University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate

Academic Calendars CommitteesFaculty Policy Guide Honorary Degree Awards SEC Meeting Schedule Senate Agendas & Minutes Senate Meeting Schedule Senate Meeting Videos Senate Members Senator Guide

MINUTES
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE MEETING

April 24, 2000

A regular meeting of the Urbana-Champaign Senate was called to order at 3:10 p.m., in Foellinger Auditorium, with Chancellor Michael Aiken presiding.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
04/24/00-01 Minutes of the March 20, 2000, Senate meeting were approved as written.

SENATE COUNCIL REPORT
Senator Robert Rich (LAW), Chair of Senate Council, announced that floor privileges have been requested for the following individuals, and he moved (without objection) that such privileges be granted, to speak to:
- SP.97.06, Amendments to the Statutes, Article IX - Tina Gunsalus and Kathleen Pecknold, Associate Provosts; Debbie Lee, PAC Chair; Vera Mainz, PAC Liaison to USSP; and Jenny Barrett, Senior Research Programmer in Psychology,
- EP.00.23, Guidelines for Approving Online Degree Programs - Pat Shapley, Professor of Chemistry; Lanny Arvan, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Educational Technologies (CET); and James Levin, Professor of Educational Psychology,
- EP.00.25, Proposal for the Establishment of a Center for Public Safety - Professor Mick Charles, Director of the Police Training Institute; and Dick Jaehne, Director of the Fire Service Institute,
- CG.00.07, Revisions to the Code, Rule 22, Political Canvassing - Ervin Cox, Assistant Director of Housing,
- Proposals from the Educational Policy Committee - Professor Achsah Guibbory, Chair of the campus General Education Board

Rich thanked all senators for attending and participating in our meetings this year and for contributing to our best attendance record in many years. He also thanked them for re-electing him as Senate Council Chair and said he looked forward to working with them again next year.

Chair Rich reminded senators to pick up the packet of materials distributed at the door, including: proposed amendments to SP.97.06 from Senators Al Kagan and Bruce Reznick; revised copies of XSR.00.02 and BG.00.03; and FB.00.01. There is also a separate amendment to SP.97.06 from Senators Jerald Pataky and Bill Williamson.

Rich gave the following report on Senate Council:

Senate Council Meeting with Trustees. Senate Council recently met with William Engelbrecht, Chair of the University Board of Trustees (BOT), and Jeffrey Gindorf, Chair of the BOT Academic Affairs Committee, to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest. Rich characterized the meeting as productive and beneficial; he looked forward to continuing this tradition next year.

Status of Women. Today's agenda includes the responses from GUP and the Equal Opportunity Committee to the report of the Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Women (CCSW). Senate Council has also recommended to the Provost that he form a Task Force to further study this issue.

Rich announced that the following senators have agreed to serve as tellers: Steve Seitz (LAS), Jason Luther (ENGR), Harry Hilton (ENGR), and Stephen Portnoy (LAS).

CHANCELLOR'S REMARKS
Chancellor Aiken reported that the budget news from Springfield is outstanding - our best in at least 10 years. He said our budget includes about $6.8M to help restore faculty positions lost over the last ten years.

QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION
Senator Mark Leff (LAS) objected to the statement included in Provost Richard Herman's letter of April 17 (Graduate Assistants and the University) alleging virtually unanimous support on college campuses against the unionization of graduate assistants. The Provost described that as an institutional estimate.

CONSENT AGENDA
The Chancellor announced that the following items, absent any objections, were automatically approved:
04/24/00-02 EP.00.25*, Proposal for the Establishment of a Center for Public Safety,
04/24/00-03 SC.00.11*, 2000-2001 Senate and Senate Council Calendar.

PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE UNIVERSITY STATUTES
04/24/00-04 Chancellor Aiken presented for action/second reading SP.97.06*, Amendments to the Statutes, Article IX: Proposed New Sections 11, 12, 13, and 14 (Re: Definition of Cause; Progressive Response; Sanctions; Dismissal for Cause; respectively).

Senator Gerald Pataky (ACES) moved approval of his amendments that had been distributed at the door, which would allow the provisions of SP.97.06 to be applicable only to those on multi-year contracts. Debbie Lee, Chair of the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) endorsed Pataky's amendments. Senator Greg Girolami (LAS) saw no reason to exclude employees on one-year contracts from this policy, i.e., he thought the proposed amendment was unnecessary.

Fossum moved to amend the amendment by striking the phrase "appointed for a greater than one year contract". Debbie Lee pointed out that such an amendment would render Pataky's amendment meaningless. A motion to close debate on the Fossum amendment to the Pataky amendment was approved by voice vote.

By show of hands, Fossum's amendment to Pataky's amendment was approved.

Senator Stephen Portnoy (LAS) moved to refer the entire document, as amended, back to the USSP Committee. Senator Kagan agreed, suggesting that more feedback is needed. Senator Peter Loeb (LAS) believed more time for consideration might be prudent, citing the lengthy and thoughtful discussion of the Sanctions Short of Dismissal (USC - ST-30) document approved by the Urbana Senate a couple of years ago.

Vera Mainz, PAC liaison to USSP, reported that PAC has been involved in this proposal every step of the way and she didn't think more time for consideration was justified. Senator Thomas Conry (ENGR) urged senators to send this back to USSP, while we wait and see what statutory language the University Senates Conference (USC) ultimately sends to us regarding ST-30, whose provisions apply to tenured faculty as SP.97.06 applies to academic professionals.

04/24/00-05 By show of hands, the motion to refer SP.97.06 to USSP was approved.

04/24/00-06 The Chancellor presented for action/second reading SP.00.06*, Multi-Year Contracts for Full-Time Non-Tenured Academic Staff. Fossum stated this statutory change would allow multi-year (up to three year) contracts to be offered to non-tenured academic staff members. He moved its approval.

Kagan referred to a "Point of View" letter by Professor James Shapiro of Columbia University, in the April 14, 2000, edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. While Kagan admitted he did not agree with many of the points in the letter, he highlighted Shapiro's description of a national trend - the increasing use of part-time faculty. Kagan did not want the University of Illinois to contribute to this trend.

Senator David Sisson (VMED) believed that 1) there were inadequate checks and balances embedded in the proposal, 2) it would create another class of employees, and 3) it would undermine the ability to recruit tenure-track faculty.

Senator Earl Grinols (CBA) moved to amend the proposal such that units could not make appointments at any professorial rank for longer than one year if the total faculty FTE appointments "is lower than 90% of the level for such appointments on April 24, 2000" or "if the appointment would raise the ratio of such FTE appointments …above 110% of the value that this ratio held for that unit on April 24, 2000."

Senator Wes Seitz (ACES) pointed out that the size of academic units (i.e., faculty FTE) may fluctuate from time to time, which is a situation that is probably not intended to be covered by this amendment, but would be as it is written. He urged a vote against the amendment. Ted Valli, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine (VMED), said college bylaws can be written to prevent the 90%/110% situation and that the amendment was not needed.

By show of hands, the amendment was defeated.

Senator Girolami re-asserted his original objection to the policy - that procedures for sanctions for people with multi-year contracts need to be in place (see SP.97.06) before he will vote in favor of this proposal. He moved that consideration of SP.00.06 be postponed indefinitely.

04/24/00-07 By show of hands, the motion to postpone action indefinitely on SP.00.06 was approved.

PROPOSALS FOR ACTION
04/24/00-08 Chancellor Aiken presented for action CC.00.10*, Nomination for a Representative to the Faculty Advisory Committee of the Illinois Board of Higher Education (FAC/IBHE) - Professor Emeritus Kenneth E. Andersen (LAS). Senator Robert Fossum (LAS) nominated Senator Terry Weech (LISC) for the position; Weech declared himself willing to serve. There were no further nominations and nominations were declared closed. Tellers distributed ballots and reported the following vote totals: Andersen - 55; Weech - 45.

04/24/00-09 Andersen was declared elected.

04/24/00-10 The Chancellor presented for action XSR.00.02*, Resolution of the Fifth Senate Review Commission (SRC). Senator James G. Ward (EDUC), Chair of the SRC, moved approval of the twelve (12) resolutions embedded in XSR.00.02.

Senator Geneva Belford (ENGR) found several of the resolutions problematic, including the at-large elections of the Senate Executive Committee and the Committee on Committees, the apparently arbitrary re-structuring of Senate Committees, and the characterization by Senate Council Chair Bob Rich that this resolution offers a change in "philosophy". She offered a substitute motion, to wit, "That the Senate receive the report of the SRC, with thanks, and that the Senate Council be asked to send the various recommendations of the SRC to the appropriate Senate standing committees for further study."

Senator Kagan opposed the substitute motion on the grounds that the resolutions as written would make the Senate more democratic and therefore more credible, which was part of the original charge to the SRC. Senator Lawrence Tabone (LAS), SRC member, acknowledged criticism of the report, but reminded senators that USSP will need to draft changes to the Senate Bylaws (which the Senate must approve) before these resolutions would go into effect.

Senator Girolami thought the language prefacing the actual resolutions ("…the UIUC Senate adopt and implement the following recommendations…") sounded like marching orders and that if the Senate approved this document, then these changes were going to happen. Senator Gordon Baker (VMED) expressed his support for Belford's substitute motion and saw nothing wrong with Senate committees being given an opportunity to discuss this report before it comes again before the Senate for a vote.

04/24/00-11 By show of hands (66-35), the substitute motion was approved.

04/24/00-12 The Chancellor presented for action UC.00.11*, Faculty Representation to the Board of Trustees. Senator Geneva Belford (ENGR), member of the Urbana delegation to the University Senates Conference (USC), briefly described the background for this proposal and moved its approval.

Senator Esther Portnoy (LAS) moved to amend the document to more closely resemble the version passed by the Urbana Senate in the Fall of 1999, i.e., each campus may determine its method of selecting its faculty representative to the Board. (The Urbana-Champaign Senate had previously approved a faculty-wide election to determine its representative.) By show of hands, the motion was lost.

04/24/00-13 By show of hands, UC.00.11 was approved.

04/24/00-14 Chancellor Aiken presented for action EP.00.23*, Guidelines for Approving Online Degree Programs. Senator Ray Leuthold (ACES), Chair of the Educational Policy Committee (EPC), characterized this proposal as EPC's response to the growing proliferation of online components of programs and the dearth of guidelines to their creation and implementation. He noted that the purview of EPC (and the Senate) includes the approval of changes to a program; EPC considers a change in the mode of delivery of a program to be a change in the program, and should therefore be subject to review by EPC and the Senate.

Leuthold reminded senators that, under this proposal, the EPC/Senate review is triggered when 25% of the hours/units of a program may be earned in online courses. He added that since EPC does not approve individual courses, it is working with the Provost's office to help determine when a course is considered "online".

He moved approval of the proposal.

Professor Pat Shapley expressed concern that these guidelines would create a superfluous level of review and will serve to discourage faculty from using non-traditional teaching methods. Leigh Estabrook, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, described LEEP3 as a completely online "scheduling option" and not a new program in the library school; she thought there were a number of similar examples around campus. Senator Loeb moved to refer EP.00.23 back to the Educational Policy Committee for further study. By show of hands, the motion to refer was defeated (31-34).

04/24/00-15 By show of hands (33-30), EP.00.23 was approved.

In accordance with Senate Standing Rule #1, the meeting was declared adjourned at 5:15 p.m. A reconvened meeting to complete today's agenda will be held on Monday, May 1, beginning at 3:10 p.m. in Foellinger Auditorium.

Robert C. Damrau, Senate Clerk
*Filed with the Senate Clerk and incorporated by reference in these Minutes.