Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting

Absent: Berry, Buising, Heaston, Petersen, Pomeroy, Stratton, Symonds

Minutes of the Previous Meeting:
Upon proper motion and second, the minutes of the March 1999 meeting were approved.

Report from President Ray:

• President Ray commented that as he moves out of his current position, his appreciation of the faculty and their work has grown. It was a goal of his to have an inclusive campus and it is a pleasure to know you all.
• The Administrative Council met to continue to address the goals set at the July 1998 meeting. There is a consistency of thought of what needs to be done at Drake in the various constituencies which have met to speak to the issues such as the faculty assessment survey, the University Strategic Planning Council, the cabinet, the Administrative Council. President Ray is very pleased with this consistency and many common threads.
• Judith Allen's report to the Board of Governors was well received. He complimented the report and the presentation.

Report from Interim Provost Hoag:

• Provost Hoag also complimented Ms Allen's report to the Board. He noted that time ran out that day not because of the report's length but due to many questions and interest from the Board on the topics presented.
• The Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Governors received a web based course presentation from Thom Swiss and Dan Alexander. The Committee also approved the faculty promotion and tenure recommendations.
• Next Tuesday afternoon will be the Faculty and Staff Recognition event in Olmsted.
• The Administrative Council continues to process the most immediate needs from the yearlong discussions. Provost Hoag gave some areas that are highlighted in the position paper, which is available for review.
• The Cabinet has given approval to a set of services, which will be available to the volunteer adjunct faculty. A full description is available from the Provost's Office.
• The ANAC workload study will be used as a starting point for a salary study.
• The Mac-in-the-Room replacement program is being discussed. The current proposal at the Deans council would go as far as to say that each student will need to have a computer.
• May 15th is the University Commencement and May 14th is the Law Hooding. The Provost encouraged all faculty to attend.
• Senator Strentz noted concern that the incoming student is being told one version of the Mac-in-the-Room situation both verbally and in their admission literature and something else will actually be true for Fall 1999. The response was that the communication this summer would be about the change for the Fall 2000 semester.
• In answer to questions, the senate was informed that the undergraduate pool of students is up 6% from last year and there is no change expected in the discount cap.

Report from President Allen:

• At the April Board of Governors meeting, President Allen provided a written and verbal report on the assessment of "university-wide core academic priorities" of faculty with regard to budget. She also presented her analysis of how well the proposed FY00 budget reflected the priorities presented to the Senate Budget & Business Affairs Committee by Vice President Payseur last fall. Written results of this assessment project will be sent electronically to all faculty soon. Hard copies are available upon request.
• On April 15th, a student planned and requested student-faculty forum was held to continue discussion of steps we can take to build a more vigorous academic culture. She expressed hope that next year's senate will sponsor more events including discussion with students.

Unfinished Business:
None presented

New Business

Senator Spencer moved and Winebrenner seconded Motion 99-13:

Alter the Intercollegiate Athletic Council membership Delete from the membership description words "the Vice President for Business and Finance,"

Senator Wright presented a historical perspective for the reason for the Vice President to be a member of the committee. He indicated he sees a reason for someone close to the budget to be on the committee but it would not have to be the Vice President. President Ray spoke indicated he saw it healthy for someone from the administration to know the various deliberations of the faculty. Senator Walker indicated he was sympathetic to the increase in meetings and that Ms Payseur had been forthcoming with information to the budget and Business Affairs committee. Senator Winebrenner agreed that she had attended and listened to the faculty at that committee.

Senator Sisk moved and Walker seconded an amendment

to add "or a designated representative of the office" to the description rather than to strike any words

Senator Wright noted there is a difference between having a CEO or department chair on a committee versus their designee.

There was a discussion of other committees and their discussions would have budget implications and were not represented by the Business and Finance division. Senators Strentz and Hunter indicated they were not in favor of the amendment.

With a show of hands vote, the amendment passed.

With a voice vote, the motion passed as amended.

Senator Wright moved and Herman seconded Motion 99-14:

Endorse the Student Senate Motion of the Academic Affairs Committee recommends that a student's major GPA be listed on the transcript
Senator Strentz indicated some concerns as to what constitutes a major and who will define those courses? He had concerns that this will increase the weight of the gpa. Dean Troyer indicated the individualized major has courses, which are selected early in the program and not easily changed.

A clarifying friendly amendment was offered and accepted to insert the word Drake before gpa. This is to clarify that only the Drake courses would be calculated even though courses within a major can be transferred into Drake.

Senator Winbrenner moved and second was offered to amend the motion by adding at the end of the sentence an effective date. "effective with the 99/00 academic year" There was concern about knowing if this would work and encouraged the Registrar to give a report next year.

The amendment passed.

The motion passed as amended.

Senator Sisk moved and Brady seconded motion 99-15:

1) Create the position of president-elect of the Faculty Senate

Alter paragraphs 1.02 and 5.02 of the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty Senate

See attached

2) Establish when the president-elect position would begin

The position of president-elect begins with the 1999-00 Faculty Senate and the position should be filled as soon as possible.

There were several style changes offered to the motion, which did not change the content such as changing 'their' to 'his/her'. These included an additional sentence "The President Elect will assume the President of the Senate position at the close of the term. The senate accepted all these changes.

There was also clarification as to the intent of the motion. Senators saw no need for a shadow president or internship type arrangement. The stated purpose is to provide continuity with the Senate Executive Committee and Administration and Board. This also provides a known backup in case the President is unable to attend a certain set of meetings. President Ray indicated he sees value in having an elected faculty representative with knowledge they will be in the leadership role during the next year.

The motion passed as amended.

Senator Strentz moved and Phillips seconded motion 99-16:

When a formally enrolled student is arrears in payment of tuition, the student shall not receive grades in the courses or transcript services until tuition is paid. A student in financial arrears, who has been enrolled in a class, attending it regularly, etc., shall not be suspended for financial reasons.

Friendly amendments was offered and accepted

to insert in the first sentence the words 'nor credit' after grades in the second sentence after suspended 'from class'

at the end of the second sentence add 'for the remainder of the academic term.'

Senator Brady indicated we should stop the intermittent practice of telling students to not come to class. Senator Strentz's concern was in teaching his students and not being told during the semester to stop teaching some of those students and he encouraged the body to remember that we are to be student-centered. There was a description of how many students had been affected by this action after spring break.

Upon proper motion, second and vote the rules were suspended for 15 minutes.

Senator Hunter could understand that Business and Finance may need to be tough but once the semester is stared than let the students stay in class.

Senator Phillips suggested deleting the phrase 'attending it regularly,etc.' as that varies by instructor and course. This was also accepted as friendly to the senate.

The motion passed as amended.

On proper motion and second the meeting closed at 5:05 p.m.

Submitted by, Nancy Geiger, Secretary