URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE MEETING
December 8, 2003
12/08/03-01 The minutes of November 3, 2003, were approved as written. SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Senator Michael Grossman (ACES), Chair of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC), reported the following activities of the SEC and other items: The SEC met with members of the Board of Trustees at the invitational luncheon held in conjunction with the November 13 Board meeting in Urbana. The Trustees have proposed (and the SEC has agreed) that this invitation be extended to the SEC each semester. On November 10, the SEC completed its round of meetings with area legislators by speaking with Rep. Chapin Rose about issues of mutual concern and interest. Each legislator who met with the SEC (Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, Rep. Rose, Sen. Rick Winkel) expressed interest in returning for additional meetings. At its November 17 meeting, the SEC approved a resolution in support of Chancellor Cantor similar in tone to RS.04.02. The resolution, which was transmitted to President Stukel and the BOT, with a copy to the Office of Public Affairs, read: Whereas it is a responsibility of the Chancellor to provide leadership in campus policy matters; Be it therefore resolved that the Senate Executive Committee applauds UIUC Chancellor Nancy Cantor's courage and leadership in taking public stands on controversial subjects." Floor privileges have been requested for Morgan Lynge, Professor Emeritus of Business, to speak to EP.04.08. There was no objection. The Senate Statutes Committee has requested that SP.04.05 be withdrawn from today's agenda; there was no objection. Grossman announced that the following individuals have agreed to serve as tellers: Linda Beale, Felipe Hillard, Herman Krier, and Christa Petrillo. He then introduced Senator John Campbell (LAS), Chair of the Student Senate Caucus Budget Subcommittee, to talk about the student letter-writing campaign to state legislators. Senator Campbell explained that the Student Senate Caucus has been working hard to put together a letter writing campaign to persuade state legislators in Springfield that the world-class higher education that this institution provides should be supported. SSC is organizing an outreach effort for campus community over the week of February 1-7, and shall deliver the completed letters the following weekend. We would be grateful for any help the members of this body could give through advocating the students in class to write a letter to their congressman with the SSC as the vehicle. CHANCELLOR'S REMARKS
Chancellor Cantor spoke about the following recent campus developments:
- Siebel Center for Computer Science
- Institute for Genomic Biology
- $30M Lincoln Hall renovation
- Commemoration of 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
- 1st Issue of the Ninth Letter, English/Creative Writing collaboration
The Chancellor then turned the podium over to Jack Dempsey, Executive Director for Facilities and Services, who spoke to issues within his portfolio, including:
- Administrative Review Committees (25% reduction in his base budget)
- Budget Impacts on his Operations (decreased campus mail delivery, grounds maintenance, and repair/janitorial services)
- Future Challenges (catching up on the backlog of deferred maintenance, etc.)
Provost Richard Herman then spoke briefly about budgetary matters, including mention of a 4% salary program, a 3% general price increase, and a 10% increase for the Library.
QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION
There were no substantive questions.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Presiding Officer announced that since a seated senator objected to the inclusion of two proposals from the Educational Policy Committee under this rubric, EP.04.08 and EP.04.11 would be considered under Proposals for Action. The remaining proposals were then approved by unanimous consent:
12/08/03-02 EP.04.12*, Guidelines for Graduate Minors,
12/08/03-03 EP.04.13*, Proposal to Rename the Russian and East European Center to the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center,
12/08/03-04 EP.04.14*, Revision of the Industrial Design Undergraduate Curriculum, FAA,
12/08/03-05 SC.04.05*, Deadline for Filing Nominations for the Faculty Advisory Committee.
PROPOSALS FOR ACTION
12/08/03-06 Chancellor Cantor presented for action CC.04.05*, Nominations for Membership on Standing Committees of the Senate. Senator John Prussing (ENGR), Chair of the Senate Committee on Committees, moved approval of the slate of nominees on both CC.04.05 and its addendum (CC.04.05A) distributed at the door. There were no floor nominations and nominations were declared closed.
12/08/03-07 By voice vote, the slates were approved.
12/08/03-08 Dr. Cantor presented for action CC.04.06*, Nominations for Membership on the Research Policy Committee (RPC). Senator Prussing moved approval of the slate of nominees. Senator Derek Chan (LAS) self-nominated for the vacant undergraduate student position; there were no further floor nominations and nominations were declared closed.
12/08/03-09 By voice vote, CC.04.06 was approved, as amended.
(Due to the subject matter of the next agenda item, Chancellor Nancy Cantor relinquished her position as Presiding Officer of the Senate before its discussion and vote and returned as Presiding Officer at the conclusion of senate deliberation of RS.04.02.)
12/08/03-10 Provost Richard Herman presented for action RS.04.02*, Prefiled Resolution. Senator James Barrett (LAS), one of the principal sponsors of the resolution, spoke to the increased criticism of the Chancellor since the November Meeting of the Board of Trustees. Because of the perception that this resolution touches on personnel issues, he moved that the Senate consider this item in closed session.
By show of hands, this motion failed.
Senator Brett Pyrdek (LAW) moved that this item be considered at the end of today's agenda.
By show of hands, this motion also failed.
A motion to close debate was passed by a show of hands (73-24).
12/08/03-11 By voice vote, RS.04.02 was approved.
The Chancellor presented the following reports for action; Senator O. Vernon Burton (LAS), Educational Policy Committee Chair, welcomed any questions.
12/08/03-12 EP.04.08*, Proposal from BUS to Establish a Minor in Business for Non-Business Students. Senator Steven P. Hill (LAS) referred to page 6 of the proposal and asked about the renumbering of 200 and 300-level courses. Professor Lynge replied that current 200-level courses will become 300-level courses. Referring to the penultimate sentence in the fourth to last paragraph on page 8, Senator Hill suggested dropping the phrase "by completing courses in these areas." Professor Lynge agreed to make the change.
12/08/03-13 By voice vote, EP.04.08 was approved, as amended.
12/08/03-14 EP.04.11*, Proposal to Discontinue the Undergraduate Consumer and Textile Marketing Major, ACES. Senator Hill noted that the word "Marketing" was misspelled on page 9; he also questioned #8 on page 12, stating that it sounded as if it did not belong with the current proposal. Senator Nancy Fisher (ACES), a faculty member in the department affected by this proposal, believed that it was appropriate for rubric #8 to be included - and so it was.
12/08/03-15 By voice vote, EP.04.11 was approved, with a typographical error corrected.
PROPOSALS FROM THE CONFERENCE ON CONDUCT GOVERNANCE
12/08/03-16 The Chancellor presented for information CG.04.03*, Proposal to Amend Rule 75 (A) of the Code; Separate Transcript Policy. Senator Nicholas Burbules (EDUC), Chair of the Conference on Conduct Governance, briefly described the background of this proposal and welcomed any questions or comments.
Senator H. George Friedman (ENGR) reiterated his long-standing belief that some rules in the Code are academic in nature and that the Senate should vote on rules that fall into that category, not just provide advice to the Chancellor. He maintained that CG.04.03 was one of those academic rules, and he moved that this item be considered an action item. By voice vote, his motion carried.
Senator Hill moved that the word "routinely" be inserted in the penultimate sentence before the proposed revision, i.e., "Each transcript routinely includes…". Senator Burbules accepted Senator Hill's motion.
12/08/03-17 By voice vote, CG.04.03 was approved, as amended.
12/08/03-18 Chancellor Cantor presented for information and discussion CG.03.05*, Proposed Revision to Rule 62 of the Code; Access to Student Records. Senator Burbules explained that this item came about because of recent amendments to FERPA that allow universities to disclose the findings of disciplinary proceedings involving students who are alleged perpetrators of violent crimes or non-forcible sex offenses.
Senator Linda Beale (LAW), thought the wording of the amendment left disclosure open to subjective judgment. Other senators were concern that the policy would stigmatize students and that it established the university disciplinary system as a proxy for the justice system.
Senator Burbules replied that the criminal offenses named in FERPA are violations of university policy, and that jurisdiction was not at issue. The amendment only granted university officials the option of publicizing the results of disciplinary proceedings.
Senator Mark Roszkowski (BUS) did not agree with the argument that disclosure was a matter of public safety. He was also concerned that publicizing students' names and alleged offenses would undermine the educational value of the disciplinary process by encouraging students to deny wrongdoing in an attempt to circumvent the disciplinary process and public scrutiny.
REPORTS FOR INFORMATION OF THE SENATE
The Chancellor presented the following reports for information:
12/08/03-19 SC.04.06*, Report of the November 13 BOT Meeting
12/08/03-20 HE.04.04*, Report of the November 7 FAC/IBHE Meeting
12/08/03-21 UC.04.02*, Report of the October 28 USC Meeting
12/08/03-22 UC.04.03*, Report of the November 19 USC Meeting
Robert C. Damrau, Senate Clerk
*Filed with the Senate Clerk and incorporated by reference in these Minutes.