May 23, 1996
MINUTES OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE: MAY 22, 1996
ROLL CALL:
Present---Acres, Altmann, Anderson-Inman, Belitz, Bennett, DeGidio, Engelking,
Gerdes, Gilkey, Hurwit, Isenberg, Kimball, Kintz, Leavitt, Lees, Luks,
Maxwell, Ostler, Owen, Page, Paris, Ravits, Ryan, Tedards, Wolfe, Young,
P.
Excused---Anderson, Blandy, Ellis, Farwell, Pope, Westling.
Absent----Berk, Chadwell, Davis, Halpern, Hawkins, Morse, O'Keefe, Soper,
Stavitsky, Young, J.
CALL TO ORDER
Senate President Paul Simonds called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m.,
in room 110 Fenton Hall. The minutes of the May 8, 1996 meeting of the
Senate were approved as circulated.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Simonds welcomed the new Senators to this their first meeting
of the Senate. He also acknowledged that several senators had been re-elected.
At his request each Senator stood and introduced herself/himself.
The organic rules establishing the Senate and the by-laws of the Senate
will be distributed to each Senator at the October 1996 meeting. However,
the President did point out an important part of the organic rules. The
organic rules are those rules which were enacted by the University Assembly
in May 1995 that created the Senate. Within these rules attendance at Senate
meetings is specified.
5.3 The seat of any senator shall be considered vacant if
the senator is absent two times in one term from regularly scheduled meetings
of the senate, unless the secretary has been notified in advance of the
senator's illness or anticipated absence on university business.
The President said the campus telephone number of the Secretary is 6-3077,
the FAX number is 6-3017, and the e-mail address is webfoot@oregon.uoregon.edu.
(The Senate Web Address is: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~acadaff/senate/uosenate.html)
The Senate list serve: senators@oregon
REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Senator Linda Kintz, Chair of the Senate Nominating Committee, presented
the following name for confirmation as the next president of the University
Senate. In accordance with the organic rules of the Senate the Vice President-President
elect shall be confirmed as the President at the organizing meeting of the
newly elected Senate in May. Senator Carl Bybee, Vice President-President
elect was confirmed as the President of the Senate for 1996-1997.
The Nominating Committee presented the name of Senator Anne Tedards, Music,
as the nominee for election as Vice President-President elect for the 1996-1997
academic year. Senator Tedards was elected.
President Simonds explained that the newly confirmed President was not
able to attend this meeting as a recent automobile accident has left him
disabled for a brief period of time. Past President Simonds stated because
of this he would chair the meeting unless the Senate wished it otherwise.
The following names were presented by the Nominating Committee for membership
on the Committee on Committees:
College of Arts and Sciences: Randall McGowan, History and Eugene Luks,
Computer Science.
Professional Schools/Colleges: Janet Wasko, Journalism and Communication
and John Reynolds, Architecture and Allied Arts.
Officers of Administration: Jane DeGidio, Student Academic Progress.
This slate was approved by the Senate.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES
Past President Simonds presented the nominees for various faculty committees
as presented by the Committee on Committees.
Senator Peter Gilkey, Natural Sciences, stated that he could not serve
on the ROTC Advisory Committee as he would be gone from campus during the
fall of 1996 and that two individuals from the same department should not
serve on the advisory committee at the same time. Mr. N. Christopher Phillips
and Senator Peter Gilkey are both in the Department of Mathematics. The
Senate agreed and voted to remove Senator Gilkey from the list.
After a short discussion on the preparation of the list and the difficulty
of getting faculty to serve on either elected or appointed committees the
list, as amended by deletion, was accepted.
Past President Simonds presented a motion at the request of the Committee
on Committees to allow for the appointment of Chairs of various faculty
committees.
The Committee on Committees is authorized to select a chair of committees
for which legislation does not specify that the membership elect its own
chair without further consultation with the University Senate.
Ms. Diane Dugaw, a member of the Committee on Committees, explained that
the Committee worked under a great deal of pressure to find individuals
willing to serve on these Committees and because they did not have time
to designate a Chair for those committees where no Chair is designated the
motion would allow the Committee on Committees to designate an individual
after the list of members has been approved. Normally the presentation
of the list includes the names of these chairs.
A question was asked as to whether this motion was to be temporary or permanent.
The motion was to be continuing--permanent. Senator Barbara Altmann, Humanities,
asked if the naming of a convener would be allowed and have the committees
elect their own chair?
It was moved to remove the word "chair" from the motion and to
substitute "convener" for chair. This passed without dissent.
Senator Dietrich Belitz, Natural Science, pointed out that the insertion
of the word "convener" did not make sense in replacing the word
"chair" where the word "chair" is used the second time
in the motion. The Senate repealed the amendment to the main motion.
Senator Gilkey asked that the motion be changed to give the Committee on
Committees authority to appoint a "convener" and to allow the
committee to elect their own chair. Ms. Dugaw said this would be acceptable.
The motion to amend the main motion was presented:
The Committee on Committees shall name a convener when no chair is stipulated
in legislation. When stipulated the convener shall be the chair. Committees
without a stipulated chair shall elect their own chair at their first meeting
of each academic year.
This amendment to substitute this motion for the main motion was passed
and the substitute motion was given final approval. This motion now becomes
a part of the legislation governing the Committee on Committees.
FAREWELL AND CHARGE
Past President Simonds read the following to the Senate as his prepared
farewell address as he closed his two years as President of the Senate as
well as a charge to the Senate and Senators in the future.
First, I want to thank those who have made our reawakening of
faculty governance possible. The work of last year's committee on faculty
governance and the passage of the legislation leading to this body's current
configuration set the stage. Those who were elected to the first new senate
and served for the last five months have established some important precedents.
The senate now is the final faculty decision making body. Some new procedures
have been tried, one of which is to have, in effect, two readings of legislation
that rises from controversial issues. This enhances the quality of the
final legislation. Another is to have hearings or fora on issues that are
important for the faculty but may not lead to legislation. Yet another
is the encouragement for all voting members of the assembly to participate
in the debates.
I want to thank the senators who served with me this Winter and Spring in
starting the University Senate in the right direction. I particularly want
to thank those who served on the Senate committees for their work, the rules,
nominating and executive committee members. They made the flow of senate
business much easier. I want to thank Dave Frohnmayer and John Moseley
for consistently supporting the needs of faculty governance when I approached
them on problems in establishing the new senate.
Finally, I want to give my thanks to Keith Richard, Secretary of the Senate
for his great assistance to me as we worked our way through the changes
of the last two years. His knowledge of the history of this institution,
the legislative history and the rules of order were invaluable to me and
the senate.
Now, I want to exhort you into greater accomplishments. First, as a reminder
of your charge, I want to read to you the legislation that gives you authority.
The President and professors constitute the faculty of the University, and,
as such, shall have the immediate government and discipline of it and the
students therein. The faculty shall also have power, subject to the supervision
of the board of regents, to prescribe the course of study to be pursued
in the University, and the text books to be used.
University of Oregon Charter, Section 14, 1876 (ORS 352.010, 352.004,
352.006)
Over the last decade and more there has been a gradual decline in faculty
participation in governance. Administrative offices have picked up a number
of the responsibilities; more involvement in promotion and tenure, more
direct decisions on curriculum and programs, for example. I believe we
have started reasserting faculty authority. We have a window of opportunity.
We have an administration that wants a strong faculty governance system.
However, the authority will not simply be handed back. The reins must
be picked up and used appropriately. I find that when we step in with ability
and responsibility, we can make a difference.
It is in your hands now. You have a choice. Do you want to have a deciding
influence on your future as a faculty or do you want to be swept along in
the tides of change that are altering higher education for the new century?
It is to your benefit to serve in the Senate and on Committees. You can
make your influence felt and shape the future of the University. It is
to the benefit of the University for you to serve. You are the front lines
of higher education. Your experience is invaluable in making the right
choices for the future.
I thank you and wish you well in your mission and purpose.
FORUM
The Senate commenced a discussion on the Promise Keepers and the leasing
of Autzen Stadium to this group for a conference in August. Ms. Amanda
Powell and Mr. Henry Alley, co-chairs of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues
Committee, made a presentation partly on the leasing of the stadium without
full consideration of the University of Oregon's policy on discrimination
and on the beliefs of the Promise Keepers as pertains to gay, lesbian and
bisexual people as well as women in general.
The discussion on this topic was not a motion and thus no vote would be
taken. Mr. Daniel Williams, Vice President for Administration, stated that
the Promise Keepers agreed to not bar individuals who were not members of
the all-male organization from entering the stadium.
Many suggestions were made to counter the convention, mostly centering
on the UO doing something. Information from both sides of the issue were
circulated and discussion centered on some of the beliefs and interpretations/applications
of the Bible of the Promise Keepers.
Past President Simonds stated that UO President David Frohnmayer would
be sending out a public statement that will assert the University of Oregon's
adopted and published positions in the area of non-discrimination and its
acceptance of views of all types as well the UO policy on gays, lesbians
and bisexual people. The statement from the President has not been prepared
so it cannot be stated specifically what the content will be.
ADJOURNMENT
The business of the meeting having concluded the meeting adjourned at 4:55
p.m.
Keith Richard
Secretary