ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING
MINUTES
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
SEVEN HILLS CONFERENCE CENTER
NOB HILL ROOM
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
SF State Academic Senate
Seven Hills Conference Center – Nob Hill Room
11/12/2013
Academic Senate minutes
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.
ATTENDANCE:
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Anderson, David Avani, Nathan Azadpur, Mohammad Baines, AnnMarie Barranco, Joseph Bartscher, Patricia Bettinger, Chris Alamilla Boyd, Nan Boyle, Andrea Buckley, Linda Cholette Susan Collins, Robert Doan, Therese Ganji, Ahmad Getz, Trevor Ginwala, Cyrus Hackenberg, Sara
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Hammer, Mike Hanley, Lawrence Harris, Shimina Hellman, David Hill, Lorna Holzman, Barbara Howard, Pamela Kilday-Hicks, Russel Lewis, Julia Levy, Eileen Li, Wen-Chao Lopez, Eurania Mendolla, Paul Pasion, Sally Pelaud, Isabelle Robertson, Bruce
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Rosser, Sue Salama, Mohammad Sigmon, Mark Spiva Derrick Stowers, Genie Thapar, Manav Trogu, Pino Tumbat, Gulnur Usowicz, Thaddeus Vasche, Jason Wanek, Linda Wilckzak, Cynthia Yee-Melichar Darlene Yoo, Grace
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Absences: Alvarenga, Gabriela (abs); Carleton, Troi (abs); Chang, Sandy (abs); Chen, Lily(abs); Clavier, Sophie(abs); Cortez, Ronald (exc); Donohue, Patricia (abs); Gamboa, Yolanda (abs); Landry, Lynette (abs); Lau, Jenny (abs); McDougal, Serie (abs); Monteiro, Ken (abs); Soltani, Sonya (abs); Strong, Robert (abs); Williams, Robert (abs); Wong, Les (exc)
Guests: Brian Beatty, Maggie Beers, Sacha Bunge, Helen Goldsmith
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
AGENDA ITEM #1—Approval of the Minutes for October 29, 2013- APPROVED
AGENDA ITEM #2—Approval of the Agenda for November 12, 2013- APPROVED
AGENDA ITEM #3—Chair’s Report
1. Thank you to standing committee chairs for diligent and indispensable work for entire university.
2. Reminder to not sacrifice Academic Senate business in the midst of end of semester busyness. Paraphrased a quote from Horace: “It is sweet and right to serve your university!”
AGENDA ITEM #4—Report: Standing Committee Chairs & CSU Senators—Brief Updates
1. APC- Senator Bettinger- There are four items on the agenda for today’s Senate deliberations.
2. CRAC- Senator Barranco- Complementary Studies proposals are being reviewed and process should be completed by the end of Fall semester.
3. FAC- Senator Baines- Policy on Temporary Faculty coming to Senate today. Revision of Evaluation of Tenured Faculty Policy will be presented at next Senate meeting. Committee is preparing for Online Course Evaluation process and feedback.
4. SAC- Senator Lopez- Committee focusing on three topics, Mental Health and Health Care, Orientation and First Year Experience, and Transportation.
5. SIC- Senator Carleton- Committee completed draft of Informal Complaint Process, and will distribute for feedback before policy is brought to Senate for review and action.
6. CSU Statewide- Senator Collins- Statewide senators attended second CSU Senate meetings on 10/31 and 11/1. Passed several resolutions: Changes to Bylaws of Academic Senate, Legislative Advocacy Principles, Support for Extension of Stateway Curriculum Pilot Program for Remediation.
AGENDA ITEM #5—Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee: Proposed Summer Calendar for 2014, 1st Reading
1. Senator Bettinger moved the item, no second required. The motion is the proposed summer calendar for 2014, in first reading. Calendar comes out of Academic Resources, via Alvina Lee. APC’s main task is to determine whether it’s in accordance with Academic Senate policy and look for anomalies. After brief discussion noting the absence of dates on the proposed calendar, the proposal will return in second reading at a later date.
AGENDA ITEM #6—Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee: Proposed All-University Online Education Committee, 1st Reading
1. Moved by Senator Bettinger, APC Chair, no second required, motion proposed- All-University Online Education Committee.
2. This new committee would meet for 2 ½ years and cover all things related to online education. Since we are receiving a number of directives from Long Beach and Sacramento regarding online education, and changes in CalState Online, the committee recommends that we gather the heads of various committees, including online technology, and have them meet 2-3 times per semester to create an orderly flow of information. The main goal is information gathering and dissemination.
3. Discussion followed regarding actual committee membership, differentiation of this committee and ETAC, and the idea of the temporary nature of this committee.
4. Senator Bettinger will return the item to the Senate for second reading at a later date.
AGENDA ITEM #7—Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee: Proposed Academic Freedom Principles Policy, 1st Reading
1. Senator Bettinger, APC Chair, moved the item, no second required, motion proposed- Academic Freedom Principles Policy, first reading. This is not actually an alteration of current policy in place, as the Academic Freedom Policy in place since 1972 was done away with during last year’s session and we were in process of creating new academic policy. The revised policy passed in last year’s Senate, and it was forwarded to President Wong, who declined to sign. Based on discussion of Academic Freedom, APC recommended changes from policy passed last year but didn’t become policy.
2. Changes were made throughout the policy, particularly the relationship between academic responsibility and academic freedom. The document under review is the document that was passed last year, with modifications. Senator Bettinger met with both President Wong and Patty Bartscher early this semester, which led to a fruitful discussion and resulted in a stronger document.
3. Several senators voiced their appreciation for the policy, as it’s been a long time coming, and shows a lot of work on part of committee. Senate members were appreciative of Hank Reichman’s presentation on Academic Freedom to the body, and have a deeper understanding of the issues after hearing his remarks.
4. Motion made and approved to move document to second reading. Discussion continued and a motion was made regarding making specific changes in some of the language of the document. This motion failed, and the body voted and passed the original motion to approve the policy. The policy will now go to President Wong for his approval.
AGENDA ITEM #8—Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee: Proposed Revisions to S11-255, Section II.B Minimum grade requirement in all Basic Skills courses (Areas A1-3; B4) in General Education at San Francisco State, Minimum Grade Requirement, 1st Reading
1. Senator Bettinger, APC Chair, moved this item, motion regarding minimum grade requirements for General Education. Currently, SFSU students can get D- and fulfill requirements. Last year, grades in D range meant no competency in that area, and holds our students to different standards than transfer students coming to SFSU. Debate focused on whether minimum passing grade should be C or C. There already are policies in place that state that the minimum pass grade is C- in Written Communication, and changing this would result in transfer issues to/from other schools. Committee put in language that C- is the minimum grade. 2. The document was moved to second reading, and the motion was approved.
3. Second reading debate should focus on for or against, or amendments to motion.
There was no further discussion of the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.
AGENDA ITEM #9—Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee: Revisions to the Policy on Temporary Faculty, #F99-160, 1st Reading
1. Senator Baines- FAC Chair, moved item, motion regarding revisions to the Policy on Temporary Faculty. The existing policy has not been updated since 1999, and does not reflect the current CBA or CFA Lecturers’ Handbook. FAC received feedback from HR, Faculty Affairs, and CFA as they worked to revise the policy, and thanks everyone for their input into this work.
2. Discussion followed and the item was moved to second reading.
3. No further discussion, and a motion was made to approve the document. The motion to approve passed unanimously. Chair Hanley thanked FAC for their good work.
AGENDA ITEM #10—Adjournment—no later than 5:00p.m.
Meeting adjourned at 3:21PM.
Respectfully submitted by Eileen Levy, Secretary, Academic Senate