University Senate

Meeting 550 Minutes

The University Senate
of Michigan Technological University

Minutes of Meeting 550
September 10, 2014

PDF version of Minutes 550

Synopsis:
The Senate

  • Proposal 1-15 “Amending the Senate’s Bylaws” passed
  • Approval of Senate Standing Committees for 2014-2015
  • Approval of Proposed Meeting Dates 2014-2015

Senate minutes are time-indexed [in square brackets] to the relevant segments of the streaming video of the meeting.

1. Call to order and roll call. [00:00 – 02:24]
President Craig Waddell called the University Senate Meeting 550 to order at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The Senate Secretary Marty Thompson called roll. Absent were Senator Cadwell and representatives of Biological Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, Academic Services A, Academic Services C, Enrollment, Finance, and Staff Council. 

2. Recognition of visitors.
Guests included Max Seel (Provost’s Office) and Theresa Coleman-Kaiser (Administration).

3. Approval of agenda. [02:25 – 02:56]
Waddell asked for approval of the agenda. Scarlett moved; Wood seconded. In the absence of discussion or comments, Waddell declared the agenda approved.

4. Approval of minutes from Meetings 548 and 549. [02:57 – 03:31]
Waddell asked for approval of the minutes. Scarlett moved; Wood seconded. In the absence of discussion or comments, Waddell declared the minutes approved.

5. Report from the Senate President. [03:32 – 22:24]      (Link to President’s Notes)
Waddell provided a list of structural problems with the Senate that were resolved over the summer.

Waddell presented an award for service to past-president of the University Senate Brian Barkdoll. He then provided copies of Robert’s Rules of Order to all senators and committee chairs.

Improvements to the Senate website can be found at: https://www.mtu.edu/senate/

Audio and video enhancements made to the senate meeting room were noted.

The Tech fund account for the Senate is #3298.

Senate meetings will appear on Charter Cable channel 190 on Mondays and Fridays starting at 7:00 p.m.

Waddell stressed the importance of shared governance and stated the goals for the senate in the coming year. Compensation will be requested for all senate officers (currently the vice-president receives no compensation for their work on the University Senate) and standing release time for committee chairs.

Senate meetings will follow Robert’s Rules of Order as stated in the Senate Bylaws. Notable changes to the agenda will be using the term ‘unfinished business’ in place of ‘old business’ and the minutes will reflect what was done not what was said.

6. Unfinished Business
a. Proposal 1-15 “Amending the Senate’s Bylaws” [22:25 – 53:45]

Changes to the bylaws are:

  1. Members of standing committees to be determined in the spring.
  2. Composition of the executive committee and standing committees will be restructured.

The text of the proposal references sections of the Senate Constitution to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the two new committees. Moran suggested a friendly amendment to strike out the parenthetical references to the constitution describing the charges to the General Education and Assessment Committee and the Information Technology Committee. Scarlett moved to introduce a friendly amendment by rewording Section 7 to state, “As related to all curricular matters related to General Education and Assessment.” Mullins seconded. Waddell asked for discussion. There being none, the motion was accepted. A verbatim change in text was made to Section 8.

  1. Officers-elect will assume their duties immediately after the last meeting of the spring semester.
  2. Rules permitting non-members to participate in Senate discussions. Limiting guest speakers and presentations to 30 minutes of the Senate meeting time.
  3. Appointment of reciprocal liaisons.
  4. Senate officers may not chair standing committees.

Mullins moved to approve the proposal as amended. Scarlett seconded. Waddell asked for discussion. There being none. The proposal passed unanimously on a voice vote.

b. Approval of Senate Standing Committees for 2014-2015 [56:51 – 57:45]
Scarlett moved to approve the rosters for the Senate standing committees. Nooshabadi seconded. Waddell asked for discussion. There being none. Waddell declared the roster approved.

c. Approval of Proposed Meeting Dates 2014-2015 [57:46 – 58:35]
Scarlett moved to approve the rosters for the Senate standing committees. DeWinter seconded. Waddell asked for discussion. There being none. Waddell declared the roster approved.

7. New Business
a. Provost Search Committee [53:46 – 56:50]
Waddell informed the Senate for the need of a Provost search committee and discussed the process to select committee members appointed by the senate. He asked if anyone sought another method to select the Senate search committee members. Beck requested a nomination form be used. Waddell stated that a nomination form was requested for all nominees in order to help the Senate Executive Committee make a decision. 

b. Senate’s role in advising on e-cigarette policy [58:35 – 1:01:15]
Waddell suggested having an education campaign rather than having the senate make recommendations to the administration.

c. Proposal 2-14 “Proposal to Modify Senate Procedure 506.1.1: Evaluation Procedures for Department Chairs and School Deans” [1:01:16– 1:01:50]
Waddell noted that Proposals 2-14, 23-14 and 32-14 were previously approved by the Senate. The administration approved each and made comments. Waddell referred the three proposals back to the committees for discussion regarding administrative amendments. He reminded everyone that if there are not substantive changes made to a given proposal, these can be voted on next meeting. 

d. Proposal 23-14 “Proposal to Establish Michigan Technological University Copyright Policy Regarding Scholarly, Academic, and Artistic Works”  [1:03:51 – 1:05:08].
Described above (Section 7.c.) This proposal was approved by the administration subject to Board of Control consideration and proposed amendments. Scarlett asked that everyone review a reasonable, yet notable change in the proposal that was effectively a non-competitive agreement. 

e. Proposal 32-14 “Notification Time for Changes in Fringe Benefits and Questions for Healthcare Insurance Consultants” [1:01:51 – 1:03:20]
This proposal was approved by the administration and subject to the proposed amendments. This has been referred to the Fringe Benefits Committee. Key changes:

  1. Time for notification of change in benefits changed from 90 to 30 days. The exception being retirement benefit changes, which the Senate sought one year and the administration sought 180 days.
  2. The Senate will be able to ask questions to any healthcare consultants hired by the administration.

f. Proposal 2-15 “Amending the Senate’s Constitution” [1:05:09 – 1:05:25]
The proposal originated with the Senate Executive Committee. 

g. Proposal 3-15 “Creating a Visiting Professor of Practice Position” [1:05:26– 1:05:32]
The proposal originated with the Provost’s Office. 

h. Proposal 4-15 “Ensuring Confidentiality of Learning Management System (LMS) Content and Student Records” [1:05:33– 1:06:02]
The proposal originated with the Administrative Policy Committee with input from the Senate Executive Committee. The Center for Teaching and Learning requested some revisions which are currently being discussed in committee.

i. Proposal 5-15 “Annual Evaluation Procedure for Department Chairs and Academic Deans” [1:03:21 – 1:03:50]
The proposal originated with the Administrative Policy Committee. 

8. Public Comments
Comments. 

9. Adjournment.  
Scarlett moved to adjourn. Vable seconded.  President Waddell adjourned the meeting at 6:37 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted
by Marty Thompson
Secretary of the University Senate