D R A K E U N I V E R S I T Y Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting December 6, 2000 A special meeting of the 2000-2001 Faculty Senate was called to order by President Lou Ann Simpson. The following Senators were present for all or part of the meeting: Allen, Bartschat, Cairns, Gillespie, Honts, Kleiner, Lovell, McCrickerd, Parsa, Phillips Pomeroy, Rankin, Reed, Reynolds, Simpson, Symonds, Torgerson, Walker, Wright Absent: DeLaet, Sanders A December 1st voting correction was announced. There was one abstention for the Discontinuance of the Interior Architecture program. 17 votes to discontinue with one abstention. Senator Phillips moved and Kleiner seconded motion 01-12: The Major in Religion program shall be discontinued but the minor shall be continued Public comment was requested concerning the motion and Dale Patrick spoke highlighting some parts of a document, which he had presented to RPAC. He had concerns that discontinuance of this program would betray the trust and Drake’s legal obligation to the Divinity School benefactors. He continued that there are ministerial scholarships to be considered, too. A minor is not complete enough for a person to go forward to a vocation, but it supplements other majors the student may earn. Senator Parsa expressed concern as to whether or not RPAC reviewed any legal commitment the University has to the Religion major based on its endowment monies or other prior stated commitment. Senator Walker indicated that RPAC had not directly examined the legal record or commitment but did review how other institutions have evolved and Drake may not need to continue this exact major. Senator Torgerson outlined the past few years of Arts & Sciences College reviews of the Religion Program. He highlighted that the most recent college faculty review committee voted to keep the program. He urged it be maintained. Senator Bartschat, a member of that college review committee, agreed with maintaining the program. Senator McCrickerd briefly described the expected Ethics major. She did not expect this new major to have an effect on the Religion offerings, as the Ethics major would pull from many different areas. Senator Allen spoke in support of maintaining the major and the intellectual need for Religion in a university’s course offerings. Lon Larsen and President Maxwell conveyed that RPAC did not talk about the economic part of the recommendations. They did discuss how a small department could be called upon to produce the quality product that is expected. The department consists of two faculty in Philosophy and two in Religion. The part-time faculty are quality instructors respected in their fields and in the community. A student spoke to the body, indicating that as a Student Ambassador he is asked about the religion offerings as he gives campus tours to perspective students and families. He indicated that they seem interested in the offerings no matter their intended field of study. The motion failed. (votes to discontinue = 9; votes to maintain = 10) Senator Phillips moved and Parsa seconded motion 01-13: The Master’s Degree in Nursing program with concentrations in Nursing Education, Health Systems Management, Family Nurse Practitioner, as well as the RN to Master’s Nursing, Pre-RN to Master’s Nursing and BSN Option shall be discontinued. Senator Phillips read a message to the Senate from the Nursing faculty, which had been sent also to the Pharmacy & Health Sciences faculty. The text of the message: "The faculty members from the Department of Nursing are not here to address the Faculty Senate, not because we agree with or endorse the recommendations from RPAC and President Maxwell, but because we acknowledge the consensus of the larger Drake Community. We appreciate the opportunity to continue these quality programs until 2003, which will allow the great majority of our enrolled students to graduate with a degree from Drake University." Dean Steven Hoag confirmed the year 2003 date as being the earliest the program can be closed. The motion passed. (votes to discontinue = 15; votes to maintain = 2; abstentions = 2) The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.