SENATE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES COMMITTEE

Minutes

May 13, 1998

Attending: Tom Metzger, Susan Neuman, Susan L. Whitney, Richard Hanna

The meeting was called to order at 10:35 AM in Room 6061, Forbes Tower

1. The minutes were approved as read, except for one correction, Dr. Neuman's name was misspelled.

2. Richard Hanna discussed some of the concerns that CGS has had about the items that the Senate Educational Policies Committee has been discussing. He stated that the students in CGS were very pleased that someone was looking into giving greater quality points for A+. Further discussion ensued and it was decided at this point to have no further action on this item. Dr. Whitney also reported that she had discussed the issue with Dr. Plotnov, who originally brought up the specific item.

3. Dr. Whitney announced the most recent results of the Senate election. Members of the Committee who were re-elected include, Jean Blachere, Susan Neuman, and Anthony Silvestre. It was the unanimous consensus of the Committee that Dr. Crossman be appointed as a pro tem member for the next year.

4. Dr. Metzger announced that Brenda Manning had resigned as the Faculty Development Director of the University as of April 30th. The Committee had some concerns as to whether this was related to the Sorcinelli report. Dr. Whitney reported that she had attempted to contact the provost to find out when or if the report will be made available to the Committee members. Dr. Metzger and Dr. Whitney were invited to the Planning Group meeting for orienting new faculty by Dr. Beverly Harris-Schenz. Dr. Metzger will be able to attend the meeting and give feedback. In addition it was announced the Dr. Brumble had resigned as the Dean of Undergraduate Studies for FAS.

5. It was decided that Dr. Whitney will draft a letter to Dr. Daniel about the questions that we have related to peer evaluation of teaching. As they appear in the minutes, the group seemed to feel that they adequately represented the Committee's views from the last meeting. Dr. Whitney was charged to follow through with the memo to Dr. Daniel with copies to the Committee. Dr. Whitney was also charged to make sure that Dr. Daniel could also add additional items that he might be interested in as he sent the letter out to the various Deans and Campus Presidents across the University.

6. A great deal of discussion ensued related to how students were to determine who to contact if they had a problem in a course. Dr. Whitney was charged to contact Provost Maher about different methods that could be employed that the students could utilize to help them better understand how to get help, which would be especially beneficial for transfer students and freshmen. Those students who commute have additional problems because they have less of a network established at the University. Some of the suggestions included sharing ideas on how to deal with these problems in the course schedule book, at the freshman orientation, and also during the freshmen studies course in FAS.

7. The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan L. Whitney, PhD, PT, ATCChair, Senate Educational Policies Committee