MINUTES
ACADEMIC STANDARDS COMMITTEE
February 27, 1996
Present: Sarah Moore, John Finney, Martin Linauts, Ron Van Enkevort, Mary Morgan, Ann Ekes,
Inger Brodey, Tanya Stambuk, Stuart Smithers, Jeanette Di Scala, Jack Roundy
Guest: Academic Vice President Potts
1. Minutes: Kirkpatrick, six days before the successful delivery of a healthy Zachary Samuel,
offered by e-mail a correction to the minutes of Jan. 30, pointing out that the Petitions Committee
meets weekly, not bi-weekly, on Thursdays at 8 AM. Di Scala offered a "clarification" of the
minutes of Feb. 13, noting that she had "combined" the Academic Dishonesty and Integrity Code
texts into a single document without substantive change. Any substantive change to the Integrity
Code would, of course, require Board approval. Finney and Brodey also had corrections to the
Feb. 13 minutes which the scribe did not understand.
2. Announcements: Moore announced that the next meeting of the ASC would be held on March
19. Neither the full committee nor the Petitions Committee will meet during Spring Break. Full
committee meetings will be held in the Shelmidine Room for the remainder of term, while Petitions
Committee will continue meeting in Library 134. Moore also invited members to forward any
comments on the proposed revision of the Faculty Bylaws concerning the ASC to Lyn Chandler
before March 4, when she will take it before the Faculty Senate.
3. Petitions: Morgan submitted the Petitions Committee reports without comment:
Date
2/1/96
2/8/96
2/15/96
2/22/96
YTD
Approved
Denied
No Action
7
20
14
1
2
0
1
3
0
0
0
1
150
31
3
5. Waiver of Reading Period Policy: Visitor Potts asked for the committee's advice on a request
from CHispA (the letter of request may be read in the Associate Deans' office) for a waiver of the
reading period policy which, as written in the Logger, states, "The reading period is intended to
provide students with time to reflect on their semester's academic work and to prepare for final
examinations. This time must be free from competing demands of class meetings, tests,
deadlines for coursework, and other activities." Though he has routinely denied such waiver
requests from student groups, Potts thought the CHispA request might constitute a special case,
given that the group wished to hold a celebration on Cinco de Mayo (May 5), a date of cultural
importance to them.
Van Enkevort supported the request on two grounds: a) the request seems to have more merit
than requests to hold parties or athletic events (requests Potts has denied), and b) a waiver would
indicate our support for diversity on campus. So long as attendance at the event is not
mandatory, he supported permitting it. Smithers and Di Scala also supported a waiver on grounds
of diversity. Finney reminded us that a waiver had been granted for a celebration of Cinco de
Mayo two years ago for similar reasons. Brodey wanted to be sure our logic for the waiver was
clear, not wishing it to set a precedent for a flood of waiver requests. Potts argued that his
grounds for considering the waiver were really rather narrow; he did not think that the particular
merit of the request or its place in our diversity efforts were the "clincher," but rather that there
was an "immutable" date associated with this celebration. Cinco de Mayo cannot reasonably be
moved to May 1, for example. Thus he did not think a waiver in this case would set a precedent
for many additional requests. Thanking the committee for its input, he departed.
4. Integrity Code Committee Report: Brodey reported that she has plans to meet with VP's Potts
and Mills regarding inclusion of the Integrity Code in the New Faculty Retreat and Viewbook,
respectively. She also distributed information on the matriculation ceremony, and read us the
speech Dean Kay gives at that event. Ekes asked whether attendance at the matriculation
ceremony was mandatory, to which Finney replied that he thought not. Brodey suggested that
"assent cards," were they required of students, would assure that everyone made a commitment
to the code. Moore added that such a personal commitment might have greater impact than
group recitation. Brodey replied that we should do both. Brodey went on to say that she and
Maureen Kelly from the library have agreed in principle to including some code-related material in
the library tour. A meeting with RA's will take place in April, and a teaching packet for RA's and
PA's will be created. Brodey asked for volunteers to make presentations to RA and PA training in
August, and Roundy and Moore tentatively volunteered.
5. Computerized, Decentralized Academic Records and Registration System: In the little time
remaining, Ekes reported that she had asked her colleagues in PT about how they wanted new
students to register when the new computerized system is in place. They all preferred registering
new students as a group. Ekes added that we may want to find a consistent means of registering
all graduate students, and argued that group registration made the most sense.
With this, the hour was up, and we adjourned. The next meeting will be held at 8 AM on March 19
in the Shelmidine Room of Collins Library.
Respectfully submitted by the ASC amanuensis,
Jack Roundy