FACULTY SENATE MEETING MINUTES
November 13, 2014, 3:10 P.M. Skaggs Building, Room 169
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Lodmell called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.
The Interim Registrar Joe Hickman called roll.
Members Present: B. Allred, L. Ametsbichler, J. Banville, A. Becker, T. Beed, A. Belcourt, B.
Borrie, M. Bowman, S. Bradford, J. Bunch, A. Chatterjee, T. Crowford, J. DeBoer, D. Erickson,
L. Frey, E. Gagliardi, S. Galipeau, J. Glendening, S. Gordon, L. Gray, M. Hamon, L. HartPaulson, M. Horejsi, U. Kamp, M. Kia, C. Knight, R. LaPier, A. Larson, G. Larson, J. Laskin, B.
Layton, S. Lodmell, P.Lukacs, M. Mayor, M. McGirl, J. Montauban, M. Raymond, D. Schuldberg,
J. Sears, S. Shen, D. Shepherd, D. Sherman, A. Sondag, S. Stan, K. Swift, A. Szalda-Petree, S.
Tillerman, E. Uchimoto, R. Vanita, N. Vonessen, A. Ware, K. Zoellner
Members Excused: J. Bardsley, M. Brooke, J. Carter, J. Cavanaugh, M. DeGrandpre, L.
Gillison, K. Harris, S. Hines, L. Howell, A. Kinney, B. Larson, D. MacDonald, M. Nielson, K. Wu
Members Absent: T. Crowford, H. Eggert, W. Holben, H. Kim, C. Kirkpatrick, N. McCrady, S.
Richter, C. Palmer
Ex-Officio Present: Provost Brown, VP Whittenburg, Interim Associate Provost Lindsay
Guests: Athletics
Minutes: the minutes from October 9th were approved.
COMMUNICATIONS:
The meeting began with the UM minute. The Senate leadership asked the Provost to introduce
a couple of topics for open dialogue.
 PROVOST BROWN
Professor Brown provided additional items for the UM Minute including the Board of
Regents vote on the next Regents Professor, Ray Callaway. He encouraged faculty to
attend the meeting next Thursday at 2:30 to recognize Professor Callaway. Tonight at
6PM in the UM Ballroom, Professor Alan Sillars will lecture on Communication within the
family. Graduation Candidates are listed on Moodle for Faculty Senate approval.
Wintersession
The topic of Wintersession and the revitalization of summer session were discussed at
the last University Council meeting. There are some disadvantages and advantages to
the current schedule. UM has the longest wintersession of any University in the US.
Parents complain that the break is two weeks longer than they would like. The extra
time gives students longer to think about not coming back, so is a potential retention
issue. The session operates at a financial loss. Students complain that the spring
semester ends later than other universities, so they are disadvantaged in terms of
obtaining summer employment. On the positive side, students are able to pass courses
that are difficult during the academic year. This can help to accelerate student progress
towards graduation. There are also special and unique programs that take advantage of
wintersession such as a Geography Course held in Polebridge, study abroad, and field
experience. Faculty scholarship also takes place during this time including travel for
research.
The administration is just beginning to open the conversation regarding the options that
are available for enhancement. Summer session also needs to be revitalized due to the
change in the Pell Grant eligibility. There are currently 2 five- week summer sessions. A
possible change may be 3 four-week sessions. Western uses the condensed course
schedules, but has found that writing requires 2 back to back sessions. Another
suggestion was for the Autumn semester to start a week later, after Labor Day. Some
institutions only charge in-state tuition or a flat fee for summer courses. The current fee
structure disadvantages non-resident students.
Any scheduling changes would require an 18 month lead-time after the decision is made
in order to honor current contracts and other obligations.
Increased special programming in new areas might prevent Wintersession from
operating at a loss. The faculty would like to see more details regarding the financial
analysis. The financial loss occurs because according to BOR regulations there can be
only three counting terms for tuition, so wintersession is rolled into spring. There is no
additional revenue for the courses, but there are additional expenses. Any change to
BOR policy would have to be accepted by the MUS system and UM is the only institution
with this problem.
The University could consider going back to the quarter system. It is very unlikely the
University would elect to transition again. It is mostly west coast schools that remain on
the quarter system.
The numbers of students that take advantage of wintersession is relatively small.
Interim Registrar Hickman estimates the number to be under 1,000 with perhaps 100
students taking courses that are not offered during another semester.
There is not a specific proposal currently under consideration. The topic is still in
general conversation mode at this point. The next step will likely be the creation of a
Taskforce to create a proposal or two to bring forward for campus governance to
consider. Even if the duration of wintersession doesn’t change it will need to be
enhanced.
Reporting structure of Graduate School
The administration is engaged in early discussions of moving the Graduate School to the
Vice President of Research and Creative Scholarship from Academic Affairs. The Vice
President would also assume the title of Graduate School Dean. The Provost met with
Graduate Council and ECOS to discuss the possibility. The President (held the position
in South Dakota), Provost (Oregon State) and Vice President Whittenburg (held the
position in New Orleans) all have experience with this model. This model is in use by
approximately half US Universities, and was the model at UM until Provost Muir
implemented the reporting structure change. According to the Provost one of the
advantages could be a positive impact on resources channeled into graduate education.
There is a close link between research and scholarship and graduate education. Plus,
the Provost believes the Vice President will have more time to focus on graduate
education than he does. The challenge will be maintaining the connection to
academics. The VP would need to stay in communication with the Deans and the
Provost.
Vice President Whittenburg’s only interest is in moving the university forward to the
Carnegie Research High designation. This requires an increase in research and the
number of doctoral students. At his previous institution he was able to increase
graduate enrollment. Units often do not have funding to recruit students and UM is
lacking a strong advocate for graduate education. The current graduate dean is only
half-time. Moving the position to the Vice President would provide a voice for graduate
education at the Cabinet level. Graduate School operations would likely be managed by
an Associate Dean.
Questions / Comments:
It is not clear why a Graduate School is needed. Most of the mentoring and training
happens at the unit level. The only thing that limits growth is the funding level of
teaching assistants.
Provost: There are some centralized functions such as the intake of applications.
UM has several Professional Programs where graduate education is not tied to
research. This could create a problem with resource allocation.
Vice President Whittenburg agreed that he does not have a lot of experience with
professional programs and would seek help in understanding the details.
Kent Swift, Graduate Council Chair: The recent Graduate School Self-study shows
graduate student enrollment is an issue However, it is not clear why reorganization
would help with this. The Graduate School could recruit students if it had resources.
Provost: The Research Office has access to sources of money not available in
Academic Affairs. The Vice President would have discretion to determine how the
resources could be used and therefore may be able to provide adequate funding. The
Provost does not anticipate a change to the programs (Individualized, Interdisciplinary,
PhD, Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Material Science) currently housed in
the Graduate School.
There is also concern that humanities would be even more marginalized.
V.P. Whittenburg does not agree. He is waiting to have discussions with Dean Comer
regarding the creation of a Humanities institute forward. There are a lot of areas on
campus that need assistance.
It is unclear how the Institute would help graduate programs in the Humanities. It seems
that it would be taking resources from programs.
V.P. Whittenburg: The Institute would provide a fair, open, transparent process to fund
projects. There would be discussions to determine what is funded.
V.P. Whittenburg: Where to house the graduate school is a common argument at
institutions because there is not a clear logical structure. There is not a logical structure,
so the argument is always about money and personalities.
There needs to be a better structure for research collaboration and potential
interdisciplinary opportunities. The University wants to enhance opportunities for faculty
and students. The administration will flesh out the details and come up with a proposal
for the Senate to consider. Further comments and additional input should be directed to
the Provost.
 DUSTEN HOLLIST- FACULTY ATHLETIC REPRESENTATIVE
Professor Hollist introduced Kent Haslam, Director of Athletics and the rest of the team
introduced themselves (Jean Gee- Senior Associate Athletic Director and the Athletic
Academic Advisors- Lidsey Goodman, Jennifer Zellmer- Cuaresma, and Grace Harris).
Professor Hollist is doing what he can to build bridges between Athletics and Academics.
Jean Gee provided information regarding the action plan to address the NCAA infraction
case (three-year probation). The first annual probation report was provided in June. It
was approved with no corrections. Athletics is making good progress and has
established new initiatives in compliance areas.
Questions / Comments
Given the recent Chronicle of Higher Education Articles regarding the University of North
Carolina is there the possibility that the reporting structure of the athletic academic
advisors be moved to Academic Affairs rather than the Athletic Director?
The Athletic Academic Advisors also have a dotted report line to the Faculty Athletic
Representative. The Faculty Athletic Representative is an NCAA mandated position
and must be someone who is not on Athletics’ payroll, is usually a tenured faculty
member appointed by the University President. The position is designed to provide
appropriate academic oversight. The team is vigilant about how and what it provides to
students. The events that occurred at UNC were shocking. The Provost has a note on
his calendar to set up a meeting to have a conversation with athletics regarding
academic performance and related issues.
Jean Gee informed the Senate that Athletics has an outside review of academic services
and compliance operations once every four years. Athletics also prepares internal
reports such as a comparison of major distribution of student athletes to the general UM
student population and peer institutions to make sure there is not a specific major
student athletes are guided into. The program is doing well according to the reviews and
the reports.
Are there any discussions on extending the athletic advising infrastructure to other
students?
The funding received for advising must be used specifically for student athletes.
However, the Athletic Advisors do share information with other academic advisors.
Some programs have adopted its practices, but the use depends on available resources.

ASUM LEADERSHIP VICE PRESIDENT SEAN MCQUILLAN
ASUM is gearing up for its work during the legislative session. It would like the faculty
members to help recruit for the full- time lobbyist and political action coordinator
positions. Please inform any of your qualified students to contact ASUM. The positions
are posted on the students’ job site. ASUM also has several vacant senate positions in
the spring due to students on study abroad. Please encourage your students to get
involved.
ASUM is also working to get its fees in order for the spring ballot. The Kaimen and
KGBA are proposing a $1 increase. A $2 Infant Care Center Fee will also be on the
ballot. This was on the ballot last spring and pasted overwhelmingly, however the vote
was not binding because under 12% of students voted. Faculty would need to buy-in if
interested in using the infant care facility
The topic of reorganizing the academic calendar has been discussed at ASUM. The
Provost asked students to consider issues with the academic calendar. General
student feedback falls along the lines of the information provided by the Provost.
Wintersession is too long and students would prefer to get out earlier to be competitive
for summer employment.
 ACADEMIC ALIGNMENT AND INNOVATION PROGRAM - ANDREW WARE
The Taskforce is currently reviewing all academic programs at UM. It sent a survey to
department chairs and directors with a deadline of November 15th. They are slowly
being returned. The Taskforce has opened the discussion for potential new programs
for consideration. What should the University think about strategically adding to its
portfolio. This will be the topic for the next University Council meeting.
The primary objective of reviewing all academic programs is to determine what is
needed for success. The Taskforce will also look into what is needed for growth if
funding becomes available. It will also consider what can be done to attract more
students to boost revenue.
 TERRY BERKHOUSE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT
His office is responsible for the Graduate Outcomes Survey. The University is
partnering with OPBA, a company out of Texas to collect the data. There will be a few
additional follow-up messages sent. The current response rate is 27%. The survey was
sent to 2277 UM graduates. If anyone is interested in learning more about the survey
give him a call. The School of Business and Journalism have asked for their student
contact list and will send additional reminders to try to boost their students response
rate.
Over the last year and a half Internship Services has transitioned to an online
assessment program for employers and students. It has been working with departments
to fine tune the system. Departments will be able to use the information for their
assessment reports. The system asks questions about what students are learning and
what employers are saying about the students. The intent is to do something like this for
other out of classroom activities under Academic Enrichment.
Academic Enrichment is trying to coordinate and collaborate with all the programs on
campus that offer out-of- classroom learning activities (internships, undergraduate
research, civic engagement, study abroad, and others). The reasons for this is to have
an accurate accounting of the numbers of students that participate each year. The
participation total for FY 14, given the current constraints is just over 9700 student
experiences (both undergraduate and graduate) with 5992 in Pre-Professional
experiences, 2991 in service learning/volunteer experiences, 362 study abroad, and 362
research. The research number is low because many students involved in these
activities are not enrolled in the reserved Research Course numbers. They are working
with IT to develop attributes and requesting departments to provide information about
the course numbers used for research. The hope is that there will be much more
accurate numbers to share next year.
 CHAIRS REPORT
Evaluation of the Administration
The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate is charged with conducting an
evaluation of the administration every other year. You should have already received the
communication and link to the survey. ECOS is hoping to increase the participation
rate, which has been pretty low. Please complete the survey and encourage your
colleagues. The administration considers the survey results similar to student
evaluations in the faculty review process. The Provost Office donated a $100 dollar gift
certificate each to Scotty’s Table and the Pearl Restaurants as incentives. Participants’
names are entered into a random drawing. The President also donated the President’s
Box for a Lady Griz Game for the department(s) with the highest per capita return rate.
The Box will seat 40.
Board of Regents
The Board of Regents meeting is at UM next Thursday and Friday. The meetings are
not exciting, but it is interesting to see the government process in action. Take a look at
the agenda available online and stop in to observe how things work. The times for
public comment are highly regulated-you just need to be present at the appropriate time.
Degree Candidates
The Senate voted to approve the list of Degree Candidates.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The Policy on Policies was approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ASCRC CHAIR JOHN DEBOER

The Curriculum Consent Agenda was approved with one senator opposed. ASCRC
Chair Deboer clarified some common misunderstandings regarding the continuation of
crosslisting. Only the parent course (the course with the current common course
number, as listed in the Officer of the Commissioners list) will appear on the student’s
transcript. The sibling course (crosslisting) will have the old rubric (before common
course numbering).
Comments
One of the strong drivers for maintaining crosslisting was students having courses in
their discipline on their transcripts. This workaround does not allow for this. Our
students will be penalized when applying to graduate school. Is the discussion ongoing?
The national electronic transcripting system does not allow for crosslisting, so moving
forward we will be looking for very descriptive course titles. The workaround is very
complex and by no means perfect. One option might be allowing programs to propose
electives as editorial changes to the catalog that would not require review by ASCRC.

The revision to the Writing Committee Charge (Bylaw Change) was presented as the
first reading. It will be voted on in December
GRADUATE COUNCIL CHAIR –ELECT MICHELLE MCGUIRL

The curriculum consent agenda was approved.
GOOD AND WELFARE

Senator Frey is concerned that the Humanities Institute and Diversity Initiative will divert
resources to a bureaucratic structure rather than putting resources in the field
(academics). There are major issues in the Humanities and resources should be
focused on courses, including courses that address diversity issues.

There has not been a campus-wide information session on the proposed Humanities
Institute. There has been mention of the possibility in the College of Humanities and
Sciences from Dean Comer.

On behalf of the General Education Committee, Senator Bradford informed the Senate
of a new question on the form regarding assessment of learning objectives. Responses
have been all over the place. The new question relates to the ongoing need for general
education outcomes assessment. This is an accreditation mandate. We need to collect
data on how we are achieving general education objectives through direct student
assessment (not grades). The committee is working on trying to clarify what is needed.
The goal is to do a better job of knowing we are meeting the objectives. If you have any
questions please contact the General Education Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:56p.m.