D R A K E U N I V E R S I T Y Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting December 13, 2000 The regular 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, DeLaet, Gillespie, Kleiner, Lovell, McCrickerd, Parsa, Phillips Pomeroy, Rankin, Reed, Reynolds, Sanders, Simpson, Symonds, Torgerson, Walker, Wright Absent: Honts Minutes of the Previous Meeting: None presented. Senator Phillips moved and Parsa seconded motion 01-14: The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures’ Programs in French, German and Spanish shall be discontinued. Senator McCrickerd questioned how this recommendation to discontinue was connected to the establishment of any new language program. She also noted that students in various majors, especially International Relations and International Business, have a need for foreign language acquisition. It was clarified that the motion before the Senate is independent to any future options for any programs. If the current program with tenured faculty is discontinued and then a new program with tenured faculty is started in the immediate future, then the University is in violation of the Academic Charter and AAUP guidelines. Senator Torgerson indicated that he had difficulty separating the stated need of the Drake students to have a language competency and the vote to discontinue. Senator Sanders also stated a difficulty in separating the issue of discontinuance with a commitment to teaching languages. President Maxwell agreed that communicative competency is important and the Program Review report indicates that we are not achieving that goal. He stressed that a vote to discontinue the present program can not be tied to any new program. The question was asked concerning how many tenured faculty are involved in this motion. The reply was eight tenured track positions with only six persons involved. The motion passed. (The vote to discontinue = 17; vote to maintain = 1; abstentions = 2) President Maxwell asked the Senate for their opinion concerning the release of the full Program Review report. He does not want to purposely miss the December 15th deadline but believes the compilation of information and review of the draft document by RPAC members will not be completed before the end of the month. Several senators supported the delay until the report was complete and yet expressed interest in its timely release. There were several suggestions made from Senators to send a message of support for language acquisition and competency at Drake University. The sense of the Senate was gathered into the following motion. The interest was not to support a particular language or language program but rather a commitment to the future. There was concern expressed about the difference between cultural competency and linguistic competency and the difference between skills and education. Senator Rankin moved and McCrickerd seconded motion 01-15: Drake University vigorously pursue opportunities for students to acquire competency in a language other than English. The motion passed on a voice vote with one abstention. Senator Torgerson reminded the assembly that as of today, tenure had been taken away from six faculty and the entire nursing faculty. He noted this is a historic step and the University should by its behavior take tenure seriously. The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.