Faculty Senate charts course for 2000-01
Sept. 22, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- Setting a course of action for the year and working with University administrators in the implementation of that course were the goals of a Faculty Senate "Council of Chairs" meeting held Aug. 29.
The meeting included Faculty Senate officers, the chairs of its five councils and University officials, including: President Elson S. Floyd; Provost Fred Dobney; and Vice Presidents Bob Beam, business and finance, Bud Bender, development, Viji Murali, information technology, and Theresa Powell, student affairs; as well as General Counsel Carol Hustoles.
According to Faculty Senate President Ralph Tanner, the purpose of the Council of Chairs was to work toward "the harmony of shared governance.
"We were seeking to establish how the Faculty Senate and its councils can work with University administration to accomplish the many tasks the councils are charged with this year," he says. "It was a historic event because it was the first time the Senate's executive board and council chairs all met at the same time with the University president and his cabinet to discuss and shape University policy."
At the meeting, the Senate's five councils were given charges
or areas they are to study and in which they are to make recommendations
, in addition to the regular business they are assigned.
"We brainstormed over the summer and discussed what issues
the faculty are facing and what each council could do to address
these issues," says Tanner. "The councils are being
asked to study these areas and develop recommendations and reports."
Each Faculty Senate meeting this year will "spotlight" one of its councils, and members will provide reports on those areas they were assigned to explore.
The Faculty Senate Councils, their chairs, the date of the councils' reports and the charges assigned to them are:
Research Policies Council, Jay Means, chemistry, to report Thursday, Oct. 12, on regulations regarding institutional review boards and collaborative faculty research.
Technology and Operations Council, Dennis Pence, mathematics and statistics, to report Thursday, Nov. 2, on the information technology strategic initiative and implementation, computing infrastructure, and the laptop computer requirement.
Campus Planning and Finance Council, Werner Sichel, economics, to report Thursday, Nov. 30, on parking systems, on- and off-campus transportation, review of the University master plan, campus safety and security, Governmental Accounting Standards Board standards, and the University operating budget.
Graduate Studies Council, Pnina Ari-Gur, construction engineering, materials engineering and industrial design, to report Thursday, March 8, on spring and summer graduate offerings, growth of graduate programs, instructor of record for independent studies, virtual classrooms, and electronic theses and dissertations.
Undergraduate Studies Council, David Reinhold, chemistry, to report Thursday, April 5, on admissions and enrollment standards, assessment instruments, instructor of record for independent studies, virtual classrooms, computer usage requirement, undergraduate course repeat policy, and general education area VII: natural science and technology.
The semester's first full Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Fetzer Center.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu