PURDUE UNIVERSITY CALUMET
UNIVERSITY SENATE MEETING
DATE September 3, 2014
3:30 p.m. – SUL 321
September meeting minutes
Present: H. Abramowitz, C. Barczyk, J. Bigott, B. Binford, C. Boiarsky, R.Cherry, M. Choudhury, J. Coffey, C. Creighton, M. Dobberstein, J. Dorman, O. Farook, P. Gerard, K. Gopalan, J. Hack, S. Howard, G. Jin, T. Keon, J. Lee, S. Lerner, M. Mick, L. Miskovich, S. Mo, E. Moore, D. Nalbone, N. Nemeth, M.B. O’Connor, B. Pai, C. Panlilio, D. Pick, A. Rengstorf, G. Schultz, L. Shen, N. Tarfulea, S. Turner, G. Velez-Rendon, F. Wang, D. Young.
Absent: M. Block, B. Colon.
Guests: C. Arroyo, A. Christo-Baker, J. Colwell, J. Duzinkiewicz, D. Elston, R. Ennis, G. Falk, K. Falzone, W. Lukoshus, B. Pellicciotti, J. Rowan, J. Shires.
A. Call to order: Quorum present and meeting called to order at 3:32 p.m.
B. Approval of the Agenda
Amended to remove SD 14-11, Curriculum Document Approval Process, Procedure, and Template.
Amended to replace Michael Roller with Mary Beth O’Connor as chair of the Committee on Student Affairs.
Amended to reschedule the report of Rick Costello, director of athletics, for the October meeting.
Amended to allow Bobby Binford, Student Government Association president, to give the first of the committee reports.
Amended to move the report of the Agenda Committee to follow the Student Government Association president’s report.
Motion to accept the amendments made by J. Coffey and seconded by J. Hack. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion to approve the amended agenda approved unanimously.
C. Approval of Minutes: May meeting minutes
· Minutes of the May meeting approved unanimously.
D. Special Business of the Day
· Chancellor Report – Dr. Thomas Keon
The chancellor discussed the timeline for the unification with Purdue North Central. The goal is to complete the application required by the Indiana Higher Learning Commission by August 2015. If the application is received favorably, it may be possible to use the name Purdue University Northwest and begin recruiting as the combined institution sometime in 2016. He reported that a series of campus visits are likely between 2016 and 2021 to monitor the progress.
The chancellor reported that number of billable credit hours for Fall 2014 was up by about 2 percent, based on the early calculations.
· Chair Report – Professor Feng-Song Wang
The chair announced that the first meeting of the committee to study the unification of the Faculty Senates of PUC and PNC would take place on Wednesday, September 10 at 1 p.m. The location was to be determined. He indicated the major issue would be whether the two senates would merge and that clarification on the tenure status of faculty members was being sought. He reported that there were no formal meetings of the Agenda Committee during the summer, though he did have meetings with a few members and that the nominating committee had been working to populate the various committees.
· Curriculum document approval - Professor Geoffrey Schultz
o General curriculum document (see Appendix)
Document approved unanimously
· Other special business
o PUWL Senate Representative - Professor David Pick
D. Pick reported that the West Lafayette Senate had yet to meet, though the Educational Policy Committee had met to begin discussions on revising the curriculum document process.
E. Committee Reports
· Student Government Association – President Bobby Binford.
The president reported on a recent constitutional amendment and plans to convene the body’s House of Representatives in Alumni Hall. He emphasized a major goal this year would be to improve the association’s communication processes.
· Agenda Committee – Professor Ralph Cherry
The committee chair reported on recent efforts use electronic voting at Senate meetings and the visit of the provost/vice chancellor for academic affairs at the August 20 committee meeting. Provost P. Gerard reported on PUC’s upcoming decision to continue using AQIP or switch to Pathways for accrediting purposes. She expressed the preference to use Pathways because AQIP is used mostly by community colleges.
· Academic Support Services Committee - Professor Michael Mick
The committee chair described the continuing process to create a five-year calendar and the desire to create electronic voting for Senate activities. He also discussed the committee’s involvement in efforts to secure an electronic cataloging and curriculum management system.
· Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee - Professor Geoffrey Schultz
The committee chair introduced SD 14-12, Creation of Ad Hoc Committee on the Curriculum Process, for discussion. He noted the proposal was an extension of the proposed SD 14-11, Curriculum Document Approval Process, Procedure, and Template, that had been proposed by former CEP Chair E. Pierson in May. The ad hoc committee’s charge will be to examine the entire curriculum process and seek ways to expedite the review of documents. The document, SD 14-12, Creation of Ad Hoc Committee on the Curriculum Process, was moved to action and approved unanimously.
· Faculty Affairs Committee - Professor Mita Choudhury
M. Choudhury reported on the committee’s concerns about the impact of the heavy teaching load for faculty members and the lack of salary increases in the recent past.
M. Choudhury re-introduced SD 14-10, Unification and Instructional Budget for action. She indicated that the document had been substantially revised over the summer to reflect the greater level of transparency in the actions of the Senior Leadership Team. The document was returned to the committee for further consideration.
· Nominating Committee - Professor Ralph Cherry
R. Cherry reported the recent addition of G. Jin and B. Colon to Senate membership, and efforts to place Senate members on the various committees.
F. Unfinished Business – None.
G. New Business – The chair received a request to reconfigure the tables in SUL 321 for the Senate meetings and explained that the change was to encourage the Senators to speak to the chair of the meeting when making comments. D. Nalbone suggested that a vote be taken on the configuration.
H. Open Discussion – M. Choudhury reported on a unanimous resolution that the minutes from the Faculty Affairs Committee meetings be posted on the Faculty Senate website. The chair indicated that current practice was not to place the minutes of committee meetings on the website and that no provision for doing this exists in the bylaws, but he hoped to find a solution.
The chancellor reported on the efforts to report on the savings realized from the unification of PUC and PNC.
I. Adjournment: meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m.
Appendix:
General Curriculum document