1995-96 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA No. 1
TWIN CITIES CAMPUS ASSEMBLY MINUTES
NOVEMBER 16, 1995
The first meeting of the Twin Cities Campus Assembly for 1995-96 was
convened in the Whiting Proscenium Theater, Rarig Center, Minneapolis campus,
on Thursday, November 16, 1995, at 12:30 p.m. Checking or signing the roll as
present were 103 voting faculty/academic professional members, 29 student
members, 6 ex officio members, and 7 nonmembers. Mr. Joel Bergstrom, vice
chair, presided.
I. MEETING SCHEDULE
Information
Other 1995-96 meetings of the Twin Cities Campus Assembly are scheduled
as follows:
Thursday, February 15, 1996
Thursday, April 18, 1996
Thursday, May 16, 1996
II. ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO TWIN CITIES CAMPUS ASSEMBLY ACTIONS
Information
A. 1997-98 Twin Cities Campus Calendar
Approved by: the Assembly on May 18, 1995
the Administration on September 27, 1995
the Board of Regents - no action required
----------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT AGENDA
Action
Agenda Items III. through VII. are considered to be noncontroverial or
"housekeeping" in nature and are offered as a "Consent Agenda" to be take up
as a single item with one vote. Any item will be taken up separately at the
request of a Senator. A majority of those members present and voting is
required for approval.
III. MINUTES FOR APRIL 20 AND MAY 18
IV. ASSEMBLY OFFICERS
The chair of the Twin Cities Campus Assembly recommends the following
officers for 1995-96:
Parliamentarian--Karen Brown
Abstractor and Clerk--Martha Kvanbeck
V. COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES
Committees of the Assembly, 1995-96
EDUCATIONAL POLICY - Faculty/PA: Laura Coffin Koch (chair), Avram Bar-Cohen,
Anita Cholewa, Paul Cleary, Elayne Donahue, Gayle Graham Yates, Megan Gunnar,
Judith Martin, William Van Essendelft. Students: Jeffrey Larsen, Glenn
Merkel, Ryan Nilsen, Helen Phin. Ex Officio: Darwin Hendel.
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS - Faculty/PA: William Flanigan (chair), Fred Amram,
Thomas Mackenzie, Susan Rose, Kathryn Sedo, Maria Sera. Faculty
Representatives: Norman Chervany, Mariah Snyder. Civil Service: 1 to be
named. Alumni: Annette Margarit, Joe Tennyson, John M. Williams. Students:
Dave Dahlgren, Shawn Lawler, Valerie Wagenknecht. Ex Officio: McKinley
Boston, Mark Dienhart, Elayne Donahue, Frank Kara, Chris Voelz.
STUDENT BEHAVIOR - Faculty/PA: Sander Latts (chair), Russell Bey, Earnest
Davenport, Nancy Ehlke, Charles Furman, Samuel Haroldson, Joan Howland, Sheryl
Nefstead, Jane Phillips, Louis Pignolet, Bert Swanson, Oliver Williams.
Students: Samar Barakat, Michael Goetz, Douglas Holtz, April Isola, David
Khemakhem, Laura Lindquist, Michael Nelson, Debi Springer, Valerie Storch,
Damien Toven, Amanda Trippler, Denise Wenlund. Ex Officio: Betty Hackett.
INFORMATION:
COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES - Faculty/PA: W. Andrew Collins (chair), Ann
Burkhart, Martin Dworkin, Marcia Eaton, M. Janice Hogan, V.R. Murthy.
Students: Sam Black, Leigh Clemons, 2 to be named.
STEERING - Faculty: Carl Adams (chair), John Adams, Carole Bland, Victor
Bloomfield, Virginia Gray (vice chair), Robert Jones, Geoffrey Maruyama,
Michael Steffes. Students: Joel Bergstrom (chair), Bruce Bromberek, Mike
Davey, Paul Kluge, Helen Phin, Chad Tvedt.
W. ANDREW COLLINS, Chair
Committee on Committees
VI. ASSEMBLY STEERING COMMITTEE
Educational Policy Committee Membership
MOTION:
To amend Article III, Section 2, of the Assembly Rules, as follows: (new
languge is in CAPS)
Article III. Rules for Committees of the Assembly
. . . .
2. Ex Officio Members of Assembly Committees
- Educational Policy--Office of the Senior Vice President, Academic
Affairs; OFFICE OF THE PROVOST, ARTS, SCIENCES, AND ENGINEERING; DEAN,
GRADUATE SCHOOL
. . . .
COMMENT:
The members of the Educational Policy Committee (SCEP) voted unanimously
for the proposed amendment. Until her departure, Vice President Anne Hopkins
met regularly with the Educational Policy Committee because she had overall
responsibility for undergraduate education at the University. The Provost for
Arts, Sciences, and Engineering has that same responsibility, so SCEP wishes
the membership of the Provost to be formalized and made permanent. At the
same time, SCEP has a responsibility to be involved with issues of graduate
education as well, so requests that the Dean of the Graduate School also be
made an ex officio member of the committee. Both of the current occupants of
the positions strongly endorse this change.
SCEP has not had an opportunity to discuss whether representation from
the other two provostal areas is necessary or desirable; it will do so in the
near future, and make a recommendation to the Assembly if representatives from
the offices of the provosts for the Academic Health Center and Professional
Studies is desired.
CARL ADAMS, Chair
Assembly Steering Committee
LAURA COFFIN KOCH, Chair
Educational Policy Committee
VII. ASSEMBLY STEERING COMMITTEE
EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE
1998-99 Twin Cities Campus Calendar
MOTION:
To approve the following Twin Cities campus calendar for 1998-99:
Twin Cities Campus Calendar, 1998-99
Fall Quarter, 1998 (50*)
September 24 Thursday Fall Quarter classes begin
November 26-27 Thursday-Friday Thanksgiving holiday - no classes
December 4 Friday Last day of instruction
December 5-6 Saturday-Sunday Study days
December 7-12 Monday-Saturday Final examinations
Winter Quarter, 1999 (49*)
January 4 Monday Winter Quarter classes begin
January 18 Monday Martin Luther King Holiday - no classes
March 12 Friday Last day of instruction
March 13-14 Saturday-Sunday Study days
March 15-20 Monday-Saturday Final examinations
March 22-26 Monday-Friday Spring Break
Spring Quarter, 1999 (49*)
March 29 Monday Spring Quarter classes begin
May 31 Monday Memorial Day holiday - no classes
June 4 Friday Last day of instruction
June 5-6 Saturday-Sunday Study days
June 7-12 Monday-Saturday Final examinations
Summer Session I, 1999 (25*)
June 14 Monday First CEE Summer Session classes begin
June 15 Tuesday First summer session classes begin
July 5 Monday Independence Day holiday observed
July 20 Tuesday Last day of instruction/final exams
Summer Session II, 1999 (25*)
July 22 Thursday Second summer session classes begin
August 25 Wednesday Last day of instruction/final exams
*= number of instruction days
1998-99 HOLIDAYS (TOTAL: 11)
July 3, 1998 Friday Independence Day observed
September 7 Monday Labor Day
November 28 Thursday Thanksgiving Day
December 25 Friday Christmas Day
January 1, 1999 Friday New Year's Day
January 18 Monday Martin Luther King Day
May 26 Monday Memorial Day
July 5, 1999 Monday Independence Day observed
The Civil Service Committee will select four additional holidays for civil
service and non-academic bargaining unit employees.
CARL ADAMS, Chair
Assembly Steering Committee
LAURA COFFIN KOCH, Chair
Educational Policy Committee
DISCUSSION:
The Consent Agenda was approved with no discussion.
APPROVED
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VIII. FACULTY COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES
Nominating Committee, Faculty Steering Committee
Action by the Faculty Assembly and UMD Faculty Senators
MOTION:
That the Faculty Assembly and UMD faculty senators approve the following
individuals to serve as the Nominating Committee to name candidates to fill,
by the election process, three 1996-99 TC/UMD vacancies on the Faculty
Assembly Steering Committee/Senate Consultative Committee: Thomas Scott
(chair), Muriel Bebeau, Lester Drewes, Benjamin Liu, Paul (Pete) Magee,
Charles Speaks.
COMMENT:
The Twin Cities Campus Assembly Bylaws require ratification of the
Nominating Committee by the Faculty Assembly and UMD faculty senators.
W. ANDREW COLLINS, Chair
Committee on Committees
DISCUSSION:
The membership of the Nominating Committee was approved without
discussion.
APPROVED
IX. ANNUAL REPORTS
Information
Council on Liberal Education
Annual Report, 1994-95
It is useful to begin by recalling the key features of the Liberal
Education requirements specified by the Task Force on Liberal Education in its
report approved by the TC Assembly in 1991:
* Redefined breadth requirement, the diversified core
* Designated themes of liberal education requirement
* Writing skills requirement that includes writing intensive courses
* Applicability of the requirements to all undergraduate students on
the Twin Cities campus
* Campus wide implementation of the requirements
* Participation by professional and graduate schools and colleges in
teaching courses that satisfy the requirements
* Approval of courses for a fixed period of time to encourage
continuous review
Academic year 1994-95 was a year of consolidation for CLE, after three
very active years of establishing policy, soliciting and evaluating courses,
and getting the new curriculum off the ground. The new curriculum became
required of newly matriculating high school students in Fall, 1994. The
diversified core and theme requirements will become effective for New Advanced
Standing students in the Fall of 1996.
Professor Richard Skaggs of Geography, founding Chair of CLE and Vice-
Provost of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, did a yeoman's job in shepherding
CLE through its first three+ years. He deserves a great deal of credit for
carrying out this difficult and important job so successfully. He resigned in
January, 1995, having served several months longer than he originally agreed.
His place for the remainder of the academic year was taken by Professor Victor
Bloomfield of Biochemistry (CBS). One of the new Vice-Provosts of Arts,
Sciences and Engineering to be appointed by Provost Shively will assume the
Chair of CLE in the late summer or fall of 1995.
The main activities of CLE during 1994-95 consisted of
* reviewing course proposals (see the accompanying tables for a
statistical summary);
* discussing the policy issues raised by petitions from students caught
in transition between old and new systems;
* discussing policy issues associated with transfer students;
* beginning to assess the number and balance of the core and theme
courses;
* meeting with representatives of major Twin Cities corporations to get
their views on how liberal education affects their employees (they
are particularly supportive of the designated theme requirements,
which have great cogency in a diverse, international, competitive
economy);
* arranging for a new part-time graduate RA to replace Paul Roebuck as
staff to the Council;
* discussing how to publicize our accomplishments in liberal education
to the University and the he external community (an article in the
June issue of Kiosk was the first step in that direction).
There are several major issues that must be dealt with by CLE, and by the
faculty and adminstration in their relations with CLE, if the Liberal
Education initiative is to remain strong:
Unlike most TC Assembly committees, which have mainly policy and
advisory functions, CLE has large operational as well as policy functions. A
curriculum committee has a lot of detailed work to do, precedents to remember
and interpret, and appeals to decide. It can't depend entirely on a rotating
group of busy faculty. It needs a strong chair and permanent staffing to carry
out daily functions and provide institutional memory. Location in the office
of the Provost for Arts, Science, and Engineering is key.
CLE has been, and must continue to be, responsive to general faculty
concerns and the budgetary realities of the University. It is important for
SCEP, as the Assembly committee explicitly concerned with general educational
policy, to be cognizant of CLE's activities, to support its policies and
their implementation within the University community, or to suggest changes.
Faculty and departments need to "buy in" if the liberal education
curriculum is to succeed. Students in departments with tightly structured
curricula have particular difficulty finding time to satisfy requirements. It
was hoped that such departments would devise major courses that met both
disciplinary and liberal education needs. This has happened only to a limited
extent. Likewise, the involvement of the professional schools has been
minimal.
The early concerns of CLE were to formulate implementation policies and
invite proposals. There was uncertainty whether we'd have enough courses, but
also whether we could maintain some core of shared experiences. We aimed for a
capacity about 150% of anticipated demand. This appears to have been reached
and perhaps exceeded. The next step is to evaluate the curriculum as a whole,
and the courses within it, and to devise rational mechanisms to decertify and
well as to solicit courses.
Meeting the writing requirement is proving to be particularly difficult,
because the teaching of writing is resource-intensive at a time when the U of
M is resource-poor. The target date for instituting the full writing
requirement has been delayed from Fall 1994 to Fall 1996, and the feasibility
of meeting even that later date is unclear. (Indeed, the CLA Curriculum
Committee requested that the writing requirement be put off until the semester
system is in place, to avoid imposing two sets of course revisions on already
overworked faculty.) On the other hand, Provost Shively has stated that
improving the teaching of writing is one of his personal goals, and he is
prepared to devote resources to it. A subcommittee of CLE will work with
Shively to develop a sensible plan.
CLE has not yet begun discussion of how to adjust the liberal education
requirements to the semester system. The Task Force specified numbers of
(quarter) courses, and CLE has generally assumed that a course carries four
credits. This leads to 40 credits in the Diversified Core and 20-24 credits in
the Designated Themes (though theme courses can carry smaller numbers of
credits). 60 credits is 1/3 of the minimum 180 required for graduation.
Perhaps a sensible starting point for discussion will be to maintain the
liberal education requirements at the same proportion of the total
undergraduate experience.
Victor Bloomfield, Chair
Student Behavior Committee
Annual Report, 1994-95
Following an early fall training program that covered due process
procedural requirements and also included segments on mental health,
disabilities, harassment, assault, and victimization, the Campus Committee on
Student Behavior (CCSB) faculty and student members awaited the opportunity to
serve on hearing panels. Their readiness, however, proved under-utilized as
CCSB completed its second consecutive year without conducting a formal student
disciplinary complaint or appellate hearing.
Several times during the year Committee volunteers were solicited and
prepared to sit on panels to conduct full inquiry only to have the hearings
canceled due to pre-hearing resolutions having been reached between parties.
The Student Conduct Code complaints forwarded to CCSB for original campus-wide
hearing included alleged violation of Identification and Compliance,
Disorderly Conduct (2), Theft and Property Damage, University Rules (2),
Violations of Federal and State Laws of Special Relevance to the University
(2), and Persistent Violations (2). Fortunately, several CCSB members have
agreed to serve again for the coming academic year.
Sander Latts, Chair
X. OLD BUSINESS
NONE
XI. NEW BUSINESS
A senator called for a suspension of the rules to consider an item of
new business but the motion to suspend failed to receive the number of votes
required for approval.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
Martha Kvanbeck
Abstractor