Meeting 580 Minutes

The University Senate
of Michigan Technological University

Minutes of Meeting 580
September 7, 2016

PDF version of Minutes 580

Senate minutes are time-indexed [in square brackets] to the relevant segments of the streaming video of the meeting.

Synopsis:

  • President’s Report summarized issues that came up over the summer, including Senate proposals that came back from the Administration and various committee issues.
  • The 2016-17 Senate Standing Committee List and the Proposed Meeting Dates for 2016-2017 were approved.
  • The following proposals were sent back to the appropriate committees:
    • Proposal 11-16: Amending Senate Procedure 503.1.1: Evaluation Procedure for the President ,
    • Proposal 29-16: Proposal to Formally Establish Assessment Liaisons in all Units Mandated to Participate in the Assessment Process, and
    • Proposal 37-16: Amendments to Final Exam Policy 602.1.
  • Call to Order.
  1. President Marty Thompson called the University Senate Meeting 580 to order at 5:33 p.m. on Wednesday September 7, 2016.
  1. Roll Call of Senators and Recognition of Visitors [0:00-4:08]

The Senate Secretary Brian Barkdoll called roll. Absent were senators King, Hamlin, Sutter, Nemiroff, and Velat with no representatives from Army/Air Force ROTC, Engineering Fundamentals, or Materials Science and Engineering. Visitors were: Theresa Coleman-Kaiser (Administration), Bonnie Gorman (Dean of Students), Jackie Huntoon (Provost), Josh Marshall, and Jonathan Davey. New Senators introduced themselves.

  1. Approval of Agenda [4:08-4:36]

No discussion. Agenda passed on a voice vote.

  1. Approval of Minutes from Meetings 578 and 579 [4:36-5:54]

No discussion. The minutes from meetings 578 and 579 were both passed on voice votes.

  1. Presentations [5:54-6:10]

There were no presentations

  1. President's Report [6:10-17:40]

President Thompson gave a presentation regarding passed and not-approved proposals from last year; CSA evaluation committee, CATPR committee membership, possible speakers to invite in the future and the upcoming BOT presentation on 9/28.

  1. Committee Reports [17:40-24:38]

The only report was from the Finance and Institutional Planning Committee stating that the provost modified the Senate budget to the following: All compensations are flat-rate as follows: $10,000 for President, $6,000 for the Vice President, $4,000 for the Secretary. Release time is $25,000 for the President’s unit and $10,000 for the Secretary’s unit. There is also $5,000 for other activities such as student support or speaker invitations. The Senate President is manager of the Senate budget now. No carry forward.

  1. Unfinished Business [24:38-26:14]
  2. The amended 2016-17 Senate Standing Committee List was passed unanimously by voice vote
  3. New Business [26:14-31:18]
  4. The Proposed Senate Meeting Dates for 2016-2017 were passed unanimously by voice vote.
  5. Proposal 11-16: Amending Senate Procedure 503.1.1: Evaluation Procedure for the President, Approved by Administration 04-22-16 pending acceptance of editorial changes: passed unanimously by voice vote to be sent back to the Administrative Policy committee.
  6. Proposal 29-16: Proposal to Formally Establish Assessment Liaisons in all Units Mandated to Participate in the Assessment Process, Approved by Administration 05-17-16 pending acceptance of editorial changes: passed unanimously by voice vote to be sent back to the General Education and Assessment committee.
  7. Proposal 37-16: Amendments to Final Exam Policy 602.1, disapproved by Administration 05-17-16: passed unanimously by voice vote to be sent back to the Academic and Instructional Policy committee.

No other new business was raised.

  1. Public Comments [31:18-34:47]

The possibility of inviting Renee Hiller to present on the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act was raised. It was announced that there will be a talk on the same topic coming up soon.

A question was raised on how to bring up issues in the Senate, specifically the high price of textbooks. Kerfoot told Research Policy Committee is studying it already.

  1. Adjournment [34:47-34:59]

President Thompson adjourned the meeting at 6:08 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by
Brian Barkdoll
Secretary of the University Senate