The fourth meeting of the Student Senate for 1998-99 was convened in 25 Law Building, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, April 22, 1999, at 11:35 a.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by telephone. Checking or signing the roll as present were 29 voting student members, 1 ex officio member, and 2 non-members. Ms. Deanne Nordberg, Student Senate Vice Chair, presided.

APPROVED

APPROVED

Deanne Nordberg announced that reservations had been made at Grandma's following the Student Senate meeting and all students were welcome.

A senator then congratulated the University of Minnesota College Bowl for finishing third in nation.

See Item V of the Twin Cities Campus Assembly Docket for the proposed Policy on Academic Progress of Undergraduates.

See Item IV, Part B, of the University Senate Docket for the proposed amendments to the University Senate Constitution.

DISCUSSION:

Ryan Falk, Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) chair, explained that this item is on the University Senate and Twin Cities Campus Assembly dockets for action this afternoon. This motion will allow Bylaw changes to be possible, since in the past the Senate has been in unanimous agreement, but there are still not enough people present to pass the motion.

The floor was then opened for questions.

With no questions, a vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously.

APPROVED

Whereas, serious allegations of academic fraud have been made against the University of Minnesota's Men's Basketball Program, and

Whereas, these allegations undermine the credibility and prestige of the entire University community, and

Whereas, University President Mark Yudof and his administration acted promptly and decisively in response to these allegations, and

Whereas, the enforcement of an academic dishonesty policy is but one step towards the elimination of academic fraud within a university environment, and

Whereas, students must take it upon themselves to prevent academic fraud and uphold the integrity of a University of Minnesota education,

Therefore, be it resolved, the University of Minnesota Student Senate commends President Yudof and his administration for their response to the allegations of academic fraud, and

Be it further resolved, the University of Minnesota's Student Senate supports the University's academic dishonesty policy and respects the University's decisions pertaining to the enforcement of these policies, and

Be it further resolved, the University of Minnesota Student Senate awaits the results of the independent investigation of academic fraud within the Men's Basketball program, and will take the action necessary to improve the present system of preventing academic fraud within the University community.

RYAN FALK
Chair, STUDENT SENATE
CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

DISCUSSION:

Ryan Falk, Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) chair, said that this is identical to the MSA resolution. It states that the students support the administration in their decision and will take action to present this happening again in the future.

The floor was then opened for questions.

With no questions, a vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously.

APPROVED

Darwin Hendel, from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, started by thanking the students for the invitation to speak to them regarding the implementation of the system to provide students access to this data. He said that while the commitment of the faculty and administration has been important, student participation and support has been critical.

He then gave a brief history by saying that in 1997, the Senate Educational Policy Committee (SCEP) formed a subcommittee to look at this issue and possible options. A report was completed in the Spring of 1997, endorsed by SCEP in the Fall of 1997, and approved by the University Senate in February of 1998. For student use, 10 questions were added to all the standard evaluation form. Faculty members then gave permission to release the results to the Office of Measurement Services. This data was then to be placed on the web for students to access.

For the short-term, data will be placed in a separate system, but the goal is for this information to be integrated with the other information available through the electronic course guide. The first forms with the approved 10 questions were used for evaluation of classes starting in Spring 1998. So far, 498 faculty permission slips have been received over the course of the past four quarters. Summaries of these results will be available for students starting on May 17, the first day of Fall semester registration, at the website: www.irr.umn.edu/SETstu.

He did caution students about using these evaluations because, with the switch to semesters next Fall, all classes have been revised. Therefore, these evaluations, from classes under the quarter system, may not be entirely applicable to semester courses.

The floor was then opened for questions.

Q: Have students on the Twin Cities Campus been answering these questions since last spring? Why has this not been the practice at Morris, if not the other coordinate campuses? When will this start?

A: Twin Cities students did start last spring. Distribution and processing of the forms is on a campus-by-campus basis. By contacting each respective campus office responsible for evaluations, they can be told to use the new forms and collect these additional data.

Q: Who will post these data on the web?

A: A coordinated effort should be used to make sure that data are posted in a similar manner across campuses.

Q: How long will this process take for the coordinate campuses?

A: Contact can be made in a few days to inform them of the additional questions. The soonest that new forms could be used would probably be Fall semester.

Q: Will coordinate campus faculty be contacted regarding this change, since most know nothing about releasing this additional information?

A: Information regarding this change would need to be coordinated with the coordinate campus offices responsible for distributing and collecting these forms.

Q: How should students access this information for classes next Fall?

A: After May 17, go to the website and look up a course by department or instructor's last name.

Q: Who will be charge of promoting the website?

A: It should be a joint effort to promote the website and increase faculty participation in this program. A letter will probably be sent to all faculty to encourage participation. Students should also talk with their professors and explain the usefulness of this service. The Minnesota Daily and advisors will be utilized to promote the service to students. Any other suggestions to promote the website to students would be welcomed.

A student suggested that more emphasis be place on instructor information, since this will not change with the switch to semesters.

Q: Duluth students have been working with the union for two years to be able to release data. What else can be done at Duluth?

A: The Duluth School of Medicine is not part of the union, and could therefore release this information. Students should talk with Vice Chancellor Vince Magnuson to see if he can help in the negotiations with the union or other options to be explored.

Q: Once the system is running, how long will it take to post data on the website?

A: Evaluations from Fall semester 1999 would be available when registering classes for the following Fall semester. The exact timeline will depend on how much data will be maintained on the website. Some professors teach the same class every semester. Therefore, there might need to be a limit on how many evaluation periods are maintained for the same class with the same professor.

Q: Are professors notified each quarter regarding participation?

A: Information on participation is included with the evaluation forms sent to all professors. In the future, this might be a simpler process to eliminate separate signatures.

With no more questions, he once again thanked the students for being allowed to talk today and encouraged future participation in refining the system.

Shon Naslund, a Crookston representative, reported that elections are in progress with 13 students interested in serving as senators, and one Presidential/Vice Presidential candidate team. There is much enthusiasm this spring in the UMC Student Forum.

Mark Uszenski, the Duluth SSCC representative, stated that elections ended yesterday. Eddie Kalombo was only student running for president. UMDSA is looking at campus parking in conjunction with the city. A new ramp was going to be built, but the cost of a parking permit would have jumped from $80 to $200 to pay for the new ramp. The students are hoping that free services can be found, such as a shuttle service. A new advising service office has also been opened on campus to help students with any type of problem.

Heather Aagesen, a Morris senator, reported that campaigns are starting for the Senate and SSCC. MCSA is also starting the process of determining where collected technology fee money, amounting to $180,000, will be spent. MCSA receives and reviews all proposals. Their decision is then forwarded to the Director of Computing Services and the Chancellor, who consult with MCSA before awarding any money. An athletic task force has also been established since Morris is the only Division II school in its conference that does not offer any scholarships. Various options will be looked at to try to change this situation.

Brett Rowlett, an MSA representative, said that elections will be next week. MSA is also watching the Wisconsin fees lawsuit that is before the U.S. Supreme Court since it will have an impact on this campus. $45 million has also been approved for Coffman renovations, scheduled to begin next winter. As always, parking and housing are issues that MSA has under review.

Cheryl Jorgensen, GAPSA president, mentioned that the union drive voting process has started and asked all graduate assistants to make sure to send in their ballot, no matter what their vote is. Results will be available in mid-May. She then recognized Martin O'Hely, COGS president, for his piece in the Minnesota Daily regarding this issue. GAPSA elections will also be held in May.

Ryan Falk, chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), said that in the last few years great strides have been made by the students with regard to the student evaluations of teaching. He then thanked the coordinate campus senators for traveling to the Twin Cities to attend the Senate meetings and the reception the previous night at Eastcliff.

Deanne Nordberg, vice chair of the Student Senate, reminded the Twin Cities students to be back at 2:30 p.m. for the Assembly meeting. Coordinate campus students should return by 3:00 p.m. for the Senate meeting. She then asked all students to be present at the University Senate meeting since there are a few Constitutional and Bylaw amendments that need as many votes as possible.

Cheryl Jorgensen, President of the Student Legislative Coalition (SLC), reminded students that the University originally requested $198 million from the Legislature for the next biennium to fund 5 main initiatives. There are currently three different proposals, with the Governor's being the best since it includes a $36 million endowment for the Academic Health Center (AHC) from the tobacco settlement money. The House of Representatives has proposed $120 million, without an endowment for the AHC. The Senate proposal is $80 million without an AHC endowment or most funds for the undergraduate initiatives. Currently, tax relief, in the form of refunds and cuts, is the competing factor. Conference sessions start in May, to reach a compromise. The final decision will be made when the session ends on May 19.

She then distributed postcards and instructions to all student senators to complete and mail to their legislators. For students whose parents live in the suburbs or out-state Minnesota, she suggested that their address be used to reach more legislators. Morris senators are lobbying at the capital today. All other students, as well as parents, should make sure to contact their representatives.

The floor was then opened for questions.

Q: What is an endowment?

A: An endowment is a pot of money that is put into a savings account. The interest is drawn off and used for funding in future years. The Republicans are opposed to endowments since they do not believe that taxpayer money should be left sitting in an account, but rather used immediately.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m.

Rebecca Hippert
Abstractor