REGULAR MEETING OF THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE

 

MAY 11, 2009 – 104 GORE HALL

 

 

 

 

I.                   Adoption of the Agenda

Approved

 

II.                Approval of the Minutes: April 20, 2009

Approved

 

III.             Election of Senate Officers and Selected Committee Members – A slate of nominations prepared by the Committee on Committees and Nominations (Jack Baroudi, Chairperson) is presented in Attachment 1.  Biographies of the nominees are presented in Attachment 2.  Senators are reminded that additional nominations may be made from the floor, and that senators making such nominations are responsible for determining that a nominee would serve if elected.

 

A.     President Elect – John Madsen  (Statement)

B.     Secretary – Jack Baroudi

C.     Committee on Committees Chairperson – Don Lehman

All nominees were unanimously elected.

 

IV.             Remarks:  Provost Dan Rich. The first annual Forum and Reunion will be held June 5-7. The event is sponsored by the Office Alumni Affairs and hopes to engage alumni and families in the University. University employees can register online for free. May 1 was the deposit deadline for incoming freshmen offered admission to the University. The admissions office goal was to increase the incoming class size to 3750. Currently, 3838 students have submitted deposits, compared to 3431 last year. The number of Delawareans offered admission increased to 1200 this year compared to 950 last year. Those students submitting depostis to the associate in arts program is up from 264 last year to 356 this year. The incoming class is more diverse than any previous class. The University has received approximately 6800 graduate school applications.  This is an increase of 25% over last year. International applicants show the greatest increase. The University expects about 1200 new graduate students. Tuition rates will be announced after July 1.

The University undergraduate and graduate catalogs should be available online for review next week, ahead of schedule. Catalogs will formally go live June 1. During the swine flu outbreak many people rallied together to effectively handle the situation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is evaluating UD’s response as a possible model for future outbreaks. Michael Gamel-McCormick was recently announced as dean of the College of Education and Public Policy. Kathleen Matt will be the new dean of the College of Health Sciences. Both positions will begin July 1.

 

V.                 Announcements: Senate President Amy Johnson. Scott Douglass, Executive Vice President and Treasurer. Dr. Douglass introduced himself and answered questions from the floor. He is responsible for nonacademic areas within the UD organizational chart. Dr. Douglass’ goal is to be as transparent as possible; to help accomplish this, he sends emails to all faculty.

Dr. Johnson thanked the Faculty Senate and committee members for their hard work.

 

VI.              Item for Information

 

A.  Student Life Plan (attachment) (attachment)

 

 

VII.           Regular Agenda

 

A.                 Old Business

 

A.                 New Business

 

1.      Confirmation of Appointments (attachment)

Approved

 

2.      Standing Committee Annual Reports (attachment)

Approved

 

3.      Announcements for Challenge

 

a.       Recommendation from the Committee on Undergraduate Studies (John Madsen, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Cihan Cobanoglu, Chair) and the Executive Committee (Amy Johnson, Chair) for the request to add a minor in Exercise Science.  (attachment)

Approved

 

b.      Recommendation from the Committee on Undergraduate Studies (John Madsen, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Cihan Cobanoglu, Chair) for the request for a name change for Leadership Major and Minor (attachment).

This item comes to the Faculty Senate without the support of the Executive Committee. Provost Rich made a motion to send this back to the College for further discussion. Motion was seconded. Dr. Gamel-McCormick agreed that the item should be further discussed at the College level. The motion was discussed, and the vote to send back to College passed.

 

4.      Resolutions

 

A.     Recommendation from the Committee on Undergraduate Studies (John Madsen, Chair) with the concurrence of the Coordinating Committee on Education (Cihan Cobanoglu, Chair) and the Executive Committee (Amy Johnson, Chair) for the request to approve Arts and Sciences Breadth Requirements (attachment)

 

WHEREAS,   The University of Delaware Undergraduate Studies Committee of the Faculty Senate requested a revision of the Arts and Sciences breadth requirement for Bachelor of Arts degrees in the College of Arts and Science and

 

WHEREAS,   the Senate agreed to reduce the requirement from 16 courses to 12 with a 3-year provisional period granted to evaluate all current group courses by the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences, and

 

WHEREAS,   the faculty has developed a process to complete an outcomes-based assessment on all group courses based on the goals of the breadth categories, and

 

WHEREAS,   the breadth requirement would provide exposure to a broad range of disciplines and must be open to majors outside the department or program sponsor, be it therefore

 

RESOLVED, that beginning with the academic year 2009-2010 group titles will be changed to four defined groups: Creative Arts and Humanities, History and Cultural Change, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology, and be it further

 

RESOLVED, that a list of courses submitted by departments, programs, and centers of the College of Arts and Sciences is designated as meeting the breadth requirements for all Bachelor of Arts degrees within the college, and be it further

 

RESOLVED, that all Bachelor of Arts students within the college will be required to take a minimum of three courses of at least three credits each from each category, receiving a minimum grade of C- in each course, and be it further

 

RESOLVED, that the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences will determine eligibility of courses based on assessment, provide the oversight of the placement of breadth courses in appropriate categories, and ensure that access to breadth courses remains inclusive while maintaining a substantial list of courses that encourage exploration by students in areas outside of their majors.

 

Approved

 

VII.  Introduction of New Business:

 

Such items as may come before the Senate.  (No motion introduced under new business, except a motion to refer to committee, shall be acted upon until the next meeting of the Senate.)

 

 

A motion was made from the floor that students must be earn a minimum of C- in all 100- and 200-level courses counting towards graduation. A request was made from the floor that the Provost and Dr. Gamel-McCormick hold a meeting in May to discuss the name change for Leadership Major and Minor; they agreed to try.

 

Adjourned: 5:30

Submitted by Donald Lehman