The Academic Senate was called to order by Chair Mark Phillips at 2:10 p.m.
Senate Members Present: Sanjoy Banerjee, Gerrie Baughman, Sally Berlowitz, Marian Bernstein, Mark Blank, Yu-Charn Chen, Robert Cherny, Jerry Duke, Ken Fehrman, Helen Gillotte, Helen Goldsmith, Peter Haikalis, Ann Hallum, Gary Hammerstrom, Jennifer Hammett, Caroline Harnly, Mary Ann Haw, Marlon Hom, Bonnie Homan, William Hopkins, Rick Houlberg, Todd Imahori, Dane Johnson, James Kelley, Thomas La Belle, Wanda Lee, Lois Lyles, Hollis Matson, Eunice McKinney-Aaron, Ken Monteiro, Mohsen Naser-Tavakolian, Mark Phillips, Elisabeth Prinz, Mario Rivas, Jay Schrock, Don Scoble, Hamid Shahnasser, Anita Silvers, Peggy Smith, Dawn Terrell, Lana Thomson, Thaddeus Usowicz, Marilyn Verhey, Patricia Wade, Mary Ann Warren, Penelope Warren, Nancy Wilkinson, Alfred Wong, Darlene Yee.
Senate Members Absent: George Woo(exc.), David Hemphill(exc.), Eugene Michaels, Roberto Rivera, Will Flowers(exc.), Patricia Bartscher(exc.), Robert Corrigan(exc.), Lee Sprague, Michelle Cheng, Eric Hammer.
Senate Interns Present: Jaimee Sagisi.
Guests: G. Whitaker, J. Kassiola, V. Thompson, R. Gutierrez, G. Eisman, P. Saffold, K. Bowman, B. Westwood, W. Mullins, L. Lemire, M. Ritter, K. Wible, C. Grice.
Announcements and Report
Chair's Report
Agenda Item #1 - Approval of Agenda for Meeting of December 10, 1996
Agenda item #4 was amended as follows: "from the Statewide Senators"
was deleted from the title. Text under the title was amended to the following:
"Senate Chair Phillips will be presenting an up-date on the Statewide Senate
Chairs meeting hold on Friday, November 22." The revisions were approved.
The agenda was approved as amended.
Agenda Item #2 - Approval of Minutes for Meeting of November 19, 1996
The minutes were approved as printed.
Agenda Item #3 - Report from Vice President La Belle
Provost La Belle briefly commented on recent efforts in the area of
technology-mediated instruction. He commented that he was struck by the
number of times he heard the words 'technology' and 'education' used together.
He then discovered that there was no recent report on this matter and that the
topic appeared not to be central to the deliberations of the various CUSP groups.
Therefore, he decided to bring together a working group of Vicki Casella/CET,
Peter DeWees/Extended Learning, Frank Moakley/Audio-Visual, Erwin Seibel/Undergraduate
Studies, and Gail Whitaker/Academic Program Development to prepare a briefing
paper on the topic and to set in motion a discussion of the issues facing the
campus. This group used as a working definition of "distance education"
one taken from the American Council of Education. The working group has issued
its report.
Agenda Item #4 - Report from Chair Phillips on Statewide Senate Chairs Meeting
Chair Phillips commented briefly on a meeting of CSU Campus Chairs
on November 22, 1996. The meeting focused on three items: 1) technology and
the concern that campuses may be using technology for inappropriate purposes;
2) faculty involvement in budget planning--CSU campuses appear to be using a
variety of approaches and faculty involvement; 3) PSSI and the attack on tenure
across the country. This was the most significant item on the agenda; it will
appear also on the agenda for the next campus chairs' meeting.
Agenda Item #5 - Principles of Consultation
Chair Phillips offered the following background for this agenda item: In the Fall of 1992, the Academic Senate adopted a policy on administrative searches which was then amended by President Corrigan. Following this action, an ad hoc committee was established to review this policy and recommend subsequent changes. The policy as amended by the President has governed us for a number of years but has not always been followed. This has occurred for a number of reasons, including a) the limitations of the policy; b) the limitations of any policy in this area; and c) the gap between the signed policy and original preferences of the Senate. In the case of the very successful search for a new Vice-President/Provost for Academic Affairs, the Executive Committee and the President formed a committee which we felt was far more representative and better skilled for this search than would have been provided for in a strict application of the policy.
The Executive Committee discussed at length the possibility of revising the policy and decided not to do so because 1) a great expenditure of time would be needed, detracting from time spent on more important issues such as PSSIs, the evaluation of teaching effectiveness, and revisions in the HRTP policies; 2) the likelihood that some key areas would continue to remain unresolved between the President and the Senate (however, informally we have been able to bridge that gap through a good working relationship); 3) how we work with the policy is perceived as more important than the strict application of the policy.
The Executive Committee developed a set of principles to guide us rather than a new policy. These guidelines do not need presidential approval. If approved by the Senate, these Principles will serve as a guide in applying the policy in dialogue with the President.
Chair Phillips then asked the Senate to formally approve these Principles.
Duke/Matson moved to accept the Principles. This was approved unanimously.
Agenda Item #6 - Proposed New Undergraduate Degree in Environmental Studies
CRAC Chair Hallum introduced this item indicating that Dean Kassiola/BSS was present as a resource. The proposed program will be a free-standing major in Environmental Studies. It will exist apart from any specific existing department because of its necessarily high multi- and inter-disciplinary nature. Resource support for the program will be equally shared between the Colleges of BSS and Science & Engineering. Permanent administrative housing will be in the College of BSS. Courses will be mainly from the Colleges of Humanities, Business, Education, Ethnic Studies, Health & Human Services and Creative Arts. The objective of the program is to produce exceptional graduates who are grounded in the study of contemporary environmental issues in a way which transcends any existing programs at San Francisco State University.
Hopkins/Matson moved the item to second reading. This passed. Senator Cherny then inquired about resource implications. Kassiola stated that two new hires were anticipated. Senator Yee then asked about the concentrations and type of degrees anticipated. Hallum responded that the first two concentrations lead to a BS degree; the latter three lead BA degrees.
Houlberg/Silvers moved to approve the item. This item was approved.
Agenda Item #7 - Handling/Addressing Violence on Campus and in the Classroom
Rick Gutierrez/Counseling & Psychological Services provided background material for this video presentation. He indicated that at the suggestion of the Student Affairs Committee, a special presentation would be given jointly by members of the Counseling and Psychological Services, the University Police Department and the University Discipline Office on handling and addressing violence in the classroom and on campus. The program is being provided with the belief that much of the violence can be avoided or minimized with pro-active measures.
A twenty-minute film was then presented followed by questions from Senators and comments by Gutierrez, Penny Saffold, Kevin Bowman, and other members of the groups sponsoring the presentation.
Several comments were made and discussed: faculty should specify a code of conduct in each course syllabus and discuss it with the members of the class; faculty should know their options in dealing with disruptions in class; faculty should be aware of faculty resources/training regarding these matters.
Following the film and questions, Chair Phillips reminded all present that
the Senate was instrumental several years ago in securing additional funds for
Counseling and Psychological Services. Phillips then thanked Gutierrez and his
team for the presentation.
Agenda Item #8 - CUSP Up-Date
Senator Warren presented a brief up-date. She indicated that CUSP held a five-hour meeting focusing on Academic Excellence and Teaching and Learning. She commented briefly on recent CUSP activity in other areas as well.
As there were no questions, the Senate adjourned at 3:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
William Hopkins
Secretary to the Faculty