1995-96                   UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA                        No. 4
                          FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

                                MAY 2, 1996

      The fourth meeting of the Faculty Senate for 1995-96 was convened in 
Mayo Auditorium, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, May 2, 1996, at 3:15 p.m.  
Checking or signing the roll as present were 110 voting faculty members, 4 ex 
officio members, and 7 nonmembers.  Professor Roberta Humphreys, Vice Chair of 
the Faculty Senate, presided.


                          I. TENURE DISCUSSION

      In keeping with the Resolution approved by the Faculty Senate on April 
18, Professor Daniel Feeney, Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee (SCFA), 
outlined the process the SCFA, Tenure Subcommittee, and Judicial Committee 
will follow for the tenure review between now and the end of the academic 
year.  He also announced the selection of Professor Fred Morrison (Law School) 
to serve as the legal counsel for the committees.  Preliminary draft 
amendments have been prepared, he said, and will be presented for discussion 
at the May 16 Faculty Senate meeting.  Additional Faculty Senate meetings have 
also been scheduled for May 30 and June 6 in the hope that the faculty can 
complete the tenure review before the end of spring quarter as requested by 
the Regents.

      Professor Fogelman, Chair of the Judicial Committee, told senators that 
his committee will be attentive to proposed amendments it receives but is 
concerned about the timelines that are being imposed and, as a result, 
approved the following statement:

         Depending upon the extent of the proposed changes and 
         the moment at which they are available, the Senate 
         Judicial Committee may or may not have time to complete
         a responsible and thoughtful review by May 30.

      Professor Morrison added that a decision has been made by the three 
committees not to publish proposed amendments until they have been routed 
through the committees.  He assured senators that there is no proposal for 
anything other than University-wide tenure, for anyone to be assigned 
research, or for anybody's base pay to be reduced.  

      Professor Savage said he was pleased to hear Professor Morrison's 
statement about University-wide tenure and reductions in base pay, but 
wondered whether it will hold true.  He was skeptical that the new Tenure Code 
will look anything like the current Tenure Code as has been promised by the 
chair of the Tenure Subcommittee on several occasions.  For example, the 
current Code does not include a section on post-tenure review and that in 
itself represents a major change.  He asked the three committees to justify 
any changes they propose because to date there has been no justification for 
modifying the Tenure Regulations.

      Senator Peter Robinson, former Chair of the Senate Judicial Committee, 
said that in the past the majority of cases brought before the committee came 
from the Academic Health Center and he thought as a collective community they 
should make sure the Tenure Code is implemented in a way that they can believe 
in.  

      Senator Wells expressed concern over the seemingly opposite goals of the 
Tenure Subcommittee and CSC Index Group regarding tenure.  Professor Dempsey, 
Chair of the Tenure Subcommittee, responded that they are not allowing the 
Index Group to influence their decisions and their recommendation to retain 
system-wide tenure will stand.

      Another senator said that while he favored the concept of post-tenure 
review, he wondered about the circumstances that would trigger it.  For 
departments that are highly politicized, academic freedom becomes endangered.  
He encouraged the Tenure Subcommittee to keep the section on post-tenure 
review specific, limited, and universal.

      Hearing no further discussion, the chair moved to the next item of 
business.



                             II. OLD BUSINESS

                                   NONE



                            III. NEW BUSINESS

                                   NONE



                             IV. ADJOURNMENT

      The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

                                                               Martha Kvanbeck
                                                                    Abstractor