Prior to the start of the regular meeting of the University Faculty Senate, President David Roselle presided over the semi-annual general faculty meeting. After noting that the 5 year Campaign for Delaware reached 98% of its $225 million goal after just two years, President Roselle proceeded to review the state of the University as part of his main remarks, "A Decade of Progress 1990-2000." He noted that just prior to ten years ago, there was a failed presidency, budget issues, deferred maintenance of the physical plant, demographic concerns, compensation lagged and a general attitude of cynicism was prevalent. At the same time, there existed an excellent faculty, large endowments, and an attractive campus. The new administration, in 1990, set a goal of becoming a university that was student-centered characterized by scholarship and a creative living/learning environment, with faculty and staff that were competitively compensated. During the past decade, that goal has been largely met: 28 buildings have been renovated, restored or newly built with $415 million invested in the physical plant; deferred maintenance problems have been largely overcome; student scholarship support more than tripled; external grant support increased 2.5 times from $40 million to $100 million expected in 2001; private gifts tripled; our students are technologically advantaged with 96% using email; graduate fellowships doubled; and we were cited in the Carnegie Report for our emphasis on research as part of undergraduate instruction.

Following the general faculty meeting, the regular meeting of the Faculty Senate commenced.

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Burt Abrams, Iris Snyder, T. Fraser Russell, Eric Kaler, Fred Masterson, Clifford Keil

MEMBERS ABSENT: David Ames, Nii Attoh-Okine, David Barlow, Eric Doyle, Paul Mettler, Benjamin Steiner, John Weiss, Richard Wolbers

1.    ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
        The agenda was adopted.

II.    APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
        The minutes of the September 11, 2000 meeting of the Senate were approved.

III.    REMARKS BY PROVOST SCHIAVELLI
        Provost Schiavelli had no remarks.

IV.    ANNOUNCEMENTS
        President Judith Van Name made three announcements:  doctoral students are now eligible for the 120 day loan period for library materials; the Senate committee list is now available; and there will be open hearings for the Middle States report (available on the web) on November 9, 11:00 a.m. in 329 Purnell and on November 16, 3:30 p.m. in 103 Gore. President Van Name then introduced William Frawley and Harry Shipman who reported on the General Education program. Professor Frawley first spoke about the LIFE program designed for freshmen. Currently 115 students are taking advantage of this opportunity in which clusters of up to 20 students are housed together and take a common core of courses, supplemented by a 1 credit enrichment course led by peer mentors. Supporting activities include development techniques to assess the program, website development, and implementing training programs for future peer mentors and involved faculty. There are 15 clusters planned for Spring 2001, with an option for freshmen to join in non-residential clusters. The program’s goal is to enroll 300 freshmen students for Fall 2001. Professors Frawley and Shipman then both reported on the Pathways initiatives. Thus far, 82 faculty have expressed interest in working on this initiative, with 28 course proposals submitted. Currently, seven "pathways" courses are being offered to over 400 students. The General Education Committee is developing criteria to evaluate whether or not a course qualifies for the Pathways designation. It is anticipated that 30-100 courses will be needed each year to satisfy student demand. To this end, 10 grants of up to $15,000 (due December 18) will be awarded to develop courses that address any of the four general education goals of LIFE, basic skills, discovery learning, and/or a capstone experience. In addition to this new grant program, upcoming activities also include re-examining the Instructional Improvement Grant program to tie that more closely to the goals and themes of general education, coordinating the various faculty development Institutes, and fact-finding activities among organizations conducting similar activities.

V.     CONSENT AGENDA
        A.   Announcements for Challenge. There were two items in the consent agenda. A revision to the existing major to the Graduate Program, Department of Nursing to list one new course in the revised policy manual and decrease the credits in another course was approved by consent. Upon request by a senator, the second item–a proposed revision to the existing major in the Master of Physical Therapy program to increase PHYT 621 (Practice Clinic) from 1 credit to 3 credits– was removed as a block item from the consent agenda to allow for separate discussion and vote as part of the announcements for challenge. After discussion centering on standards for granting particular amounts of credit for courses based on amount of work and time required, the motion to approve the increase in credit hours carried.

        B. Resolutions. There were no resolutions.

VI.   OLD BUSINESS
        There was no old business.

VII.  NEW BUSINESS
         A.  There was no new business on the agenda. Hearing no other proposed new business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen F. Stein, Secretary
University Faculty Senate