Minutes
Urbana-Champaign Senate Meeting
March 9, 1998
Approval of Minutes
03/09/98-01 The minutes of January 21, 1998, were approved as written. The minutes of February 9, 1998, were approved as amended.Senate Council Report
Senator Richard Schacht (Las), Chair of Senate Council, announced that Senate Council recently discussed the following: Campus Budget Oversight Committee. Schacht reported that the document detailing the CBOC composition and selection process is on today's agenda for information and discussion, with the expectation that it will appear on the March 30 Senate agenda for approval. Faculty Workload Policy. Schacht described this item as a joint effort by the Provost's Office and the Senate to coordinate development of a policy at the unit level which will be comfortable for all concerned. He expected to be able to provide more information at the March 30 Senate meeting. Responsibilities of the Senate Committee on Committees (COC). Schacht reported that Council is discussing working guidelines for the COC, with particular reference to the need to preserve the confidentiality of its deliberations while also being attentive to considerations such as diversity in slates the committee brings forward. Elimination of First Organizational Meeting. Schacht reminded senators that provisions approved by the Senate at the previous meeting have eliminated the traditional first organizational meeting, and Senate Council has set a deadline of March 30 for additional nominations for Senate Council Chair and Vice-Chair and members of the Committee on Committees. New Senator Orientation. Council discussed the importance of outgoing and continuing senators assisting in the orientation of new senators, and how this orientation might help them be more effective contributors to Senate matters. Intellectual Property. Council has asked General University Policy (Gup) to review the change in the composition of the University Intellectual Property Committee as described in SP.97.02, Revised Policy on Intellectual Property, approved by the Senate on February 9, 1998. GUP has been asked to respond before the end of the semester. Schacht announced that the following senators agreed to serve as tellers: James L. Robinson (Aces), Nancy O'Brien (Libr), Geneva Belford (Engr), and Donald Uchtmann (Aces). Schacht then referred to a handout distributed at the door that listed a series of procedural motions to be presented for senate action: 1. From Senate Council: a motion to grant floor privileges to: Bill Williamson, Associate Professor of Economics and Associate Dean for undergrad affairs, CBA, to speak to EP.98.13, Proposal to Increase the Foreign Language Requirement for undergraduate students in CBA; and Geoffrey Bowker, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science, to speak to EP.98.05, Proposal from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science to Establish an Undergraduate Minor in Information Studies. By voice vote, motion #1 was approved. 2. From Senate Council: upon the recommendation of the student members of Senate Council, a motion to grant floor privileges to the following four officers of registered student organizations, selected by the caucus of student Senators, to speak to EQ.97.04, Resolution to Retire Chief Illiniwek: Henoc Erku, Red Tears Productions; Carrie Johnson, Students for Chief Illiniwek; John Mamminga, Orange & Blue Observer; Debbie Reese, Native American Student Organization. By voice vote, motion #2 was approved. 3. From the Committee on Equal Opportunity: a motion to grant floor privileges to the following three individuals, to speak to EQ.97.04, Resolution to Retire Chief Illiniwek: Charlene Teters, alumna; Bill Winneshiek, undergraduate; Brenda Farnell, Assistant Professor of Anthropology (UIUC). Senator H. George Friedman (Engr) opposed this motion, citing this forum as one for Senate debate, not public debate. Senator Heidi Von Gunden (Faa) urged senators to approve this motion as a courtesy to these individuals, some of whom have traveled a great distance to attend today's meeting. By voice vote, motion #3 was approved. 4. From Senate Council: a motion to create a special order, in order to ensure that there will be time at today's meeting to discuss SC.98.14 (CBOC Proposal), as follows: When 4:30 PM arrives, if some item on the Action agenda is still under debate, a motion will be entertained to close debate on the item. If that motion passes, we will proceed to a vote on the item. If the motion to close debate fails, consideration of the item will be postponed to the following Monday afternoon. In either case, we then will proceed to subsequent parts of the agenda. Senator Al Kagan (Libr) moved to amend the time indicated in motion #4 from 4:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Senator Friedman opposed this amendment, reiterating the need for the Senate to have sufficient time to discuss the CBOC Proposal (SC.98.14). Senator Von Gunden suggested that since SC.98.14 is expected to return for a vote at the next Senate meeting, there was no immediate urgency for discussion of it today. By show of hands (57-37), Senator Kagan's amendment to motion #4 was approved. By show of hands (93-24), motion #4 was approved, as amended. 5. From Senate Council: a motion to order discussion of EQ.97.04, as follows, if one or both of motions 2 and 3 above have been passed: When we take up EQ.97.04, following the opening statement of the Chair of the sponsoring Committee on Equal Opportunity, the floor will first be given to the guests to whom floor privileges have been granted under motions 2 and/or 3 above. If both motions have passed, the guests of the sponsoring Committee will go first, followed by the four student organization officers. Thereafter the floor will be open to members of the Senate to address this matter. By voice vote, motion #5 was approved. 6. From Senate Council: a motion to limit the time of statements to be made in the discussion of EQ.97.04 (two-thirds required for passage): (1) The Chair of the sponsoring Committee (or some other member of the Committee designated by the Chair) may have 5 minutes to make an opening statement. (2) Senators and others with floor privileges may make statements of up to 3 minutes. By voice vote, motion #6 was approved. Two other procedural points relating to discussion of EQ.97.04 (not requiring Senate action) were also stated on the handout, and were subsequently reiterated by the Chancellor: In accordance with Robert's Rules, and in an attempt to ensure that as many as possible of those entitled to speak can be heard, someone who has made a statement may make a second statement on the matter only if time remains after all others wishing to make statements have done so. When the floor opens to general discussion (following the opening statement and any other statements scheduled in accordance with motion 5 above), those wishing to speak to the matter should line up at the three aisle microphones, and will be called upon in rotation.Chancellor's Remarks
Chancellor Aiken briefly drew attention to the success of last year's salary program; data we have received from the American Association of University Professors indicates that Urbana full professors have returned to 3rd place in the Big Ten. However, national comparisons are not as promising; the 21 institutions that comprise the salary comparison group used by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (Ibhe) showed a surprising average increase of 4.5% last year. When compared to the 3% increase endorsed by both the IBHE and the Governor, it means we will probably lose ground this year. This speaks directly to the importance of the Senate Budget Committee report on today's agenda, which recommends, among other things, that members of the campus community write to state legislative leaders urging them to fully fund the Governor's budget request for the University.Questions/Discussion
Senator Joan Larsen Klein (Las) moved that the rules be suspended so that EQ.97.04, Resolution to Retire Chief Illiniwek, could be moved to the beginning of the Action agenda. The Chancellor announced that this motion was not debatable and required a 2/3 vote for passage. By show of hands (56-61), the motion was defeated.Consent Agenda
The Chancellor announced that unless there was an objection, the following items would be approved by unanimous consent. Senator Steven P. Hill (Las) requested that EP.98.05*, Proposal from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science to Establish an Undergraduate Minor in Information Studies, be moved to Proposals for Action. With no further objection, the following were approved by unanimous consent: 03/09/98-02 EP.98.13*, Proposal to Increase the Foreign Language Requirement for Undergraduate students in CBA,03/09/98-03 EP.98.12*, Proposal to Eliminate the B. Sc. Degree in Metallurgical Engineering,
03/09/98-04 EP.98.14*, Proposal for the Dissolution of the Institute for Research on Human Development.
Proposals for Action
03/09/98-05 The Chancellor presented for action CC.98.12*, Nominations for Membership on Standing Committees of the Senate. There were no floor nominations and nominations were declared closed. 03/09/98-06 By voice vote, the candidate on CC.98.12 was approved. 03/09/98-07 Chancellor Aiken presented for action CC.98.13*, Senate Approval for Selection of Athletic Board Nominees. There was no discussion. 03/09/98-08 By voice vote, CC.98.13 was approved. 03/09/98-09 The Chancellor presented for action CC.98.11*, Senate Approval of Additional Nominations for the Athletic Board. There were no floor nominations and nominations were declared closed. 03/09/98-10 By voice vote, the slate of candidates on CC.98.11 was approved. 03/09/98-11 Chancellor Aiken presented for action BG.98.05*, Action in Support of FY1999 IBHE Operating Budget Recommendations. Senator James L. Robinson (Aces), Budget Chair, stated that it was especially important for individuals to write to their state legislators this year because of next year's uncertain environment in Springfield (i.e., Governor Edgar is not seeking re-election). He moved approval of the report's 3 recommendations. Senator Al Kagan (Libr) stated he could not support the report's recommendations since the University Board of Trustees (Bot) asked for 3.99% and 2.59% increases in Continuing Components and Programmatic Components, respectively, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (Ibhe) recommended 2.57% and 1.29%, respectively. Robinson responded that the IBHE recommendations were the best we could hope for, reiterating the changing political landscape in Springfield. 03/09/98-12 By voice vote, BG.98.05 was approved. 03/09/98-13 The Chancellor presented for action AC.98.01*, 2000-2001 Academic Calendar. There was no discussion. 03/09/98-14 By voice vote, AC.98.01 was approved. 03/09/98-15 Chancellor Aiken presented for action EQ.97.04*, Resolution to Retire Chief Illiniwek. Senator Heidi Von Gunden (Faa), Chair of the Equal Opportunity Committee, delivered the following opening remarks: One of the arguments I have often heard against retiring the Chief is that it would infuriate the alumni, and they would stop contributing, thus harming the University financially. We have spoken recently with the representatives of 10 institutions that retired their American Indian symbols and without exception they experienced no negative effect on gift giving. As you can see from figure 1 in these data provided by the Office of the Vice President for Development at Stanford University, Stanford experienced no significant change in their receipt of gifts after 1972 when they retired their Indian mascot. This was true of the numbers of donors, numbers of gifts, and total revenues. Essentially, the same remarks were related to us by representatives of all the other institutions contacted (see figure 2). Dartmouth - "not a cause for losing funds";Stanford - "No impact on fundraising";
Oklahoma - "No effect whatsoever";
Syracuse - "Did not effect donations.";
Montclair State - "There wasn't any effect.";
Eastern Michigan - "Absolutely no effect.";
Bradley - "Absolutely no effect";
Arkansas State - "No effect.";
University of Tennessee - Chattanooga, "No Effect";
Miami of Ohio - "No negative change in gifts." In fact, they experienced a record year in both annual and total gift giving. Moreover, all the individuals we spoke with spontaneously related that the most vocal alumni who objected to the change, were rarely contributors. This was also related to us in a conversation with Paul Sharp, who was President of the University of Oklahoma when they dropped their American Indian symbol. So, with appropriate leadership, care and planning, the Chief can be retired, with dignity, and without financial consequence to the University. Now is the time to discuss this issue. As you know, on February 17 the Department of Anthropology sent a letter to the Board of Trustees stating why the Chief is an academic concern. Recently the Department of History unanimously endorsed this position, and just last Thursday the Counseling Center sent a letter to all Senators explaining why they endorse the resolution relating their educational and professional concerns about the Chief. Last Tuesday night I attended the student discussion about the issue of the Chief chaired by Jamie Berman, a student senator who is also a Council member. This discussion was a model of decorum. I think the entire Senate can do the same. Equal Opportunity brings this resolution to you with respect for both sides of the debate. Equal Opportunity does not intend that the debate about retiring the Chief be dragged out meeting after meeting or that it restrict the Senate from doing its normal business. What the Committee desires is an opportunity for a full and fair discussion of this issue resulting in a vote taken during this session of the Senate. There may be motions to take this issue from the table or to refer it to another committee. These would be efforts to constrict and curtail debate. We do not think this is fair, and if such motions are made, we urge you to vote against them. Finally, on behalf of the Equal Opportunity Committee I move that "be it resolved that the University Administration and Board of Trustees retire Chief Illiniwek immediately and discontinue licensing Native American Indian symbols as representations of the University." ( The prepared remarks of guest speakers Charlene Teters, Bill Winneshiek, Brenda Farnell, Henoc Erku, Carrie Johnson, John Mamminga, and Debbie Reese are appended to these minutes.) Senator Stephen Kaufman (Med) delivered the following remarks: I would like to address the argument, that those who favor retiring the Chief are a few politically correct faculty, and a handful of outspoken students. I’ve met many of these students and I assure you we can take pride in them and their values. I have here (and will forward to the Chancellor and BOT) an Incomplete List of Faculty and Academic Staff who fervently support the Resolution to retire the Chief. In this verified and publishable list are the names of 695 Faculty. Although no attempt was made to target their support, 123 Academic Staff requested that their names also be included today. Please keep in mind, this is an Incomplete list, compiled over a very short time, and it is continuously growing. Amongst the 695 Faculty who advocate retiring the Chief are 17 Named Chairs, including 7 of the 9 Swanlund Chairs, 11 of 15 Jubilee Professors, 22 Department Heads and Chairs, 31 Program and Division Chairs, University Scholars, Members of the National Academy of Sciences and other prestigious National Organizations, 8 Deans, and hundreds of plain old faculty like me. In some cases 80% or more of faculty in Departments are committed to this. Please, don't misunderstand me; I don't contend that this is an issue to be decided by numbers. Nor is it an issue to be determined solely by a Board of 9. The Governor said this is an issue to be resolved by the Urbana campus. What I do mean to convey is that a large and significant part of this Academic community support this resolution... and from their responses to me, support it passionately. They are not to be disregarded. They are very concerned about the image being portrayed by this University, as we all should be, and they are concerned by the personal embarrassment they confront with their colleagues throughout the country. This has become a national embarrassment. Lastly, the issue of ethnic and racial stereotyping in sports is much larger than what goes on at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is being confronted nationally by many organizations. I contend that we do not need the courts to tell us what to do, as they did with racial desegregation and the integration of blacks and women into other educational institutions, and as they eventually will do with this issue. We don’t need external accreditation Committees to tell us what to do, when what is right is clearly before us. Nor do we need further social and professional embarrassment to motivate us. This is 1998, and there is no place for ethnic and racial stereotypes on the banner of this University. We have an opportunity today to take the high road. We can maintain our integrity and end this national embarrassment through our own actions. The time for the Chief to be retired, with dignity, is now. We need not wait for that to be imposed on us. I urge you to support the Resolution before you today. Senator Nicholas Burbules (Educ) described the arguments as complex, but believed there was a single core issue of extending the respect of traditions to others. Since this tradition was appropriated from Native Americans, the presence of the Chief serves as a reminder of past transgressions against them. He added we should recognize that keeping this symbol serves purposes that are inconsistent with the academic and moral role of the University and society. Senator Jamie Berman (Las) believed that if Native American students and alumni express their disapproval of the Chief, we should heed them; she felt that students who spent four years here and remembered only the Chief missed the point of the University. Senator Robert Sala (Las) thought the history of our University will be forgotten without a recognizable symbol as the Chief. He stressed that we should work with Native Americans to improve his authenticity and correct the stereotypes that the Chief may promote. Senator Sonya Michel (Las), Director of the Women's Studies Program, stated that women know firsthand about traditional gender stereotyping, and believed that support for the Chief promotes racial stereotyping. She distinguished between school spirit and its embodiment in a racist mascot. Senator Mark Leff (Las), speaking as a representative of the Union of Professional Employees (Upe) and as faculty member in the Department of History, indicated that both groups have supported resolutions to retire the Chief. He believed the historical inaccuracies the Chief promotes is damaging to our educational mission, and the recruitment of and educational environment for all minority students. He urged the University Board of Trustees to heed the Urbana Senate on this issue. Senator Alma Gottlieb (Las) described the properties of a successful symbol, as related by the late Victor Turner, theoretician of symbolic meaning. Successful symbols should be multi-vocal (appeal to different points of view) and should speak to verifiable events. She believed the Chief possessed neither of these properties. Senator Michelle Svetlic (Engr) wished that the University of Illinois could follow the example of the University of Florida (and its Seminoles) and attempt to reconcile with Native Americans to correct inaccuracies in the Chief's presentation. Senator John Lalande (Las) related that while he has been a long-time supporter of the Chief, he believes the Chief's image, and that of the University, has been irreparably harmed by the chronic efforts of those who would see him retired. He hoped that when the time came to retire the Chief, that it be done with celebration, dignity and honor. By show of hands (100-23), a motion to close debate was approved. By show of hands (36-82), a motion to vote by paper ballot was defeated. 03/09/98-16 By show of hands (97-29), EQ.97.04 was approved. 03/09/98-17 The Chancellor presented for action EP.98.05*, Proposal from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science to Establish an Undergraduate Minor in Information Studies. Senator Steven P. Hill (Las) asked about the frequent reference to a "Capstone Course" with no apparent title or course number. Leigh Estabrook, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, replied that such a course is being developed, and that the Educational Policy Committee thoroughly reviewed this proposal prior to its placement on the Senate agenda. 03/09/98-18 By voice vote, EP.98.05 was approved.
Reports for Information
(There was no objection to the removal of the untitled "Tenure Issues" report from the agenda; Senator Don Uchtmann (Aces), Senate Council Vice-Chair and Chair of the ad hoc Tenure Issues Committee, expected his Committee to bring its first report to the March 30 Senate meeting for information.) 03/09/98-19 The Chancellor presented for information SC.98.14*, CBOC Proposal. Senate Council Chair Schacht observed that this subject is on today's agenda for discussion, with a view to action at the March 30 meeting. He reported that this discussion draft is on the web as well as in the Senate packet, and he urged all to advise their colleagues of its web location. He invited comments from the floor. Senator Emanuel Donchin (Las) referred to a provision proposed by the GUP to allow for an election by the Senate to winnow the list of CBOC nominees that would then be forwarded to the Provost, a provision that has been omitted from the February 8 draft of Provost's Communication #1 Section IV.A (attached to SC.98.14). Schacht replied that the subsequent version of the plan set forth in the February 8 draft makes provision instead for Senate involvement at four points in the selection process: nominations (from Committee on Committees), review of the nominees from all sources (Deans as well as Committee on Committees), Senate vote of approval of the full slate of nominees emerging from this review from which new members of CBOC are to be selected, and the final selection of CBOC members by the CBOC selection committee (Provost, Senate Council Chair and Vice-Chair). Senator H. George Friedman stated that the CBOC will represent not just the Senate, but the Provost and Deans as well, adding that a provision for a Senate election would probably make "disciplinary balance" on the committee even more difficult to achieve than the process embodied in Communication #1. In response to a concern about having a "hand-picked" CBOC, Provost Larry Faulkner emphasized that the Provost will have no role in generating CBOC nominations, either from Deans in consultation with college executive committees or from the Senate Committee on Committees. He added that faculty input could be effected through either of these avenues, in addition to the Senate vote on the entire slate of nominees.Reports of the Proceedings of other Meetings
Chancellor Aiken presented the following meeting report: FAC/IBHE (W. McMahon) 03/09/98-20 HE.98.05*, January 23, 1998 Senator Steven P. Hill asked about 2 figures from Table 1. Specifically, he wanted to know if the Statewide Benchmarks % of +246.7 for Faculty/Staff Auxiliary Services and -60.5 for Student Health/Medical Services were aberrations, or if there was some other explanation. Senator Hill was assured his inquiries would be conveyed to Professor Walt McMahon. The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.Robert C. Damrau, Senate Clerk
* Filed with the Senate Clerk and incorporated by reference in these Minutes.