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

Approval of Minutes

03/28/05-01 The minutes of the February 14, 2005, Senate meeting were approved as written.

Senate Executive Committee Report

Senator Michael Grossman (ACES), Chair of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC), reported on the following activities of the SEC and other items related to today’s agenda:

· The Senate Executive Committee (SEC) is continuing the practice of meeting with local state legislators. After meeting with Sen. Rick Winkel on February 14, we met separately with Reps. Chapin Rose and Naomi Jakobsson on March 7.

· The SEC held its first meeting with University President Joseph White on February 21. The discussion became so wide-ranging that we did not complete our agenda and have scheduled a follow-up meeting on April 11.

· The SEC lunched with the Board of Trustees at its March 10 meeting in Urbana. These informal exchanges are valuable opportunities for interaction with Board members. Before the Board meeting, Senate and Conference Observers (our Senate Observer was Joe Finnerty) met again with Trustee Ken Schmidt, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, and Vice President for Administration Steve Rugg to discuss several items that were of interest to faculty and students. Several issues that we raised were also raised at the Board meeting the next day. This was our second opportunity to meet with Trustee Schmidt, in an effort to improve communication between the faculty and the Board. I believe that this arrangement has been enormously successful, and I look forward to its continuation next year.

· The SEC also met with Trustee Marge Sodemann on March 14. This meeting was another opportunity to make the Trustees aware of issues and concerns of the faculty and the students.

· At its January meeting, the SEC heard from the Chair of the Conference on Conduct Governance (CCG), Mark Roszkowski, about a revision of Rule 19 (Possession of Weapons) as well as about a renumbering and reorganization of the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students. After hearing SEC’s thoughts on these matters, CCG is bringing to the Senate today these two proposals: CG.04.02 and CG.04.07. Please recall that although the Senate discusses items from CCG, any suggestions we may have are advisory to the Chancellor.

· The Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures (USSP) is bringing to you, for Information and a First Reading, statutory revisions that redefine the procedure to amend the Statutes: SP.01.04.

· The Committee on Educational Policy held a public hearing on March 16 to discuss the transfer of the Industrial Engineering Program from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering to the Department of General Engineering, and the renaming of the two departments. Chair of Educational Policy, Abbas Aminmansour, will provide more details about the hearing in a few moments.

· University President Joe White has invited faculty members, deans, and other senior academic and administrative leaders from the campus, the university, the Foundation, and the Alumni Association to meet on March 29 (tomorrow) to discuss the future of the university. Some members of the campus senates and Senates Conference have been invited to participate. This will be the beginning of a strategic plan for the university. No doubt you will be hearing more about this in the future.
· In light of proposals by the Governor’s Commission on State Pensions to reform the pension systems, the SEC and the Committee on Faculty Benefits are especially pleased that James Hacking, Executive Director of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS), has agreed to speak at today’s meeting about the proposed reforms and their consequences to SURS; to the University of Illinois; and to the faculty and staff.

· Tellers for today’s meeting are Senators Barclay Jones (ENGR), Belden Fields (LAS), Tony Marsico (ENGR), and Hassan Al-Shawaf (BUS).
Professor Aminmansour summed up the public hearing on the migration of the Industrial Engineering Program as an event where, not surprisingly, a wide divergence of opinions was expressed. He indicated that the Educational Policy Committee will consider all comments received before it decides how it wishes to proceed.

Chancellor’s Remarks

Chancellor Herman deferred his remarks and turned the podium over to Jim Hacking, Executive Director of SURS.

Among the items Hacking discussed were: the state’s budget proposals for FY06 as they relate to SURS, examples of the limitations on SURS money purchase formula calculations, and state contribution “savings” from proposed SURS benefit changes without new COLA for new hires. (The URL for Hacking’s handouts will be available shortly.)

Questions/Discussion

There were no questions.

Consent Agenda

The Presiding Officer announced that, absent the objections of any senator, the following proposals were approved by unanimous consent:

03/28/05-02 EP.05.08*, Proposal to Discontinue the Science and Letters Curriculum in Finance, LAS,

03/28/05-03 EP.05.14*, Proposal from FAA for a Minor in Architecture,

03/28/05-04 EP.05.20*, Proposal to Revise the Undergraduate Computer Science Curriculum, ENGR,

03/28/05-05 EP.05.23*, Proposal from the College of Engineering for a Minor in Materials Science and Engineering,

03/28/05-06 EP.05.24*, Proposal from International Programs and Studies for the EU Center to be Granted Center Status.

Proposals for Action

03/28/05-07 Dr. Herman presented for action CC.05.09*, Nominations for Membership on the University Senates Conference. Senator John Prussing (ENGR), Chair of the Senate Committee on Committees, moved its approval. Senator Thomas Anderson (EDUC) submitted the name and willingness to serve of Senator Al Kagan (LIBR). There were no additional floor nominations and nominations were declared closed. Tellers distributed and collected ballots and reported the following vote totals: Robert Fossum – 31; Al Kagan – 36 (two ballots were spoiled).

03/28/05-08 Senator Kagan was declared elected.

Proposed Revisions to the Senate Bylaws

03/28/05-09 Dr. Herman presented for action SP.05.06*, Revisions to the Bylaws, Part E.2 (c) – Faculty Advisory Committee, Nomination Deadline. Senator Joseph Finnerty (BUS), Chair of the Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures (USSP), briefly described the background of this measure and moved its approval.

03/28/05-10 By voice vote, SP.05.06 was approved.

Proposed Revisions to the University Statutes

03/28/05-11 The Chancellor presented for First Reading and Information SP.01.04*, Proposed Revisions to the Statutes, Article XIII, Section 8.a. – General Provisions, Amendments. Senator Finnerty summarized the background of this proposal and indicated it will return for Second Reading and Action at the April 25 Senate meeting.

Proposed Revisions to the Code of Policies and Regulations

Dr. Richard Herman presented the following reports for information and discussion:

03/28/05-12 CG.04.02*, Revised Rule 19, Possession of Weapons,

03/28/05-13 CG.04.07*, Revised Code (Renumbering/Reorganization).

Senator Mark Roszkowski (BUS), Chair of the Conference on Conduct Governance (CCG), described the chronology of events leading to these Code revisions and welcomed any questions or comments.

Several senators had serious concerns about CG.04.02, including: how are groups such as the paintball club, drill team, fencing team, and martial arts RSO’s supposed to store their equipment under the restrictions of this policy. It was also suggested that the common legal phrase “reasonable use” be added to this policy to improve clarification. Roszkowski indicated that CCG would take all comments into account before deciding how to proceed.

Reports for Information of the Senate

Dr. Herman presented the following reports:

03/28/05-14 BG.05.01*, Recommendations on Budget Process, Access, Benefits, University Development and Faculty Excellence,

03/28/05-15 FAC.05.01*, Faculty Advisory Committee’s 2003-2004 Annual Report to the Faculty,

03/28/05-16 HE.05.08*, February 1 IBHE,

03/28/05-17 HE.05.09*, February 25 FAC/IBHE.

The meeting was declared adjourned at 4:45 p.m.

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