ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING
MINUTES
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
SEVEN HILLS CONFERENCE CENTER
NOB HILL ROOM
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
OPEN FLOOR PERIOD: 2:00 - 2:10 p.m.
The Open Floor Period provides an informal opportunity for faculty members to raise questions or make comments directed to Senate officers or to university administrators. Please arrive promptly at 2:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER: 2:10 p.m.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Opening Faculty Meeting- Thursday, September 12, 2013, 2-4PM, McKenna Theater, followed by reception in Jack Adams Hall from 4-6PM
2. Administrative Searches in process for the Deans of College of Liberal and Creative Arts, College of Education, Undergraduate Studies; VP of Student Affairs, and AVP for Human Resources.
3. Online teaching evaluations- updates on Senate iLearn site.
4. Updates on CMS PeopleSoft conversion on SFSU website
5. Call for proposals for WAC conference at SFSU- wac.sfsu.edu
6. Senator Getz announced that the Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee is developing ways of communicating with the university community. Pathways- SPCC inviting comments to planning.sfsu.edu website, comments on each of the 7 themes; @SFStatePlanning; email to Planning@sfsu.edu.
AGENDA ITEM #1—Approval of the Agenda for September 3, 2013
Corrections? None. Approved as submitted.
AGENDA ITEM #2—Welcoming CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White—Time Certain 2:15p.m.
Welcomed Chancellor White to our campus. He shared with the Senate his belief in the value of shared governance, and actually prefers the concept of “shared leadership”. Shared leadership allows us to discuss the ideas and expertise of faculty, staff, and students, and bringing these ideas together in a shared way strengthens the university environment. The Chancellor thanked the Senators for doing the “hard lifting” of the Senate, and he was happy to take questions from the body. No questions were asked, and we thanked him for taking the time to speak with the Senate.
AGENDA ITEM #3—Chair’s Report
Chair Hanley welcomed the Senate back to the 2013-2014 academic year, and thanked us in advance for our commitment and labors. An important priority of this year’s Senate is to pursue the broad issue of faculty and staff morale. He stressed the importance of focusing on these issues because of the past five years of austerity, which we managed to keep university afloat, and continued to make SF State a dynamic and vibrant place. Five years is a long time, and Chair Hanley expressed concern about how much longer we can sustain our energy and excitement in years to come. We will have a Senate Orientation, and FAQ later in the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM #4—Report: Standing Committee Chairs & CSU Senators—Brief Updates
Brief updates-
1. APC- Senator Bettinger announced that a proposal is coming to the Senate floor today. APC will be meeting with CRAC next week as EPC to discuss the 7th cycle review. Online Education Committee and academic freedom issues will be discussed in APC this year.
2. CRAC- Senator Barranco- Review of Complementary Studies for Chinese and Cinema. Updated guidelines for cross-listed courses.
3. FAC- Senator Baines- committee had extensive discussion about online teaching evaluations piloted from summer session. On the FAC agenda for this year is Online Evaluation Task Force, continuation of work on RTP, policy on temporary faculty, evaluation of tenured faculty, maintaining a strong work environment.
4. SAC- Senator Lopez- Committee working on an Online Evaluation Survey from the student perspective. Other committee priorities are campus events, housing, student mental health, and learning communities.
5. SIC- Senator Carleton- reviewed committee charges and set priorities for this year’s agenda. Focus on better campus morale and communication. Committee will push forward with campus Ombudsperson, and see what we can make happen with that this year.
6. Statewide- Senators Yee, Pelaud, and Collins met together to discuss logistics of being Statewide Senators. Statewide doesn't meet in summer, so the statewide Executive Committee was involved in efforts and opportunities. There was a summer retreat in June, assigned statewide senators to standing committees and other work. Statewide Senate plenaries take place next week.
AGENDA ITEM #5—Approval of Standing Committee Rosters
Chair Hanley moved, Senator Collins second, unanimously approved.
AGENDA ITEM #6—Recommendation from Academic Senate Executive Committee: Proposed Resolution in Honor of Gail Evans Dean of Undergraduate Studies, 1st Reading
Senator Getz read the resolution, and asked Gail Evans to join him at podium at front. Resolution adopted by acclimation! Gail thanked everyone, who have been amazing colleagues and friends! Thank you with all my heart!!
AGENDA ITEM #7—Senate Orientation: Review of Senate Processes, Robert’s Rules of Order, and FAQs
Introduced at-large Senators Getz and Stowers, and Senate officers Salama (Vice Chair), and Levy (Secretary), Angela Sposito, Senate Staff, and Nicole Henderson, staff to Senate office. Welcomed ASI rep, Sonya Soltani. Senators introduced themselves.
1. Senator Salama- overview of terms from Robert’s Rules of Order:
Adjournment- time to move on; always done by chair
Point of privilege- noise, outside element interrupting Senate
I move we table… suspend discussion. Needs a second and majority vote.
Postpone consideration of something- needs majority vote.
Amend a motion- move motion be amended by…. Debatable, majority vote.
I move that… standing committee doesn’t need a second.
Objection- something is out of order- Point of Order- not debatable, not amendable
2. Brief Tour of Common Acronyms in your life as a senator! Senator Collins
Go to What is the Academic Senate on the website, and you will find FAQ sheet http://Senate.sfsu.edu/about-us .
3. Senator Stowers- Senate policies and resolutions. Policies encourage and require some kind of action, work done through committees and can be required by someone. When work has been done in committee, documents are brought to Senate; chair of the committee makes a motion and introduces the policy to the Senate. Once it’s on Senate floor, undergoes two stages, first and second reading. First reading, ask questions, figure out what’s missing or suggestions for what should be in policy. Take note and go back to committee and work on policy again. Some proposals go to second reading directly if nothing controversial. If something you raised was not changed by committee, you can make a motion to change it. Discussion and a vote. No such thing as Friendly Amendment; doesn’t exist in Robert’s Rules. We are governed by Robert’s Rules and our own bylaws and past practices. Approved policies go to the President for his consideration; if he doesn’t approve, policy is dead for that year. A record of approved policies for every year is kept on AS website. The Senate cannot override the President’s decision on a policy. However, the policy can be brought back to the Senate and the process starts at the beginning. The President needs to inform the Senate about why he has decided not to sign a particular policy.
AGENDA ITEM #8—Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee: Proposed Revisions to the Baccalaureate Review Committee Policy on Proposed amendment to S11-255,Sections VI.A.3.b and VI.A.4.b Lower Division Certification Committee and Upper Division Certification Committee memberships, 1st Reading
Senator Bettinger moved agenda item #8. No second needed. Baccalaureate Review Committee (BRC)- dealing with changes to GE curriculum on campus. Under BRC are subcommittees dealing with area requirements, e.g. critical thinking. Two permanent committees are coming online- Lower Division Certification Committee and Upper Division Certification Committee, who also approve new requests for certification. APC contacted BRC and Academic Assessment, and assured them there was a backlog of work and more people were needed to work on these committees. Proposing that on lines 19-20, rather than one, there be two representatives from each college on each committee. Lines 39-40, strike sentence regarding staggering. Would occur naturally on these committees. Two more changes- LDCC, lines 89-90 and 108-109 for UDCC- changes absolutely the same.
Discussion of Item 8- Senator Ganji questioned the need for two reps from each college. Senator Bettinger responded that the committee has a lot of work to do in assessing and reading through materials and such; and that amount of work actually requires more people. May slow down decision making but more efficient way to get the work done.
No more discussion of the item. Senator Hellman moved the item to second reading, seconded by Senator Ginwala. Now in second reading. Senator Salama called the question. A vote was taken and the item was adopted by majority.
AGENDA ITEM #9—Academic Senate Elections: The following are positions currently open on University committees of which the Academic Senate must elect representatives (the Senate elects the representatives, however candidates are not required to be Senators in all cases):
- Board of Appeals and Review (BoAR): 2 Faculty Representatives to serve a two-year term (2013-2015)- need two faculty reps to serve 2-year term. No nominations from the floor. Please spread word that we are looking for nominations, forward names to committee.
- All-University on Teacher Education Committee (AUTEC)—1 Faculty Representative to serve a one-year term (2013-2014)- We won’t vote until next Senate meeting. Robert Pope nominated by Senator Doan.
- Center for Teaching & Faculty Development (CTFD)—1 Faculty member to serve a three-year term (2013-2016) - Senator Doan nominates herself.
- Enrollment Management Committee—2 Faculty Representatives needed: 1 must be a Department Chair for a one-year term (2013-2014); 1 faculty member to serve a three-year term (2013-2016)- Senator Stowers nominated Darlene Yee for 3 year term.
- Baccalaureate Requirements Committee—1 Academic Senator to serve a one-year term (2013-2014)- Senator Getz nominated Senator Ginwala, who respectfully declined. Senator Hellman nominates himself. Approved by acclimation!
- University Budget Committee—2 Faculty to serve a three-year term (2013-2016)- Senator Yee nominated Senator Stowers, who accepted the nomination. Senator Getz nominated Senator Avani, who accepted the nomination. We will wait on this until next time; if you have additional nominations, let Senate office know.
AGENDA ITEM #10—Adjournment—no later than 5:00p.m.
Vote to adjourn 3:12PM!
Respectfully submitted by:
Eileen Levy, Secretary, Academic Senate