MINUTES OF MAY 11, 1992 MEETING
Senators not in attendance were: Robert Knecht, Peter Lomtevas, Michelle
Provost-Craig, Alfred Wedel
Senators excused were: Costel Denson, Alexander Doberenz, Reed Geiger, James
Hawk, Patricia Haynor, Douglas Miller, Henry Nyce,
Betty Paulanka, Larry Peterson, John Pikulski, Leslie
Reidel, Daniel Rich, David P. Roselle, Carolyn
Thoroughgood
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Taggart announced that William Gerhlein's name was
inadvertently omitted from the list of new members to be confirmed at
the May 4 meeting and should be added as a member of the Committee on
Promotions and Tenure. He reiterated notice for the Open Hearing on the
Master of Instruction Program in Economic Education. Finally, he
thanked all retiring Senators.
V. NEW BUSINESS
Item H. Recommendation from the Committee on Instructional, Computing
and Research Support Services (R. Wilson, Chairperson), setting forth a
Policy for Responsible Computing at the University of Delaware. After a
friendly amendment to change the language of the second resolution from
"will modify" to "may modify," the Senators questioned the relation
between the proposed Policy and the Guidelines, especially insofar as
the Resolution refers to judicial procedures that are not included in
the Policy, but are in the Guidelines which are not submitted for
approval by the Senate. The Senate approved the Committee's first two
resolutions as follows:
WHEREAS, the Committee on Instructional, Computing and Research
Support Services began work on this task in 1989, and
WHEREAS, the Committee has interacted with various faculty, student,
administrative and professional staff groups, and
WHEREAS, the University must be diligent to protect itself from
liability from computer misuse, and
WHEREAS, the responsible use of computer utilization is essential
within the University community and the selected misuse of
computers is contrary to the mission of the University,
therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Policy for Responsible Computing at the
University be adopted by the University Faculty Senate and
that the Policy be inserted in the Faculty Handbook in
Section III, page III-Z-3, paragraph Z.1., (moving the
present paragraph Z.1., "Acquisition of Computer Hardware,
Software, or Associated Computing Services" to Z.2.) and
be it further
RESOLVED, that each unit of the University may modify the Guidelines
for Implementing the Policy for Responsible Computing at
the University of Delaware to meet their individual unit
needs, and be it further
The Senate referred the third resolution treating the issue of judicial
policy back to the Committee.
RESOLVED, that the judicial processes outlined within the policy and
the guidelines will be followed.
Item I. Report and recommendations from the Greek Life Task Force (D.
Sperry, Chairperson). The Faculty Senate discussed the virtues
of eliminating pledging and the amount of transition time the
resolution proposes, and passed the following resolution:
RESOLUTION 1
WHEREAS, that students seeking membership in Greek organizations will
benefit by terminating the pledging process, and
WHEREAS, the faculty of the University of Delaware have the
responsibility for student welfare, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that The Official Student Handbook of the University of
Delaware be modified by the 1994-1995 academic year to
limit the pledging period of all officially recognized
student organizations to not more than four weeks, and be
it further
RESOLVED, that The Official Student Handbook of the University of
Delaware be modified by the 1997-1998 academic year to
state that organizations having a pledging process or
pledge status for prospective members will be denied
official recognition, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the national Greek organizations with local chapters
at the University of Delaware and those seeking official
status for local chapters be informed of this impending
permanent change at the University of Delaware.
The second resolution set minimum grade point and other requirements for
membership in a Greek organization. The Faculty Senate passed the
following resolution:
RESOLUTION 2
WHEREAS, the first priority of students must be academic matters, and
WHEREAS, students also have an obligation for responsible social
conduct, and
WHEREAS, Greek organizations will benefit from more stringent
membership requirements, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the University Faculty Senate requests the
Panhellenic, Interfraternity, and National Pan Hellenic
Councils adopt new minimum criteria for students seeking
to join local chapters of Greek organizations, and be it
further
RESOLVED, that students seeking to join local chapters of Greek
organizations must have completed successfully 12 credit
hours at the University of Delaware, and be it further
RESOLVED, that students seeking to join local chapters of Greek
organizations must also have a minimum cumulative index of
2.33 (C+), and be it further
RESOLVED, that students seeking to join local chapters of Greek
organizations must also be free of all current judicial
sanctions imposed by the University's student judicial
system, and be it further
RESOLVED, that these minimum criteria be in effect at the start of
the 1993-1994 academic year.
The third resolution proposed a monitoring system for Greek
organizations. The Faculty Senate discussed at length the mechanism of
this monitoring, what aspects of Greek life will be monitored, who is
responsible for it, and providing for a meaningful basis of comparison
between students in the Greek system and others. After three friendly
amendments changing language, adding a provision for a mechanism of
comparison and a proviso requiring the Committee to report its system
back to the Senate, and after passage of an amendment shifting the
responsibility for designing such a system from the Dean of Students to
an Ad Hoc Senate Committee named specifically for this purpose, the
Senate passed the following resolutions, (with changes):
RESOLUTION 3
WHEREAS, the University of Delaware should have a comprehensive
system for monitoring the academic performance, disciplinary
problems, and conduct of all students, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Committee on Committees and Nominations appoint
an Ad Hoc Task Force that will design a system of record
keeping that will allow, among other things, an accurate
and impartial measure of each Greek organization's
collective profile and the collective profile of the
general student composition for a statistically
significant basis of comparison, and that a draft
collective profile be reported back to the Faculty Senate
for approval and implementation, and be it further, and be
it further
RESOLVED, that the Administration provide sufficient resources to
enable the Office of the Dean of Students to establish and
maintain such a record system once established and
approved by the Faculty Senate.
The Faculty Senate passed Resolution 4 which proposes a mechanism for
the periodic review of organizations in the Greek system:
RESOLUTION 4
WHEREAS, all organizations benefit from long-range planning and
periodic assessment of strengths and weaknesses, therefore
be it
RESOLVED, that a process of periodic review of all local chapters of
Greek organizations be established, the format and
schedule for such reviews to be determined by
representatives from the Office of the Dean of Students
and the Interfraternity, Panhellenic, and National Pan
Hellenic Councils, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the first review of the local chapter of each Greek
organization shall be completed by the 1997-1998 academic
year, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Office of the Dean of Students establish a
procedure for collating and summarizing the information
regarding local chapters so it is available to governing
or decision-making bodies reviewing the status of Greek
life at the University of Delaware, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Administration provide sufficient resources to
enable the Office of the Dean of Students to undertake and
complete such reviews on an ongoing basis.
The Faculty Senate considered Resolution 5 which requires the Dean of
Students and the Vice President of Student Affairs to review and modify
existing University criteria used to identify and officially recognize
Greek organizations. After discussing issues of potential University
liability for more liberal recognition policies and the fairness of the
current procedures, the Faculty Senate passed the following resolution:
RESOLUTION 5
WHEREAS, the existing procedures for expanding the local Greek system
encourage groups of students to exist and operate outside of
reasonable rules and regulations guiding student behavior
and protecting student welfare, and
WHEREAS, groups of students have a right to promote their common
interest by being registered student organizations subject
to reasonable, equitable, and defined limits, and
WHEREAS, the existing Greek councils representing local registered
chapters must be accountable to explain their expansion
decisions, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Offices of the Dean of Students and of the Vice
President for Student Affairs cooperate to review and
modify existing University criteria, procedures and
policies used to identify registered student organizations
in order to incorporate Greek-interest groups, and be it
further
RESOLVED, that the Offices of the Dean of Students and of the Vice
President for Student Affairs, with the cooperation of the
Panhellenic, Interfraternity, and National Pan Hellenic
Councils, establish reasonable and fair procedures that
direct the development of Greek- interest groups towards
full University recognition.
Resolution 6 proposed to terminate the house monitor experiment. After
the Faculty Senate discussed the reasons for terminating, the
experiment's flaws, and whether another mechanism should be instituted,
the resolution was amended to provide for the creation of another Ad Hoc
Senate committee to report to the Senate with a more viable house
monitor proposal. After passing the amendment, the Senate approved the
following resolution (with changes):
RESOLUTION 6
WHEREAS, the house monitor "experiment" instituted by the University
Faculty Senate in the spring of 1991 is inadequate to the
tasks for which it was intended, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the University Faculty Senate terminate the house
monitor "experiment" immediately and that the Committee on
Committees and Nominations be instructed to create an Ad
Hoc Task Force to report to the Senate next year with a
new proposal on the house monitor concept.
After discussion of the appropriateness of specifically mentioning the
Office of Women's Affairs as part of a periodic review mechanism, the
Faculty Senate passed the following resolution:
RESOLUTION 7
WHEREAS, periodic and equitable reviews of Greek organizations will
be conducted, and
WHEREAS, reviews of these organizations will allow for determining
that these organizations operate in accordance with the
University's goals for student development, and
WHEREAS, establishing that an organization is not willing to operate
or capable of operating in accordance with the University's
goals for student development could be used to deny
recognition to or withdraw recognition from student
organizations, and
WHEREAS, the Faculty have the responsibility to set the course of
student development and to protect student welfare,
therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the University Faculty Senate asks the President of
the University of Delaware to institute a policy of
granting renewable charters to Greek organizations, and be
it further
RESOLVED, that official recognition of Greek organizations be based
on their performance determined by periodic review, and be
it further
RESOLVED, that the University Faculty Senate Committee on Student
Life and representatives from the Offices of the Dean of
Students, of Women's Affairs, and of the Vice President
for Student Affairs establish procedures for making
recommendations to the President of the University of
Delaware regarding the initial application of, or the re-
application of, Greek organizations seeking charters at
the University of Delaware, and be it further
RESOLVED, that this policy take effect in the 1997-1998 academic
year.
The Faculty Senate approved Resolution 8:
RESOLUTION 8
WHEREAS, the changes proposed by the Greek Life Task Force are
diverse and far reaching, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the University Faculty Senate establish a new task
force in the academic year 1997-1998 to re-evaluate the
status of Greek life at the University of Delaware and to
determine the effectiveness of all of the recommendations
of the 1991-1992 Greek Life Task Force and to propose
their continuation, modification, or elimination.
President Taggart adjourned the meeting at 5:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judith Roof
Senate Secretary
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Attachment: Annual Committee Reports