Minutes: May 14th, 2002

Minutes

of the Academic Senate Meeting

of May 14, 2002

The

Academic Senate was called to order by Chair Vaughn at 2:10

p.m.

Senate

Members Present:

Aaron,

Eunice

Adisa-Thomas,

Karima

Alvarez, Alvin

Avila, Guadalupe

Bartscher,

Patricia

Bishop,

Anna

Blomberg, Judith

Boyle,

Andrea

Cherny,

Robert

Collier,

James

Colvin,

Caran

Concolino,

Christopher

Consoli,

Andres

Corrigan,

Robert A.

Daniels,

Robert

Duke,

Jerry

Edwards,

James

Friedman,

Marv

Fung,

Robert

Ganji,

Vijay

Garcia,

Oswaldo

Garcia, Velia

Gillotte,

Helen

Gerson,

Deborah

Gregory,

Jan

Harnly,

Caroline

Henry,

Margaret

Higgins,

Susan

Hom,

Marlon

Houlberg,

Rick

Hubler,

Barbara

Jerris,

Scott

Kassiola,

Joel

La

Belle, Thomas

Langbort,

Carol

Levine,

Josh

Luft, Sandra

McKeon, Midori

Moallem, Minoo

Newt-Scott,

Ronda

Nichols,

Amy

Oñate,

Abdiel

Pong,

Wen Shen

Raggio,

Marcia

Sayeed,

Lutfus

Scoble,

Don

Shrivastava,

Vinay

Smith,

Miriam

Steier,

Saul

Strong,

Rob

Su,

Yuli

Terrell,

Dawn

Turitz,

Mitch

Vaughn,

Pamela

Warren,

Mary Anne

Warren,

Penelope

Wolfe,

Bruce

Yip,

Yewmun

Senate

Members Absent

:Remember to delete all the names listed here

from the list of members present—if you complete the attendance?

Guests:names here—just let me know if you are not sure

that you got everyone

Announcements

Penny Warren, Vice Chair of the Academic Senate

reported that Velia Garcia, Rick Houlberg, and Pamela Vaughn had received

awards of excellence as student organization advisors.

Chair’s

Report

Chair Pamela Vaughn offered an

end of the year report focusing on the events of the year.

I

had intended to entertain you with a breezy little speech about the challenges

– and joys – of sitting in the front of the room and some lighthearted comments

about ‘senate chairdom’ in general, but I feel now that a speech of that nature

would be self-indulgent and inappropriate.

The

last several months have been a challenge for us all. We, as a senate, began

the academic year with a resolution that, among other things related to the

aftermath of September 11, condemned ‘responses stigmatizing members of any

religious, ethnic, racial, or national group.’ Resolutions are not enough—resolve

and action are required. We have seen an increase in intemperate language,

in acts of intimidation, from too many quarters – and not all of these acts

are related to political events.

Given

my academic discipline and my general disposition, it will come as no surprise

that at times like this I frequently seek refuge in the classics – particularly

Cicero and Marcus Aurelius. It has often been alleged that the Romans didn’t

“do” philosophy – but it is actually the case that they expected their philosophy

to be practical, to help them in their everyday life. And for the Roman leaders,

in particular, that meant a philosophy that encouraged participation in the

larger community, that was involved and participatory, that allowed them to

speak of the greater good and service to the community. That is why Stoic

philosophy found a home in ancient Rome.

It

is that sense of community, that sense of connection to a larger whole that

drives our resolutions today – they all speak to the larger issue of the significance

of education and its role in transforming lives and our obligation in upholding

fundamental concepts in the education process: the free and open exchange

of ideas, critical thought and analysis, and civil disputation. The challenge

for us in and out of our classrooms is to move ourselves and our students

away from slogans and propaganda into a respectful discussion of ideas and

principles – and that is no small challenge. Deep convictions and sincere

emotions cloud our thinking, and yet we must persevere – the academic venue

may be our last best hope for the resolution of the many problems facing our

world.

I

am reminded of what the late Joseph Campbell said in meditating on then–crisis

in Lebanon–that it was

one of the great tragedies of the world, having three great religions fight

over a metaphor. Campbell, of course,

was on of the great interpreters of mythology in the 20th century;

he saw religion as an attempt to define a path to a single truth, and therefore

titles of religions were simply markers for different paths to the same goal.

But when we become wrapped in the metaphor, when we are blinded to the possibility

that a single truth may entertain more than one avenue to its realization,

then we are doomed. The same, I think, can be true of peace, if we accept

peace as a “truth” to be attained. We must be open to the possibility that

there is more than one valid path to peace; if we accept only one path as

the “true path,” then we will indeed become lost.

There

is no doubt some who will feel that today’s new resolution is no more than

a “knee jerk” response to events of last week. To some extent, that is true

– if the demonstration last week had not occurred, we might not feel compelled

to state our resolve today. But, just as last September was the impetus for

reaffirming our values as a university and condemning the unwarranted profiling

of any group, so to the demonstration of May 7 has provided the impetus for

our reaffirmation of the university’s principles and our condemnation of acts

or words of hate.

It

is incumbent upon us, as faculty leaders, to take a stand, to contribute in

a positive way to actions and words that foster civil discourse and critical

debate, to reject intimidation in all forms–whether in the political arenas,

the classroom, the administrative office, or in our own faculty meetings–to

temper emotional and hyperbolic statements with reasoned judgment and analysis;

and to encourage communication and constructive engagement. We need to recommit

ourselves to this every day– whether we are sitting in the front or the back

of this room.

Agenda Item #1: Approval of Agenda for Meeting of May 14, 2002

Terrell

to amend the agenda Steier, agenda item #7a passed

m/s/p (Terrell,

Steier) to approve the agenda and insert a new item at 7a

Agenda Item #2: Approval of Minutes for Meeting of March 5, 2002

m/s/p (unanimously)

to approve the minutes as amended.

Agenda Item #3: Report from Statewide Senators

Eunice Aaron and Jan Gregory

Eunice

Aaron

provided senate with a brief report on the activities at the statewide CSU

academic senate. All Senators received by email a comprehensive end of year

report from the CSU academic senate. Eunice Aaron indicated that in

her role as a member of the CSU Academic Senate Faculty Affairs Committee

that they will continue to work with education at the K-12 focusing on the

quality of education for the children. She indicated the coming weeks and

months should prove interesting due to the changing nature of the state’s

budget. She also indicated that the final budget would probably come sometime

after the election of a new governor. Jan Gregory, a member of the

CSU Faculty Affairs Committee, spoke briefly about two resolutions on the

review of academic administrators and faculty role in the review. One resolution

focused on the campus reviews and the second focused on the system wide reviews.

The discussion between CFA and the CSU on clarification of implementation

of the new agreement are continuing and two items have been sent to the mediator

for resolution. He committee is continuing to work on the tenure and promotion

process and the weighting between service category and other categories.

Agenda Item #4: Report from Lecturer’s Council

(Bonnie Homan)

The

lecturer’s Council was established by the Academic Senate “to facilitate professional

development and communication among lecturer faculty, as well as to provide

a vehicle for highlighting issues of concern to lecturer faculty. This academic

year the Lecturer’s Council began discussing a list of lecturer issues and

will continue to work on those issues next academic year. The list of issues

includes:

  1. Development

    and/or updating of the Lecturer Faculty Handbook.

  2. Distribution

    of the Request for subsequent Employment Form should be on the Academic

    Calendar so that all lecturers receive the form in a timely manner.

  3. Develop

    resources related to lecturer issues. Some ideas include the following:

  • Shelf space

    I the library for lecturer related publications

  • A dedicated

    lecturer bulleting board on the first floor of the University Club

  • A lecturer

    of the month could be featured on the bulleting board to highlight accomplishments

    and strengths of lecturers

  • Access

    to an email alias to communicate with all lecturers

  • Possibly

    a lecturer web site (maintaining the content of the web site would be

    an issue. Jo Tomalin worked with CET last year, when Jo was a lecture,

    and developed a web site for new lecturers. Jo’s work is certainly appreciated

    and any additional web site (or web pages) would not duplicate her work.

  • Possibly

    a faculty lounge so that lecturer faculty could collaborate and communicate

  • Develop

    a long-range plan for the Lecturers’ Council. This might include a person

    in Faculty Affairs dedicated to dealing with lecturer issues.

  • Thanks

    to all the lecturers who participated in the Lecturer’s Council this Academic

    Year. Welcome to all new lecturer senators. We hope to see all of you (whether

    you remain on the Senate or not) at the Lecturer’s Council next year.

    Chair

    Pamela Vaughn

    encouraged all lecturers to participate in the Councils activities.

    Agenda Item #5: Proposed

    Academic Calendar from 2003-2004

    Marlon

    Hom,

    chair of the Academic Policy Committee, introduce the items and indicated

    that the proposed academic calendar was returning to the senate and that all

    recommendations and concerns were included in the new proposed calendar.He indicated that Barbara Luzardi was present

    to answer any questions. Rick Houlberg indicated his support for the

    revised calendar and asked what does “review day” mean? Marlon Hom

    indicated that “review day” is a day between the end of the semester and the

    start of the exam week and allows students time to prepare for the exams.

    Saul Steier asked if the change in the end date for Spring 2004 semester

    have any effect on summer semester. Marlon Hom indicated that summer

    semester is not effected by the new calendar.

    m/s/p

    (Houlberg, Steier) to close debate

    Voted on the item. Passed.

    Agenda

    Item #6: Proposed Resolution on a Moratorium on the Death Penalty

    Jan

    Gregory

    introduced the proposed resolution and indicated that it parallels a statewide

    effort for a moratorium on the death penalty. She indicated that Bernice

    Biggs, Professor Emeriti SFSU, had requested that the senate consider

    the resolution. The moratorium is need at this time due to emerging new research

    that indicates that many who are on death row have been wrongly convicted.

    New efforts in genetics, scholarly work on the issued of mental illness, ethnic

    background and national background are proving that many who are on death

    row may have been wrongly convicted.

    m/s/p

    (Terrell, Steier) to second reading

    Mary

    Ann Warren

    suggested that of the many states that are listed as adopting a moratorium

    on the death penalty that Maryland should be added

    to the list. This amendment was accepted.

    m/s/p

    (Houlberg, Steier) to close debate

    Voting on the item – Passed

    Agenda Item #7: Proposed Resolution on Welfare

    Reform

    Barbara

    Hubler,

    chair of Student Affairs Committee introduced the resolution and provided

    the senate with some background information. She asked Christina Badasow

    and Tracey Faulkner to speak to the item. Christina Badasow

    indicated the importance of the service that is provided for the students

    at SFSU who are welfare recipients. She indicated the extensive needs of this

    group of students and the need to improve the services at SFSU. Tracey

    Faulkner indicated the need for the resolution in support for changing

    the federal legislation that is presently under consideration in Washington.

    Rick

    Houlberg

    offered his support for the resolution.

    m/s/p (Gregory, Steier) to second

    reading

    m/s/p

    (Onate, Houlberg) to close debate

    Voting

    on the amended resolutions - Passed

    Agenda Item #7a: Proposed Resolution in

    Support of Civil Discourse and the Principles of the Academy

    Penney

    Warren,

    Vice Chair of the Academic Senate, introduced the proposed resolution. She

    indicated that it is time to make a statement that will we will be leaders

    in upholding the principles of the Academy. Saul Steier spoke strongly

    in support of the resolution and the importance of the Academy.

    m/s/p

    (Houlberg, Aaron) to second reading

    Pamela

    Vaughn

    spoke in favor of the resolution and indicated that the spirit of the resolution

    is a response to the frequency of events that cover the entire year. The senate

    should make a strong statement about the basic principles of the Academy.

    m/s/p

    (Duke, Steier) to close debate

    Voting

    on the resolution - Passed

    Agenda

    Item #8: Seating of New Senate Members and Election of Senate Officers

    Chair

    Vaughn thanked all the senators who are leaving the senate and welcomed all new

    and returning senators.On behalf of

    the senate she extended best wishes to retiring Dean of Faculty Affairs, Paul Barnes.

    The new senator were seated at 3:00 PM

    Election of the senate leadership for the Academic

    Senate 2002-2003:

    Robert

    Cherny – elected by acclamation Chair of the Academic Senate

    Penny

    Warren – elected by acclamation Vice Chair of the Academic Senate

    James

    Edwards - elected by acclamation Secretary of the Academic Senate

    Dawn

    Terrell - elected at-large member of the Executive Committee of Academic Senate

    Rick

    Houlberg - elected by acclamation to be the second at-large member of the Executive

    Committee of Academic Senate

    Agenda

    Item #9: Election of Chairs for Standing Committees 2002-2003

    The

    newly elected members and the returning members of the senate form into their

    respective committees and elected the follow senators as chairs of their respective

    committees:

    Amy Nichols, Chair Curriculum Review and Approval

    Committee (CRAC)

    Oswaldo Garcia, Chair Academic Program Review Committee

    (APRC)

    Caran Colvin, Chair Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC)

    Deborah Gerson, ChairStudent Affairs Committee (SAC)

    Chair

    Academic Policy Committee (APC) is was not filled during the senate meeting.

    Agenda

    Item #10: Provision for a Summer Senate

    The

    following resolve was submitted to the new Senate for approval:

    A

    summer committee of the Academic Senate, composed of no fewer than six members

    of the Senate, shall be available on an emergency basis during the months

    of June, July and August for consultation, calling of special Academic Senate

    meetings, and handling of such duties as may be delegated to it by the Academic

    Senate.

    m/s/p

    (Houlberg, Colvin) to second reading

    Rick

    Houlberg called the question

    The

    Senate accepted the resolve

    The

    Senate adjourned at 3:27 PM

    Respectfully

    submitted,

    James

    Edwards

    Secretary

    to the Faculty

    Meeting Date (Archive)