Share:

University Senate action April 21

On Monday, April 21, University Senate heard reports from: Provost Bobby Gempesaw, chair, University Senate; Steve Wyatt, chair, Executive Committee of University Senate; and Rebecca Luzadis, chair, Fiscal Priorities and Budget Planning Committee, annual report.

On the consent calendar, Senate received the curriculum report dated April 16, 2014, minutes of Senate committees, and the independent work policy.

Senate adopted the 2014-2015 Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for Dossier Preparation and the Dossier and Evaluation Guidelines for Lecturers, Clinical, and Professionally Licensed Faculty.  Senate endorsed revisions to the Global Miami Plan and revisions to the Miami University Policy and Information Manual, Sections 7.1.E, 7.11.C, 7.11.D, 7.11.E, and 7.11.F.

With the approval of the April 7, 2014, Senate minutes, Senate endorsed by voice votes Senate resolutions SR 14-18, SR 14-19, and SR 14-20.

 SR 14-18

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that University Senate adopts proposed revisions to the Student Handbook, Section 1.3.C, Computation of President’s and Dean’s Lists, as set forth below:

The President’s List recognizes the top three percent of undergraduate students within each division registered for a semester of 12 or more credit hours attempted for grades (A+ through F). The Deans’ Lists recognize the next 17 percent of undergraduate students within each division registered for a semester of 12 or more hours attempted for grades (A+ through F).   Students within each academic division must achieve the following grade point averages:

President’s List

Dean’s List

Arts and Science

4.00

3.70

Creative Arts

4.00

3.70

Education, Health and Society

4.00

3.80

Engineering and Computing

4.00

3.60

Farmer School of Business

3.95

3.60

Professional Studies & Applied Sciences

4.00

3.60

The grade point standards used for the President’s List and the Dean’s List approximate the average GPA of highest 3 percent of students in each academic division and the next 17 percent of student in each academic division, respectively, for the past three years.  These criteria will remain unchanged. 

Miami’s news and communications office notifies the hometown newspaper of each student eligible for the President’s or Deans’ Lists. Note that a confidentiality hold on a student’s record will prevent his or her name from being published in the hometown newspaper or on the Miami University website. Deans' and President's lists are considered finalized 30 days after the term and are not subsequently recalculated.

SR 14-19

         BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that University Senate endorse proposed revisions to the Bylaws of University Senate, Section 6.b.9, Governance Committee as set forth below: 

6.B.9.a.     The Governance Committee shall be composed of:

  • Four (4) faculty members, at least one (1) of whom shall be a member of University Senate. 

No more than two (2) faculty members from the same University Senate disciplinary unit as described in the Bylaws of University Senate shall serve simultaneously on the Committee.

  • One (1) undergraduate student.
  • One (1) graduate student.

6.B.9.b.     The functions of the Governance Committee are to oversee the implementation and operation of the Enabling Act of University Senate and Faculty Assembly and the Bylaws of University Senate; to oversee and approve recommendations to University Senate for the reallocation of divisional seats as the distribution of full-time equivalent faculty shifts among divisions; to oversee Faculty Assembly and University Senate elections; to approve election procedures submitted by quasi-departmental groupings, as specified in these  Bylaws; and to audit, as the Executive Committee of University Senate or Senate deems necessary, the elections conducted by these groupings.

6.B.9.c.     A faculty memberrepresentative from the Division of Academic Affairs, who need not be a member of the Governance Committee, shall be appointed Elections Coordinator by the Executive Committee of University Senate, in consultation with the Governance Committee, and shall report to the Governance Committee and to the Executive Committee. The Elections CoordinatorAt the beginning of the spring semester, the Secretary of University Senate shall review and approve lists of those eligible to vote in faculty elections. and The Elections Coordinator shall conduct elections for: (1) the ten (10) at-large faculty seats on University Senate, (2) the faculty members of Graduate Council, (3) the members of the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities, (4) the All-University Faculty Committee for the Evaluation of Administrators; and shall conduct other elections upon request. 

The Elections Coordinator shall also be responsible by the beginning of the spring semester for insuring that representational unit membership remains current by insuring that new faculty, or faculty who have significantly changed the nature of their appointments, are included among the membership of their appropriate academic caucuses.  By the beginning of the spring semester, the Elections Coordinator should also ensure that new faculty whose appointments entitle them to choose among caucuses are invited to select their caucus and then included among the membership of the caucuses of their choice. (See Section 1.A of this document)

The Elections Coordinator shall assist the Governance Committee in the regular audit of University Senate seat distribution.

An additional representative from the Division of Academic Affairs will be appointed by the Executive Committee of University Senate and trained by the Elections Coordinator to step into the place of the Elections Coordinator, should he/she be unavailable to conduct elections.

SR 14-20

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that University Senate endorse proposed revisions to the Miami University Policy and Information Manual, Section 12.5.A, All‑University Faculty Committee for Evaluation of Administrators, as set forth below:

12.5 All-University Faculty Committee for Evaluation of Administrators

12.5.A Membership An All-University Faculty Committee for Evaluation of Administrators will review the Provost, all academic deans, the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, the Dean and University Librarian, and the University Director of Liberal Education in years three (3) and five (5) of their five- year administrative appointments. Committee reports are intended to serve two functions: a) to guide the professional development of the individuals, and b) to record part of the evidence upon which future personnel decisions may be based.

The All-University Faculty Committee for Evaluation of Administrators (Committee) will consist of eight (8) members of Faculty Assembly, one to be chosen by each division for a total of five (5) six (6), one (1) to be chosen by the library faculty, and one (1) to be chosen by each the non-CPSAS faculty on either  of the regional campuses. The members of the Committee will be elected by the faculty with election procedures to be set by the University Senate.  The Committee shall elect one of its members to serve as chair. Members of the Committee who are on probationary status (i.e., nontenured or who do not hold continuing contract status) are not eligible to serve as chair of the Committee. In accordance with a University Senate motion of November 5, 1990, the library faculty as well as the faculty of the regional campuses shall not be eligible as nominees or electors in the election of divisional representatives. Each member will serve a nonrenewable three-year term beginning July 1. The terms will be staggered so that one-third of the Committee is elected each year. In the event of the resignation of a member of the Committee before the end of his or her term, that seat shall be filled by the candidate (who had not been previously elected) who received the largest number of votes when the ballots are retabulated after votes for the person who has resigned have been deleted. In the event no such candidate is available, a new election will be held for the vacated seat.

Twenty-five members of Faculty Assembly can challenge the resolutions by filing a petition with the Office of the University Secretary during the ten class days after publication in the e-Report.