Faculty Assembly Minutes, January 28, 2011

Minutes of the January 28, 2011 A&S Faculty Assembly
Col 01 Col 11
ANTHROPOLOGY J. BURNETT, S. PARKHURST
 BIOLOGY J. ALEXANDER, R. FELL, M. KLOTZ
CHEMISTRY
R. BUCHANAN, G. PACK
CLASSICAL & MODERN LANG R. BUCHANAN, W. CUNNINGHAM, M. DALLE, T. DUMSTORF, B. FONSECA-GREBER, D. LALONDE, A. LEIDNER, R. LUGINBILL, M. MAKRIS, A. MASTRI, F. NUESSEL, C. SULLIVAN, W. YODER
COMMUNICATION L. DELLA, M. D’SILVA, J. FERRÉ, A. FUTRELL, J. GREGG, G. LEICHTY, R. ST.CLAIR, K. WALKER
ENGLISH M. BIBERMAN, D. BILLINGSLEY, T. BYERS, K. CHANDLER, J. DIETRICH, D. HALL, S. HENKE, B. HORNER, K. KOPELSON, B. LEUNG, M.Z. LU, S. RYAN, H. STANEV, B. WILLIAMS, E. WISE, J. WOLFE, T. YOHANNES
 FINE ARTS S. JAROSI
 GEOGRAPHY/GEOSCIENCES C. HANCHETTE, D. HOWARTH, K. MOUNTAIN, W. SONG, M. WALKER, H. ZHANG
 HISTORY B. HARRISON, T. K’MEYER, Y. MA, E. MCINNIS, D. VIVIAN, L. WEISSBACH, J. WESTERFELD
 HUMANITIES A. ALLEN, P. PRANKE, M. STENGER
 JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION T. EDWARDS, G. HIGGINS, D. KEELING, R. TEWKSBURY, G. VITO, W. WALSH
 MATHEMATICS C. BIRO, M. BRADLEY, U. DARJI, L. GIBSON, R. GILL, C. HU, E. KUBICKA, G. KUBICKIJ. LI, A. MILLER, R. POWERS, T. RIEDEL, P. SAHOO, D. SWANSON, C. TONE, S. WHITE, D. WILDSTROM
 PAN-AFRICAN STUDIES L. BEST, J.B. HUDSON
  PHILOSOPHY B. BARNES, R. KIMBALL, D. OWEN, O. WIGGINS
  PHYSICS T. DOWLING
POLITICAL SCIENCE D. CLAYTON, A. MARTENS, M. MERRY, R. PAYNE, L. RHODEBECK, S. WALLACE
PSYCHOLOGY S. MEEKS
THEATRE ARTS N. BURTON
WOMEN’S & GENDER STUDIES D. HEINECKEN, K. STORY, N. THERIOT
PART-TIME FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE R. MILLS
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES K. FRIZELL, A. HEBERT, S. KHAYAT, C. MATTINGLY

Professor Byers, Chair, called the Assembly to order.

The minutes of the Assembly of November 9, 2010, were approved as distributed.

The Chair recognized  Professor Williams who moved, seconded by the Curriculum Committee, approval of  the proposal for a Ph.D. in Justice Administration.

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

The Chair again recognized Professor Williams,  who summarized the Curriculum Committee’s review of  the SGA proposal for a quality point value of 4.3 for the grade of A+ (with a cap of 4.0 on the cumulative grade point average) and the reason for the Curriculum Committee’s negative recommendation on the proposal. 

The Chair asked for a motion from the Assembly that could open debate on the proposal.  Professor Wise moved acceptance of the SGA proposal that the grading policy be revised to assign a 4.3 point value to a grade of A+, with a 4.0 cumulative cap.  Professor Biberman seconded the motion.  

The Chair recognized Professor Billingsley, who reported that the Provost,   after  discussion of the proposal among other units,  was now entertaining an alternative proposal  that the grade point average not be capped at 4.0, if  4.3 quality points were assigned  to the grade of A+.

The Chair asked if the Assembly wished to amend the main motion to allow the cumulative gpa to go above 4.0 if the A+ grade differential were approved.  The amendment to the main motion was made and seconded. 

Discussion included Professors Klotz, Leung (who asked if the SGA supported this change), Sullivan, and Williams.

Professor Billingsley said that the SGA was aware of the proposed change to its resolution.  In response to a further question,  he confirmed that the policy would apply only to grades given after the policy went into effect.

Continued discussion included student attendees Allison Herbert and Kurtis  Frizzell and Professors Weissbach, Theriot, T. Yohannes,  Leichty, Stenger, Leung, Ferre , Henke, Wise, Gray, Billingsley, Buchanan, K’Meyer, and Parkhurst. 

The Chair asked if the Assembly was ready to vote on  the amendment to the main motion which would recommend that the cumulative gpa be allowed to rise to 4.3. 

Hearing no call for further discussion, he put the question on the amendment to the main motion and the amendment failed. 


The Assembly returned to discussion of the main motion as originally made by Professor Wise.  Discussion included Professors Weissbach, Leung, Barnes, and Klotz

Professor Leung moved to amend the main motion by substituting the elimination of the A+ grade for the change in its point average.   The motion to substitute was seconded.

The Chair put the question on the substitute motion and it failed.

The Assembly resumed discussion of the main motion.  Discussion included Mr. Frizzell, Professors Ryan, Hanchette, Bradley, Leung, Yoder, Billingsley, Wise, and Story.

Hearing no call for further discussion, the Chair put the question on the main motion.  The motion failed. 

Professor Weissbach called for further information on Professor Billingsley’s statement that 40% of the grades at the University were in the A range, with a breakdown between grades assigned by full-time  and part-time instructors.

The Chair ruled this discussion out of order. 

The Chair then recognized Professor Williams, who moved, seconded by the Curriculum Committee, approval of the “Fresh Start” Policy developed by the UofL Task Force on the Kentucky Adult Learner Initiative.

At the Chair’s request,  Professor Billingsley  explained the difference between the proposed policy and the current bankruptcy policy.


Discussion included Professors Wise, Henke, Riedel, T. Yohannes, Jarosi, Gibson, and Billingsley.

Saying that the motion as presented needed editorial work, Professor Wise called for it to be returned to the Curriculum Committee to be re-written.  Recognizing that the motion as written is being presented to other units, the Chair asked if assurance from Professor Billingsley that the policy would receive editorial attention before being published would suffice.  Specifically he requested that the phrase “re-calculate” in reference to grade point average be changed to “re-set.”  Professor Billingsley  indicated that editorial work would be done. 

Hearing no call for further discussion, the Chair put the question on the Fresh Start policy, and the motion carried.

A motion for adjournment being made and seconded, the Chair declared the Assembly adjourned.