University Senate Minutes 24 Feb 2012

Recorder: 

Deborah MacMillan

Recorder Email: 
Meeting Date: 
Friday, February 24, 2012
Date of Next Meeting: 
Friday, March 23, 2012 - 3:30pm
Location of Next Meeting: 

Arts & Science 2-72

Minutes Text: 

University Senate Meeting Minutes
February 24, 2012  
Location:  Arts & Sciences 2-72

Present: Kirk Armstrong, Mike Augustine, Dean Baker, Andrei Barkovskii, Beauty Bragg, Ryan Brown, Scott Butler, Dianne Chamblee, Jan Hoffmann Clark, Martha Colvin, Carrie Cook, David de Posada, Jennifer Flory, Toi Franks, Diane Gregg, Sandra Jordan, Evan Karanovich, Josh Kitchens, Deborah MacMillan, Mary Magoulick, Ken McGill, Greg Mahan, Judith Malachowski, Fadhili Mshana, Lyndall Muschell, Amy Pinney, Stephen Price, Jason Rich, Holley Roberts, Mike Rose, Susan Steele, John Swinton, Craig Turner, Edward Whatley, Catherine Whelan, and Mike Whitfield.

Absent: Stephen Auerbach, Carol Bader, Will Hobbs, and Maxwell Pichan.

Regrets: Susan Allen, Liz Harvey, Jen Maraziti, Bryan Marshall, Cara Meade, Leslie Moore, Rebecca McMullen, Stas Preczewski, Doreen Sams, and Chris Skelton.

Guests:  David Cox, Mike Digby, Jude Hirsh, David Muschell (Parliamentarian), Matt Rogers (Graduate Assistant), and Elaine Whitaker.

Call to Order

Call to Order: Jan Clark - CALLED TO ORDER @ 3:30

Agenda: A motion to approve the agenda as circulated was made, seconded and approved.

Minutes: Motions to approve the minutes for November 18 as circulated and January 27 as circulated were made, seconded, and approved.

Committee Reports

Curriculum and Assessment Policy Committee: Chair Dr. Ryan Brown

1. Dr. Brown brought the following motion forward to the Senate for the review and approval.

Motion 1112.CAPC.005: Proposed six new concentrations in Liberal Studies B.A. 
Since this motion came from committee no second was required. After a discussion related to issues of courses listed on the concentrations possibly not being available to students, a motion to commit was made by Dr. John Swinton and seconded by Dr. Craig Turner that would refer this motion back to the committee for additional consideration. This motion to commit failed. The motion was approved as submitted.  

2. Dr. Brown brought the following motion forward to the Senate for the review and approval.  

Motion 1112.CAPC.006C: Proposed M.Ed. in Outdoor Education Administration
Since this motion came from committee no second was required. Dr. Jude Hirsh was present for any questions or discussion. The motion was approved as submitted with no discussion.

3. Dr. Brown brought the following motion forward to the Senate for the review and approval.  

Motion 1112CAPC.008C: Deactivate minor in International Business 
Since this motion came from committee no second was required. The motion was approved as submitted with no discussion.

4. Dr. Brown brought the following motion forward to the Senate for the review and discussion.  

Motion 1112.CAPC.011B: First reading and discussion of proposed permanent subcommittee of CAPC on the core curriculum. Will be brought for a vote at the March 23 University Senate meeting 
Since this motion came from committee no second was required. Since this is a bylaws revision that is non-editorial, it requires consideration at two meetings. This was the first reading and discussion of this motion, while the second reading (possibly including a vote) will take place at the next meeting. A motion to amend the draft replacing “distributed a follows” with “distributed as follows” and replacing “Registrar, and ex officio” with “Registrar, who shall be an ex officio” in the section entitled Membership was made by Dr. Craig Turner and seconded by Dr. John Swinton. This motion to amend was approved. There was no further discussion and the motion as amended will receive its second reading at the 23 March 2012 meeting of the University Senate.

5. Dr. Brown brought the following motion forward to the Senate for the review and approval.  

Motion 1112.CAPC.012P: Proposed area A outcome revision 
Since this motion came from committee no second was required. After a brief discussion, the motion was approved as submitted.

Academic Policy Committee: Chair Dr. Amy Pinney

Dr. Amy Pinney brought the following motions forward to the Senate for the review and approval.  

Since this motion came from committee no second was required. After discussion, Dr. Catherine Whelan made a motion to commit this motion to APC for refinement and rewording in the approved format. This motion to commit was approved. 

Since this motion came from committee no second was required. After discussion, a motion was made to amend the motion and add an item four to the motion reading as “4. Students who are registered for POLS 1150 will not be allowed to sign up for the US or Georgia Constitution exam during the semester they are taking the course” by Dr. Jason Rich and seconded. This motion to amend was approved. The motion was approved as amended. APC was asked to reword this motion in the Senate approved format for motions by prefacing the four item list with language comparable to “To adopt the following as university policy”.

RPIPC:  Chair Dr. Judith Malachowski

Dr. Judith Malachowski brought the following endorsement forward from the committee. 

Endorsement: 1112.RPIPC.002.0: Endorsement of recommendation to pursue Carnegie Community Engagement Designation 

After discussion, Dr. Craig Turner made a motion to amend this motion replacing “RPIPC endorses GCSU pursuit of the Carnegie” with “To endorse the RPIPC recommendation that Georgia College pursue Carnegie” and this motion was seconded. This motion to amend was approved. The motion was then approved as amended with no further discussion.

RPIPC reviewed the “training service animals at Georgia College” regulation. This regulation comes from the Official Code of Georgia. Some of the issues raised by RPIPC members during committee deliberation related to University Housing including

  • Facility maintenance in a residence hall room or apartment
  • Health and/or allergy concerns from residents
  • Sharing living environments with student trainers

Executive Committee: Presented by Dr. Catherine Whelan

Dr. Catherine Whelan brought a motion forward from ECUS for review and discussion by the Senate.

Motion 1112.EC.001B: First reading and discussion of bylaws revision proposal to reduce motion submission deadline from 15 days to 10 days 

Since this is a bylaws amendment, this was brought to Senate for reading and discussion only.  It will be voted on at the next meeting.

Dr. Ken McGill reminded faculty to vote for the at-large elected faculty senator. Faculty should receive a ballot by email. Please vote and remind others to vote as well.

Student Affairs Policy Committee (SAPC): Chair Ms. Dianne Chamblee

Some of the items of business that were discussed at the February meeting were as follows:

Review Initiatives that supports student retention.

  • There was discussion of a mid point "picnic". 
  • A possible process to sit down with students and discuss plans/needs/issues of students at the end of sophomore year was discussed.
  • The hope is to be able to identify some red flags that are important to student retention.
  • Also need to look at "Back up plans" for students that have tiered program Student Emergency Fund – Jennifer/Foundation; Mike Augustine/Financial Aid

SAPC also discussed some issues related to Direct Financial Aid. There are two options: Short term Loan (institutional charge, and fills a gap); Emergency Loan 200.00, duration of six. From University endowment (five a semester). There was a suggestion to refer students back to financial aid. Other things to explore are donations to unrestricted scholarships. and need-based discretionary accounts.

The Committee would like to have Cathy Crawley to speak. Mike Augustine will invite her to March 2 meeting.

Student Government Affairs: by Mr. Evan Karanovich

Presented information about encouraging faculty to get textbook information to the bookstore in a timely fashion. Students will be stopping by faculty offices with flyers containing textbook submission deadlines. He also reminded faculty of the importance of doing this to keep down the cost of textbooks for the students.

FAPC Report: Chair Dr. Craig Turner  See attached report

Provost Report: present by Provost Sandra Jordan. 

Dr. Jordan stated she would provide her report by newsletter, so that she can yield the floor to Dr. Mike Digby.

Dr. Digby wanted to clarify with the Senate his understanding of his charge regarding the Faculty Policy and Procedure Manual.

Goal:

To provide the Georgia College community with a clear, concise, and searchable website of current policies, procedures, and practices that is readily available and provides a transparent process for revision and review.

Expectations:

  • Reformat each of the existing items on the website so that they are presented in a consistent format identifying policies, procedures, and practices (See University template for policies).
  • Reorganize the website to highlight those policies that are particularly relevant to specific groups of stakeholders.
  • Establishing a method to automate a review of existing policies for relevance and currency.
  • Goal accomplishment will include consideration of topics identified by University Senate
  • When contradictory statements are identified or when editing is required, content will be reviewed by the appropriate University Senate committee or University agency.
  • Routine progress briefings towards this goal will be provided to the University Senate.
  • Establishing a practice for informing the community of changes.
  • Establish a temporary electronic drop box to report perceived contradictory, outdated, inaccurate and/or missing content.

This is all to be done in a very transparent way, with frequent reports to the senate.

To date, Dr. Digby reports that he has read the majority of the manual and determined that a lot of editing is required. Dr.Digby reports that he is in the process of meeting and talking with faculty.

Motion to Adjourn: There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and approved. The meeting adjourned at 4:46 p.m. 

The next meeting of the University Senate is scheduled for Friday March23, 2012 from 3:30pm to 4:45pm in Arts & Sciences 2-72.

Recorded by Deborah MacMillan

 

Attendees: 
Agreements: 
Action Items: 
Tentative Agenda: