Minutes: December 10th, 1996

Minutes of December 10, 1996 Senate Meeting

The Academic Senate was called to order by Chair Mark Phillips at 2:10 p.m.

Senate Members Present: Sanjoy Banerjee, Gerrie Baughman, Sally

Berlowitz, Marian Bernstein, Mark Blank, Yu-Charn Chen, Robert Cherny, Jerry

Duke, Ken Fehrman, Helen Gillotte, Helen Goldsmith, Peter Haikalis, Ann Hallum,

Gary Hammerstrom, Jennifer Hammett, Caroline Harnly, Mary Ann Haw, Marlon Hom,

Bonnie Homan, William Hopkins, Rick Houlberg, Todd Imahori, Dane Johnson, James

Kelley, Thomas La Belle, Wanda Lee, Lois Lyles, Hollis Matson, Eunice McKinney-Aaron,

Ken Monteiro, Mohsen Naser-Tavakolian, Mark Phillips, Elisabeth Prinz, Mario

Rivas, Jay Schrock, Don Scoble, Hamid Shahnasser, Anita Silvers, Peggy Smith,

Dawn Terrell, Lana Thomson, Thaddeus Usowicz, Marilyn Verhey, Patricia Wade,

Mary Ann Warren, Penelope Warren, Nancy Wilkinson, Alfred Wong, Darlene Yee.

Senate Members Absent: George Woo(exc.), David Hemphill(exc.),

Eugene Michaels, Roberto Rivera, Will Flowers(exc.), Patricia Bartscher(exc.),

Robert Corrigan(exc.), Lee Sprague, Michelle Cheng, Eric Hammer.

Senate Interns Present: Jaimee Sagisi.

Guests: G. Whitaker, J. Kassiola, V. Thompson, R. Gutierrez,

G. Eisman, P. Saffold, K. Bowman, B. Westwood, W. Mullins, L. Lemire, M. Ritter,

K. Wible, C. Grice.

Announcements and Report

Chair's Report

  • The deadline for registration for Asilomar Retreat is Friday, December

    13.

  • Bonnie Homan/BACS appointed as Secretary to the Faculty. Homan is

    replacing William Hopkins who will be on leave during the Spring 1997 semester.

  • The November 27, 1996 memo from Anita Silvers (attached to the agenda) comments

    on the draft Strategic Plan and the CUSP Review Process.

Agenda Item #1 - Approval of Agenda for Meeting of December 10, 1996

Agenda item #4 was amended as follows: "from the Statewide Senators"

was deleted from the title. Text under the title was amended to the following:

"Senate Chair Phillips will be presenting an up-date on the Statewide Senate

Chairs meeting hold on Friday, November 22." The revisions were approved.

The agenda was approved as amended.

Agenda Item #2 - Approval of Minutes for Meeting of November 19, 1996

The minutes were approved as printed.

Agenda Item #3 - Report from Vice President La Belle

Provost La Belle briefly commented on recent efforts in the area of

technology-mediated instruction. He commented that he was struck by the

number of times he heard the words 'technology' and 'education' used together.

He then discovered that there was no recent report on this matter and that the

topic appeared not to be central to the deliberations of the various CUSP groups.

Therefore, he decided to bring together a working group of Vicki Casella/CET,

Peter DeWees/Extended Learning, Frank Moakley/Audio-Visual, Erwin Seibel/Undergraduate

Studies, and Gail Whitaker/Academic Program Development to prepare a briefing

paper on the topic and to set in motion a discussion of the issues facing the

campus. This group used as a working definition of "distance education"

one taken from the American Council of Education. The working group has issued

its report.

Agenda Item #4 - Report from Chair Phillips on Statewide Senate Chairs

Meeting

Chair Phillips commented briefly on a meeting of CSU Campus Chairs

on November 22, 1996. The meeting focused on three items: 1) technology and

the concern that campuses may be using technology for inappropriate purposes;

2) faculty involvement in budget planning--CSU campuses appear to be using a

variety of approaches and faculty involvement; 3) PSSI and the attack on tenure

across the country. This was the most significant item on the agenda; it will

appear also on the agenda for the next campus chairs' meeting.

Agenda Item #5 - Principles of Consultation

Chair Phillips offered the following background for this agenda item:

In the Fall of 1992, the Academic Senate adopted a policy on administrative

searches which was then amended by President Corrigan. Following this action,

an ad hoc committee was established to review this policy and recommend subsequent

changes. The policy as amended by the President has governed us for a number

of years but has not always been followed. This has occurred for a number of

reasons, including a) the limitations of the policy; b) the limitations of any

policy in this area; and c) the gap between the signed policy and original preferences

of the Senate. In the case of the very successful search for a new Vice-President/Provost

for Academic Affairs, the Executive Committee and the President formed a committee

which we felt was far more representative and better skilled for this search

than would have been provided for in a strict application of the policy.

The Executive Committee discussed at length the possibility of revising

the policy and decided not to do so because 1) a great expenditure of time would

be needed, detracting from time spent on more important issues such as PSSIs,

the evaluation of teaching effectiveness, and revisions in the HRTP policies;

2) the likelihood that some key areas would continue to remain unresolved between

the President and the Senate (however, informally we have been able to bridge

that gap through a good working relationship); 3) how we work with the policy

is perceived as more important than the strict application of the policy.

The Executive Committee developed a set of principles to guide us rather than

a new policy. These guidelines do not need presidential approval. If approved

by the Senate, these Principles will serve as a guide in applying the policy

in dialogue with the President.

Chair Phillips then asked the Senate to formally approve these Principles.

Duke/Matson moved to accept the Principles. This was approved unanimously.

Agenda Item #6 - Proposed New Undergraduate Degree in Environmental Studies

CRAC Chair Hallum introduced this item indicating that Dean Kassiola/BSS

was present as a resource. The proposed program will be a free-standing major

in Environmental Studies. It will exist apart from any specific existing department

because of its necessarily high multi- and inter-disciplinary nature. Resource

support for the program will be equally shared between the Colleges of BSS and

Science & Engineering. Permanent administrative housing will be in the College

of BSS. Courses will be mainly from the Colleges of Humanities, Business, Education,

Ethnic Studies, Health & Human Services and Creative Arts. The objective

of the program is to produce exceptional graduates who are grounded in the study

of contemporary environmental issues in a way which transcends any existing

programs at San Francisco State University.

Hopkins/Matson moved the item to second reading. This passed. Senator

Cherny then inquired about resource implications. Kassiola stated that two

new hires were anticipated. Senator Yee then asked about the concentrations

and type of degrees anticipated. Hallum responded that the first two concentrations

lead to a BS degree; the latter three lead BA degrees.

Houlberg/Silvers moved to approve the item. This item was approved.

Agenda Item #7 - Handling/Addressing Violence on Campus and in the Classroom

Rick Gutierrez/Counseling & Psychological Services provided background

material for this video presentation. He indicated that at the suggestion of

the Student Affairs Committee, a special presentation would be given jointly

by members of the Counseling and Psychological Services, the University Police

Department and the University Discipline Office on handling and addressing violence

in the classroom and on campus. The program is being provided with the belief

that much of the violence can be avoided or minimized with pro-active measures.

A twenty-minute film was then presented followed by questions from Senators

and comments by Gutierrez, Penny Saffold, Kevin Bowman, and other members of

the groups sponsoring the presentation.

Several comments were made and discussed: faculty should specify a code of

conduct in each course syllabus and discuss it with the members of the class;

faculty should know their options in dealing with disruptions in class; faculty

should be aware of faculty resources/training regarding these matters.

Following the film and questions, Chair Phillips reminded all present that

the Senate was instrumental several years ago in securing additional funds for

Counseling and Psychological Services. Phillips then thanked Gutierrez and his

team for the presentation.

Agenda Item #8 - CUSP Up-Date

Senator Warren presented a brief up-date. She indicated that CUSP held

a five-hour meeting focusing on Academic Excellence and Teaching and Learning.

She commented briefly on recent CUSP activity in other areas as well.

As there were no questions, the Senate adjourned at 3:48 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

William Hopkins

Secretary to the Faculty

Meeting Date (Archive)