Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting
for March 25, 2003
PSF 37-02/03

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 3:40 PM by Prof John Buenker, Chair. Present in addition were Profs Funkenstein, Ruffolo, Wright, Allen, McCann, Elechi, Kavenik, Walasek, Evans, Gellott, McNair, Eichner, Schmidt, Colston, P. Goldsmith, Eigenberger, and Warren, Senators; Alternate Senators Profs F. Akindes and Lichtman, Academic Staff Representative and Senator Charlotte Short; University Committee members and Senators, Profs Buenker, James, Kinchen, Kummings, Mayer and Wood, Ex Officio (non voting) Senators Keating and Martin; and registered guests Profs Greenfield, Goodman, Hawk, Baldwin, Boyer, Castor, Wafa and Piele,

Minutes of the Meeting of February 18, 2003

The minutes of the Early Spring Meeting of the Faculty Senate, held on February 18, were approved by automatic consent..

Report of the University Committee Chair

Prof Peggy James reported that almost all academic departments had submitted faculty workload policies and she urged those who had not yet done so to do so shortly.

Prof James reminded those present that a meeting of the Faculty was set for Thursday, March 27 at 3:30 PM. During the meeting, a committee-of-the-whole will be formed to discuss developments on the 2003-05 biennial budget, which will call for substantial cuts in state support for the University of Wisconsin System.

Report of the Chancellor

Chancellor Jack Keating reported that the International Computing Olympiad was on track to be held at UW-Parkside in August 2003. Microsoft Corporation has agreed to be the sole sponsor of the event. He said that the event will bring national and international attention to the campus.

The Chancellor continued by saying that the preliminary report of the North Central Association was very favorable. He thanked all those responsible, particularly Prof Emeritus Larry Duetsch and Prof Laura Gellott.

As for likely budget cuts, he said that he intended to protect academic programs as much as possible.

Questions
There were no written or oral questions.

New Business

Entitlement to Plan a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems – Committee on Academic Planning

A resolution from the Committee on Academic Planning to recommend that the campus seek an entitlement to plan a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems (MIS) was on the floor.

Dean Marwan Wafa said that all components of the proposed major are in place and that only minor adjustments would be needed should the program be implemented.

Prof Steven Hawk (Business) said that among business programs accredited by AACSB it was unusual to have but one major with many concentrations, MIS among them.

Prof Gregory Mayer (University Committee) asked how the Board of Regents would welcome a proposal for an entitlement to plan at a time when such proposals were suspended for budgetary considerations. The Chancellor said that there were provisions for exceptions. Provost Rebecca Martin said that the suspension would be lifted in July, under current plans. In the meantime, she said, the proposal would be placed in a queue for consideration at that time.

The proposal was APPROVED viva voce, without dissent. PSF 38/02-03

Resolution of the Committee on the Transformation of the Education of Educators – University Committee

The University Committee offered a proposal from the Committee on the Transformation of the Education of Educators (CTEE), without a recommendation. The proposal was on the floor for discussion.

Prof Chris Evans (Geociences, CTEE), representing the CTEE, read a statement concerning the recommendation from the Committee. See Attachment A.

Prof Rose Mary Moore (Teacher Education, CTEE) distributed a statement from the departmental faculty. See Attachment B.

The proposal, which calls for the University Committee to develop “an appropriately detailed proposal for a governing entity [elsewhere .. a “primary policy-making body”] for teacher education, was extensively debated.

Prof Laura Gellott (History) said that she supported the proposal. She stated that the Teacher Education Department did not have a major. Students majored in content areas. The teacher education program was thus interdisciplinary and should be governed by a broader group.

Prof James Kinchen (Music) asked if there were any other programs in the state with the proposed governance model. Prof Evans responded that UW-LaCrosse did have such a model and the UW-Madison was moving in that direction.

Prof Simone Akindes (Teacher Education) asked if the CTEE had investigated the structure in place. He said that some liaisons were more effective than others and that this was a problem. He questioned whether Teacher Education had been told of perceived problems.

Prof Peggy James (University Committee, CTEE) said that the proposal was not an attempt to “fix teacher education.” She also said that the proposal was but a small part of where she felt that the CTEE was heading.

Prof Clara New (Teacher Education) said that the Provost had promised to meet with the Teacher Education faculty but had failed to do so. She also said that while she was department chair, the liason system worked well. She continued that the department has been poorly financed and that teaching and learning has always been the focus of the department.

Prof Kinchen said that the Teacher Education faculty have been excluded from any meaningful consultative role in the development of this proposal.

Prof Carmel Ruffalo (Biological Sciences) said that she has been invited to several CTEE meetings and that Prof Paul Boyer (Biological Sciences, CTEE) had kept the department up-to-date with developments at CTEE.

Prof Alexander Lichtman (Mathematics) said that Prof Don Piele (Mathematics, CTEE) did not keep his department updated.

Prof Gary Wood (Chemistry) said that the proposed structure will make it possible to establish an improved structure for handling teacher education issues.

Prof Peggy James said that the CTEE seemed headed to developing a broader teaching-learning model that would go well beyond the education of teachers and, given a few more months time, such a proposal might have evolved.

Prof Chris Evans said that the report was a partial work, but that it was appropriate to submit it now.

Prof Gregory Mayer said that the proposal was a useful first step.

Prof Laura Gellott said that the written materials submitted by the Teacher Education faculty bordered on being slanderous and were clearly, at times, inaccurate. She also said that when she was University Committee Chair, there were perceived problems in teacher education. She also regretted what some perceived as heavy handed a warning she issued to Teacher Education that they accept an earlier proposal or a more drastic proposal would follow.

Prof Simone Akindes said that there was only one meeting involving the Teacher Education faculty and the CTEE and that the faculty had never been told what was wrong with current practice.

Prof James Kinchen said that he had forecast this outcome. He said that ever since his arrival in 1989 that there has been antagonism toward Teacher Education. He said that many had quarreled with the curricular focus on urban schooling and that there was an unwillingness to constructively engage the Teacher Education faculty in discussion.

Prof Carmel Ruffalo said that the model in use at UW-LaCrosse appeared to be working well and that the teacher education faculty there was pleased with the system.

Prof Gregory Mayer said that this was not the first attempt to address perceived problems with teacher education at UW-P, but earlier attempts led nowhere.

Prof Paul Boyer said that the CTEE was not struck to study the workings of the Teacher Education department.

Prof Alex McNair (Modern Languages) said that the proposal addressed some of the complaints in the Teacher Education document distributed at the meeting and that it provides for a consultative arrangement to solve problems.

Prof Fay Akindes (Communication) asked if the University Committee had discussed the composition of the proposed “entity.” Prof Peggy James said that it had not yet done so.

Prof Peggy James moved, seconded, that the proposal be amended to strike “University Committee” from the last paragraph and replace it with “Faculty Senate.”

The amendment was APPROVED 16-5-4.

Prof Gregory Mayer moved, seconded, to extend the meeting to 5:15 PM. APPROVED viva voce. PSF 39/02-03

Prof Carmel Ruffalo suggested that some members of the CTEE be included among the membership of the proposed “entity.”

Prof Clara New accused the Chancellor of secretively obtaining a grant with the purpose of eliminating the Teacher Education department. Chancellor Keating denied any such motivation.

Prof Gregory Mayer moved, seconded, to close debate. The motion (requires 2/3 vote) was APPROVED viva voce.

The main motion, as amended, was APPROVED 17-8-0

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 5:15 PM.

Respectfully Submitted
Walter T. Feldt
Secretary of the Faculty