Faculty Assembly minutes 4-15-11

Registering Attendance:

Professor Stenger chaired the Assembly in the absence of Professor Byers.

Having called the Assembly to order, the Chair asked if there was a motion for approval of the minutes of the Assembly of March 25. Professor Wise moved approval of the minutes as posted and Professor Brown seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

Professor Brown, seconded by Professor Dietrich, moved approval of the candidates for baccalaureate degrees in May, pending successful completion of all requirements. The motion carried unanimously.

Professor Sullivan, seconded by Professor Wise, moved approval of the candidates for graduate degrees in May, pending successful completion of all requirements. The motion carried unanimously.

Professor Richardson, Director of Honors, seconded by the Senior Honors Thesis Committee, moved acceptance of Jonathan Bender, graduating summa cum laude with a double major in Biology and French, for the 2011 Woodcock Medal. The motion carried unanimously.

The Chair declared the floor open for nominations for Assembly Chair for academic year 2011-12. Professor Byers was nominated by multiple voices and elected unanimously.

The Chair then declared the floor open for nominations for Parliamentarian for academic year 2011-12. Professor Weissbach nominated Professor Stenger. The nomination was seconded, and carried unanimously.

The Chair requested consent of the house to alter the order of business to consider the proposal for a Ph.D. in Pan African Studies before returning to the old business of the course evaluation forms. Consent was given.

The Chair recognized Professor Leung for Planning and Budget. He moved, seconded by the committee, approval of the program proposal. Hearing no call for discussion of the proposal, the Chair put the question and the motion carried.

Returning to old business, the Chair reminded the Assembly that one change (to item #3 on the course evaluation form) had been approved at the meeting of March 25.

The Chair recognized Professor Dietrich who moved removal of the demographic information from the evaluation form. Professor Ryan seconded the motion.

Discussion included Professors Polzer, Gray, Bradley, Wise, Dietrich, Ferre, and Bush, and Associate Provost Goldstein. Hearing no call for further discussion, the Chair put the question and the motion to remove demographic information carried.

The Chair recognized Professor Weissbach who moved rejection of the questionnaire before the house and the appointment of an ad hoc committee to study what the evaluations should measure. The motion was seconded.

Discussion included Professors Dietrich, Leung, Weissbach, Polzer, Wise, Brown, Busch, and Associate Provost Goldstein.

The Chair clarified that the motion on the floor would send the question of the construction of a new course evaluation form to an ad hoc committee. Hearing no call for further discussion, the Chair put the question and the motion carried.

Ensuing discussion clarified that this vote meant that the College had no approved course evaluation instrument at this point. Discussion of the consequences of this included Professors Ryan, Brown, Polzer, K’Meyer, and Dean Hudson. Associate Provost Goldstein told the Assembly that having no evaluation in use for AY 11-12 would result in non-compliance with SACS.

Professor Leung, seconded by Professor Henke, moved a recount of the previous vote. The motion for recount carried on a voice vote.

In the recount, Professor Weissbach’s motion failed.

The Chair recognized Professor Brown, who moved, seconded by Professor Dietrich, that the current evaluation instrument , with the addition of the questions on distance education, the questions on SI courses, the amendment to item #3 approved in the Assembly of March 25, and the removal of the student profile be continued for AY 11-12, with an ad hoc committee to report back to the Assembly during that time with recommendation for a revised evaluation instrument. Professor Brown clarified that his motion did not call for inclusion of the questions submitted by the SGA.

Discussion included Professors Riedel, Ryan, Jones, and Hall.

Hearing no call for further discussion, the Chair put the question and the motion carried.

Professor Ryan and others commented on the need for the new questions to have the same response scale as the current questions (ie, from “A. very little” through “E. a great deal”), which would also necessitate changing the response on the SI course questions from a 6-point to a 5-point scale. Associate Provost Goldstein agreed that this would be done before the new form was used in AY 11-12.

There being no additional business, the Chair declared the meeting adjourned.