Once approved, these minutes may be accessed electronically at:
http://fp.arizona.edu/senate/minutes.htm

Visit the faculty governance webpage at:
http://fp.arizona.edu/senate/

1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair of the Faculty Robert P. Mitchell at 3:04 p.m. in the College of Law, Room 146.

2. OPEN SESSION

Dr. Michael Demeure, a recently dismissed, tenured faculty member from the Department of Surgery and a national expert in his field of pancreatic and adrenal cortical cancers, addressed the Senate regarding issues that impact the College of Medicine and the University, particularly in the areas of tenure rights, academic freedom and the role of faculty governance, also addressed in a recent Committee of Eleven report on the College of Medicine confirms his claims are valid. He provided a text of his comments for the record.

Mr. Glenn McCreedy of the Marketing Department in the Office of External Relations explained that his office is redesigning the UA Website with the assistance of a series of focus groups. He asked for faculty volunteers to serve on a faculty focus group taking place on Monday, May 19, 2008, 1:30-3:00 p.m. in the Student Union. Volunteers can contact him directly.

3. REPORTS

3A. ASUA President Tommy Bruce

ASUA Representative Michael Slugocki reported for President Bruce who was unable to attend today’s meeting. Mr. Bruce was recently re-elected in an uncontested election to serve an unprecedented second term as ASUA President. The Arizona Students Association announced that on Thursday, May 1, 2008, the governor signed the student-led textbooks bill, HB2230, into law.

3B. GPSC President Stephen Bieda

Incoming GPSC President Stephen Bieda introduced himself. President Bieda said he served on the Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee as well as the Graduate Council this past year, and he looks forward to working with the Faculty Senate and appointing GPSC representatives to the faculty governance committees.

3C. Faculty Officers’ Report

Vice Chair of the Faculty Robert Mitchell directed Senators’ attention to their packets where the standing committees’ reports for this year as well as the Faculty Senate meeting schedule for next year. The meeting space for the Senate is still uncertain. He also called attention to the Solutions through Higher Education’s Economic Stimulus Program information, which was not created using university equipment, paper or time. The Arizona Board of Regents is asking faculty to write letters of support to state legislators for this plan, and Presiding Officer Mitchell reminded senators not to use University time, paper or equipment for this purpose. Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell is recruiting faculty mentors for the Arizona Assurance Plan, which assures low income, qualified, students that they may attend the UA free from the burden of tuition and fees and the package includes a faculty mentor. Interested faculty should contact Dr. Howell. Presiding Officer Mitchell advised the Senate that there will be one short item of old business at the end of today’s meeting. He thanked outgoing faculty Senators Garcia, Jenkins, Joens, McKee, Mountford, Pavao-Zuckerman, Ruiz and Weinand as well as student Senators Engel, Knutson, Miller, Mosher, Neish, and Slugocki and welcomed Senators Bieda and Hay. The rest of the newly elected Senators will join the Senate at the September 8th meeting. Presiding Officer Mitchell invited Provost Hay to the podium and welcomed her with a basket of Arizona and UA related gifts.

3D. Provost’s Report

Provost Hay announced that as of July 1, Vice Provost Jacqueline Mok will assume a new position in the President’s Office, so an internal search will be conducted for a Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. She also believes her office needs a senior faculty member to serve as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and she invited Senators’ input and advice about that position. This would probably be a 75% appointment and rotate every three years.

3E. President Robert N. Shelton

President Shelton noted that the state budget continues to occupy most of his time. Thanks to the efforts of the governor and some of the legislators, the impact of the FY08-09 budget cuts to UA’s academic units is minimal to none. He thanked Wanda Howell and Miranda Joseph for stimulating discussions in the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee (SPBAC) as well as in Cabinet about how to think operationally to manage the much greater anticipated cuts to the FY09-10 budget. Turning to the Economic Stimulus Package, President Shelton said that at a meeting with the legislature last week, the business community expressed strong support for the plan, plus the governor made an unusual appearance at this meeting to offer her support both verbally and physically. President Shelton announced that he has appointed Stuart Flynn as interim dean for the College of Medicine-Phoenix. A search committee will be assembled soon for the permanent dean for Phoenix campus. President Shelton and College of Medicine-Tucson Dean Keith Joiner will hold a College of Medicine (COM) Open Faculty Forum today at 5:30 p.m. in the Kiewit Auditorium to gauge the openness, level of discussion, and nature of faculty interests and concerns about the direction of the College of Medicine. He thanked the Committee of Eleven (C11) for stimulating this first of many open forums. President Shelton thanked Chair Howell and the Faculty Senate for supporting the Arizona Assurance Plan. He does not expect that every student will need a faculty mentor, but some may require triage-like mentoring early on. This is an aggressive plan that he hopes will assist 500 students whose family incomes fall well below the poverty level. He and the UA Foundation are working very hard to secure donations to endow this financial aid permanently.

4. QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD FOR AGENDA ITEM 3

Senator Witte asked President Shelton a philosophical question about what tenure means to him in terms of the responsibility of the University and of the faculty members. She expressed distress that Dr. Demeure, a tenured, star faculty member, has lost both his tenure and his position on the UA’s COM faculty. President Shelton said he thinks in general that tenure is an obligation on both the institution and on the individual. The institution has an obligation to protect the individual, and that individual’s academic freedom to explore ideas, controversial or not, and the individual has a responsibility to explore such ideas in a responsible manner that maintains the integrity of the University.

Senator Witte asked whether President Shelton was aware of how today’s COM faculty forum "Town Hall" meeting was announced. She described that this meeting was initially announced last Friday afternoon in a 3D memo as a "Town Hall" by Dean Joiner’s executive assistant. This 3D went only to department heads, most of whom did not forward the memo to the general faculty, and referred to the purpose of the Town Hall as a follow-up on the Committee of Eleven report. Several faculty members who did learn of the meeting at that time contacted the dean’s office requesting to receive an announcement about it. Later on Friday afternoon, another memo was released to the COM’s general faculty but with the reference to the C11 report deleted. Today many COM faculty members have expressed that they have no idea what this Town Hall is about and they don’t intend to go because there is no agenda for it. Furthermore, some faculty have expressed great concern that the dean is going to be present and that this last memo implies the Town Hall will be something of a festive celebration with no mention of the Committee of Eleven report. Senator Witte asked that the specifics of the progression of how this meeting was announced to COM be entered into these minutes as a matter of record. President Shelton thanked Senator Witte for informing him today of this sequence of announcements and responded that he had not been aware of how and when this meeting was announced to COM faculty late last Friday. He invited Senator Witte to contact him earlier in the future so he can help facilitate communication about such events.

Senator Silverman asked President Shelton how the present fiscal year’s budget cuts will be handled. President Shelton indicated that the UA gave up $5.25M in one-time funding for the COM-Phx. In addition the UA gave back $5.9M in permanent dollars, which the administration took as much as possible centrally. The academic units were assessed one-half of one percent which brought up $1.5M, support units were assessed 1% totaling $1M, and the remaining $3.4M came from central funds that had been saved from this year.

Senator Howell asked President Shelton to have a conversation with the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT) due to concerns about this University’s administration not following the recommendations of CAFT. President Shelton said he would be pleased to have that conversation in general terms, without focusing on any specific case.

Because of her concern that the University attorneys are taking over UA’s faculty governance, Senator Witte asked for an accounting of the influence over, and how much money is being spent in the area that is faculty governance, regarding CAFT, regarding outside lawyers, regarding lawsuits and regarding faculty; she suspects this is costing the University a great deal of money. The faculty’s grievance procedures are designed to handle things very inexpensively using highly ethical faculty volunteers to hear cases and act as a reasonable jury. The attorneys, on the other hand, seem to be perpetuating or escalating cases, making statements about the meaning of tenure, and exerting undue and sometimes exerting unethical influence. She would like to file a taxpayers’ lawsuit to put a stop to this practice. She asked whether President Shelton would allow the Office of the General Counsel to report to the Faculty Senate about how much of a role the attorneys are playing in generating and perpetuating this problem. Senator Witte said that this issue is both financial and influential, influencing policy decisions and defending administrators who in the past have tested the system by firing tenured faculty. President Shelton said the budgeted amount for the counsel here at UA is relatively small and that his view of counsel is that they are simply counsel, not decision-makers. President Shelton said he cannot speak for cases that have predated him. Presiding Officer Mitchell suggested that Senator Witte bring this item up in new business. Senator Witte said she may ask the Committee of Eleven to look into the issue and then bring it to the Senate.

Senator O. Davis, a former Chair of CAFT, observed that the amount of money spent on CAFT hearings has greatly increased because of the ruling by the Arizona State Supreme Court and the Arizona Board of Regents that allows attorneys to actively represent participants in administrative hearings and requiring such proceedings to be recorded by a court reporter.

Senator Silverman agreed with President Shelton that the University attorneys should not be decision- or policy-makers, and should function only as advisors and interpreters. He expressed concern that litigation has increased over the years and is particularly disturbed by the situation within the COM. He hopes the C11 will continue to monitor and report to the Senate about the COM.

Senator Effken asked President Shelton to clarify the COM’s administrative structure. President Shelton described that the UA’s College of Medicine is one college, with an interim dean for the Phoenix campus who currently reports to the dean in Tucson. President Shelton believes the COM should move toward a restructuring with two individual deans who report to a new Vice President for Health Affairs, who, guided by an overarching set of principles and policies, will oversee the college, the practice plan and the hospital.

The minutes of April 2, 2008 were approved with one abstention.

Senator Silverman reminded Senators that UA Faculty Senate is a member of a national organization, the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, which is an alliance of Division 1A university faculty senates that provides a faculty voice in the national debate over the future of college sports. COIA’s long range goal is to preserve and enhance the positive contributions athletics can make to academic life by addressing longstanding problems in college sports that undermine those contributions. Senator Silverman is UA’s representative to the COIA. He directed Senators’ attention to a memo in their packets about the COIA’s efforts this past year, along with a list of COIA proposals that the Senate discussed at its meeting on September 10, 2007. As a result of a motion at that September meeting, President Shelton and Senator Silverman were charged with assembling a committee to review to UA’s compliance with the COIA recommendations. A subcommittee of the UA’s Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (ICAC), chaired by D. Woodard, conducted the review and provided a detailed report in which the ICAC agreed with most of the recommendations, and disagreed with a few. Senator Silverman’s belief that every one of the COIA’s recommendations is essential became clearer when recent problems with UA’s baseball team’s schedule have emerged and were reported in the local newspapers. Senator Silverman moved [Motion 2007-08/55] to "Request that the University President direct the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee to review yearly the Intercollegiate Athletic Department on the basis of COIA recommendations (Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics, June 2007 or the latest version) and submit a report to the President and Faculty Senate concerning the state of the Intercollegiate Athletic Department in regard to the COIA recommendations." Motion was seconded. Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) The recent stories about the baseball team’s schedule quoted some of the student-athletes complaining that they don’t have enough time to study. Motion passed unanimously.

UA Athletics Director Jim Livengood responded first about the concerns regarding the baseball team’s schedule. Three years ago, the NCAA voted to reduce the baseball schedule from 17 weeks to 14 weeks, but did not reduce the number of games required in order for the teams to be eligible for post-season tournament play. Senator Silverman remarked that his concerns go well beyond baseball. According to national averages reported in the media, college football players spend 44.8 hours/week in games or practices; golfers spend 40.8 hours, baseball players 40, and softball players 37.1. How can such student-athletes be expected to attend classes? Mr. Livengood said the NCAA allows 20 hours per week and that these national statistics are not reflective of UA’s athletes. UA’s ICAC spends time at every meeting looking at the academic component of the student-athlete. Mr. Livengood shared that the Intercollegiate Athletics Department went through a two-year review that was concluded last November 2007. A team of four persons from outside institutions visited and verified whether the UA’s information and disclosure was correct and adequate. The team provided a report to President Shelton, which was just made public about two weeks ago, in which it unanimously approved the academic, fiscal and student welfare areas. Mr. Livengood then provided handouts of his annual "Myths and Facts about UA’s Intercollegiate Athletics." He also advised the Senate that the NCAA will release data tomorrow on each university’s Academic Progress Rate, which involved eligibility, retention and graduation rates for student athletes. The UA will show improvement in the APR for each of its 19 teams with one exception. Track and Field will lose one scholarship due to a foreign student-athlete who entered UA four years ago, but left after the first year. The penalty for failing to retain this student-athlete is one lost scholarship. The rolling average of the APR has been increasing every year. Fiscally speaking, UA’s Intercollegiate Athletics has balanced its budget every year for the past 15 years and the effects of the University’s budget cuts are also being felt in ICA, which are being managed through reductions in force.

UA’s NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) Jory Hancock explained that his job is primarily compliance, ensuring that incoming student athletes receive their NCAA student certification which means that they have amateur status, that their transfer credits are valid, and that entering freshmen’s GPA, SAT or ACT scores meet the UA’s requirements, and that sophomore, juniors and seniors have completed 40%, 60% and 80% of their coursework and that they graduate. Graduation, rather than "staying eligible" is the primary focus. Academic advising for student-athletes has greatly improved since the counselors have received training comparable to every college’s advising staff. These advisors are very aware of every course that a student-athlete must complete for his or her degree and that student’s progress. FAR Hancock is responsible for checking progress towards degree and grade point averages, and that every student-athlete is enrolled full-time with 12 or more units. He also looks at what courses student-athletes are enrolling in, to check for trends such as too many independent study courses. FAR Hancock explained that the ICAC is made up of nine faculty members and seven other members, two of whom are UA alums and two who are attorneys. This committee is a very well-informed campus committee and has invited the Chair of the Faculty to meet with it 1-2 times a year. In terms of advising, the UA is modeling a national program called "Step Up" which is a pro-social behavior intervention program. Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) Does the FAR look for courses enrolling a large number of athletes perhaps because faculty may be sympathetic to athletes. FAR Hancock confirmed that he does watch for such trends and also watches the grades that student-athletes receive compared to other students in the class. 2) Please describe the kind of advising that student-athletes receive. FAR Hancock shared that the athletics department’s advisors are trained in advising for degree requirements, and that student-athletes also can take advantage of additional advising available to them through their specific colleges. The Compliance Committee meets monthly and three members from the Registrar’s office sit on that committee. 3) Insofar as the University funds a share of this advising for student-athletes, Senator Howell noted that students in the Arizona Assurance Program are going to need the same kind of focused advising. 4) Does the FAR also monitor whether student-athletes are gravitating toward particular majors for the same reasons of sympathetic faculty? FAR Hancock said that he was surprised that the dispersal across majors and colleges is actually pretty even, with somewhat more majors in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Senator Sylvan Green, the elected Faculty Senate representative to UA’s Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (ICAC) reported that the ICAC is appointed by the President and its purpose is to be informed about all significant matters affecting intercollegiate athletics and to advise the President about all significant areas affecting the University’s institutional obligations for compliance with the athletics policies of the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) and the national and conference athletic associations. The ICAC can also review decisions to add or reduce team programs for women or men, including Title IX’s requirements, protect academic integrity and promote greater understanding within the University community about the relationship between academics and athletics and any other issues as directed. This committee is not a public body and its meetings are not open to the public. Representative Green has recently served on the Self-Study Steering Committee for the NCAA’s Peer Review and Certification. As the Senate’s elected representative to ICAC, Senator Green also serves to bring the Faculty Senate’s issues to the ICAC.

During the past year, the Student Affairs Policy Committee received numerous proposed changes to the Student Code of Conduct (SCoC). The SCoC is an ABOR document which applies to all Arizona system campuses. Updates to the SCoC usually occur every five years and involve meetings among representatives from all of the campuses. SAPC Chair John Ulreich reported that his committee was alerted by two members from the UA’s Journalism Department to serious first amendment concerns about these proposed changes and met multiple times this past Spring with representatives from the Dean of Students’ (DOS) office, the Office of the General Counsel, the Vice President for Student Affairs, and two members of the Journalism Department. These meetings were very interesting, educational, and slightly tense, and as of two weeks ago Chair Ulreich presented the Faculty Senate and the Dean of Students Office with a "statement of concerns" from the SAPC. Since that statement was issued, however, there has been a gradual merging of the minds as members from the DOS met with SAPC and addressed all of SAPC’s lingering concerns. Chair Ulreich said the process of revising this policy was extremely rewarding and is an exemplary instance of shared governance that works. He said that while the SCoC is not a perfect document, it has been made much better by everyone’s participation. Chair Ulreich thanked Kevin Kemper, Jacqueline Sharkey, Steve Adamcyzk, Veda Kowalski, Carol Thompson, and Melissa Vito for the generous time and efforts that these persons and their offices put forth. Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell reiterated that this example has been one of the best examples this year of how the concept of shared governance works here at the UA.

The Senate conducted its annual elections for the Committee on Conciliation, University Committee on Ethics and Commitment, University Hearing Board, and the Faculty Senate Elected Representatives to the Grievance Clearinghouse Committee, Senate Executive Committee, Shared Governance Review Committee, and Faculty Senate Committee on Budget and Strategic Planning. Votes were cast using written ballots. Parliamentarian Sankey and Secretary Mutchler served as tellers. In accordance with the General Faculty Bylaws, those elected are:

Committee on Conciliation

Patricia Promis

Edward F Reid

Leslie Ritter

Laura Carscaddon

Susan Knight

Christine Kollen
Jennalyn Tellman

University Committee on Ethics and Commitment
Mary Berg

Faculty Senate Committee on Budget and Strategic Planning
Owen K Davis
William E Conway (write in)

Douglas E Jones

Owen K Davis

John C Ulreich

Todd Camenisch

APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEM FORWARDED AS A SECONDED MOTION BY THE INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM POLICY COMMITTEE (attachment)

The consent agenda item forwarded by the ICPC and detailed at the end of these minutes [Motion 2007/08-56] was approved unanimously.

Presiding Officer Mitchell called the Senate’s attention to the "ICPC Non-Consent Agenda Items" attachment in their packets and reminded Senators that these items come as seconded motions from the ICPC. ICPC Chair Conway began by commending GPSC President Stephen Bieda as the best student representative he’s ever encountered on a faculty committee. Chair Conway informed the Senate that the fourth item in this list has been withdrawn and returned to the Undergraduate Council for further consideration. He explained that Item 1 [Motion 2007/08-57] allows the Mathematics General Strand requirement to be satisfied by a student demonstrating competency by the Math Readiness Test or the Math portion of the SAT or ACT. This change has been carefully vetted by the committees and by the Math Department, which will enforce it. Motion passed with one abstention. Item 2, [Motion 2007/08-58] does not change the policy; it simply clarifies that complete withdrawal from the University is only available during the Spring and Fall semesters. Motions passed unanimously. Item 3 is an amendment to the Change of Schedule policy to accommodate sources with non-standard start and end dates. Senator Sylvan suggested that allowing students to withdraw while failing during the second half of a semester does the students terrible disservice because that withdrawal while failing factors appears on the transcript. He asked whether it might be better to encourage students to stay and try to recover in a class instead of withdrawing while failing, which appears on the transcript. Senator O. Davis offered that in his experience, students who are failing a number of classes sometimes withdraw from one class so they can concentrate on passing the other classes. Motion passed with one abstention.

Presiding Officer Mitchell called the Senate’s attention to proposed changes to the Faculty Constitution and Bylaws which come as seconded motions [Motion 2007/08-59 and 2007/08-60] from the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. He explained that all of these additions have been being considered for over a year and that the changes consist of merely adding currently existing University entities to the Faculty Constitution and Bylaws and codifying their reporting structure through the Faculty Senate. He believes these proposed changes are fairly non-controversial changes. Each of the changes have been vetted by their own bodies as well as the Constitution and Bylaws Committee which includes Senators Silverman, Jones, Juan Garcia and J.C. Mutchler, J.D. Garcia and Presiding Officer Mitchell. The Constitution describes the work and charge to the committees and the Bylaws describe the committee’s membership and operating procedures. If the Senate approves these changes today, they will be sent to the General Faculty for a vote in the Fall. Senators’ questions and comments included: 1) In the Constitution Article VI, section 7, what does the phrase, "In partnership with the University, SPBAC:" mean? SPBAC Chair Miranda Joseph explained that this language is drawn directly from the shared governance memorandum of understanding, entitled "Guidelines for Shared Governance." SPBAC previously existed outside of the Faculty Constitution and Bylaws. 2) SPBAC was originally created by an act of shared governance at the time and the voting membership includes eleven faculty members and ten other members who are appointed by other criteria. 3) Historically speaking, faculty governance at the UA existed long before "co-governance" which existed in the early 90’s, which in turn preceded shared governance. Faculty governance consisted of undiluted faculty members on committees as a form of separation of powers. The reasoning at that time was to allow each group to develop its own opinion before coming together to discuss with the other stakeholders. SPBAC’s forerunner from this time was a Faculty Budget Committee which was highly effective. The terms "co-governance" and "shared governance" have replaced the language of the original 1992 Faculty Governance Law (Arizona Revised Statute 15-1601-B) which stipulates that "the faculty members of the Universities, through their elected faculty representatives, shall share responsibility. . ." 4) Perhaps the phrase "In partnership with the University administration" is appropriate. 5) The opening sentence in Section 7 basically tries to define what is meant by the University partnership. Perhaps we should eliminate the phrase altogether. Senator Silverman moved [Motion 2007/08-61] to strike "In partnership with the University" from the line preceding Article VI, section 7 a, and to add the word "shall" following "SPBAC:" to read, "In partnership with the University, SPBAC shall;" 5) The Senate should be reminded that the language as written in the proposed additions has been vetted by each of the various committees as well as the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. This change in wording could cause future confusion since it does not parallel the language in the shared governance memorandum of understanding. Senator Jones moved [Motion 2007/08-62] to call for the question to end debate on motion 2007/08-61 Motion was seconded and carried. Motion 2007/08-61 failed.

Senator Mitchneck asked Presiding Officer Mitchell to speak briefly about the rationale and impact of moving various committees under shared governance that were not there before. Chair of the Faculty Wanda Howell expressed her firm belief that all University-wide committees, not just Senate committees, should be, to some degree, accountable to the Faculty Senate. She favors incorporating these University-wide committees into the faculty Constitution and Bylaws to create a reporting structure so that information flows from each of these committees to the Faculty Senate. This inclusion and reporting structure will provide a clear message that all faculty-related issues come to the Senate, and makes these bodies a part of the faculty governance. Presiding Officer Mitchell added that SPBAC was an administratively-created committee, which will now be codified in the Constitution and Bylaws. In another example, the Graduate Council historically promulgated some policy changes without Senate review and was not particularly amenable to Senate oversight of its work. While this situation does not exist with the current Graduate Council, this language formalizes the relationship with the Senate. He reminded Senators that each of these committees have had input and in some cases provided the exact wording for the passages relating to their committees, and they all support codifying these changes to their committee structures and reporting lines. Senator Foley supported the idea of faculty committees having responsibility for decision and taking responsibility. Senator Effken moved [Motion 2007/08-63] to call for the question to end debate on motion 2007/08-59. Motion was seconded and carried. Presiding Officer Mitchell called for a vote on Motion 2007/08-59 to approve the proposed additions to the Faculty Constitution. Motion passed with two abstentions.

Turning to the proposed additions to the Faculty Bylaws, Senator Conway moved [Motion 2007/08-64] to change the parenthetical phrase in the first sentence of Article VI, Section 4 to read, "(except University College and Arizona Outreach College which has have no faculty)". Motion was seconded and passed. Senator Conway pointed out that In Article VI, Section 5a contains the same language as Article VI, Section 5d. He moved [Motion 2007/08-65] to delete Section 5d, renumber Section 5e to be 5d, and add the word "Composition" following the work "English" in 5a, to read, "There is additional non-voting representation from three Foundations programs: English Composition, Mathematics, and Second Language." Motion was seconded and passed. Referring to Bylaws Article VIII, Section 2d, ii, Senator Green asked how a Senate vacancy would be filled if more than enough candidates were identified. Presiding Officer Mitchell explained that the faculty elections always involve a primary and general election, which provide two opportunities for faculty members to run for the Senate. Bylaws Article VIII, Section 2d, ii, provides a means to fill a Senate vacancy if no faculty member has come forward during the first two election opportunities. Presiding Officer Mitchell called for a vote on Motion 2007/08-60 to approve the proposed additions as amended to the Faculty Bylaws. Motion passed with one abstention.

Task Force Chair Peter Strittmatter provided an interim report on the Faculty Senate Task Force on Student Retention and Advancement. A C11 White Paper that suggested ways to enhance retention and graduation rates triggered the creation of this Task Force. This Task Force has met nine times, conducted fact-finding and extended discussions, and is starting to write sections of a report. The Task Force identified five goals: 1) increase the number of graduates and the percentage of graduates, 2) maintain and improve academic standards, 3) increase total enrollment, 4) recruit and retain excellent, exceptional students, and 5) recruit and retain a diverse student body. Senator Strittmatter opined that these goals amount to an impossible mission given the University’s incredibly wide range of student preparation, motivation and career goals. He did not expect the sense of uncertainty about what are appropriate goals for the Land Grant versus the Research I missions among Task Force members, who represent a wide range of opinions. The White Paper provided the ideas of matching offerings to student needs via a range of study paths and allowing students to proceed at a pace determined by their level or demonstrated accomplishment. An Honors Path which is more differentiated than the current Honors Path, a regular majors’ path, and a multi-disciplinary path have been suggested. The multidisciplinary majors could enhance the graduation rate for those students who have not been particularly well-prepared and mesh well with the Gen Ed program and the Arizona Outreach College. There has been a fair amount of discussion about increasing the amount of differentiation for the honors track as well as offering an honors degree rather than a degree "with honors." Task Force members have also discussed general directions and methods of delivery and concluded that the Task Force can’t possibly answer all of these questions in detail. Senator Strittmatter has an outline of the Task Force’s report and he hopes members will write multiple sections during the summer to be hashed out in committee meetings this fall. He expects then to be able to provide a draft report with a final report before the end of the Fall semester. Senator Burd asked and Senator Strittmatter affirmed that the Senate will be allowed to see the draft report. Senator Howell commended and thanked Senator Strittmatter for seeing this very difficult project through. Senator Witte expressed gratitude to Senator Strittmatter for the clarity of his presentation.

Committee of Eleven Chair M. Cusanovich provided a follow-up clarification to the Committee of Eleven’s report on the College of Medicine. Subsequent to that report’s release, an opinion editorial appeared in the Arizona Daily Star signed by several department heads about the need for change in the College of Medicine (COM). Dr. Cusanovich said everyone agrees about the need for change in COM. The authors of the article, however, missed the point of what the C11 report focused on, which is not the need for change, but rather the mechanisms that are being used to implement change. It is unfortunate that the critical part was ignored. He also pointed out that the COM’s committee list on its website shows the vast majority of people assigned to COM committees have terms that expired in 2005 or 2006, which is reflective of the breakdown and much of what the C11’s report focused on.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m.

J.C. Mutchler, Secretary of the Faculty

Pamela S. Bridgmon, Recording Secretary

Motion 2007/08-55 Seconded motion from UA’s Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics representative to "Request that the University President direct the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee to review yearly the Intercollegiate Athletic Department on the basis of COIA recommendations (Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics, June 2007 or the latest version) and submit a report to the President and Faculty Senate concerning the state of the Intercollegiate Athletic Department in regard to the COIA recommendations." Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-56 Seconded motion from the Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee to approve implementation of a new undergraduate degree from the College of Science, the B.S. with a major in Integrated Science. Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-57 Seconded motion from the Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee to approve proposed revision of the General Education Mathematics General-strand requirement. Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-58 Seconded motion from the Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee to approve proposed amendment to the policy on Withdrawal from the University. Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-59 Seconded motion to approve the proposed changes to the Faculty Constitution. Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-60 Seconded motion to approve the proposed changes to the Faculty Bylaws as amended. Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-61 Seconded motion to amend the last line of Constitution Article VI, section 7, preceding Section 7a, to read, "In partnership with the University, SPBAC shall;" Motion failed.

Motion 2007/08-62 Seconded motion to end debate on motion 2007/08-61 Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-63 Seconded motion to end debate on motion 2007/08-59 Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-64 Seconded motion to amend the parenthetical phrase in the first sentence of Bylaws Article VI, Section 4 to read, "(except University College and Arizona Outreach College which has have no faculty)". Motion carried.

Motion 2007/08-65 Seconded motion to delete Bylaws Article VI, Section 5d, renumber Section 5e to be 5d, and to add the word "Composition" following the word "English" in 5a, to read, "There is additional non-voting representation from three Foundations programs: English Composition, Mathematics, and Second Language." Motion carried.