Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
May 4, 2005
David Rosenbloom called the meeting to order at 1:45p.m.
Present: Professors Ahrens, Arneson, Becher, Burke, Douglass, Durant, Fantie, Flug, Girard,
Heintze, Irvine Belson, Jacoby, Karch, King, LaSalle, Loesberg, Mardirosian, Petit, Richardson,
Riley, Rosenbloom, Schaeff, Streitmatter, Vogelsong. Provost Kerwin and Dean Broder.
Professor Rosenbloom opened the meeting by welcoming the new Senators. He also welcomed
President Ladner. The old and new members of the Senate introduced themselves and the new
student leaders were introduced to the Senate
Approval of minutes from April meeting
The minutes of the April 6, 2005 meeting were approved with revisions: Professor Loesberg
stated that line two of the Consideration of the Four Course Load Proposal on page two should
be changed to read “course loads of four or fewer.” On page five under the same proposal the
following statement should be added: Professor Streitmatter motioned that the proposal for
voting on Rank and Tenure Committees be split into two proposals: Part 1. Voting members of
unit Rank and Tenure Committees may only be tenured faculty; Part 2. Only full professors may
vote on the promotion of a tenured faculty member from associate professor to professor.
Campus Update, President Benjamin Ladner
President Ladner began by discussing the transition in leadership in the Senate and the
performance of the Senate. He said that the Senate has taken on tough issues and consistently set
an agenda of consequence. He congratulated the Senate on how the institution, through the
Senate, is facing one of the key issues over the next twenty years in higher education;
institutional reform and reorganization. Dr. Ladner stated that the Faculty Senate is indispensable
not only in terms of governance, but also in influencing the direction of the entire institution. He
thanked Professor Rosenbloom for his superb leadership and said what an extraordinary pleasure
it was working with him and that he is looking forward to working with Professor Ahrens as he
assumes the leadership of the Senate.
President Ladner then covered a range of topics. Among the specifics he reported on were the
following:
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The capital campaign has passed the half way point and set a record for faculty and staff
giving. The one hundred million dollar mark has been reached and he is confident that the
two hundred million dollar goal will be met also.
For the third straight year records have been set across the board in terms of the number
of applications, the GPA (3.55), and SAT scores (1280-1285). The quality of the students
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enrolling is climbing. American is competing successfully with some of the most
prestigious schools in the country for the best students. The quality of the faculty, the
infusion of intellectual achievement and accomplishment in the field, combined with
people of good sense and good citizenship, is making a difference in marketing and
managing the institution. He congratulated the Senate for that accomplishment.
The Katzen Arts Center is scheduled to be finished in approximately three weeks. The
landscaping will be completed as well as the majority of the interior. Upon completion
the City will turn over a Certificate of Occupancy allowing the university to move in and
take charge of the building. This will happen over the course of the summer.
Graduation is Sunday, May 8. Telecommunications will be set up in the Kay Spiritual
Life Center for the overflow audiences. For the first time on Saturday, May 7, an outdoor
ceremony will be held for the Honors Convocation.
President Ladner informed the Senate that he had just returned from an NCAA Board
Meeting. The main issue concerned adding a twelfth game to football. The Patriot League
stated that adding more games on any sport would cause increased pressure for practice
and performance, and also increase the risk of injury. The Patriot League is on record,
along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, as stating an extra game is not good for the
welfare of the students involved in these sports.
An agreement has been reached with Congress and the U. S. Senate to support American
University in this last round of budgets, infusing approximately ten million dollars into
the Army Corps of Engineers. The present schedule, in writing from an Assistant
Secretary of Defense, states that the Army Corps of Engineers will be finished in about
one year from now. In terms of American University there is a time schedule when they
are going to finish and move off the campus and on to other projects.
There will be a reception this afternoon to welcome Karen Mathes, the new General
Manager of WAMU. Dr. Ladner said David Taylor had done an outstanding job as acting
general manager of the station. WAMU is the leading news radio among commercial and
non-commercial stations and is the standard for the nation’s capital. WAMU reaches
600,000 listeners and is ranked number two or three in terms of audience size in the
country.
The American University of Sharjah is sending someone from Campus Life to American
as an exchange with someone from Campus Life here. Students are beginning to go to
Sharjah on the Semester AU Abroad Program and the University of Sharjah is sending
students here in exchange.
China is providing funds for American to send a team there this summer to do an
assessment and report on the possibility of establishing a program there. Over the next
few years they are projected to build, completely new, twenty new university cities.
China has asked, as they launch the first one, to have an American University model as
one of the education institutions in the complex. A study is going to be done to see if it is
feasible for American to take on that kind of a challenge.
The Senate has reviewed the University College Proposal and the university is going to
implement it in the 2005-2006 school year. Parents and students are excited about the
proposal which promises to give more access to professors and more informal contact.
The signup figures are higher than anticipated.
President Ladner concluded by discussing the challenges facing American in higher education
today. The university is in a new grouping competing head to head with some of the most
prestigious schools in the country and is gaining recognition in terms of academic leadership and
becoming a magnet on all levels – in all schools, colleges, and programs. American is competing
and winning. Students and faculty are choosing American, and choosing the programs that the
institution offers. This year the university came out way ahead in the Presidential Management
Fellowships, with the most Bourne and Truman scholars. Dr. Ladner informed the Senate that
the issue of resources is enormous. Other institutions are increasing the amount of scholarships
and financial aid offered in order to increase enrollment figures. Students who have been
accepted by American are suddenly offered $10,000 more in financial aid to attend another
institution. American must begin to strategize in order to keep pace in this new environment.
Report of the Provost, Cornelius Kerwin
Dr. Kerwin provided the following update on enrollments for the fall semester:
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A goal of 1275 had been set for the incoming freshman class. In discussions leading to
the budget submitted to the Board of Trustees, and in consultation with the Office of
Enrollment, it was determined that the undergraduate application strength both in terms
of volume and quality justified moving that number up to 1325. Deposits for incoming
freshmen are at 1275.
Spring admits are at 90, exceeding the expected goal of 75.
Transfer deposits are up about 10 percent from last year.
Graduate applications and deposits are ahead of last year by 10 percent.
The Washington Semester is solid, particularly in the non-credit international component.
The Washington College of Law JD class looks very strong, and LLM is particularly
strong.
SAT scores have increased 20 points over last year; the GPA is 4/10 of a point over this
time last year. The GPA and SAT scores of this incoming freshman class are the
strongest in the history of the University, as were last year’s scores.
Provost Kerwin then congratulated the entire University on two historical achievements.
American is number one in the United States for both the Presidential Management Fellowships
and the Bourne Scholarships.
Commencement is on Sunday, May 8 and the ceremonies will be very large, with 810 graduates
in the last ceremony of the day. He urged the faculty to be in attendance at the ceremonies and
receptions that follow.
Finally, Dr. Kerwin acknowledged a profound loss to the university. Professor Thomas
Sargentich, Washington College of Law, passed away after a long illness. He was 54 years old.
Professor Sargentich was an outstanding scholar and a wonderful teacher who worked at the
nexus of constitutional and administrative law. He will be very sadly missed. Provost Kerwin
requested that at the Good of the Order the Senate entertain a motion to extend the condolences
of the Senate and the high regard for Professor Sargentich.
Professor Jacoby asked the Provost for information regarding the retention of undergraduate
students considering transferring to other institutions.
Provost Kerwin informed the Senate that he was reporting on retention to the Board. Last year’s
retention rate was 87.5 percent from the freshman to sophomore year. American is a little higher
than the national norm for retention. A good target rate would be 90 percent. The new
Advisement Project Team, headed by Nathan Price, will make retention the first order of
business for next year. The team should report back to the Senate by the middle of the school
year with findings outlining the causes.
Further Discussion of Proposed Changes to the Faculty Action Process, Rodger
Streitmatter
Professor Streitmatter called the Senate’s attention to the Faculty Action Process sheet outlining
the changes to the Faculty Manual. The two proposals are as follows: 1. Voting members of unit
Rank and Tenure Committees may only be tenured faculty. 2. Only full professors may vote on
the promotion of a tenured faculty member from associate professor to professor.The new
members of the Senate were informed of the history of the proposal. The proposal was brought
before the Senate in March for initial discussion and then the Senators were encouraged to
discuss the proposal at the unit level. It was discussed further at the April meeting and divided
into the two proposals before you today. The proposals will be discussed separately and voted on
as Proposal 1 and Proposal 2.
Professor Richardson informed the Senate that SIS faculty opposed the proposals stating that the
system in SIS was working well for SIS and they did not see a need for a university wide policy.
Professor Streitmatter stated that the initial reasoning behind the first proposal had to do with the
review process. When outside letters were necessary regarding promotion and tenure, the letters
were limited to someone at the associate professor level or higher. If that was being done at the
peer review process outside the university, then that same level of peer review should be
consistent internally. Professor Streitmatter added that in the School of Communication nontenured tenure track faculty who had served on the Rank and Tenure Committee in the last three
years felt either ill equipped or very uncomfortable voting on a tenure decision for someone
more senior than they. This feeling was widespread among junior colleagues.
Professor Karch informed the Senate that in CAS a number of associate professors serve on the
Rank and Tenure Committee, the Faculty Relations Committee, and as Chairs of departments.
He asked for clarification on how to instruct these members when dealing with promotion issues
from associate to full professor and if the associate professors needed to recuse themselves from
voting on promotion. He asked that the Senate address these issues.
Professor La Salle added that Kogod had voted unanimously in favor of both proposals and
added a third proposal: only tenured associate professors or above should serve on department
Rank and Tenure Committees.
Professor Ahrens informed the Senate that in the Department of Psychology assistant professors
could serve on the Rank and Tenure committees but would not be required to vote if they felt it
was a conflict of interest. The same could be done more generally, and this would mean that nontenured faculty who were uncomfortable serving on Rank and Tenure Committees could simply
choose not to serve.
Professors Loesberg pointed out that within the Department of Literature untenured members
serving on the Rank and Tenure Committee are the most rigorous enforcers of standards. An
untenured member serving on a Rank and Tenure Committee felt that his/her vote was related to
his/her own situation. Formally, that defines conflict of interest.
Professor Douglass stated he did not see it as a conflict of interest since the concept of a jury of
your peers is about people who are in the same situation and therefore sensitive to the vote.
Professor Rosenbloom reminded the Senate that the idea was to discuss these issues today and
readdress them in the fall. He recommended that the proposal be put on the September Agenda
for further discussion and a vote by the new Senators.
Changes in the Honors Program, Cathy Schaeff
Professor Schaeff informed the Senate that there are students who arrive at American University
and are not initially in the Honors Program but do well once they are here. Transfer students
need to have a 3.5 GPA in order to self nominate for admittance into the Honors Program.
Professor Mass, Director of the Honors Program, is proposing that the GPA requirement be
moved up to 3.6. This reflects other changes that were made due to the quality of the program.
The minimum GPA for graduating with honors changed from 3.3 to 3.5.
Professor Mass clarified that the 3.6 GPA is not the requirement to be admitted to the program, it
is the requirement for applying for admittance to the program. In practice students with a 3.6
GPA are not typically admitted. The current GPA for incoming freshmen, not weighted, is 3.86
and the SAT is 1449 for this group of students. This is part of the whole raising of standards of
the top 15 percent.
Professor Rosenbloom called for approval by acclamation. The changes in the Honors Program
were approved.
Report of the Chair and Transfer of the Chair to the Vice Chair
Professors Rosenbloom reflected back on the year and what the Senate had accomplished. The
Senate authorized the piloting of new Student Evaluation of Teaching forms and the results will
be on the September Agenda. The budget recommendations, with thanks to Janice Flug, were
approved by the Board of Trustees. We now have the Four-Course Load due to Professor
Loesberg. The level of discussion in the Senate has been raised. The Senate is a problem solving
body and considerable progress has been made this year. Professor Rosenbloom thanked the
Senators for their participation and cooperation. He also thanked Nathan Price for taking up the
workload after Deanna Cunningham left. Professor Rosenbloom acknowledged Margaret White
as the new Staff Assistant and commended her on the fine job she is doing. He then turned the
gavel over to Professor Ahrens and took the floor as a member of the Senate.
Professor Ahrens acknowledged Professor Rosenbloom for his tremendous leadership and
contributions to the Senate over the past year and presented him with two gifts in appreciation of
his service.
Open Discussion
Professor Ahrens stated that the Senate had been slow in formation this year. The Chair of the
Faculty Development Committee has not yet been appointed. It has been decided to delay
selecting a Vice Chair until the September meeting when the entire Senate will be in place. He
encouraged all the Senators to consider serving as Vice Chair.
Professor Ahrens informed the Senators that the Charge of the Senate in academic regulations is
that the Senate serves as the authoritative voice of the entire faculty on matters pertaining to the
academic mission and strategy of the university as established in the bylaws of the university. A
few years ago, when the university was reconfigured, the Senate became its own steering
committee setting its own agenda. This has allowed the Senate to be proactive and be the voice
of the faculty. Professor Ahrens stated that the Academic Regulations governing the Senate will
be distributed to the new Senators via e-mail this week.
Professor Schaeff asked the Senate if the Chairs of the various committees had input on the
amount of student involvement on the different committees, stating involvement on her
committee was variable.
Professor Petit said the problem on his committee was that once the students were appointed they
stopped coming to the meetings. His committee intended to address the issue of student
involvement in the fall and come up with ideas to gain the interest and involvement of the
students.
Vice President for Campus Life, Gail Hanson, informed the Senate that the students had also
discussed this problem Campus Life had impressed upon the students that if they had a voice
they should use it and take very seriously appointing people on time, stressing that they must
meet and keep their obligations. The students asked for consideration of their schedules and a
standardization of meeting times.
Professor Jacoby questioned the timing of the monthly Senate meetings at 1:45 pm. He asked
that the meeting be coordinated with normal classroom schedules and proposed moving the time
to 2:00 pm in the fall.
James Heintze asked the Senate to identify creative ways for the faculty to interact with cross
disciplines. He stated that there are a number of formal conferences that bring faculty together.
There needs to be social means for the faculty to interact and create interest in other disciplines.
Professor Richardson discussed the issue of Lab facilities on campus. Some of the facilities may
only be used if the student is taking a class and paying a lab fee as well as a technology fee. He
stated that there are real advantages for the students to have access to all facilities and asked that
the Senate look into the academic and moral implications of this issue.
For the Good of the Order
Professor Douglass informed the Senators that he is leaving the Senate after serving twice as
Chair. He thanked Provost Kerwin for his involvement in the process of creating the body that
the Senate is today. He also thanked Dean Broder for adding an institutional memory and an
understanding of faculty issues to the meetings.
Professor Ahrens extended the appreciation of the Senate to Professor Douglass and said it had
been a pleasure working with him over the past year.
Professor Ahrens extended a sense of the Senate resolution in appreciation of the services of
Professor Thomas Sargentich, both to his family and to the Washington College of Law faculty.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.