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Governance Minutes ArchiveDecember 8, 1987
MINUTES FACULTY SENATE MEETING 8 December 1987 7:30 p.m. Present: Senators Arnold, Baumgartner, Birch, Blieszner, Campbell, Collins, Conn, Duke, Eng, Eustis, Fine, Geller, Geyer, Grossman, Killough, Kornegay, Ludwig, Morrill, Myers, Nielsen, Novak, Paterson, Polan, Scanlon, Snoke, Sullins, Wang, Wokutch Alternates F. C. Gwazdauskas for D. Kohl and T. Sherman for D. Oliver Absent: Senators Beyer, Cranford, Dugger, Goss, Hansen, Hicks, Knocke, Salvaggio, Schug, Smeal. Guests: S. Trulove (Spectrum); D. Barker (Montgomery County News Messen- ger); E. Randall (Roanoke Times); R. Crittenden, J. B,. Crittenden, P. Rony, P. Knox, J. Painter. 1. President Eustis called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS A letter was received from the Provost concerning the restructuring of the supplemental grants committee. Committee will consist of: (ex officio members) Vice provost for research and graduate studies (chair), the treasurer of the Virginia Tech Education Foundation, Executive Director of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, Chair of the Academy of Teaching Excellence and the following appointed by the Provost: A faculty senator, a faculty member from the Com- mission on Research, a faculty member from Commission on Extension, a faculty member from the Commission on Graduate Studies and 2 rep- resentatives of the College Deans. Appointments will be for two years. Revision of the Constitution and Bylaws will be taken up at the January meeting. Vice President Heterick will be invited to the January 12 meeting. Send questions to President Eustis. The Senate office is closed due to renovations and office hours are not now being maintained. The Senate officers were invited to meet with Rector White of the Board of Visitors on 16 November and heard plans for the Presiden- tial Search Committee. The Senate officers attended the open ses- sions of the Board of Visitors meetings on 15 and 16 November. They also attended the meeting of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Visitors. At the January meeting of the Board of Visitors discussions on shared governance will take place and the formal relationship be- tween faculty and the Board of Visitors will be discussed. A pres- entation on shared governance will be made by President Eustis. The Senate officers met with Dean Torgersen, Provost Perry, Student Government Association Officers and will meet with President Lavery on 10 December. Treasurers Report: 23 senators have paid $69 dues. The checking account balance is $134.34. The Faculty Senate volleyball team beat the Student Government As- sociation team. The senate coach John Pierce, who also is coach of the University Women's Volleyball team was thanked. A volleyball challenge match with the Administration will be held the week of 18-22 January. Practice will take place the week of 11-15 January. R. Blieszner is in charge of team recruiting. Senate Cabinet will meet 18 December 1987 at 3:00 in Bogens to dis- cuss the Board of Visitors meeting. All senators are welcome. 2. The Agenda was adopted with 1 item of new business. 3. Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting of 10 November 1987 were ap- proved. Minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting of 30 November 1987 were approved. 4. Program Provost J. Perry and Dr. E. Carson were introduced. Dr. Perry spoke on the special admission procedures. Several changes in structure and procedures have been made over the last several months which are designed to improve the accountability for academic success of student athletes. These include a) adding a coordinator for advising of student athletes in the Provost's of- fice; b) providing an apparatus for logically and consistently evaluating recruited students and an operational committee was set up to do this; c) the appointment of the Athletic Director whose record and philosophy is consistent with the academic well-being of student athletes. Dr. Perry feels athletics should not be abandoned and that the level at which the University competes should not be reduced. QUESTION: An assistant or associate dean will be a member of the special ad- missions appeals committee. Which college will this dean represent and who makes the choice? ANSWER: The committee is an operational committee of the provost who will make the selection. The assistant or associate dean will be chosen from the pool of those available deans. COMMENT: The use of the term "department" with respect to athletics is caus- ing confusion as departments are thought of as degree granting units. ANSWER: The generic term department was used due to the restructuring of the Athletic Association which will be a fiscal department of the University when restructured. It will not be a department in the academic sense. QUESTION: B. Crittenden was recognized. He spoke in opposition to special admissions procedures, and asked which specific entrance require- ments will be excepted. ANSWER: Specific exceptions could not be detailed. Exceptions can be made to any policies of the University e.g. the academic appeals commit- tee. R. Crittenden was recognized. She expressed the view that the aca- demic department concerned should have a role in the appeals proc- ess and that student athletes should meet the admission standards. Applicants are being denied admission while underqualified student athletes are being admitted. COMMENT: Counseling and an advocate can improve chances for success. The athletic "department" will provide counseling. ANSWER: Competition for admission to the University based on preparation of students varies a lot by department and college. QUESTION: The special admissions procedures are a significant improvement but there may be a problem with accountability. Can minimum standards be set in terms of SAT scores etc.? Can a report of the decisions made by the appeals committee be made available to increase ac- countability and react to potential problems? QUESTION: Can accountability for advising be included in such a report? COMMENT: The discussion should not be confined to athletes. Other students such as participants in performing arts have similar problems as athletes. ANSWER: Interest in monitoring is widespread including the Provost's of- fice. A problem will be in the establishing of which students are admitted as exceptions. Those which are admitted by the appeals process will be clear. COMMENT: (E. Carson). A system to track progress of student athletes is be- ing developed. One person is working on developing this system. QUESTION: Who is funding this? ANSWER: Carson's office is funding the development of the system. E. Carson made comments on admissions procedures and circulated se- veral handouts comparing admissions criteria with QCA of students after admissions. In general individual admissions criteria seem to be poor predictions of subsequent success as measured by QCA. COMMENT: The quantity of data presented indicate that tracking of progress of student athletes is possible. QUESTION: What percentage of special exceptions for non-athletes will be made? ANSWER: A very small percentage--2 requests were made last year, 10 over a period of 7 years. QUESTION: Will the tracking process take into account changes in advising procedures for student athletes? 5. Council, Commission and Committee Reports. UNIVERSITY COUNCIL. Senator Conn - University Council met 7 Novem- ber. A resolution from the commission on research was presented for 1st reading. This resolution seeks to determine whether monies obtained for research can be placed in interest bearing accounts and if so who can control the disposition of such monies. A resol- ution on a new films policy was presented for first reading. A policy on sexual harassment will be presented for second reading at a later meeting. COMMISSION ON EXTENSION - Senator Collins - A meeting was held 2 September 1987. The minutes indicated that the business was mostly announcements. Federal support of the extension budget is better. CEC has a 20% increase in activity. A position of extension asso- ciate (a non-faculty position) is being considered to enhance abil- ity to retain certain specialists. A consulting policy is being considered which essentially reads like the current faculty hand- book. There will be 3 meetings in 1988. COMMISSION ON FACULTY AFFAIRS - Senator Grossman - et 20 November and 4 December. Discussed faculty liability in advising student organizations. Advisors who have a letter of appointment have li- ability covered. An amendment to a relevant CSA resolution is be- ing proposed. Also discussed in a preliminary way were: annual leave for faculty with fiscal year appointments, promotion of fac- ulty in emeritus status, appointment of endowed chairs, and evalu- ation of faculty contributions to instruction and service. Considerable discussion on the liability issues ensued. COMMISSION ON GRADUATE STUDIES - Senator Baumgartner - Two meetings have been cancelled. COMMISSION ON RESEARCH - Senator Arnold - Met 11 November. Most of the issues covered were dealt with by Mr. Ridenour at the last Fac- ulty Senate meeting. A new listing of deadlines for federal grants will be circulated shortly. A request for C.I.T. proposals has been circulated to college research deans. Issues of research and academic misconduct were discussed. A report by the National Asso- ciation of Land Grant Colleges and Universities on this topic is available which may help in forming policy. COMMISSION ON STUDENT AFFAIRS - Senator Morrill - Met 12 November. Classification of student organizations was discussed, especially eligibility for financial support and the role of student advisors. COMMISSION ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES - Senator Myers - No meeting. ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION BOARD - Senator Sullins - The Board met fol- lowing the announcement of the new Athletic Director. They met the Athletic Director, approved his contract retroactively, and found him impressive particularly in regard to his views on success of student athletes. Because VTAA is being disbanded, the Board is not functioning as well as might be expected but are optimistic concerning the function of the new committee. BUILDING COMMITTEE - Senator Ludwig - No Meeting - No Report COMPUTER COMMITTEE - Senator Birch - Did not meet. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE - Senator Fine - Met 8 December. Nothing to report yet. LIBRARY COMMITTEE - Senator Duke - Met 12 November. Discussed 1) long term storage; 2) Data base on data bases; 3) impact of journal prices. Preliminary work is being done to assess the data resources such as books, biological specimens, etc. Current journal prices were not provided as the relevant person was absent. SCHEV has recommended full funding for the library based on formu- lae which, is appropriated, could increase the book purchasing budget by $1.2m. A reshelving survey is being done to assess use of library books. Q. Was there any discussion of better incentives or fines to im- prove return of books by faculty? A. It will be brought up at the next meeting. Comment: Reports indicate that morale of library staff is low and administration is confused. If such a state of affairs be true, major problems lie ahead for the library and faculty should be aware of them. Comment: A report is circulating concerning possible reductions in serials publications. Response: Some standing order items are being returned. The person who would respond to questions on serials publications was not at the committee meeting. Comment: Blanket orders are being cancelled for this year. The budget for monographs will be reduced by 36%. Slips from whole- salers are being evaluated for purchase rather than continue blan- ket orders. Comment: A $157K reduction in science and technology journals is being proposed. The total proposed reductions in serials is $300K. College library committee representatives are being asked to recom- mend items to be cut. Q. Could the Director of Libraries be invited to a senate meeting? A. He will be invited to the January meeting. PARKING COMMITTEE - Senator Oliver, Senator Geller - No report. SCHOLARSHIP AND STUDENT AID COMMITTEE - Senator Wang - No meeting. SELF-STUDY STEERING COMMITTEE - Senator Novak - No meeting. FACULTY SENATE OF VIRGINIA - Senator Smeal - No report. PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE - Senator Paterson - First meeting was scheduled for 15 December in Richmond. Discussion revolved around the amount of faculty representation on the search commit- tee. It was decided to write faculty and solicit their input to Senator Paterson and/or to individual senators. PLANNING TASK FORCE - Senator Ludwig - Meeting postponed. 6. Old Business None. 7. New Business Procedures on special admissions. Several concerns were expressed. These included: o that the procedures for special admission were procedures only and did not state policies; o that procedures were distributed for information only, and that faculty had no participation in decisions; o that only appointments were made to the appeals committee; o that the committee makes an academic decision (re admission)with a vote by a non-academic appointee; o that an appealing department has a vote in the matter of admis- sion; o that use of the term "department" in the context of the ath- letic administration is misleading: o that denial of admission to better qualified regular students is a significant problem. Other points were that the policy would yield data which could be evaluated and that once admitted the specially-admitted students should be monitored. It was decided to charge the ad hoc committee to consider all as- pects of the issue and report to the next meeting. Senator Sullins volunteered to join the ad hoc committee and Senator Geller will act as a consultant. FACULTY REVIEW COMMITTEE - Senator Conn. Senator Conn distributed a draft procedure for a faculty review committee and discussed it. A motion to adopt items 1, 2 and 3 from "general procedures" and items 1 and 2 under "procedures for investigation of a grievance" was made, seconded and adopted. A motion to congratulate the Virginia Tech men's cross country team on their fourth place finish in the NCAA National Championships on 23 November 1987, was made by Senator Snoke, was seconded, and passed unanimously. 8. A motion to adjourn was passed at 11:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patrick F. Scanlon, Secretary, Faculty Senate.
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