SFSU Academic Senate Meeting
Minutes for September 8, 1998
The Academic Senate was called to order by Chair Mark Phillips at 2:10 p.m.
Senate Members Present:
Aaron, Eunice; Bartscher, Patricia; Bernstein, Marian; Cancino, Herlinda; Chen,
Yu-Charn; Cherny, Robert; Collier, James; Consoli, Andres; Contreras, Rey; Corrigan,
Robert; Craig, JoAnn; Cullers, Susan; Duke, Jerry; Fehrman, Ken; Ferretti, Charlotte;
Fielden, Ned; Flowers, Will; Ganji, Vijay; Goldsmith, Helen; Graham, Michael;
Graham, Minnie; Harnly, Caroline; Hom, Marlon; Hu, Sung; Jenkins, Lee; Jerris,
Scott; Johnson, Dane; La Belle, Thomas; Montenegro, Ricardo; Moss, Joanna; Oñate,
Abdiel; Phillips, Mark; Raggio, Marcia; Scoble, Don; Shapiro, Jerald; Shrivastava,
Vinay; Swanson, Deborah; Terrell, Dawn; Turitz, Mitch; Valladares, Juan; Vega,
Sandra; Vaughn, Pamela; Verhey, Marilyn; Wade, Patricia; Warren, Mary Anne;
Warren, Penelope; Wong, Alfred; Zieff, Susan; Zoloth-Dorfman, Laurie.
Senate Members Absent: Elia, John(exc.); Haro, Roberto(exc.);
Strong, Rob; Choo, Freddie; Nicholson, Joel; Blank, Mark; Hammett, Jennifer;
Tarakji, Ghassan; Eisman, Gerald; Kelley, James(exc.); Barnes, Paul(exc.).
Senate Interns Present:
Guests: S. Taylor, H. Matson, K. Monteiro, A. Hittner, G. Whitaker,
J. Kassiola, R. Maghroori, B. Lewis, D. Hunt, R. Carmichael, D. Schafer, G.
West, P. Saffold, A. Nemon, J. Kitses, M. Dumon.
Announcements and Report
Chairs Report
- Chair Phillips welcomed all to our new home at Seven Hills and thanked those
who helped in making this move possible, especially Mark Goodrich, Dania Howell,
and Hollis Matson.
- Phillips introduced Susan Cullers, the new Administrative Assistant
in the Academic Senate Office, as well as the members of the 1998-99 Executive
Committee: Dawn Terrell (Psychology), Vice Chair; Dane Johnson (World &
Comparative Literature), Secretary; Penelope Warren (Counseling & Psychological
Services) and Pamela Vaughn (Classics), members at large; Helen Goldsmith
(Advising Center), Academic Policies Committee Chair; Jerry Duke (Dance),
Academic Program Review Committee Chair; Alfred Wong (Ethnic Studies), Curriculum
Review and Approval Committe Chair; Marlon Hom (Asian American Studies), Faculty
Affairs Committee Chair; and Ken Fehrman (CFS/D), Student Affairs Committee
Chair.
- Phillips underlined his belief in the primary role of faculty in decisions
that concern our professional lives and roles, but also cautioned us about
possible excesses, urging the Senate to focus on what is most important, be
clear on our priorities, and avoid dealing with the uncontrollable.
- Phillips stressed the important work of the Senate committees, suggesting
that most propositions should pass the Senate with minimal debate. Debate
on the Senate floor should focus on policies and issues that are both important
and controversial; such debate can be particularly valuable on issues where
we have some opportunity to impact final outcomes. Some of the most important
items on which the Senate should focus this year are revising the PSSI
policy, improving processes of assessment, and bettering human/cross-cultural
understanding on campus while differentiating between policies that need revision
and processes that need clarification.
- Hollis Matson, Director of Space Management, updated the Senate on
Verducci Hall and Centennial Square. FEMA has given money to
implode Verducci Hall, and we are committed to replacing it with as many as
possible of Verducci's 760 beds in low-rise, affordable residence apartments.
Verducci's footprint is too small to meet these needs, and the university
is looking at replacement sites, such as Lot 8, which could meet all the commitments
above; thus, Centennial Square is on hold.
Agenda Item #1 - Approval of Agenda for Meeting of September 8, 1998
As there were no objections, the agenda was approved as printed.
Agenda Item #2 - Approval of Minutes for Meeting of May 12, 1998
Two sets of minutes were considered (one for the "old" Senate and one for the
"new" Senate). Both sets of minutes were approved as printed.
Agenda Item #3 - Elections
All-University Teacher Education Committee
Elizabeth Sommers (English) and Fred Astren (Jewish Studies) and submitted
their names for consideration. There were no other nominations from the floor.
The vote was taken and Elizabeth Sommers was elected.
Graduate Council
The following people submitted their names for consideration: William Bigler
(CBLS), Saul Steier (Humanities), Shannon Perry (Nursing), Vinay Shrivastava
(BECA), Bill Nichols (Cinema), and Subodh S. Bhat (Marketing). There were no
other nominations from the floor. Shannon Perry was elected for a two year
term. William Bigler was elected for a one year term.
Associated Students Legislature
Associated Students President Ricardo Montenegro requested that Robert Walker
(Social Work) be elected as the faculty representative to the Associated Students
Legislature. Robert Walker was elected by acclamation.
Agenda Item #4 - Report from Vice President La Belle
Provost La Belle recapped initiatives coming from Academic Affairs.
Assessment has been most heard about: from macro-indicators on general
education, academic majors, and evaluation of academic performance to the WASC
guidelines, CUSP process, and system-wide favoring, assessment is expected to
continue to loom large. There is a mini-grant program for faculty to come up
with innovative assessment programs.
Other initiatives La Belle discussed were professional development of faculty,
perfecting the evaluation of teaching instruments, and a successful year
reactivating post-tenure review. Faculty support activities included
travel awards and mini-grants. There was also an effort to increase recognition
of research, teaching, and service. Multicultural perspectives in the curriculum
will be further developed through a mini-grant program to aid faculty in infusing
courses with multicultural content. La Belle anticipates the College of Ethnic
Studies taking a leading role in this initiative.
La Belle addressed the on-going initiatives in remediation. Math and
English tests were required for enrollment, with a dramatic increase in available
sections of remediation courses this fall. This is an effort to guarantee freshmen
the courses they need to be fully equipped with basic skills by their second
year. Improved relations with high schools and community colleges continue,
with respect to influencing their curricula and increasing the likelihood of
student success upon entering SFSU.
The new initiative on advising adds to the policy on mandatory advising
already in place, implementing the Senate-approved five point advising plan.
The central university takes care of orientation and probation advising while
faculty or programs address the other three pivotal points--advising upon advancement
to upper division, selection into a major, and graduation. La Belle felt that
the priority given to advising will provide a better picture of student needs,
better understanding of enrollment trends, better scheduling of courses, a better
idea of how to use resources, improvement of retention and graduation rates,
while clarifying learning objectives. There were two APC initiatives connected
to advising: declaring majors earlier and making it more difficult to continue
after students have obtained a maximum number of units.
La Belle described a new orientation course to be offered for first
time freshmen and transfer students. Initially, it will be offered to Liberal
Studies students considering teaching as a career, then grow larger over time
to include all students who enter the university. La Belle saw this new course
as linked to advising and a better understanding of students in general. He
hoped to help show how individual APC initiatives tie to other issues.
Agenda Item #5 - Report from Amy Hittner, Chair - Programs for Asilomar
Retreat
Amy Hittner reported on plans for the upcoming Asilomar Faculty,
Staff, and Administrative Retreat, January 17-19, 1999. She urged us to
capture the spirit of Asilomar with workshops that are both fun and academic,
creating and building community. Faculty with program proposals should contact
their college representatives, and proposals from all members of the campus
community are encouraged. Hittner also asked the Senate to come up with incentives
for assistant professors to attend the retreat. Cost will be announced, but
it will be less than two years ago. In honor of the Centennial, the tentative
theme is "The Way We Were, The Way We Are, the Way We Want to Be: Our First
Hundred Years . . . Our Next Hundred Years."
Agenda Item #6 - Report from the Centennial Advisory Committee
James Collier, Vice President for University Advancement, reported on
the planning for SFSU's Centennial Celebration, which will begin January
1, 1999. The thirty member advisory committee has received 82 proposals and
calls for more with a deadline of September 30, 1998. There will be three peak
event periods: Founders' Week, around March 22, 1999; Centennial Commencement;
and a Centennial gala downtown at the renovated city hall in November or December.
The Centennial web-site is in full operation. Centennial activities will also
be publicized through a Centennial column in Campus Memo, a presentation at
Asilomar, and a Centennial magazine.
Kenneth Monteiro, University Dean for Human Relations, addressed Founders'
Week more specifically, as an example of faculty and staff input for the Centennial.
Monteiro felt that the Centennial is a celebration of what we've accomplished
and what we aim for in the future. Proposals under consideration include a lecture
series, program open houses, and a campus-wide celebration. Monteiro considered
faculty commitment to be very important and urged faculty to think about what
they want highlighted and celebrated, for the academic part of the house is
the heart of the house.
Agenda Item #7 - Proposed Certificate in Independent Living Center Practices
(Undergraduate)
CRAC Chair Alfred Wong introduced this proposed certificate program.
It would provide training for staff providing services for the disabled at independent
living centers, and it has been developed in collaboration with five Bay Area
independent living centers. Most of the courses are paired with courses that
are part of regular Counseling Department course offerings. Wong introduced
Alice Nemon, Professor of Counseling, as a resource.
Mitch Turitz asked whether the research project at the end of the program
relied exclusively on print resources. Nemon responded that all possible sources
were to be used. Robert Cherny asked if additional resources would be
required once the grants that are funding some of the teaching run out. Nemon
replied that the move to a distance teaching model through Extended Learning,
which will reach people in independent living centers who have no other way
of being trained, should fund courses in the future. They thought it best to
start on campus for the first time. Abdiel Oñate asked how many
units were required for the certificate. Nemon answered 18.
M/S/P (Fehrman, Vaughn) to move to second reading.
Cherny raised a more general concern, which he considered a policy issue for
the future that the Senate needs to give some serious attention: if we convert
programs that the Senate approved as classroom courses to distance learning,
do those programs have to come back to the Senate for re-approval given the
fact that they are being taught in a significantly different mode than what
has been approved by the Senate?
M/S/P to close debate.
The vote was taken and the item passed with two abstentions.
Agenda Item #8 - Proposed Revisions to Curriculum Leading to a BA in Cinema
CRAC Chair Alfred Wong introduced the proposed changes to the BA in
Cinema. The restructured curriculum would help reduce the student population
in the Cinema Major, where there are currently 600 plus majors and over 300
applications for Fall 1998. The department would prefer to accommodate all students
who would like to study Cinema, but resources are limited. Wong introduced Robert
Lewis, acting Chair of Cinema, as a resource.
Deborah Swanson asked why the writing competence requirement, either
ENG 214 or the JEPET, was not exclusively an upper-division requirement. Lewis
explained that the department wanted a check on people's writing abilities,
but did not want to exclude people, so the JEPET seemed like one way to do it.
M/S/P (Vaughn, Cherny) to move to second reading.
M/S/P to close debate.
The vote was taken and the item passed.
Bob Cherny felt that the above was a creative way of dealing with a problem,
rather than declaring impaction, which is much more involved and limits enrollment
in other ways. This way would keep departmental control over maintaining the
quality of curriculum.
The Senate was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dane Johnson
Secretary to the Faculty