Minutes: February 26th, 2008

ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING

MINUTES

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008

SEVEN HILLS CONFERENCE CENTER, NOB
HILL ROOM

2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

CALL TO ORDER: 2:12 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Chair Kohn described visits he made with President Corrigan
and the leaders of two campus unions, Ramón Castellblanch (California Faculty
Association) and Russell Kilday-Hicks (CSU Employees Union), to the
district offices of three local legislators: Mark Leno, Fiona Ma and Gene
Mullins, to discuss the budget crisis and University funding.

AGENDA
ITEM #1—Approval of the Agenda for February 26, 2008

The
agenda was approved by unanimous voice.

AGENDA
ITEM #2—Approval of the Minutes for the February 12, 2007

The
minutes were approved by unanimous voice.

AGENDA ITEM #3—Report from Linda Buckley, AVP of
Academic Planning and Educational Effectiveness—CUSP Committee Reports Graduate
Programs—report to be heard no later than 2:15 p.m.

Dr. Buckley reported on the results of two task forces on
CUSP goals: one on graduate programs and one on equity and social justice.
Copies of the task force reports will soon be available on the Academic Senate
website. Dr. Buckley described the campus focus on equity and social justice as
the "signature value" of San Francisco State. She said that four
recommendations from the Post Baccalaureate Progress Report and five
recommendations from the Social Justice and Equity Progress Report had been
approved by the President's Cabinet for implementation.

From the report of the Task Force on Post Baccalaureate Education:

1. Seek financial support for
graduate students, including fee waivers, subsidized housing and child care,
and increase the number of available scholarships and fellowships. (This
effort has begun with the newly formed provost's scholarships for graduate
students. Work in this area will continue with involvement from ORSP and
Advancement.)

2. Increase
outreach efforts to attract and retain students from underrepresented
groups. (The Division of Graduate Studies has increased its recruitment
efforts and has revised its website to function more as an outreach tool.)

3. Conduct a study of the student
support services needed by graduate students. (The Division of Graduate
Studies is conducting and on-line survey to assess the needs of graduate
students.)

4. Work to ensure the use of the
sixth cycle of program review to affirm the quality and sustainability of SF
State graduate programs. (The Office of Academic Planning and Educational
Effectiveness will be responsible for gathering and publicizing 6th cycle data
on program quality.)

From the report of the Task Force on Assessment of CUSP II Goal 1, Social
Justice and Equity:

1. A task force should be formed to
determine how to bring together and coordinate the various campus functions and
activities regarding social justice and equity. (The President referred
this back to the Social Justice committee and asked them to come forward with a
recommendation.)

2. An academic requirement should be
instituted that would prepare students to analyze and understand issues of
equity and social justice. (This recommendation has been referred to the
Graduation Requirements Task Force.)

3. An event hosted by Academic
Affairs should be staged each (such as a mini-conference or symposium) in which
faculty can showcase research and projects that are related to issues of social
justice. (This recommendation will be referred to the office or person
that is the outcome from recommendation #1 above.)

Announcement
from President Corrigan

President
Corrigan announced a Town Hall meeting on the budget that will be held on March
17, 12:00-1:30 in Knuth Hall jointly sponsored by the administration and CFA
and CSUEU. Campus administrators will discuss the current situation, and
methods for lobbying government officials will be presented.

AGENDA
ITEM #4—Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Revision to
Academic Senate Bylaws, Section IIC, 1^st Reading

The
recommendation was moved by Senator Meredith. After a short discussion, Senator
Steier moved to consider the item in second reading. The Secretary failed to
note who seconded Senator Steier's motion. The motion to move to second reading
passed on a unanimous voice vote.

Senator
Fielden then moved three changes:

1. on line 7, add a comma after
   "occur"
2. on line 8 change
   "goes" to "go"
3. on line 11 change "to
   either declaration by any member" to "by any member to either
   declaration"

The motion was seconded by Senator Salama and passed by
unanimous voice vote.

Senator Sheldon moved to add the phrase "with any concerns from the
body" to line 13 following "Executive Committee". The motion
failed to attract a second.

The main motion then passed by unanimous voice vote.

AGENDA
ITEM #5—Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee: Proposed Revisions
to the Syllabus Policy, 1^st Reading

The
proposal was moved by Senator Ulasewicz for the Faculty Affairs Committee.
After some discussion, Senator Chelberg moved the item to second reading, with
a second by Senator Van Dam. The move to second reading passed on a unanimous
voice vote.

Discussion
then paused for item 7, which had reached its time certain.

AGENDA
ITEM #7—Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee:
Proposed Revisions to the MFA Degree Requirements for Creative Writing, 1^st
Reading—proposal to be heard no later than 3:00p.m.

Senator
Linder moved this item for the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee.
Professor Chernoff (Creative Writing) and Professor Conboy (Theatre Arts) made
presentations in support of the proposal. Senator Steier moved the item to
second reading, with a second from Senator Ulasewicz. The move to second
reading passed on unanimous voice vote, after which the main motion passed on
unanimous voice vote.

AGENDA
ITEM #8—Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee:
Proposed Name Change of the MS Degree in Applied Geosciences, 1^st
Reading—proposal to be heard no later than 3:15p.m.

Senator
Linder moved this item for the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee.
Professor Grove (Geosciences) made a presentation in support of the proposal.
Senator Chelberg moved the item to second reading, with a second from Senator
Steier. The move to second reading passed on unanimous voice vote, after which
the main motion passed on unanimous voice vote.

AGENDA
ITEM #5—Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee: Proposed Revisions
to the Syllabus Policy, (Continued)

The
Senate continued discussion in second reading. Senator Sheldon moved to amend
line 5 by adding the phrase: "office hours, "after "office
number,". Senator Van Dam seconded. The amendment passed by voice vote.

The
discussion of the proposal was vigorous, and an attempt by Senator Chelberg to
call the question failed 20-11. A later call of the question by Senator Bloom
passed 28-3. The policy then passed on a voice vote with one abstention.

AGENDA
ITEM #6—Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Academic Senate
2008-2009 Meeting Schedule—Proposal to be heard no later than 3:45 p.m. 1^st
Reading

Chair
Kohn asked if the body wished to consider this item in second reading, as there
was some urgency in starting the selection of next year's new Senators. The
move to second reading passed on a unanimous voice vote. The meeting schedule
then passed by a unanimous voice vote.

AGENDA
ITEM #9—Adjournment—3:46