ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING

MINUTES

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009

SEVEN HILLS CONFERENCE CENTER, NOB HILL ROOM

2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

	ATTENDANCE:
	Avani, Nathan	Jeung, Russell	Rehling, Lu
	Boyle, Andrea	Jin, Leigh	Robertson, Bruce
	Bugayong, Arlene	Kohn, Jim	Rosegard, Erik
	Burke, Adam	Landry, Lynette	Rothman, Barry
	Chen, Yu-Charn	Lau, Jenny	Salama, Mohammad
	Chou, Fang-yu	LePage, Pamela	Shapiro, Jerald (abs
	Dariotis, Wei Ming	Levy, Eileen	Sherwin, Paul
	Davila, Brigitte	Li, Wen-Chao	Shrivastava, Vinay
	DuVal, Derethia	Longmore, Paul	Sinha, Dipendra
	Flatt, Sylvia	Luna, Debra	Taylor, Don
	Goen-Salter, Sugie	McCarthy, Chris	Trautman, Ray
	Gomes, Ricardo	McCracken, Bridget	Ulasewicz, Connie
	Gubeladze, Joseph	Minami, Masahiko	Whalen, Shawn
	Hellenga, Kate	Modirzadeh, Hafez	Yee, Darlene
	Hellman, David	Neely, Francis
	Holzman, Barbara	Noble, Nancy
Absences: Bartscher, Patricia (exc); Chelberg, Gene (exc); Cheung, Yitwah (On Leave Spring 09); Corrigan, Robert (exc); Danner, Don (abs); Fuentes, Enrique (abs); Gemello, John (exc); Hussain, Mahmood (exc); Mahan, Dianne (exc); Moody, Laura (exc); Morishita, Leroy (exc); Sheldon, James (abs); Sveinsdottir, Asta (exc); van Dam, Mary Ann (exc)
Guests: Gail Evans, Helen Goldsmith, Wanda Lee, Joy Viveros, Jo Volkert, Abdiel Oñate, James Martel

CALL TO ORDER: 2:15 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

· March is Women’s History month. The 2009 theme is, “Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet.”

· College elections for Academic Senate and university committee appointments will begin in early March. Immediately following the announcements of the college election results, the all-university elections will be held.

· The referendum to approve an amendment to the Faculty Constitution, to enlarge the senate body by two members and increase the staff representation to three members, was approved. There were 224.28 appointment-time-based “yes” and 49.6 “no” votes recorded from the 297 faculty who voted.

AGENDA ITEM #1—Approval of the Agenda for March 3, 2009.

The agenda was approved.

AGENDA ITEM #2—Approval of the Minutes for February 17, 2009.

The minutes of the February 17, 2009, Academic Senate meeting were approved as amended.

AGENDA ITEM #3— Report from Joy Viveros, Academic Honors and Fellowships Advisor: Introduction of the SF State Fellowship Office.

Joy Viveros, Ph.D., Academic Honors and Fellowships Advisor, Undergraduate Advising Center, was introduced to the Senate. She reported on the SF State Fellowship Office and the services provided to both undergraduate and graduate students.

AGENDA ITEM #4— Report from Statewide Academic Senators: Andrea Boyle; Jerald Shapiro; and Darlene Yee-Melichar.

Academic Senate California State University (ASCSU) Senators Andrea Boyle and Darlene Yee-Melichar reported on recent resolutions approved by ASCSU, a resolution in first reading, current systemwide committee activities, and systemwide updates.

AGENDA ITEM #5— Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee: Adding Journal Editing as Professional Achievement and Growth, Second Reading.

Senator Levy, on behalf of Faculty Affairs Committee, moved that the Senate approve a revision to the Retention, Tenure, & Promotion Policy (#S07-241), that journal editing be added to the list of possible exhibits of professional achievement and growth.

The motion passed.

AGENDA ITEM #6— Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Reapportionment for Academic Senate representatives, 2009-2010 Academic Year, Second Reading.

Senator Trautman, on behalf of the Executive Committee, moved that the Senate approve an Academic Senate reapportionment that includes 9 at-large members and additional members to each college as follows: Behavioral & Social Sciences, 3; Business, 3; Creative Arts, 3; Education, 2; Ethnic Studies, 1; Health & Human Services, 3; Humanities, 5; and Science & Engineering, 4.

The motion passed.

AGENDA ITEM #7— Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revisions to the Minor in Latin American Area Studies, First Reading

Senator Shrivastava, on behalf of the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee, moved that the Senate approve revisions to the Minor in Latin American Area Studies, including a change of the name of the minor to “Latin American Studies.” Senator Shrivastava yielded the floor to Abdiel Oñate, Professor, History, and Director of the Latin American Area Studies program, who described the revisions.

Questions and comments included:

• Why is the foreign language requirement changing from “intermediate level” to “basic” competency? How will the competency be demonstrated? The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures could help develop instruments to assess foreign language competency.

• Should the list of faculty teaching courses in the minor program be included in the proposal?

• The foreign language requirements in several other minor programs offered by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences were recently been reviewed by CRAC and the Academic Senate. Since the number of units in the minor is constrained, it is necessary to prioritize the desired requirements.

• Foreign language is not “extra”; it is an integral part of the minor.

The speaker’s list was exhausted.

AGENDA ITEM #8— Recommendation from the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee: Proposed Revisions to the M.A. in Political Science, First Reading

Senator Shrivastava, on behalf of the Curriculum Review and Approval Committee, moved that the Senate approve revisions to the M.A. in Political Science. Senator Shrivastava yielded the floor to James Martel, Associate Professor and Chair, Political Science, who described the revisions.

Questions and comments included:

• Has the department considered alternatives to the GET or GRE to demonstrate entry-level writing proficiency?

• The department might want to reconsider the two methods proposed for demonstrating exit-level writing proficiency.

• The second purpose listed for PLSI 700 should be reworded (page 1, line 43).

The speaker’s list was exhausted.

AGENDA ITEM #9— Recommendation from the Student Affairs Committee: Proposed Revisions to the Enrollment Management Committee Membership, First Reading

Senator McCracken, on behalf of the Student Affairs Committee, moved that the Senate approve revisions to Academic Senate Policy #F02-222, Enrollment Management.

Questions and comments included:

• The change in membership could change the committee composition from a majority of faculty to a majority of administrators.

• Isn’t it better for the Vice President for Academic Affairs to appoint administrators to the committee, instead of listing specific administrative positions in the policy?

• Who will call the first meeting?

• Would the membership expansion cause the committee problems in reaching a quorum?

• Could some members from administrative positions be specified as non-voting members?

• Line 33 should begin with a roman numeral “1” section identifier.

The speaker’s list was exhausted.

AGENDA ITEM #10— Recommendation from the Executive Committee: Proposed Revisions to the Academic Search Policy, #S08-180, First Reading.

Senator Rehling, on behalf of the Executive Committee, moved that the Senate approve revisions to Academic Senate Policy #S08-180, Search Committee for San Francisco State University Administrators.

Questions and comments included:

• The specification of timely opportunity to review candidate information is appreciated.

• Referring to item 4 on page 1 (lines 15-17) regarding the “unit” reporting to the search position, how will search committees for college deans be determined? The search committee for the dean of a college should specifically include department chairs, because chairs have specific, unique interactions with deans.

• The specification of timely opportunity to review candidate information is appreciated.

• The revision should be tabled until the search committee for a Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs has concluded its task and reported to the Academic Senate..

• Some revisions are desired now. For example, the current policy does not afford students the opportunity to serve on administrative search committees.

The speaker’s list was exhausted.

AGENDA ITEM #11— Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee: Proposed Revisions to the University Tenure and Promotion Policy—Program Directors Ineligible to Serve on UTPC, First Reading.

Senator Levy, on behalf of Faculty Affairs Committee, moved that the Senate approve a revision to the Retention, Tenure, & Promotion Policy (#S07-241), such that program directors who have responsibility for RTP review would be ineligible to serve on the University Tenure and Promotions Committee.

Senator Levy moved that the item be moved to second reading.

The motion passed.

The main motion, now in second reading, passed.

Chair Whalen declared the meeting adjourned at 3:56 p.m.