ACADEMIC SENATE
MINUTES
DATE: October 25, 2007
PRESENT: Agnes Samples Jeff Sanders
Sandie Rietz Bruce Brumley
Kay Streeter Lorrie Steerey
Keith Edgerton Gershon Bulgatz
Mark Hardt Craig McKenzie
Steve
Coffman Alicia Esteves (student)
Tasneem Khaleel (ex-officio) Gary Young (ex-officio)
Mary Susan Fishbaugh (ex-officio) John Cech (ex-officio)
Karen Heikel (ex-officio)
ABSENT: James Ellis (student)
Rakesh Sah
– excused Johanna
Mitchell – excused
David Garloff (ex-officio) George White (ex-officio) – excused
Terrie Iverson (ex-officio) Stacy Klippenstein (ex-officio)
GUESTS: Jay Shaw Adam Sundstrom
Christy Low Jennifer Duncan
PRESIDING: Lorrie Steerey, Chair
Lorrie Steerey called the meeting to order at 3:42 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Conference room.
I. WELCOME NEW SENATORS
The Senate welcomed Steve Coffman and Kay Streeter, new at-large representatives.
II. Election of Third Vice Chair (to replace Dr. Steerey)
Þ Sandie Rietz nominated Keith Edgerton for Vice Chair, and Mark Hardt seconded.
Dr. Edgerton agreed to serve.
Þ Dr. Edgerton was elected as the third Vice Chair
III. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION
Item 67 BS Major in Outdoor Adventure Leadership. New program.
Item 67.a HHP 131 Cross Country Skiing. New course.
Item 67.b HHP 134 Beginning Snowboarding. New course.
Item 67.c HHP 181 Basic Navigation/Orienteering. New course.
Item 67.d HHP 182 Advanced Navigation. New course.
Item 67.e HHP 185 Winter Survival Skills. New course.
Item 67.f HHP 200 Foundations of Outdoor Adventure Leadership. New course.
Item 67.g HHP 230 Wilderness First Responder. New course.
Item 67.h HHP 280 Challenge Course Fundamentals. New course.
Item 67.i HHP 380 Adventure Counseling and Leadership. New course.
Item 67.j HHP 465 Ethical/Legal Aspects in Outdoor Adventure Leadership. New course.
Item 67.k HHP 480 Advanced Challenge Skills and Facilitation. New course.
Þ Motion by Keith Edgerton,
seconded by Sandie Rietz to accept Items
67, 67.a, 67.b, 67.c, 67.d, 67.e, 67.f, 67.g, 67.h, 67.i, 67.j, and 67.k for
information.
It was noted that President Gamble urged the Senate last week to ask for a business plan and exit strategy for every new program. This new program has nine new courses but does not request a new faculty line. Apparently most of the new courses will be taught by part-time faculty, but where is the funding? Also, the GIS equipment is not listed as part of the budget.
Adam Sundstrom, Outreach Coordinator, noted that this program does not require any new faculty at this time, but the hope is the program will generate enough FTE to pay for a new faculty line later. He also stated that all the new courses will not be offered all at once, but staggered instead. The Department does not have a full staffing plan yet, but they will work one out. For the GIS equipment, much of it will not be needed right away in the program. Jay Shaw, Chair of Health & Human Performance, stated the courses that need the new equipment are a couple years down the road for this major. They can also get some equipment donated. Also, because the equipment is not needed now, they do not want to seek the donations at this time. The equipment may well be out of date by the time the students are ready to use it. It was noted that the Department also needs to plan for equipment replacement in the budget.
It was noted that the local ski area has recently been sold
to a
The question was raised as to what careers are available to graduates of this program. Mr. Shaw noted that everything from the National Forest Service to school districts (in a non-teaching position) are interested in the activities our graduates could provide. Companies who do team building through outdoor leadership exercises and other outdoor companies are looking for graduates with these skills. It was noted that perhaps some focus on biology or forestry would help recruit students. Mr. Shaw cited that if we tried either of those, the Board of Regents would never approve.
It was noted that letters of support from Outward Bound and the University of Montana-Missoula are mentioned in the proposal, but are not included. Mr. Sundstrom stated he could bring copies of those letters.
It was noted that the 15 to 1 teaching ratio seems unrealistic. Mr. Shaw noted that any more students would set up a safety issue.
The question was raised as to whether there has been any
market research on this area. Mr. Shaw
noted that no formal market survey has been done, but there is a need for a
program like this, especially in
It was stated that the Senate is very concerned that new programs often “steal” funding from existing programs. Mr. Sundstrom noted that they have worked hard to use existing resources. Mr. Shaw cited that all the courses in the core of the program are already existing HHP courses. Three to four of the new courses will be offered at a time as the program becomes established. There are people in the community ready to teach these courses, on a part-time basis. A concern was raised that this program would have such a meager start. Shouldn’t new programs have enough funding right away?
The question of impact on existing faculty in the Department was raised. Mr. Shaw stated that he will step down as chair to teach full time in this program. He will also stop teaching in the graduate program. Those graduate courses will be picked up by part-time and possibly Provost White. It was noted that then the graduate program becomes the “loser” in this situation with part-time rather than full-time instructors.
It was agreed that the Senate was concerned about the procurement of the GIS equipment, the funding for the equipment and for part-time faculty, and the impacts on faculty and other programs in the department.
Þ Motion by Mark Hardt,
seconded by Sandie Rietz to table Items
67, 67.a, 67.b, 67.c, 67.d, 67.e, 67.f, 67.g, 67.h, 67.i, 67.j, and 67.k until
a clearer proposal is received.
Þ Motion carried with 2 abstentions.
Item 7 HON 281 Humanistic Thought of the
Item 7.a HON 282 Humanistic Thought of the
Þ Motion by
Bruce Brumley, seconded by Sandie Rietz to accept Items 7 and 7.a for information.
It was noted that the History Department will begin to alternate their World Civilization and U.S. History courses, and the Honors program would like to set up courses to work on that alternating schedule.
Þ Motion carried.
IV. ITEMS – FIRST READING
Item 5 EDCI 572 History, Theory, and Research of Educational Technology. Change title to Introduction to Educational Technology and change course description.
Þ Motion by Sandie Rietz,
seconded by Bruce Brumley to approve
Item 5 on first reading.
Christy Low, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, noted that this course was changed a couple years ago, but it needs to go back to the old title and description.
Þ Motion carried.
Þ Motion by Keith Edgerton,
seconded by Sandie Rietz to waive second
reading of Item 5.
Þ Motion carried.
V. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
A. Ex-Officio Attendance at Senate Meetings
(Letter)
It was noted that the Senate won’t need to do this letter.
B. Meeting with Chancellor (October 30, 8:00
a.m.) – Vice Chair Needed
Dr. Steerey stated that Bruce Brumley agreed to attend this meeting.
Also, Dr. Steerey will be meeting with Provost White on November 2. Mr. Brumley and Dr. Edgerton agreed to attend as well.
C. RACE Grants Situation for 2007-2008 – Guest: Jennifer Duncan
Dr. Duncan stated that when she was hired she was informed
there was money available for junior faculty members’ research in the form of
RACE grants. So far this semester, there
has been no call for proposals. The RACE
Committee Chair, Tim Urbaniak, informed Dr. Duncan that the Chancellor was
withholding the funding for the 2007-2008 grants. The Committee has also changed when they
award the grants, from awarding in Fall semester for the current year to
awarding in Spring for the following year.
This is an issue for Dr. Duncan because she cannot wait until July 1,
2008 to go to
It was noted that two years ago the Senate negotiated with the Chancellor to greatly increase the funding for RACE grants. Since then, the Chancellor has added stipulations to the funding (for the 2006-2007 year) and so far he has not seen those stipulations fulfilled. Dr. Steerey stated that she will discuss this issue with the Chancellor when she meets with him next week. She will also ask what additional documentation he requires to release the funds for this year.
It was noted that there should be approximately $10,000 in state money allocated for RACE that the Committee could award right now.
D. Rolling Enrollment in Online Course – Three
Models: Sandie Rietz
Dr. Rietz reminded the Senate that President Gamble is interested in her “rolling enrollment” class ideas. She now has three different ideas on how this could work, and she has asked Christy Low to research whether any other institution is doing something like this. Perhaps a patent/copyright is in order. Dr. Rietz’s department already has two courses that could be put into one of these models.
Dr. Rietz stated that she does not want to discuss faculty load at this time, but wanted to get her three models out: (1) The Shopping Cart, (2) The Tank Track, and (3) The Sub-Sandwich. The Shopping Cart lists several modules that students can buy and complete on their own time. They complete a group of modules and receive credit. It was noted that this format lends itself to “block” scheduling. Dr. Low noted that this is the only model that she has found at other institutions. Those institutions were not using it for courses but rather book-buying for classes. The Tank Track model is a cycle of modules that are always running and are not dependent on sequence. Students can enter at any point, finish the entire cycle—return to the point they entered—and receive credit. The Sub-Sandwich model presents several study modules or problems. The student chooses a problem, completes several small modules, and pulls it all together with a project or paper (the bun on the sandwich). The student completes a number of problems and receives credit.
Dr. Low noted that there is a new version of Banner called Open Learning that can be much more flexible with course dates.
The Senate advised Dr. Rietz to notify President Gamble that the rolling enrollment courses are a work in progress and she is collecting more information. Vice Chancellor Terrie Iverson will also be asked to the next Senate meeting to discuss patenting/copyrighting this information.
E. Abolition of Position Descriptions
It was noted that as part of this year’s collaborative bargaining, there is a subcommittee on position descriptions. The subcommittee is considering the abolition of position descriptions. If the Senate took a stand on the issue, it would make an impact.
Þ Motion by Sandie Rietz,
seconded by Mark Hardt that the Senate
draft a resolution that position descriptions be abolished and send the resolution to the subcommittee.
It was noted that some position descriptions seem to be at odds with the contract and/or the DRTC guidelines.
It was noted that position descriptions have helped in the past because of different expectations among a faculty member’s department chair, Dean, and the Provost. It is also not clear if the position description should be used after a faculty member achieves tenure. There is no end listed in the contract or the position description. This, in turn, has developed a parallel evaluation system unrelated to the three-areas evaluation system used by non-position description faculty where the position descriptions are used punitively.
Þ Motion carried unanimously.
Dr. Steerey stated she would draft the resolution.
The meeting adjourned at 5:02 p.m.
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