REGULAR MEETING OF THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE
DECEMBER 2, 1996
MINUTES
Senators excused were: Steve Bennett, Anna Bryan, David Ermann, John
Gallagher, Steven Helmling, William Idsardi,
Jeffrey Jordan, Leslie Reidel, Leonard Schwartz,
Carolyn Thoroughgood, J. Herbert Waite
Senators absent were: Shawn Phillips, Roland Smith
I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved as modified by moving the election to the
beginning of the meeting, and as amended by means of a
modification of the agenda distributed by campus mail.
II. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The Minutes of the November 4, 1996 meeting were approved as
distributed.
III. REMARKS BY PROVOST SCHIAVELLI
There were no remarks.
IV. ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Palley announced that there would be no January meeting
of the Senate, and that the February meeting would take place on
the second Monday, February 10. She also announced that the
Senate Committee on Committees and Nominations had constituted a
new General Education Committee, to be chaired by Professor Carol
Hoffecker. She conveyed a request from Professor Hoffecker for
input from Senate members.
Ballots for election of someone to fill a one semester position on
the Committee on Committees and Nominations were filled out and
collected. Jon Olson was elected.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR CHALLENGE
The following three announcements were accepted, after
clarification concerning the role of Computer Science 105 under
Item 1:
1. Revision of the Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (BEE)
2. Revision of the Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (BME)
3. Revision of the Master of Instruction
V. OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. The recommendation of the Committee on Graduate Studies with
the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education,
to extend the provisional status of the Ph.D. Program in Art
Conservation was approved as stated in the resolution below:
WHEREAS, the Ph.D. Program in Art Conservation
Research will have students complete
dissertations in this academic year, and
WHEREAS, the 1995 external review of this program
indicated the importance of such
dissertations before making the
provisional program permanent, be it
therefore
RESOLVED, that the provisional status of the Ph.D.
in Art Conservation Research be extended
to the Fall of 1997, and be it further
RESOLVED, that in the Fall of 1997, the Committee on
Graduate Studies will reconsider the issue
of permanent status and forward its
recommendation to the Coordinating
Committee on Education for action by the
Faculty Senate during the 1997-98 academic
year.
B. The recommendation of the Committee on Undergraduate Studies
to amend the Undergraduate Catalog by inserting a new policy
on academic dismissal was approved as in the resolution
stated below:
WHEREAS, the University policy currently states
that "Academic probation or dismissal may
result when a student index for any
semester drops below 1.25, or when the
quality point deficit is more than 12.99
points," and
WHEREAS, it is difficult to justify dropping
students from the University based on one
term's performance if their cumulative GPA
is 2.0 or better, and
WHEREAS, the practice of dropping students based on
a one term index only has not been
followed for years in any of the colleges,
be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the policy for academic dismissal
located in the Undergraduate Catalog,
under "Scholastic Standing," Probation,
paragraph 4, page 16, be revised as
follows: [Underlined words are to be
deleted]
Probation: When a baccalaureate degree
candidate has a cumulative grade-point index
below 2.0, the Committee on Undergraduate
Records and Certification places the student on
Academic Probation if the quality-point deficit
is 12.99 or less. Upon the recommendation of
the appropriate college dean, the committee may
place a student on probation if the index for
any semester is 1.25 or less, even if the
cumulative index is above a 2.0.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that page 17 of the Undergraduate Catalog, under
Procedure for Readmission of Undergraduate
Students Dismissed for Academic Deficiency be
revised as follows: [Underlined words are to be
deleted]
Undergraduates may be dismissed for academic
deficiency when their index for any semester is
less than 1.25 or when the quality-point deficit
is more than 12.99 points.....
Robert Taggart, Chairperson of the Committee on
Undergraduate Studies, explained that the policy being
recommended was the policy currently being used by the
administrators of the undergraduate colleges.
C. A "Sense of the Senate Resolution" concerning current
searches, introduced by Professor Victor Martuza,
Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Diversity and
Affirmative Action, was returned to the committee after
debate. In his presentation of the resolution, Chairperson
Martuza noted the total absence of minority incumbents among
major academic administrators and the limited pool of
minority candidates in the pool when the search is internal
to the University.
Salient points raised in the discussion of the resolution
were questions of precedent for such a resolution;
information that there has been an increase in the percent
of African-Americans in the EEO category of
Executive/Administrative while the percent of African-
Americans among faculty has actually declined; suggestions
from several Senators that it would be unfortunate to redo
the searches for the Deans of the new colleges at this point
in their development; a suggestion that the three
resolutions be acted upon separately; a request for
clarification as to whether the resolution actually calls
for external searches in every future search, and whether
"external searches" as understood by the committee could
include internal candidates (the answer to both questions
was yes). A motion to return the resolution as stated below
to the Faculty Senate Committee on Diversity and Affirmative
Action was adopted by a vote of 31 to 17 with 4 abstentions:
WHEREAS, the University of Delaware has recently
reaffirmed its commitment to it long-
standing Affirmative Action Policy, and
WHEREAS, the University of Delaware has never had a
minority college dean and internal
searches tend to restrict the pool of
highly qualified minority candidates, and
WHEREAS, financial exigency has not been given as
the reason for adopting internal search
procedures at this time, be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the current internal searches for the
two Dean positions for the two new merged
colleges be used to identify interim
appointments only, and be it further
RESOLVED, that national searches be initiated no
later than September 1, 1997 to identify
the best leadership for the new colleges.
and be it further
RESOLVED, that extraordinary efforts be instituted
to identify and encourage applications
from outstanding internal and external
minority candidates in all present and
future search efforts for both
administrators and faculty.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:50
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dilley
Secretary
University Faculty Senate
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