MINUTES
UAF FACULTY SENATE MEETING #140Monday, December 11, 20061:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.Wood Center Conference Room C/D

I	Call to Order – Shirish Patil

Faculty Senate President Shirish Patil called the meeting to order at 1:09 p.m.

A.	Roll Call

Members Present:  
	Members Absent: 	
Allen, Jane 	Bandopadhyay, S.	
Anderson, Jodie	Dehn, Jonathan	
Berge, Anna	Freymueller, Jeff	
Bret-Harte, Marion	Lardon, Cecile	
Brown, Liz	Maxwell, David	
Burleson, Derick (Gerri Brightwell)	Wiechen, Heinz	
Cahill, Cathy (Larry Duffy)		
Cascio, Julie		
Chowdhury, Ataur	Others Present: 	
Collins, Jim	Linda Hapsmith	
Cooper, Christine	Henrichs, Susan	
Daku, Michael	Johnson, Janet	
Dandekar, Abhijit	Jones, Steve	
Davis, Mike	McHenry, Sue	
Deters, Pamela	O'Neill, Rory	
Genetti, Jon	Oba, Saichi	
Iken, Katrin	Reichardt, Paul	
Illingworth, Marjorie	Thomas, Dana	
Kingsley, Ilana	Washington, Lynette	
Konar, Brenda		
Lurman, Julie		
Newberry, Rainer		
Patil, Shirish		
Rickard, Anthony		
Roberts, Larry		
Rosenberg, Jonathan		
Sousa, Marsha		
Weber, Jane		
Zhang, Mingchu		
Zhou, Thomas		
Zhou, Wendy 		

Non-Voting Members Present:  
	Non-Voting Members Absent:	
Stickel, Tim - Registrar	Morrow, Phyllis - Dean, CLA	
Stepp, Jeff - Staff Council President 	Williams, Richard - Dean, CEM	
Gilkey, Sven - ASUAF 	Francis-Chythlook, Oceana - GSO	
	Illingworth, Ron - ACCFT	
	Porter, David - UNAC	
	United Academics-Adjunct - vacant	

B.	Approval of Minutes to Meeting #139

The minutes were not available for approval.  

C.	Adoption of Agenda

The agenda was adopted as distributed. 

II	Status of Chancellor's Office Actions 
	A.	Motions Approved:
1.	Motion to amend the Associate of Arts degree requirements.B.	Motions Pending:  none

III	Public Comments/Questions - none

IV	A.	President's Comments - Shirish Patil    

Shirish Patil gave an update on student success.   President Hamilton will provide funding to bring George Kuh from Indiana University to Fairbanks.  He is the author of "Student Success in College--Creating Conditions that Matter."  Books will be made available to borrow.  Shirish is also working with Dave Veazey to bring up John Connelly in late February.  

Shirish will meet with legislature in Juneau.  As a follow up to comments at the last Faculty Senate meeting about TRS funding, President Hamilton wrote a letter about the TRS funding method.  He requested that FY07 funded amounts to go directly to TRS and not to the university thus giving UA an ability to control the employer contribution rates.
On the wellness issue - culture of wellness is a goal at UAF.  There will be on-site seminars and workshops.  Shirish will invite Mike Humphrey to a meeting in the spring.  

There is a guaranteed tuition task force headed by Saichi Oba.  Steve Hamilton is the Faculty Alliance representative on the task force.  They are looking at locking in tuition for the freshmen students entering the UA system at the entry level credits they register for.  It is unknown at this time how long the guarantee would be (r, 5, or 6 years).  One fear is that students will try to lock in the maximum at the freshman level, but this may have impact on UA's number 1 goal--student success.  However, this might give incentives for students to finish in four years. 

Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate School, Dr. Susan Henrichs will give an update on the Provost's Forum on Instructional Assessment.

	B.	President-elect's Report - Jon Genetti    No report.
V	A.	Remarks by Chancellor Steve Jones Chancellor Jones commented on the governor's inauguration hosted on the first floor of Signer's Hall.  The Chancellor invited Palin and her entire cabinet to come and spend a day on campus in the future.  

Board of Regents' highlights include approval of naming the building IARC resides in as the Syun-Ichi Akasofu Building.  They also approved the establishment of the Susan Butcher Leadership Institute at UAF.  Susan Herman is the current director of the northern leadership center, which will morph into the Susan Butcher Leadership Institute.  The Regents' also changed the rule under which gifts and donations are charged a fee.  While the Regents were here a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the BRD building.  They were generally impressed with the quality of the facility.  The Provost search committee is conducting telephone screening from the list of semi-finalists.  They are also talking to the search firm conducting the VPAA search to work with them to seek additional applicants.  

	B.	Remarks by Provost P. ReichardtPaul thanked the Senate for all of their notes sent about his mom. 
The Board of Regent's approved the Bachelor's in Emergency Management.  

Paul spoke about the report by the interim evaluation committee for institutional accreditation.   The report goes to the Commission during the January 8-9, 2007 meeting.  We will have to do no additional reporting until our regular review in 2011.  The site team expressed concerns in that they believe that UAF needs to put more resources into the fundamental infrastructure of what we do.   We have spent a lot of money hiring new faculty, building new programs.  What comes through is we need to pay attention to basic funds that are available at the various levels.  The full report should be on the web soon.  

One of the projects from VP Dorman is a set of papers--MAU responsibilities and MAU focus areas and areas of excellence.  Examples of our statewide responsibilities are Sea Grant and the Transportation Research Center.  These are programs that are housed within UAF but have Systemwide responsibilities.  MAU Focus areas are academic areas in which UAF has the lead, e.g. Alaska Native Language & Culture and GI.  Paul discussed this with Shirish, Jon and the Chancellor.   The best way to get input is through an ad hoc Senate committee.  

We are going to change the way in which we evaluate international transcripts for applicants for admission.  It is becoming an increasing challenge so we are beginning to outsource this kind of work.  There are a number of for profit organizations that do this in the U.S.  Most university and colleges outsource this kind of work.  The most immediate impact will be the applicant will be referred to this organization and assessed a fee of about $150.00, but it is pretty standard practice.  VI	Guest Speakers

A.	Update on Mandatory Placement and BANNER capabilities – Rory O’Neill, Tim Stickel and Janet Johnson.Shirish introduced Rory and Tim and Janet Johnson.  What is needed in terms of mandatory placement and the Banner module being turned on?   Tim Stickel indicated that Rory and Janet are here to answer questions about banner.  Tim is looking at best practices for implementation, enforcement and communication with students.  The committee is proceeding with caution and it probably won't be ready by fall 2007.  They believe the best way is to implement in phases.  The best practices for who is responsible for carrying this out--counselors, advisors, instructors.  The impact is going to be on the students and how do we communicate this to them.  We are working with the other MAUs to try to get the Banner button pushed by fall 2008. We want to go forward by fall of 2007 to try small pieces of mandatory placement and work out the bugs.Dana Thomas added that we are looking at two possibilities, one is the possibility of turning on the Banner prerequisite checking module.  Can we turn it on just for a few sections to test it out?  The answer is not yet clear.  If we can't turn it on because of the impact on the other MAUs, what can we do here at UAF?  A couple of possibilities are to use the instructor approval field. Shirish asked in terms of what you have found so far and what we need to accomplish at UAF, what are the functional limitations?  Dana thought the key is doing this slowly so that we can deal with the implications that might happen.Janet once the module is turned on all the prerequisites that are coded in banner may need to be cleaned up for the courses that they don't really want to be prerequisites.  It will affect campuses across the system.Tim Stickel indicated that in the interim we are trying to use instructor approval instead of the Banner button until this is worked out.Larry Duffy asked how is this going to impact our accreditation five years down the road.  Dana stated the Senate has passed it at UAF, so we are going to find a way to implement it.  It is a software so we can find a way through it.  Which approach and how best to do it in a reasonable way is the question.  He does not think it will be an issue.  Paul Reichardt said the key is to maintain Banner as a process, not something that sets policy.  It is a tool that allows us to enforce the policy.Ataur Chowdhury added that aside from the Banner we are trying the human element to do the checking on prerequisites.  We are trying to see if we can contact students by phone.  I don't think we can implement everything by 2007, so we will try to phase it in to see how it goes over two to three years.Dana said there was one more element and that is to inform departments.  Colleen Abrams will be collecting data this week to find out how many students are enrolling for courses that they do not have the prerequisite.  We will collect data right after registration and then after grades are posted.  We will have a fall and spring impact for department to say what effect will prerequisite mandatory placement have on your courses.
Tim Stickel stated that currently faculty could utilize faculty services on UA Online to check how many prerequisites a student has.

VII	Governance Reports    

	A.	Staff Council - Jeff Stepp Jeff Stepp informed the Senate that the Chancellor's is convening a UAF vision task force.  It will be composed of 55 delegates to talk about the Chancellor's six pathways to fulfilling the UAF Strategic Plan.  Staff Council has been asked to submit a list of names.  

Staff Council continues to work with Faculty Senate and ASUAF on various student success initiatives.  UAF is participating in the national survey on student engagement this spring.  The national survey measures levels of academic challenge, student interaction with faculty, support of campus environment, active and collaborative learning, and enriching educational experiences.  These are called the benchmarks of effective educational practices.  The survey is administered by a national organization.    The lead here is VC Tim Barnett.  Jeff suggested that VC Barnett consider sending a delegation of faculty, students, and staff to a national conference in Reno.  The idea is that universities will come up with best practices based on the data and find out where we need improvement.  

We are participating through Staff Council on a new mediation program.  It is being spearheaded by Earlina Bowden.  There is a report by Judy Marrs Dixon, who is a consultant.  There is a three-year action plan to use as a guide.  There is a meeting on Thursday, December 14th.   

Staff Council has been involved in the HR department redesign.  We have made a lot of recommendations and given a lot of input to HR over the years.  We continue to work on staff training and development issues.  Statewide hired a new training and development coordinator.  We have advocated that the employee tuition waiver will also apply to courses offered through corporate programs and certified public manager program.  There hasn't been much progress.  

They are eager to hear more about the new wellness program.  Mike Humphrey and others from WIN will be at the Staff Council meeting on Friday.  My initial impressions are that is very impressive.  The resources available on the website are polished and professional.  

Tim Barnett and Dana Thomas will join the Staff Council meeting to discuss the new admission standards for the baccalaureate degree programs.  Governor Murkowski announced international education week.  The Chancellor is doing listening sessions with staff members and met with the Division of Student and Enrollment Services.  

	B.	ASUAF -Sven Gilkey Sven Gilkey stated that the ASUAF Senate passed a resolution in support of the Division of Student and Enrollment Services use of the national survey on student engagement and requested a copy of the survey when it was completed. 

Last week the Board of Regents met in Fairbanks.  The Vice President of UAA, Jeff Brooks and Eric Swanson, the Speaker of the Coalition of Student Leaders, flew up from Anchorage to meet with Sven.  They each gave public testimony at the Board of Regents' on the subject of needs based scholarship.  On Friday they held a Coalition of Student Leaders meeting where they talked about that subject and the concept of grandfathering student tuition.  They will be putting together a proposition to the Board of Regents'.  

The chili feed was moved to this week so the ASUAF will not make chili for the United Way due to finals week.  
Larry Duffy asked how he felt about exams on Saturday.  Sven indicated that the life cycle of student is based on five days and this changes the week.  The other problem is that many airlines base their free tickets on Saturday and Sunday and this neutralizes Saturday as a possible date to leave by giving exams on Saturday's and it is a bad idea.
VIII	New Business  

A.	Motion to require general studies students with 75 or more earned credits to declare a major prior to registration, submitted by the Curricular Affairs Committee
Shirish and Ataur spoke on the motion.  It will require student to declare their major if they have 75 credits so we can determine what their needs will be as early as possible. The motion passed unanimously.MOTION:  
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to require general studies students with 75 or more earned credits to declare a major prior to registration.

EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2008

RATIONALE: 	 Encouraging students to declare a major as soon as possible is believed to improve retention and graduation rates (see, for example, www.pellinstitute.org/graduates/Pell_Web.pdf).  General studies students at UAF, those baccalaureate degree seeking students who have not declared a major, have the lowest retention rate at our institution. 139 out of the 523 (27%) first time full time baccalaureate seeking freshmen were general studies students fall semester 2005.  While advisors generally encourage students to select a major, many students do not do so in a timely fashion. In 2005-06 UAF had 44 general studies students with more than 90 credits and 111 with more than 60 credits.  It is not uncommon for general studies students with more than 120 credits to request interdisciplinary undergraduate degrees based upon what they have taken rather than pursuing some well thought-out curriculum.  The intent of this motion is to reduce time to degree and raise graduation rates by pushing students into selecting a major so they have a clear idea of what will be required of them to complete a degree.  The motion does not distinguish between developmental and non developmental course credits.  No change in the ability of students to change their major is proposed.  New transfer students with more than 45 credits would have 30 credit hours, approximately two semesters, to select a major.  This motion does not impact full time students who are officially non degree seeking but are clearly enrolled in courses related to specific degree programs.

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B.	Motion to amend the policy on Academic Disqualification, submitted by Curricular Affairs Committee 

Rainer stated that the next five motions are all interrelated concerning how we revised the rules and regulation with regards to plus/minus grades.  We need to come up with a consistent policy.  Ataur wants it to be easy to check with banner and when we say C it can't be anything else it is a 2.0.  The motion passed unanimously.MOTION:  
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The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the policy on Academic Disqualification (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, page 77) as follows:  

[[   ]]  - Deletion
CAPS - Addition

Academic Disqualification    (pg 77)

Undergraduate students—Undergraduate [[probation]] students on probation whose semester and cumulative GPAs are less than 2.0 at the end of spring semester will be disqualified from degree-seeking status. Disqualified students may continue their enrollment at UAF only as non-degree students and are limited to a maximum of 9 credits per semester. To be eligible for reinstatement in an academic degree program, the student is expected to earn at least a C grade (2.0) in all courses taken as a non-degree student. To be restored to degree-seeking status, the student must apply for readmission. A student may be reinstated but may still be on probation, and if so, will be so notified.

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007

RATIONALE:  	This clarifies that a C grade means a 2.0 C and not a 1.7 C-.  The petition process is always in place if there are extenuating circumstances that warrant a continuing probation rather than academic dismissal in some circumstances where a student fails to attain a 2.0 C in all courses.  No changes were made to the probation policy since it already clearly states the 2.0 GPA.

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C.	Motion to amend the minimum grade earned in all major and minor course work under the UAF General University Requirements, submitted by Curricular Affairs Committee 
Ataur stated that the motion says it all.  The motion passed unanimously. MOTION:  
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the minimum grade earned in all major and minor course work under the UAF General University Requirements for Certificate or Associate Degrees (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, page 80) and for Baccalaureate Degrees (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, page. 112) as follows:  

CAPS = additions
[[   ]]   = deletions

How to Earn a Certificate or Associate Degree (page 80)

General University Requirements

You must earn at least 30 semester hours for a certificate and 60 semester hours for an associate degree, including transfer credits, to earn a UAF certificate or degree.  At least 15 semester credits applicable to any certificate or associate degree must be earned at UAF.  A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required in all work as well as in your major fields.  In addition, you must earn a minimum C (2.0) grade in courses required for your [[associate degree]] major.  

Table 18  General University Requirements for Certificate and Associate Degrees   	
 	Certificate	Associate Degree	
Minimum number of credits required	30 credits	60 credits	
Credits that must be earned at UAF (residence credit)	15 credits	15 credits	
Grade point average required	2.0 cumulative and in major	2.0 cumulative and in major	
Minimum grades required for major	 	No grade lower than C (2.0) in courses required for major	
Catalog year that can be used to meet requirements	May use any catalog in effect when enrolled as a degree-seeking student, regardless of major; five-year limit on catalog year	May use any catalog in effect when enrolled as a degree-seeking student, regardless of major; five-year limit on catalog year	
Second degree requirements	 	Only one A.A. degree may be earned; 12 credits beyond first A.A.S. degree and all requirements for the second degree must be met	

How to Earn a Baccalaureate Degree (page 112)

General University Requirements

For a UAF bachelor's degree, you need at least 120 semester credits, including transfer credits.  Of these, 39 credits must be upper-division (300-level or above).
At least 30 semester credits applicable to any baccalaureate degree must be earned at UAF.  Transfer students need to earn at least 24 upper-division semester credits at UAF, at least 12 semester credits in the major and at least 3 semester credits in the minor.  You must earn a minimum GPA of 2.0 in all work as well as in your major and minor fields.  In addition, you must earn a minimum C (2.0) grade in courses required for your major.  

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007

RATIONALE:  	These changes clarify that the minimum requirement is a 2.0 C rather than a C-.  Individual departments may choose to establish different criteria or to petition the requirements for a particular student.

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D.	Motion to amend the Graduation with Honors policy, submitted by Curricular Affairs Committee Ataur spoke on the motion.  The honor of cum laude stays the same.  The magna cum laude is now 3.75.  If you get an A-, it is not good enough to get a summa cum laude, so this lowers it to a 3.9.  

Mike Davis asked if they discussed the fact that you are going to have a merger of courses with letter grades and plus/minus.  Rainer said in theory we will create a graduated scale.  Each year it will change, so we may give students in the interim honors that they normally wouldn't receive.  The motion passed unanimously. MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the Graduation with Honors policy (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, page  81 and 114)  as follows:

CAPS = additions
[[   ]]   = deletions

•Graduation with Honors

Graduation with honors is a tribute that recognizes academic achievement.  Honors graduates have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher in all college work.  If a student's overall cumulative GPA is 3.5 or higher, a student graduates with the distinction of cum laude; [[3.8]] 3.75 or higher, magna cum laude; [[4.0]] 3.9 OR HIGHER AND NO GRADE LOWER THAN A-, summa cum laude.  Your cumulative GPA for graduation with honors is based on all college work attempted at UAF, including any repeated or omitted credits due to fresh start.  

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007

RATIONALE:  	It is rare that a student completes all work with A grades, and will be even more rare if the A- grade is used and only a 4.0 A is accepted for summa cum laude.  By lowering the grade point to 3.9 and requiring that all grades be A- or above, students who under previous policies (without +/- ) would still be eligible for summa cum laude honors.  Lowering the magna cum laude range to 3.75 establishes some distance between magna and summa cum laude, and allows again for the possibility of decreased GPA as a result of the addition of +/- grades.  For honor grades, all grades are checked by hand to insure than any transfer credits meet the requirements for honors.  

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E.	Motion to amend the Grade Point computation policy, submitted by Curricular Affairs Committee Ataur stated that this motion would assign a numeric value to the various grades including the plus/minus.  Rainer stated that this is a catalog clean up and the grade point computation needs to be clear in the catalog.  Larry Duffy spoke in favor of the motion and stated that the policy in the catalog keeps our accreditation in line.  Liz asked how the student body would react.  Rainer indicated that the students opposed the change last year.  Larry added that the graduate students have supported the change.  The motion passed unanimously MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the Grade Point computation policy (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, pages 74-75) as follows:

CAPS = additions
[[   ]]   = deletions

Grading System and Grade Point Average Computation      (pg 74-75)

All course grades are letter grades unless otherwise specified in the class schedule. The method of grading (letter or pass/fail) is an integral part of the course structure and is included in the course description. Instructors are expected to state their grading policies in writing at the beginning of each course. Grades appearing on academic records are:

(There follows a description of the grades: A, B, C, D, F, P, Cr, DF, AU, W, I, NB)

(Add the following language after the descriptions.)

THE letter grade A, B, C, and D, may INCLUDE a‘+’ or ‘-‘ to indicate a STUDENT’S level of performance is slightly higher or lower than that of the letter grade alone.

•Computing your GPA
Your grade point average (GPA) is a weighted numerical average of the grades you earn in your courses at UAF. To compute your GPA, divide the total number of credits you have attempted into the total number of grade points you have earned. Grade points are calculated by multiplying the number of grade points awarded, according to the chart below, by the number of credits attempted for the course. The following grades are figured in your GPA: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and F.  Grades of I, DF, W, P, AU and CR do not carry grade points and do not affect your GPA.

Grade	Grade points per credit	
A+	4.0	
A	4.0	
A-	3.7	
B+	3.3	
B	3.0	
B-	2.7	
C+	2.3	
C	2.0	
C-	1.7	
D+	1.3	
D	1.0	
D-	0.7	
F	0.0	

EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007

RATIONALE:  	The extra sentence clarifying the use of +/- grades should be added at the end of the descriptions of the standards grades. The table should be updated to include the numerical values for all of the +/- grades.  The list of grades that are included in the GPA should be clearly identified.  

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F.	Motion to amend the UAF Academic Honors policy, submitted by Curricular Affairs Committee Ataur spoke on the motion.  The dean's list at remains at 3.5 and the Chancellor's list is now a 3.9 to allow students with an A- to make the list.  The motion passed unanimously.Paul Reichardt said that a D- is a curious grade.  Ataur indicated that it was still being considered.  He is in favor of excluding the D- from the list.   The A+ and A have the same value.  The D is a failing grade without the plus/minus.  Linda Hapsmith from the Advising Center said that with the Regents' policy you have to have the plus/minus across the board.  In order to change it we would have to change it for all the MAUs.   MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the UAF Academic Honors policy (2006-2007 UAF Catalog, page 76) as follows:

CAPS = additions
[[   ]]   = deletions

ACADEMIC HONORS

Undergraduate and certificate students--To be eligible for academic honors at the end of a semester, you must be a full-time undergraduate degree or certificate student who has completed at least 12 UA institutional credits graded with the letter grades A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F.  If you have received an incomplete or deferred grade, your academic honors cannot be determined until those grades have been changed to permanent grades. Academic honors are recorded on your permanent record. You will make the Chancellor's List with a semester GPA of [[4.0]] 3.9, and the dean's list with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007

RATIONALE:  	Changing to 3.9 will give students who earn A- grades a chance to be on the Chancellor’s List.  A student who earned 15 credits of 4.0 A and 3 credits of B (total 18 credits) will have only a 3.8.  A student who earns 15 credits of A and one credit of B will have 3.9.  So, yes, occasionally a student with less than all A’s may make Chancellor’s list.

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G.	Motion to approve the deletion of the M.S. in Botany degree, submitted by the Graduate Academic & Advisory Committee Katrin Iken stated this motion goes along what is happening at other institutions.  Ataur asked if the Biology department was involved.  Larry Duffy indicated they were involved and would support it.   Marion Bret-Harte said it was discussed with biology faculty.  The motion passed unanimously.MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to approve the deletion of the M.S. in Botany degree.  

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007 and/or
		Upon Board of Regents' Approval.

	RATIONALE: 	See full program proposal #12 from 
		the Fall 2006 review cycle on file in the 
		Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall.

UAF offers a M.S. in Biology, which is an adequate alternative to the M.S. in Botany, only four students are enrolled in the program.

*****************

H.	Motion to approve the deletion of the M.S. in Zoology degree, submitted by the Graduate Academic & Advisory CommitteeThis motion is identical to the previous one except it deals with Zoology.  The motion passed unanimously MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to approve the deletion of the M.S. in Zoology degree.  

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007 and/or Upon Board of Regents' Approval.

RATIONALE: 	See full program proposal #13 from the Fall 2006 review cycle on file in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall.

UAF offers a M.S. in Biology, which is an adequate alternative to the M.S. in Zoology, only one student is enrolled in the program.

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I.	Motion to approve a MFA/MA in Creative Writing and Literature degree program, submitted by the Graduate Academic & Advisory Committee 

Larry Duffy introduced the motion.  Gerri Brightwell stated they have identified some MFA students that will be able to pursue this degree combination.  Ataur asked how many students are we talking about.  Gerri said only two or three a year would do this. Ataur asked if this would take them longer.  Gerri indicated that it shouldn't take them any longer.  The motion passed unanimously.

MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to approve a M.F.A /M.A. in Creative Writing and Literature degree program.    

	EFFECTIVE:  	Fall 2007 

RATIONALE: 	See full program proposal #1 from the Fall 2006 review cycle on file in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall.

Allow a student to acquire the MFA/MA in Creative Writing and Literature by taking 30 required credits for the MA in Literature, plus taking 15 additional credits to fulfill the 45 credit requirement for the MFA in Creative Writing.

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MFA/MA Summary

The M.F.A./M.A. in creative writing and literature combines the M.A. in literature and the M.F.A. in creative writing, both of which are currently offered by English Department faculty.  We propose that the student be permitted to acquire the M.F.A./M.A. in creative writing and literature by taking the 30 credits required for the M.A. in literature, and then taking the 15 additional specified credits which (when added to the 30 credits for the M.A.) would also fulfill the 45 credit course requirements for the M.F.A. in creative writing.  The M.F.A./M.A. will also require comprehensive examinations, a thesis, and an oral defense of thesis.  

The M.F.A./M.A. in creative writing and literature is not a separate degree.  It is a combination of two degrees offered by the English Department, the M.F.A. in creative writing and the M.A. in literature.  The M.F.A./M.A. is similar to the UAF undergraduate double-major which allows a student to acquire, for example, a B.A. in literature and history by filling the requirements for both degrees, and allowing double counting of common degree requirements.  

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J.	Motion to approve the Unit Criteria for the Department of Foreign Language & Literature, submitted by the Unit Criteria Committee (Attachment 140/10)Brenda Konar spoke about the unit criteria and indicated that it is pretty straightforward.  The committee made some recommendations and the changes are in bold.  Jonathan Rosenberg asked about the contributions of textbooks.  He wanted a little more explanation.  Brenda said that point did come up and she can't remember the reasoning. Another question was one of translations.  Jonathan indicated that textbooks are a grey area. Paul Reichardt said that when he read this he thought there must be peer review textbooks.  We have a policy that says unit criteria can supplement but not contradict university criteria.  This is in the section on peer-reviewed publications.  It is fine if a particular field wants to explain what those publications are. However, if it tends to say non-peer reviewed textbooks count as peer-reviewed for us, that violates university policy. You might ask the department what does the entry really mean in peer review.  Brenda stated that the section starts with "All peer reviewed publications…" and then goes on to say such as, so she assumes there are peer-reviewed textbooks.  Ataur asked why the criteria can't be parallel to any other department in CLA.  Brenda said that each unit comes up with their own criteria and they can adjust it to their own department.  The only thing that has changed is in capital letters.  Shirish asked how are we going to communicate it back to the faculty in that dept.  Larry said by the Dean.  Katrin Iken noted that it says peer review so any non-peer reviewed would not fall under this policy.  In Biology many of the textbooks are peer-reviewed, this is not uncommon.  As long as it is peer review it doesn't violate anything.The motion passed unanimously
MOTION:
=======

The UAF Faculty Senate moves to approve the Unit Criteria for the Department of Foreign Languages & Literature.  

	EFFECTIVE:  	Immediately
				Upon Chancellor Approval

RATIONALE: 	The committee assessed the unit criteria submitted by the Department of Foreign Languages & Literature. With some changes, agreed upon by the college representative, the unit criteria were found to be consistent with UAF guidelines.

(Note:  a copy of the criteria can be found in the agenda.)

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IX	Discussion Item

A.	Instruction Assessment (IAS) – Susan Henrichs
Susan handed out a report from the Forum on the Evaluation of Teaching.  It was addressed to the Faculty Senate.  Participants felt this was the best group to organize the faculty toward implementing the recommendation of the forum.  The recommendations are that there be:    

1.	Additional means of assessing teaching effectiveness, which address both in-person classroom teaching and other modes of instruction. 
2. 	The improvement and evaluation of teaching carried out by adjunct faculty and term faculty, as well as teaching by tenure-track faculty. 
3.	Improved approaches to collecting student feedback on teaching effectiveness. 
4.	Wide implementation of peer observations as a means of improving teaching.  
5.	Improved guidance to evaluators on the kinds of evidence of teaching effectiveness that should be considered in evaluations, when appropriate to the teaching assignments of a faculty member.  

Larry Duffy asked how the Faculty Senate should respond.  Susan said there are some things may be addressed by ad hoc committees.  Details were not discussed on how things would be discussed.  

Shirish said that having an ad hoc committee with a few Senate members and a other few faculty would brainstorm on these recommendations and make the assessment system a better one.  He doesn't think that it will go through the Senate as policy issue.  Paul Reichardt said the criteria already in policy and regulations are much more pointed and much more detailed of what a faculty member must submit in a file.  You can look at some of the things identified here as important aspects that are not required to be part of a file.  You can take a look at what faculty member must submit.  A second area is the "best practices" document.  It is advise on how to organize files and how to evaluate a file.  There is lots of good stuff in our written policy and regulation about the marks of good teaching.  And pretty open set of instructions for candidates about what they do and no instructions for peer review committees on what to look for.  Those are some areas where there are possibilities for the Senate to take some action.  The other is recommendations to him and to Joy Morrison on the training side and professional development.  Larry Roberts indicated the Faculty Development, Assessment and Improvement Committee has set this as a discussion item at their next meeting.  

X	Committee Reports     
	A.	Curricular Affairs - Marsha Sousa The following reports were distributed as a handout.  

Curricular Affairs Minutes, 11-20-06

Finalized language for clarification of +/- grades and forwarded to Administrative Committee.

Began discussion of clarifying what constitutes a credit.  The following were considered to be important points:
•	The concept that the 800 minutes required for a credit of lecture must also include an average of 1600 minutes of study outside of class.  This is an important point since we don’t want to imply that attending class for 800 minutes is sufficient for a credit.
•	Creating definitions of internship, externship, supervised scholarly work, and practicum.
•	Agreeing that internship and externship are the same thing, with the language largely being dictated by the particular field of study.
•	Agreeing that practicum is part of a particular course or an independent course as part of a degree program, while externships and interships are capstone experiences in the program just prior to graduation.
•	Creating hour requirements for the various categories: 3-5 hours a week for practicum; 3-10 hours per week for interships/externships, and 3-6 hours per week for supervised scholarly work.
Marsha will attempt to combine the definitions proposed last year, the ones Rainer proposed, and some additional information from other universities into a language that could be placed in the degree and procedures manual.

------------------------

Curricular Affairs Minutes, 12-4-06

Revisited the motions for +/- grades to add the friendly amendments proposed by the admin committee.  Those include
•	Changing the requirements for summa cum laude to include GPA at 3.9 or above and no grade lower than an A-
•	Clarify that the +/- grades go into the GPA….i.e., list them all in the text

Discuss the Provost’s concerns that the current language in the catalog regarding reinstatement into a degree program following academic dismissal may imply that a student will never be reinstated if they make a D or F while under academic dismissal or probation.  Curricular Affairs voted to leave that language as, since it has not been a problem to date and does offer flexibility to the registrar and the departments.  The language reads “is expected to earn a C or better”, rather than “is required to earn….”

Finalized the motions to go forward to Faculty Senate with the friendly amendments incorporated.

Discussed Marsha’s attempt to write language clarifying what constitutes a credit.  The language referring to all aspects of the traditional credit teaching was approved, and the new language referring to internships, practica, and supervised scholarly activity was approved.  Language referring to non-traditional course delivery was referred back for further discussion.  The main area of concern is how one compares a non-traditional course to a traditional course when seeking approval for a new course that has not been taught at UAF previously.  

Decided to cancel the meet Dec. 11 meeting.
Next meeting will be January 8.

*****************

	B.	Faculty Affairs - Sukumar BandopadhyayNo report was available. 
	C.	Unit Criteria - Debasmita Misra A report was attached to the agenda. 

	D.	Committee on the Status of Women - Jane WeberJane indicated that minutes were attached to the agenda. 
The committee will be working with Maribeth Murray on writing an NSF grant for increasing the participation and achievement of women in academic science and engineering careers.  They are looking anyone interested in helping.  The committee along with the Women's Center is asking the Chancellor for funding for a Campus Women's Lead workshop on January 29-30.  If you would like to participate, please contact Jane.  Larry Duffy asked if the NSF grant doesn't get funded are we not going to do any faculty development along these lines for women faculty.  Jane had no answer.
	E.	Core Review - Michael Harris 
No report was available.

	F.	Curriculum Review - Rainer Newberry
No report given. 

	G.	Developmental Studies - Cindy Hardy 
No report was available. 
	H.	Faculty Appeals & Oversight - Norm Swazo No report was available. 

	I.	Faculty Development, Assessment & Improvement - Larry Roberts 
Larry indicated they are working on the second CRCD Adult Learners conference and handed out a flyer.  He encouraged anyone interested in attending to register.  The following report was distributed as a handout.  

Faculty Development, Assessment, and Improvement Committee

Meeting Minutes
November 8, 2006

Meeting was called to order at 12:15pm

Attending: 	Christie Cooper, Michael Daku, Susan Herman, Marjorie Illingworth, Julie Lurman, Joy Morrison, Channon Price

Agenda items:	 Call to order
		Approval of Minutes (Sept. & Oct.)
		Report from Joy
		Old and ongoing business
Provost Forum on assessment 
The Circumpolar Conference on Innovations & Excellence in Teaching 
		New Business
		Adjournment

The meeting was opened with a roll-call. Christie Cooper facilitated the meeting at Larry Roberts’ request as he was flying at the time. September and October minutes were approved. Business was conducted resulting in the following decisions and shared information.

Report from Joy:	The Provost’s Forum on assessment is filling up quickly (40 seats already taken). The room will hold 8 tables with 8 persons per, creating room for about 60 attendees. Dana, Susan, Paul, and Joy will be presenting. Joy will present the Arreola System of assessment. Slides presenting Dr. Raoul Arreola’s ideas will be sent to committee members via e-mail this week.

	Joy has been providing support to faculty by videotaping their teaching and providing teaching evaluations. Many UAF faculty have been requesting this service.

	The advisory council appointed by the Provost to provide guidance to Joy’s office had their first meeting last week and Joy will meet with them for the first time in early December.

Old business:	No report of the Circumpolar Conference on Innovation and Excellence in Teaching at this time. 

New business:	Susan Herman noted the lack of direction and absence of a requirement for faculty to address student feedback in any way. She asked whether it might be made a part of faculty contracts to write some response annually. Joy indicated that new faculty are being advised to specifically address IAS responses at length in their annual activities reports. A quick poll of committee members suggested that faculty at various places in their tenure with the university follow this same annual practice and incorporate these responses in 4th year, tenure, and post tenure packets.  Channon will look into any record of a forum that took place a decade ago on how to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative feedback from students effectively in self evaluations of teaching.

	Michael Daku asked Joy about a specific pedagogy, instructional design, or learning theory that she has found that would be useful to all faculty. Joy indicated that she covers a set of learning theories with the new faculty in the learning communities that have begun this year. Twenty-one of the sixty- six new faculty this year are participating. There are three learning communities that meet every month. Joy encourages those who have to miss their regular group to attend one of the other sessions in order to access and process the material.

	A question arose from an earlier discussion attempting to differentiate this committee and the appointed advisory board to Joy’s office. “Would it be beneficial to have a bridge between this committee and the new advisory board?” That connection may be useful for both bodies. One consideration was that the FDAI committee may be able to provide historical perspective. The committee thought it should be addressed to Paul.

	General discussion of student feedback on teaching produced two key outcomes. First, several specific procedures for gaining student feedback during the semester (often at midterm) were shared. Second, a question was raised that may warrant further discussion. Is it necessary for faculty to leave the room during the IAS process? Often reports from students suggest that the absence of a professor allows for a less than ideal environment. Students may not take any time completing the process or classes may complete the evaluations as a group. Would it be helpful for a faculty member to simply be in the room reading or working while a student facilitates the process and takes the forms to the appropriate location?

The meeting was adjourned at 1:11pm.

Next Meeting:  December 6, 2006 @ 12:15pm

Respectfully submitted by:  Christie Cooper, Secretary

****************

J.	Graduate Academic & Advisory Committee - Cathy Cahill 

A report was attached to the agenda. 

XI	Members' Comments/Questions
Tim Stickel indicated that grades are due next Wednesday at noon.  UAOnline allows students to get their grades.  Shirish asked how soon do they get the grades.  Tim said they post grades submitted during the day and they roll out by 5 or 6 p.m.  Paper copies of grades are not distributed.  

XII	AdjournmentThe meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Tapes of this Faculty Senate meeting are in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tapes. 

Submitted by Sheri Layral, Faculty Senate Secretary.