PURDUE
UNIVERSITY CALUMET
COUNCIL OF FACULTY DELEGATES
MINUTES
6th Meeting February
3, 1997
Present:
Professors C. Chancey, R. Colon, S. Conners (Sergeant-at-Arms), M.
Dobberstein, A. Elmendorf, R. Foreman, J. Hack (Presiding Officer), J. Jennings,
L. Mura, B. Pai, D. Pick, K. Pierce, L. Rittenmeyer, C. Sekhar, R. Stankowski,
S. Tickoo, C. Torres-Robles, J. Walker, G. Wegner, L. Willer, Vice Chancellor
S. Singer, Vice Chancellor G. Newsom, Chancellor J. Yackel, M. Dakich
(Parliamentarian), J. Mitchell (Student Government), J. Wermuth (Secretary),
Absent: Professors R. Evans, S. Sil, C. Stacy, W.
Ting; Vice Chancellor L. Bryant
I. The meeting was called to order by
Professor Hack.
II. Professor Chancey moved the approval of the minutes of the
January 13, 1997, meeting of the Council of Faculty Delegates. Professor Rittenmeyer seconded the
motion. Professor Elmendorf asked that
Item V, paragraph 5, line 5 be changed to read “...Professor Evans offered...”
in place of “...Professor Mura offered...”.
The motion to approve the minutes as amended passed.
III. Professor Hack moved the acceptance of the agenda for the
February 3, 1997, meeting of the Council of Faculty Delegates. Professor Mura seconded the motion. The motion to accept the agenda passed.
IV. Chancellor's Report
Chancellor Yackel said
the Indiana General Assembly was off to a slow start. He said the state assisted universities met the week previous
with the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss their proposed budgets. He said the State Budget Committee Proposal
was lower than that proposed for the universities by the Indiana Commission for
Higher Education, and contained no quality improvement funds. He said the appropriation for the Anderson
asbestos abatement and renovation project remains unchanged in the funding
bill, and that the House Ways and Means Committee will recommend 100% funding
of the repair and rehabilitation, and infrastructure formulas. He said Governor O’Bannon has proposed a
loan fund program for Indiana residents that includes a provision for
forgiveness of 20% of the loan for each
of five years as long as the graduate files an Indiana income tax.
Chancellor Yackel said
the classroom office building construction is about on schedule, with an anticipated
occupancy date of summer 1998. He said
the program committees for the Anderson, and Gyte and Gyte Annex renovations
are making progress with the latter renovation moving to the architectural
phase when the sources of funds for the renovation are identified.
Chancellor Yackel and
Vice Chancellor Newsom reviewed the new procedures being put in place to
improve communications in the event of a weather emergency. The procedures include notifying nine local
radio stations and Emergency Weather Central in Chicago (to which a number of
media outlets subscribe) by 5:00 a.m. of a change in university status
affecting day classes due to weather, and by 3:00 p.m. of a change affecting
night classes. It was noted that there
will be two messages; viz., Classes are suspended. meaning
there are no classes at any site, but that all other university operations are
functioning; and The University is
closed. meaning there are no classes at any site and only emergency
personnel are permitted on the Hammond campus.
Other procedures include placing the message on the website home page,
the electronic signs, and police and information desk phones. Vice Chancellor Newsom said that a calling
system which can theoretically reach all 800 employees within an hour is being
reviewed. Chancellor Yackel asked that
those present review the article in the administrative update section of the
latest Purdue Calumet Chronicle.
Chancellor Yackel said
that second semester income is close to the budgeted amount, although
enrollment is down slightly in both credit hours and students. He said the south county enrollment is up
20% over a year ago, due to strong enrollments at the Hellenic Cultural Center.
Vice Chancellor Singer
reminded those present of the February 6 poster session in Alumni Hall
celebrating Purdue Calumet scholarship.
She said the posters will be on display from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.,
with the presenters available from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. She said refreshments will be provided by
the Purdue Calumet Chapter of the American Association of University
Professors. Vice Chancellor Singer also
reminded those present that Dr. Sheila Tobias will be on campus on February 13
and 14 to present her ideas on doing a better job of teaching mathematics and
science at the university level. She
said Dr. Tobias’s visit is sponsored by the Faculty Development Committee and
the local chapter of Sigma Xi.
V. Special Business of the Day
There
was no Special Business of the Day
VI.
Unfinished Business
There
was no Unfinished Business.
VII. Reports of Committees
Agenda
Committee: Professor Hack said the committee met January 22, prepared the
day’s agenda, and discussed a spring convocation, the Board of Trustees visit,
and general education. She said that
discussion of general education led to a memorandum from herself (as presiding
officer of the Council) and Professor Mura to the academic department heads
requesting that they prepare and send bingo sheets to Professor Mura that are
in compliance with the general education requirements. Professor Elmendorf said that the Department
of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics is proposing the dropping of MA
113 as a credit course.
Faculty
Affairs Committee: Professor Elmendorf said the committee had
not met.
Nominating Committee: There was no report from the committee.
Research
and Educational Policy Committee: Professor Mura said the committee had not
met. She said the Agenda Committee
discussed general education at its last meeting. She said the committee noted the Fall 1997 implementation
date. She said it would seem that
general education compliant bingo sheets need to be in place for new students
by April 15 which would suggest the Council needs to approve the revised bingo sheets
at its March meeting. She said a memo
from her and Professor Hack was sent to the academic department heads
requesting they submit compliant bingo sheets to her by February 20. She said that it seemed there were four ways
the Council could meet its obligation to oversee general education compliance:
1) as a committee of the whole, 2) by forming a special committee to provide
oversight, 3) by assigning oversight to a standing committee, and 4) by
assigning oversight to a subcommittee.
She said that a decision will need to be made at the next Council
meeting, or the Council will have to change the implementation date of the
general education policy.
In the discussion that followed, various proposal
were made including assigning oversight responsibility to the Research and
Educational Policy committee, having a department designee collect the updated
bingo sheets, ensuring an appeals mechanism on meeting general education
requirements, and postponing the implementation date of the requirements. Professor Chancey proposed that the Research
and Educational Policy Committee develop a proposal for discussion at the next
meeting of the Council. In response to
a question by Professor Jennings about the possible effects of general
education requirements on undecided students, Professor Hack said that policy
has been that a student’s plan of study is not confirmed until the student is
accepted into a program. In response to
a question by Professor Elmendorf, Chancellor Yackel said that the North
Central Association did not set an implementation date, but did set a date of
June 1, 1997, for informing them of Purdue Calumet’s general education
requirements and implementation plan.
Resources and Planning Committee: Professor
Dobberstein said the committee will meet next on February 11.
Student Affairs Committee: Professor
Rittenmeyer said the committee had no report.
Intercampus
Faculty Council: There was no report as the Council has not
met.
Student Government: Mr. Mitchell said that he had
met with the Vice Chancellors and discussed a possible fall break, and a chair
lift between the Powers Building and the Gyte Annex. He said he has application forms for the student trustee position
on the Board of Trustees, that he is a member of the student trustee selection
advisory committee, and plans to recommend the rotation of the seat among the
campuses of the Purdue system. He said
Student Government will meet next on Sunday, February 9, at 4:00 p.m.
VIII. Other New Business
Professor Hack
distributed copies of Purdue University West Lafayette Senate Document 96-3
which document proposes to change the academic regulations so that the time
frame for a student to receive a permanent grade in a course previously graded
incomplete be changed to “..one calendar year from the last day of the semester
in which the grade of incomplete is assigned..” from “..the twelfth week of the
second subsequent semester of enrollment..”. Professor Hack said that Registrar
Lon Lawson was present to review some implications of the document. Mr. Lawson said that the autonomy document
requires that there be a common set of academic regulations. He said there could be some effect on Purdue
Calumet students who are more likely to stop out than Purdue West Lafayette
students; but that the majority of incompletes are resolved within one year
from the assignment of the grade. Mr.
Lawson reviewed the concept of the “incomplete”; i.e., that it should be assigned to students who run into course
difficulty in semester weeks twelve through fifteen. Mr. Lawson said that the grade of W is appropriate prior to that
time (to week three) and that requiring the repeat of the course is an
inappropriate way of completing the work for a grade of incomplete.
Professor
Chancey asked what disposition shall the Council make of the Senate document
before it. Professor Hack said that
Council should give the Purdue Calumet representative to the Senate the sense
of the Council on the matter. Professor
Mura said the one year rule was good, but was concerned about stop outs and
wanted more data on Purdue Calumet students who receive incomplete grades. Mr. Lawson noted that the completion date
for an incomplete grade can be extended by the course professor and
others. Professor Dobberstein noted
that completion of a grade does not require enrollment. Professor Dobberstein also noted that the
new proposal presents a much cleaner end date, with which Professor Jennings
and Chancey agreed. Professor Conners
noted the difficulty of completing grades in fields whose course curricula
change rapidly. Professor Sekhar and
Mr. Mitchell expressed concern about the student being notified that the grade
of incomplete has been assigned.
Professor
Dobberstein moved that the Council support the document before it. Professor Chancey seconded the motion. A brief discussion followed and the motion
to support the document passed. Professor Jennings expressed a technical
concern in that a calendar year may not agree with an academic calendar year.
Professor
Dobberstein said the Commission on the Academic Reorganization has met four
times, and that it has completed about half its work on a faculty
constitution. He said the document
should be available to the faculty by the end of February and before the Agenda
Committee and Council in March.
Vice Chancellor
Newsom said the Purdue system is considering adding employee paid dental
insurance and whole life insurance to its flexible spending account mix. He said the Board of Trustees will hold its
next meeting at 8:30 a.m. in Founders’ Study on Friday, February 28. He noted the meeting is open to the public.
IX. Adjournment
With no further business
before the Council, Professor Hack declared the meeting adjourned.
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