Academic Senate Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio  44555

May 1, 2002

Note 1: Please submit agenda items and cover sheets for the September 11, 2002, Senate meeting to Bege Bowers by noon on Friday, August 30, at the latest.  Provide both a hard copy and a disk or electronic 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>.

To save paper, use the Acrobat Reader menus or toolbar to print the file, not the menus or toolbar in your web browser. 

Major topics presented/discussed: 

Report of the Senate chair; OFC Report (Ohio-Pennsylvania Grant-Portability Agreement); Bylaws change moving student academic grievances from the Division of Student Affairs to the Division of Academic Affairs; Bylaws change adding an academic advisor to the Academic Programs Committee and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee; addition of SAT II English Language Proficiency Test as a way international students can show English language proficiency; new academic programs, program changes, and minors; curriculum changes; use of Mel Watkins’s Dancing with Strangers for fall 2002 freshman readers dialog; Integrated Technologies Committee support for hiring a chief technology officer; approval of Fiscal Year 2003 Library Materials Budget; Honors Convocation and commencement; strategic planning update; discussion of proposed amendment to Ad Hoc Ethics Committee's Ethics Policy motion.

• A minimum score of 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a minimum score of 80 on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery Test (MELAB), or a minimum score of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test will be accepted as proof of language proficiency for international students; this change [the addition of a minimum score of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test as proof of proficiency] will be reflected in the University's undergraduate catalog.

• A motion giving responsibility for student academic grievances to the Division of Academic Affairs and updating the name of the student file: In Academic Senate Bylaw 6, Section 2 (j-i) (1) and (2) [which pertain to the Student Academic Grievance Subcommittee], change “Vice President--Student Affairs or designee” to “Provost or designee” in each place the phrase appears; in Bylaw 6, Section 2 (j-i) (2) (g), change “student’s discipline file” to “student’s conduct file”.
• A motion adding an academic advisor to the Academic Programs Committee and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee: In Academic Senate Bylaw 6, Section 2 (b) [which pertains to the Academic Programs Committee] and (c) [which pertains to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee], add “one academic advisor,” after “undergraduate college” in each place.
• A motion adding a minimum score of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test as a way for international students to prove proficiency in English: that a minimum score of 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a minimum score of 80 on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery Test (MELAB), or a minimum score of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test be accepted as proof of language proficiency for international students--and that this change be reflected in the University's undergraduate catalog.
• A motion to approve the Fiscal Year 2003 Library Materials Budget that appeared in Attachment 6 to the agenda for the May 1 Senate meeting.

Jim Morrison, chair of the Academic Senate, called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m., following President Sweet's Campus Conversation.  Morrison asked for and received unanimous consent to change the order of the agenda to place discussion of the proposed Ethics Policy under Unfinished Business.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting:

Minutes of the 3 April 2002 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 reported:

• The Senate Executive Committee will meet soon to make faculty appointments to standing Senate committees and recommendations for faculty appointments to administrative advisory committees.  Although the deadline for returning committee-preference forms was April 29, the SEC will still accept them.  Please return your form immediately if you haven't already done so.

Ohio Faculty Council (OFC): Tom Shipka, our elected representative to the OFC, made the report that appeared as Attachment 2 to the May 1 Senate agenda. The report focused on Ohio and Pennsylvania's "grant-portability" agreement. 

In addition, he provided the document mentioned in section 1 of the report.  Intended for the Higher Education Funding Commission, the document discusses Ohio's low "educational attainment," threats to "future economic prosperity" in Ohio, and inadequacies in funding higher education in Ohio. 

Charter and Bylaws Committee:  Kathylynn Feld, a member of the committee, made the following motion, which appeared in Attachment 3 to the agenda for the May 1 Senate meeting:

In Academic Senate Bylaw 6, Section 2 (j-i) (1) and (2) [which pertain to the Student Academic Grievance Subcommittee], change “Vice President--Student Affairs or designee” to “Provost or designee” in each place the phrase appears; in Bylaw 6, Section 2 (j-i) (2) (g), change “student’s discipline file” to “student’s conduct file”.

The motion was seconded, and discussion followed.  Feld noted that most grievances have been academic in nature and thus should fall under the Academic Division/Provost's Office rather than Student Affairs. 

The motion carried.

Feld then made the following motion, which also appeared in Attachment 3 to the agenda for the May 1 Senate meeting:

In Academic Senate Bylaw 6, Section 2 (b) [which pertains to the Academic Programs Committee] and (c) [which pertains to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee], add “one academic advisor,” after “undergraduate college” in each place.

The motion was seconded.  Feld noted the rationale for adding an academic advisor to both the Academic Programs Committee and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee: Advisors need to know about matters such as changes in prerequisites that affect students and programs.

The motion carried.

Elections and Balloting Committee:  No report.  A list of those elected to Senate positions for the 2002-2003 academic year will be posted to the Senate web site after elections are complete and reported.

Academic Standards Committee (ASC):  Frank Castronovo, a member of the ASC, made the following motion:

• that a minimum score of 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a minimum score of 80 on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery Test (MELAB), or a minimum score of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test be accepted as proof of language proficiency for international students--and that this change [the addition of a minimum of 950 on the SAT II English Language Proficiency Test as a method of proof] be reflected in the University's undergraduate catalog.

The motion was seconded and carried. Peter Kasvinsky noted that this policy pertains to undergraduates, not graduate students.

Academic Programs Committee:  Dorcas Fitzgerald, a member of the committee, reported for Pat Hoyson, who could not attend the May 1 Senate meeting.  Fitzgerald supplied a list of programs, program changes, and minors approved by the Academic Programs Committee that have completed the circulation period. See Attachment 1 to these minutes; no action is required.

University Curriculum Committee:  No additional report.  The committee appended a list of approved courses to the agenda for the May 1 meeting; no action is required.

Academic Planning Committee:  No report.

General Education Committee (GEC):  Bill Jenkins, chair of the committee, made the following announcements:

• The GEC is proceeding with the certification of intensive courses. Thanks to all who have made an effort to get these courses in place. The committee will meet during the summer; get any additional proposals to the committee as soon as possible.

• The general education program and the Provost’s Office are starting a freshman readers dialogue. The intent is to have incoming freshmen read a book that will be given to them and to use the book in the general education program. Mel Watkins’s Dancing with Strangers is the book for fall 2002. 

Watkins grew up in Youngstown, went on to Colgate University, and became the New York Times Book Review editor.  The book treats an important issue--racial matters--and reflects on the Youngstown community.  It’s both serious and humorous. Toni Morrison has endorsed the book. The goal, particularly within the general education program, is to have a theme that cuts across courses and has interdisciplinary significance. Think about how you might incorporate the book into your courses. Faculty members will receive a copy of the book too. We hope Watkins will speak at YSU in October.

Integrated Technologies Committee:  Jim Schramer, co-chair of the committee, noted that the committee will forward a memo to President Sweet supporting the need for--and making recommendations about the search for--a chief technology officer at YSU, a position the President mentioned in his Campus Conversation talk. A copy of the memo is attached to these minutes as Attachment 2.

University Outreach Committee:  No report.

Library Committee:  Dorcas Fitzgerald, chair of the committee, moved approval of the Fiscal Year 2003 Library Materials Budget that appeared in Attachment 6 to the agenda for the May 1 Senate meeting. 

The motion was seconded and carried.

Academic Research Committee; Student Academic Affairs Committee; Student Academic Grievance Committee; Honors Committee:  No reports.

Academic Events Committee:  Lowell Satre, chair of the committee, made the following report: 

As I reported to you at an earlier Senate meeting, the Academic Events Committee has been studying the Honors Convocation and commencement exercises, to see how these events could be made more meaningful for all involved. Honors Convocation this year--I hope many of you attended it--was much more efficiently run than in previous years. The awards to students were effectively consolidated, and the reading of the names, performed by two readers, quickened the pace of the evening considerably.  Certainly, additional changes should be made, but I was pleased with the Convocation. If you have any changes you would like to recommend, please feel free to contact me at the History Department or e-mail me at ljsatre@www.ysu.edu.  You should thank Dean George McCloud and Rick Bevly and Cindy Helton for their work on this.

The Academic Events Committee developed a questionnaire to determine the attitude of students who participate in commencement. Shannon Tirone, Director of Alumni Relations, is sending out these short questionnaires now. The questions are designed to determine the importance of the graduate’s name being read and the receiving of the diploma. The questionnaire consists of a total of six questions; it appears in Attachment 3 to these minutes.

Strategic Planning Update:  Bege Bowers, chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, reported:

The wrap-up meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee will take place on May 16.  The Steering Committee has reviewed comments submitted in the past couple of months and made a few revisions to the short form of the plan that was presented to the Board of Trustees in March.  An edited, revised draft will be posted on the Strategic Planning web site at <http://www.ysu.edu/Strategic_Plan/> within the next couple of weeks.

As you know, all University divisions were asked to use the draft strategic plan as the basis for formulating their 2002-2003 annual plans, and $2.5 million has been set aside for strategic-initiative funding.  A committee is reviewing requests for the strategic-initiative funds and will make its recommendations to President Sweet by May 9.  

Unfinished Business:  Continuation of Ad Hoc Ethics Committee discussion begun at the previous Senate meeting: 

RECAP OF APRIL 3 ACTIVITY:

A motion to adopt the Youngstown State University Ethics Policy recommended by the Ad Hoc Ethics Committee was made and seconded at the April 3 Senate meeting.  [The proposed policy is available on the web at <http://www.ysu.edu/acad-senate/proposed_final_ethics_policy.pdf>.] 

At the April 3 meeting, Charles Singler, Geology, moved to amend [the document referred to in] the main motion, inserting “with the concurrence of a majority of the Ethics Committee” into the last sentence on Page 7 (section IV.F.5.a of the policy), so that it would read, “The Chairperson with the concurrence of a majority of the Ethics Committee shall be guided by whether or not a public announcement will be helpful . . . .”  Singler's motion to amend was seconded and carried at the April 3 meeting.

An additional motion to amend the main motion was under discussion at the close of the April 3 meeting, when a quorum was lost. 

---

MAY 1 DISCUSSION:

At the May 1 meeting, Jim Morrison asked Bill Jenkins to rephrase the motion that was on the floor at the end of the April 3 meeting. 

Bill Jenkins, History: I had moved to amend [the document referred to in] the main motion by adding to the bottom of section II.C., which includes the definition of “plagiarism,” a statement saying, “This definition of plagiarism shall not apply to the classroom or to other forms of public presentation in which the speaker is not expected to cite sources for the ideas presented.” I would like to reword a portion of that to say “'other forms of public or private presentation.'”

Since the person who had seconded Jenkins's motion was not at the May 1 meeting, Morrison accepted “or private” as an editorial change to the proposed amendment, so that the proposed amendment reads as follows:  Add to the bottom of section II.C., which includes the definition of “plagiarism,” a statement saying, “This definition of plagiarism shall not apply to the classroom or to other forms of public or private presentation in which the speaker is not expected to cite sources for the ideas presented.” 

J-C. Smith, chair of the Ad Hoc Ethics Committee, spoke against the proposed amendment, noting that private communication is covered at the end of C on page 2 and that he is opposed to excluding oral presentations, especially since the work of the committee came about in response to a matter related to a public speech.

Jenkins noted that it is not common in his discipline for individuals to cite footnotes during a public presentation.

Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, Philosophy and Religious Studies, spoke against Jenkins's proposed amendment, arguing (1) that it asks us to tolerate and approve acts of plagiarism; (2) that it is a departure from all of the professional codes of conduct he has seen; and (3) given the abundance of scandals in our region, we should demonstrate that faculty uphold the highest standards of professional conduct.

Discussion of the proposed amendment continued until 5:25, with loss of a quorum noted about 5:15.  A tape is available for anyone who would like to listen to the full discussion.

---

ELECTRONIC SUMMARIES OF ETHICS DISCUSSION:

The following individuals submitted electronic summaries of comments they made at the May 1 meeting:

Charles Singler, speaking for the proposed amendment:

(1) The language defining plagiarism should be precise. As far as possible, it should not be subject to interpretations that are different from one individual to another, or from one committee to another.

(2) The language of the proposed policy is not clear regarding talks and presentations to school groups, to non-professional audiences, and to other forums. It seems that under these circumstances the proposed policy would require extensive source citation.

Dennis Henneman, Communication and Theater:  

I oppose the suggested amendment.  Most of the concerns addressed by the proposed amendment regarding classroom discussion of ideas and presentations made to community groups are covered  in the definition of plagiarism with the references to applicable written codes of ethics within the various professional societies.  As the currently proposed amendment reads, the message being sent appears to be one that tells students that although we as faculty do not have to honor commonly accepted rules regarding plagiarism in our classrooms and/or other public discourse, they, the students, must adhere to these rules of conduct in the written work they submit to us.

Peter Kasvinsky, Dean of Graduate Studies:

Dean Kasvinsky described the experience he has had in the "scientific misconduct" area in the past.  This experience included many of the issues discussed in the proposed Ethics Policy: plagiarism, rights of authorship, and theft of data.  He pointed out some of the difficulties in dealing with issues of this kind and the fact that it is so time-intensive that the chair of the Ethics Committee, as proposed, would likely be spending some 2-3 months full time on any issues arising as scientific (or other) misconduct allegations.

He warned of the complexity of this whole subject and pointed out that there is a whole "literature" dealing with plagiarism alone and probably with other misconduct or ethics questions as well.  Policies such as these have the unique capability to be used as weapons in personnel conflicts and can be so used relatively easily.  It is difficult to impugn the integrity of individuals who come forward confidentially to make a complaint and even more difficult to prove that complaints are not made "honestly without prejudice."

---

CONCLUSION:

At the end of the discussion, Provost Tony Atwater thanked the committee for its hard work and noted that it is important for the committee to take sufficient time to think about technical issues, federal guidelines on grants, legal issues, etc.

Morrison noted that discussion will continue at a special meeting of the Senate only if the Ad Hoc Ethics Committee recommends such a meeting.

Jim Zupanic and Tom Shipka had brought hard copies of proposed amendments they had intended to present at the May 1 Senate meeting.  Since there was not time to present and discuss their proposed amendments before the loss of a quorum, the proposed amendments are attached to these minutes for informational purposes.  Zupanic's proposed amendments appear in Attachment 4; Shipka's proposed "Five Friendly Amendments" appear in Attachment 5.

New business:  None. 

Adjournment:  The meeting “adjourned” at 5:25 p.m.