,
Whereas, grading
is a system that aims to measure academic performance of the students at this
university and,
Whereas, there
have been numerous concerns expressed over the inconsistency of grading
throughout this university and,
Whereas, these
inconsistencies include but are not limited to the use of the plus/minus system
and the possibility of grade inflation,
Be it resolved,
that the Senate of the James Madison University Student Government Association
strongly encourage the university to develop a standard, consistent criteria
for evaluating academic performance (i.e. grading) at James Madison University
and,
Be it further resolved,
that the Senate of the James Madison University Student Government Association
pursues an active role, in cooperation with the academic administration, to
ensure that students are graded in a standard, consistent manner.
Academic Concerns Survey: The Academic Affairs Committee, in conjunction with the University’s Center for Assessment and Research Studies, has conducted an extensive survey among the student body over the last few months, concerning academic advising, general education, the structure of language requirements, and grading standards. Over 1,200 students participated in the survey. The Student Government is planning to release a formal report to the administration concerning the results of this survey.
Community
Relations:
Forest Hills Report: The Student Government has released a formal report concerning the August 25th incident at Forest Hills. This report details student concerns with the Harrisonburg Police Department’s use of 30-year-old expired tear gas, use of chemical agents within private homes, and the City’s development of a law inconsistent with the Code of Virginia that targets university students. Copies of this report are available online at www.jmu.edu/orgs/sga.
Community Relations Committee: In addition to the report, the Student Government has established a permanent committee within our organization to continue dialogue between the student body and the greater Harrisonburg community. This committee will attend City Council meetings, continue the successful student/police forum, engage in community service projects with Community Service Learning and the newly established Our Community Place, and survey the community to gauge local opinion about JMU projects. We hope that this committee will begin to ease the tension that currently exists between our university and the greater Harrisonburg area.
Recycling Efforts: The Student Government overwhelmingly passed a resolution encouraging the university to restrict paper purchases to 100% post-consumer, chlorine- and bleach- free paper. The following is the resolution to support the efforts of the student organization EARTH, that has been involved in this campaign so far:
Whereas, paper is
a precious commodity and is often wasted and used carelessly, and
Whereas, the
paper currently used in the James Madison University computer labs, academic
departments, and administrative offices, and most student organizations is
often non-recycled, and
Whereas, EARTH
has been leading a 2-year-long, campus-wide campaign to try and change all of
the paper sources currently used, and
Whereas, campus
concern has been demonstrated over the paper usage at JMU,
Be it resolved,
that the Student Government Association support EARTH's actions in adopting a
purchasing policy statement that all paper purchased by James Madison
University is 100% post-consumer and totally chlorine free or processed
chlorine free.
In addition, the Student Government is interested in exploring the possibility of charging for printing costs in computer labs and the library in order to reduce paper waste.
Hate Crimes/Judicial Affairs: The Student Government also passed a Bill of Opinion expressing the student body’s desire for a process to record “hate crimes/acts of intolerance” within the Office of Judicial Affairs for the purpose of tracking such incidents on a university-wide level. The following is the bill that was passed on Tuesday, April 10, 2001:
Whereas, hate
crimes are criminal actions intended to harm or intimidate people because of
their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group
status, and
Whereas, there is
currently a heightened level of concern with respect to hate crimes and their
effects on our campus, and
Whereas, the
Office of Judicial affairs currently lacks a separate category for dealing with
hate crimes, and
Whereas, under
the current judicial process, hate crimes are considered either “personal
abuse” or “harassment,” and
Whereas, these
categories do not sufficiently reflect the definition and the gravity of hate
crimes,
Be it resolved,
that it is the opinion of the Student Body that the Office of Judicial Affairs
should begin to keep and report records of hate crimes as is done with other
campus offenses, and
Be it further resolved,
that it is also the opinion of the student body that the Office of Judicial
Affairs should incorporate a separate process with respect to hate crimes,
including a working definition for hate crimes that clearly distinguishes them
from offenses already defined by the JMU judicial process.
Student Media: The Student Government would like to express its deep concern with the proposal issued at the Board of Visitors meeting on March 22 to investigate the removal of funding for student media. The legal difficulties JMU will encounter, coupled with the overall support for student-funded student media, should make the university wary of pursuing this proposal.
In addition, the Student Government is working closely with the Media Board to fund additional student publications. Candidate publications include the feminist literary journal, Sister Speak, the conservative opinion publication, The Madison Review, the African-American-focused literary journal, What the Deal?, and the progressive opinion publication, Diogenes’ Lantern.
SGA Elections: On Wednesday, March 28 and again on Wednesday, April 4, the Student Government held elections for next year’s officers. The winners include:
David Mills, President-elect,
Brandon Durflinger, Vice President for Administrative Affairs-elect,
Ashley Morris, Vice President for Student Affairs-elect,
Chris Fortier, Treasurer-elect, and
Anthony Ventetuolo, Board of Visitors Representative-elect.
In addition, the Student Government will begin the process of selecting Student Judicial Coordinators and SGA staff beginning next week.
Conclusion: Again, I thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 568-3797 in the SGA office or at 438-3007 at home. You may also email me at sullivmj@jmu.edu. I look forward to working with you on these and other issues in the future
VI. REPORT OF THE HONOR
COUNCIL
Ms. Sara Bromberg, Honor Council President, presented the following information:
As of the Fall 2000 Semester
37 Informal
Resolutions
2 Formal Resolutions
New Member Induction: The six members accepted this spring semester will be formally inducted into the Honor Council on April 25th at annual reception.
Honor Advisory Board: The Honor Advisory Board is scheduled to meet on April 24th. At this meeting, the Board will approve the three new investigators chosen for the next school year. They will also approve changes to the Honor Code, which will allow for an ethics workshop to be a possible penalty for students found responsible for an Honor Code violation.
Honor Awareness Week: April 9th through the 13th is the annual Honor Awareness Week. A week designed to educate students and faculty about the Honor System. On Tuesday, April 10th, Dr. Rose will be speaking about honor and integrity at JMU. On Wednesday, April 11th, the Honor Council is sponsoring the movie, “School Ties,” which will be shown in ISAT. Each day of the week, Honor Council Representatives will be in Warren Hall to hand out information about the Honor System.
VII. REPORT OF UNIVERSITY
PROGRAM BOARD
Ms. Rachel Kay Franco, the new Executive Director, sent the following update on UPB:
The remainder of this school year has proved to be an extremely busy one for the University Program Board. With the majority of our programs being held in March, we were kept quite busy. At the same time, newly elected Executive Board has just come into office, and is beginning to settle in for an exciting year ahead of them.
As a personal success, our organization is proud to accept two nominations from the Leadership Celebration: Outstanding Student Organization-FEB and Outstanding Entertainment Program for the Indigo Girls. Our advisor, Chris Stup, has also been nominated for the Bluestone Award as an outstanding advisor.
During our short month here in March, the University Program Board sponsored major five events. Two of our events were held to coincide with James Madison Week. A co-sponsorship was held with Club Latino in showing the World Trade Organization movie in Grafton-Stovall Theatre on March 15. We were proud to present Ralph Nader in Wilson hall on March 17th. This event proved to be our most successful one of the semester. JMU students and the Harrisonburg community gave great support of Green Party representative, Ralph Nader, as every seat in Wilson Hall was filled to learn more about the Green Party, and Ralph Nader himself.
Kimberly Peirce spoke in Wilson Hall on March 20 to an intimate crowd about her role in the entertainment industry, and as a director. Ms. Peirce directed the award-winning film, Boys Don't Cry. Kimberly Peirce taught the audience about the process of making a film, following a discussion on gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transsexual issues.
Mike Super mesmerized students and faculty on March 28 with his magic and illusions. Mike Super is an award-winning member of the Society of American Magicians and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. His performance was completely interactive, as he pulled members of the audience to become parts of his acts. Two of UPB's own members were levitated and one disappeared.
Our last major event of the year was our bi-annual Convocation Show, held on March 30. This year featured the sounds of Medeski, Martin and Wood, with opening band, Project Logic and DJ Logic. Project Logic and DJ Logic consisted of a quartet, with DJ Logic on the turntables. Medeski, Martin, and Wood played a mainly instrumental set of a mixture of jazz, funk, and hip-hop to an incredibly energetic crowd.
Upcoming events in April consist of our annual Film Festival, held the week of April 8-12. This year's theme is Film Directors. Sunday night opens the Festival with three movies by John Hughes, while Monday-Thursday, films by Spielberg, Kubrick, Scorsese, and Gilliam are represented. The film festival will come to a close on Thursday, April 12 as JMU student's films are shown and judged.
The University Program Board's mission to entertain and educate JMU seems to have been fulfilled during these last months of the school year. We strive to bring the best programming for our students, faculty, and community.
Linwood H. Rose, President
Donna E. Burch, Secretary