Academic Senate Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio  44555

Note 1: Please submit agenda items and cover sheets for the September 12, 2001, Senate meeting to Bege Bowers, English Department, by noon on Friday, August 31. Provide both a hard copy and a disk copy of your report and cover sheet in Word or rich text format. A downloadable cover sheet is available at the Academic Senate web site:

Note 2: If you want to read or print the pdf version of these minutes and don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download the program at the following link: <http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html>.

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Major topics presented/discussed: Higher education budget in Ohio; resolution on higher education budget; Foreign Language Placement Test; developmental (Math 1501) requirement for associate degree students; general education requirement for transfer and re-enrolling students; proposed revision of University mission statement; academic representation in decision making related to computer technologies.

Actions:  

• The following motion carried: a resolution encouraging increased funding of higher education in Ohio and asking the Governor and General Assembly to establish a Special Commission on Higher Education Funding in Ohio.
• The following motion carried: a motion to replace language concerning the Foreign Language Placement Test (page 26 of the current Undergraduate Bulletin) with new language.
• The following motion carried: All students in Associate Degree programs who, based on the Math Placement Test, are placed in the developmental math course (Math 1501) will be required to complete that course (Math 1501) in order to graduate.
• The following motion carried: a motion concerning language on general education requirements for transfer and re-enrolling students.
• The following motion carried: a motion to approve the proposed revised Youngstown State University Mission Statement presented in the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting.
• The following motion carried: a resolution that any University planning or decision making related to computer technologies should include major representation from the academic side of the University. The effect on the academic community of any decisions should always be a prominent consideration.

Call to Order:

Jim Morrison, chair of the Academic Senate, called the meeting to order at 4:06 p.m.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting:

Minutes of the 4 April 2001 meeting were approved as posted.

To view the April minutes, click here; click your “Back” button as necessary to return to the May minutes.

Senate Executive Committee (SEC) / Report from the Chair: Jim Morrison made the following announcements:

• The SEC has made most of the faculty appointments to next year's standing committees of the Senate. (A list of appointments will be posted on the Senate web site within a few weeks.) In the absence of language from the Charter and Bylaws Committee defining the Global Awareness Committee (GAC) as a standing committee of the Senate, the SEC made appointments to the GAC, which will continue as an ad hoc committee until the Charter and Bylaws Committee presents appropriate language.
  
• The SEC is still accepting volunteers for a committee on the YSU Statement of Ethics and standards on plagiarism. Contact Jim Morrison if you are interested in serving.

Ohio Faculty Council (OFC) Report: Tom Shipka, our elected representative to the OFC, reported:

• The April meeting of the Ohio Faculty Council was canceled. The May meeting is May 11.

• The Chancellor’s office has asked members of the OFC to organize support on campus and in the community for improvements in the Governor’s and the House of Representatives’ versions of the higher education budget through phone calls, e-mails, letters, and personal visits to legislators.  My thanks go to all the faculty, staff, students, trustees, and others who have joined this campaign to salvage the higher education budget.  Please continue your contacts, especially to members of the Ohio Senate.

• I wish to offer a resolution to the Senate so that we can go on record to express our concerns about the funding of higher education in Ohio and urge a practical initiative to bring Ohio’s higher education appropriations into the Twenty-First Century.  The statistics in the resolution come from the Ohio Board of Regents and are reinforced by the National Report Card on Education, which gives Ohio grades of C- for participation in higher education and D- for affordability of higher education. 

Shipka moved that the Senate pass the resolution (which was available at the back of the room); the motion was seconded and discussion followed.

John Sarkissian, Foreign Languages and Literatures: I offer the following editorial change: in the third paragraph, replace "percentage of Ohioans" with "percentage of residents."

Shipka accepted the editorial change, and the motion passed unanimously. Here is the resolution as edited:

Charter and Bylaws Committee: Dale Harrison, chair of the committee, was unable to attend the May 2 meeting. He sent word that the committee will meet early in fall semester to compose language to make the Global Awareness Committee a standing committee of the Senate.

Elections and Balloting Committee: Louise Aurilio, chair of the committee, noted that she will file an elections report after the spring elections are completed.

Academic Standards Committee: Martha Pallante, chair of the Academic Standards Committee (ASC), reported:

• Pallante moved acceptance of ASC Motion 1: a motion to replace language concerning the Foreign Language Placement Test (page 26 of the current Undergraduate Bulletin) with new language (see below and the Academic Standards Committee's attachment to the agenda for the May 2 meeting).

She noted that the first paragraph of replacement language in the attachment was included by mistake and is not part of the motion.

Pallante's motion was seconded and carried; the following language should replace the language concerning the Foreign Language Placement Test (page 26 of the current Bulletin):

Students in BS and AB degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences must satisfy a foreign language requirement for the degrees. Students in the BA and BM degree programs in the College of Fine and Performing Arts should consult with advisors in the College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Students who wish to begin their college-level foreign language study with 2600 Intermediate or above MUST take the foreign language placement test (FLPT).

Students who have had some high school or college-level language study may enroll in any 1550 Elementary foreign language course without taking the FLPT.

Students with no high school or college-level study are to enroll in FNLG 1500 Introduction to Foreign Language Study before enrolling in 1550 Elementary, or may take the FLPT to place into 1550 or 2600.

Students with AP credit in a foreign language have completed the requirement. Students with transfer credit for college foreign language courses may enroll in the next course in the sequence.

• Pallante moved acceptance of ASC Motion 2: All students in Associate Degree programs who, based on the Math Placement Test, are placed in the developmental math course (Math 1501) will be required to complete that course (Math 1501) in order to graduate.

The motion was seconded and carried.

• Pallante moved acceptance of ASC Motion 3 (language concerning general education requirements for transfer and re-enrolling students) as presented in the ASC's attachment to the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting. The motion was seconded, and discussion followed.

Bob Hogue, CSIS: Your language refers to "re-enrolling" students. Is that term clarified elsewhere in the Undergraduate Bulletin?

Pallante: Yes.

Rajah James, student senator, Arts & Sciences: Are you referring to the advisors in each college, and are they given autonomy to make decisions about which requirements certain courses fill? For example, can an advisor in the College of Engineering determine which requirements are met?

Pallante: Yes.

Bill Jenkins, General Education coordinator: That does not mean that one advisor or college could make decisions differently from everyone else in the University.

James: Are there overriding guidelines?

Pallante: A group consisting of college advisors discusses such matters.

Jenkins: We meet with that group and will be looking for matters that may create problems.

Barbara Brothers, dean, Arts & Sciences: I don't see how this language helps. Colleges already have advisors who are responsible for making advising decisions; they need explicit statements. The language in the motion just describes the status quo. Could the new degree-audit system be programmed to handle this matter? I’m neither for nor against the motion.

Jenkins: The material under consideration today has been presented to and discussed by a variety of groups, including all the college advisors, the General Education Committee, the Academic Standards Committee, the Deans' Council, etc. The groups have indicated their support for the motion. We don’t want to penalize students who want to come to YSU.

David Stephens, Geography: Would students have recourse? Could they dispute decisions?

Pallante: They could go to the college advisors.

Stephens: There's no appeal of the college advisors' decisions?

Jenkins: Students can always appeal to the dean of the college.

A vote was taken, and the motion carried. The following will appear as catalog language and will replace the first paragraph under Transfer Credit on page 10 of the current Undergraduate Bulletin:

Each college will designate one or more advisors responsible for approving general education credits for transfer or re-enrolling students. The advisor's approval will constitute the official record for the student regarding general education credit.

Transfer and re-enrolling students will also be expected to complete the intensive requirements. Dependent upon the hours a student has already completed and the availability of intensive courses, the department chair may recommend to the college Dean a reduction of the number of intensives required. Each student must complete the capstone course at Youngstown State University.

The remainder of the motion text (see ASC motion 3 in the ASC's attachment to the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting) should appear in advisors' handbooks.

Academic Programs Committee: No report.

University Curriculum Committee: No report.

Academic Planning Committee: Ram Kasuganti, chair of the Academic Planning Committee and a member of the Mission Statement Revision Committee, moved that we accept the proposed revised Youngstown State University Mission Statement presented in the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting.

The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Kasuganti noted that the Mission Statement Revision Committee and the Academic Planning Committee considered both the suggestions made at the April Senate meeting and those submitted to either committee. The revised statement, which appears below, will be presented to the Board of Trustees in June:

Proposed Youngstown State University Mission Statement Youngstown State University provides open access to high-quality education through a broad range of affordable certificate, associate, baccalaureate, and graduate programs. The University is dedicated to ·         outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service and to forging connections among these three interactive components of its mission; ·         fostering student-faculty relationships that enrich teaching and learning, develop scholarship, and encourage public service; ·         promoting diversity and an understanding of global perspectives; and ·         advancing the intellectual, cultural, and economic life of the state and region. Approved by the Academic Senate May 2, 2001

The strategic-planning process will soon resume. Send suggestions for specifics that you would like to appear in the vision statement(s) and/or goals that will follow the Mission Statement to Bege Bowers at bkbowers@www.ysu.edu.

General Education Committee:  No report. A list of recently approved general education courses that have cleared the objection stage was provided for information purposes in the General Education Committee's attachment to the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting.

Integrated Technologies Committee:  Jim Zupanic, chair of the committee, presented the report in the Integrated Technologies Committee's attachment to the agenda for the May 2 Senate meeting.

He moved that the Senate approve the following resolution:

The motion was seconded and carried. Jim Morrison will explain the history of the Integrated Technologies Committee and present the resolution to the Auditors' Task Force on May 3; the auditors seem to have overlooked the existence of this committee.

University Outreach Committee, Library Committee, Academic Research Committee, Student Academic Affairs Committee, Student Academic Grievance Committee, Honors Committee, and Academic Events Committee:  No reports.

Unfinished business:  None.

New business:  None. Jim Morrison thanked senators for their faithful attendance throughout the year, their contributions, and their courtesy. Barring a crisis, the Senate will not meet again until the second Wednesday in September. He wished those well who, because of graduation or other reasons, will not return to the Senate next year.

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 4:36 p.m.