Senate Newsletter - Fall 2011

In addition to working with the committees to facilitate review of issues, the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) has hosted a fall retreat with the UHM Administration and Committee Chairs, as well as a spring retreat with Committee Chairs. At the fall retreat, the UHM administration agreed that the Senate would make all faculty appointments to campus-wide committees, but did not agree that facility closures should go through M3:101. The SEC remains opposed to this position and will continue to work toward a resolution. At the spring retreat, the Senate leadership reviewed all issues currently under senate consideration and provided feedback and suggestions for the future of the Senate. Early in the fall semester, the SEC also solicited and made recommendations for faculty appointments on the Chancellor Search Committee, and introduced a successful Resolution suggesting language for the Chancellor Search position description that emphasized undergraduate education. The SEC also requested that the President include Manoa faculty on the search committee for a new football coach to no avail. The SEC is in the process of helping facilitate a resolution to the pending issues surrounding the proposed closures of both PBRC and Kewalo, and has visited the Kewalo site and set up a meeting between the interested parties in January. The SEC also submitted a nomination for the position of Interim PBRC Director, which was unanimously approved by the PBRC board, to VCRGE Ostrander in early February and VCRGE has agreed to meet with the nominee to discuss the position. To help better facilitate Senate meetings, the SEC has introduced I-Clickers for voting. In addition, the SEC has instituted this newsletter, plans to host a Retreat for all Senators in May with the UHM Chancellor, and is in the process of hiring a Senate research assistant to work directly with the committees.

The Committee on Academic Policy and Planning met four times during the Fall 2012 semester:  August 31, October 5, November 2, and November 30.  Initially, CAPP was assigned six issues to address.  These were:

• ID#23:  High DFIW course follow-up
  
• ID#24:  Critical Thinking Working Group
  
• ID#25:  Institutional Learning Objectives
  
• ID#26:  Undergraduate degree plan implementation
  
• ID#27:  Undergraduate degree proposals
  
• ID#41:  Excess Credit Motion of 2/16/2011

Subsequently, a faculty member requested the committee reconsider Issue#51, 60 Non-Intro Course Credit Requirement because the Natural Science departments do not have enough upper division courses to meet this requirement.  The request was withdrawn for consideration this year while the Natural Science departments work on a solution, but it might return to CAPP and the Senate in the next year or two.  Also, CAPP was asked to consider ID#46:  Suspension of Academic Actions and ID# 54:  Grade Replacement Policy.  The VCAA asked that the two-year pilot of Suspension of Academic Actions for undergraduates during spring semester be made permanent, and that the Grade Replacement Policy the Senate approved last year be reconsidered because it cannot be implemented under the current Banner system.   CAPP is working on these issues and will take action in early spring.

Regarding the other issues:

• ID#23:  High DFIW course follow-up:  The GEC has taken the lead on this issue. Todd Sammons is the CAPP liaison and is keeping the committee apprised of their progress.
  
• ID#24:  Critical Thinking Working Group:  The group has been meeting biweekly since October and will present a report at CAPP’s January 26 meeting.  CAPP has taken no action on this issue.
  
• ID#25:  Institutional Learning Objectives:  The subcommittee is still working on this, is using the ILO’s developed in 2009 as a starting point.  The central issue is to assure that the ILO’s meet the criteria required by WASC.
  
• ID#26:  Undergraduate degree plan implementation:  This subcommittee is still working on the issue.  They have looked at a variety of degree plans and requirements as officially written, and are currently, they are looking into implementation to identify the ten undergraduate majors with the longest time to completion. 
  
• ID#27:  Undergraduate degree proposals:  We received no proposals to review.
  
• ID#41:  Excess Credit Motion of 2/16/2011:  CAPP was asked to revisit the policy that was passed last year in the Senate, and voted to maintain the policy as decided last year.

CAPP is meeting biweekly for the Spring semester to try to resolve the outstanding issues in a timely manner so they can reach the full Senate for decisions. [Pdf]

The Committee on Administration and Budget has:

• Met 8 times, 9/1, 9/14, 9/28, 10/12, 11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 12/14
• Presented four amendments to the MFS Bylaws
  • Absenteeism – passed second reading, Congress and before the Faculty for a vote.
  • CORGE as a MFS Standing Committee, passed second reading, Congress and before the Faculty for a vote.
  • MAC as a MFS Standing Committee, presented a resolution.
  • Qualification of SEC Authority – failed at second reading.
• Reviewed and endorsed via motion two administration reorganizations proposals
  • CTAHR – dated August 24, 2011
  • OVCRGE – dated October 19, 2011
• Presented the following additional legislation that was endorsed by the Senate
  • Motion to Recommend Amendment to M3:101 Reorganization Process
  • Resolution Relating to the UHM Administration's Continuing Effort to Abolish the Pacific Biosciences Research Center and to Close the Kewalo Marine Laboratory
• Current business
  • By-Laws Revisions
  • Review of International Scholarship Proposal
  • Review of Classroom Use Policy
  • Manoa Faculty Housing concerns
  • Evaluation of Administration and Administrators with CP [Pdf]

We were tasked with examining the student athletic fee, so we met with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and they informed us that there are many more students attending games and they are very happy with that. The committee overseeing the fees  does so as follows: 8% of fees are given away and used to 1) increase attendance; 2) student organizations can write grants for activities.  The remaining 92% goes toward scholarships. 

Student concerns that we would like the full senate to address include:

• Internet access is still a problem for the students as they travel for events,
  The committee will make a motion to the Athletic Department that each student athlete needs to have internet access while traveling. 
• Redesign of athletic facilities was completed without input from many of the student athletes. The committee will make a motion that student athletes be included throughout the redesign process.  An example is also the design of the softball facilities that also need to address these issues as they pertain to Title IX. 
• A few faculty are inflexible regarding student athlete travel and we ask that all faculty be supportive of our students when they are required to miss classes for athletic endeavors; it should also be stated that students should miss as few classes as possible to participate in athletic endeavors.  It is also suggested that students have designated time for study that does not coincide with other activities. The committee will make a motion to the MFS, MFS SEC, and Chancellor that all faculty be reminded to be supportive of our students when they are required to miss classes for athletic endeavors; and all athletic department personnel should be reminded that students should miss as few classes as possible to participate in athletic endeavors.
• Some athletes stated that they could not pursue majors they really wanted to due to participation in University-approved athletic endeavors. All majors should be declared open to student athletes and all majors should work to accommodate student athletes.  Students will be surveyed regarding ability to choose any major they would like to.  The committee will make a motion that all majors should be declared open to student athletes and all majors should work to accommodate student athletes. 
• AAUP has stated that events such as that recently occurring at Penn State may be avoided if there was faculty participation in athletics oversight.  UH Manoa takes these types of issues very seriously and works to aid and protect the students. There is an additional issue of point shaving – this was withheld from the faculty for too long.  We need to ensure that there is transparency with the Athletics Department and we commend the openness of the Athletics Department regarding the issue of point shaving.
• Ongoing review of grades, spending equity, and compliance with Committee On Intercollegiate Athletics.  No marked concerns at present. [Pdf]

Please see the Senate Elections page for complete information about the 2012-13 Senate Election process that will be conducted by CFS. In early Spring 2012, CFS's Recommendations on the Election Process were accepted by the full Senate.

Course Proposal Review
Each of the following General Education Boards met several times from October – December 2011, and the following total number of courses proposals were reviewed. In accordance with our specific GEC responsibilities, the full GEC reviewed applications for GenEd multiple focus and course-based focus designations and considered focus exemption requests.

Manoa Faculty Senate Charges to the GEC
In addition to our GEC responsibilities, the SEC asked that we consider the following:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Institutional Learning Objectives
3. High DFIW Courses
4. FS Compliance: A review of banner data by GEO staff indicates that only ~60% of students complete the FS requirement by the end of the 1st year (≥25 credits) and only ~75% by the end of the 2nd year
(≥50 credits). There are currently ~1300 students with ≥25 credits that have not completed an FS course (includes recent transfers). The GEC discussed a proposal from the 2010-11 Foundations Board to enforce the FS requirement. A series of email messages were written that remind students of the requirement, with increasing level of sternness progressing from 1st to 4th semester. These email messages were sent to 2745 students in Fall 2011. We will continue to monitor compliance to see if the reminders are enough incentive to improve the compliance rate. We have also discussed a method for instituting registration holds to enforce compliance; these holds would be applied to students with ≥50 UHM credits that have not completed or are not currently enrolled in an FS course. Tentatively, this may go into effect during the 2012-13
academic year.
5. Foundations – Symbolic Reasoning (FS) Requirements: In Spring 2011, a Working Group of Foundations Board and GEC members discussed the current FS Hallmarks, and in particular, whether these Hallmarks and current FS courses are in compliance with WASC accreditation standards. WASC requires that all undergraduate 4 year degrees should include a core education in “quantitative skills”. It was concluded that the wording of the FS Hallmarks allows a subset of students to avoid quantitative skills by taking logic courses and avoiding math and statistics courses. The WG forwarded a resolution calling for a change in the explanatory notes to the FS Hallmarks which would require that future FS courses include some instruction in quantitative skills. The resolution was forwarded as a proposal for review by the Multi-Campus Foundations Board, which includes one member from each of the campuses that are party to the UH System Articulation Agreement. After much discussion, a multi-campus working group was constituted to study the issue, and is set to make a recommendation by March 31. Alternative, more drastic changes have been discussed within the GEC. The solution currently in favor involves splitting FS into two components, Quantitative Skills (FQ) and Logical and Critical Reasoning (FR), with a requirement for 3 credits of each requirement by the end of the 2nd year. An overlapping course approval could be set up in which certain courses could be given simultaneous FQ and FR designation, while other courses such as Statistics or Business Accounting might be given only the FQ designation, while non-quantitative courses such as Philosophy might be given only FR designation. If the change to the Hallmarks described above fails to pass, then this type of split requirement will be proposed to the MCFB. [Pdf]

(As of November 16, 2011)

Individual course advertising in Ka Leo: Courses could be advertised for various reasons such as avoiding cancellation if students do not fill the seats, ensuring that an instructor meets their teaching expectations, offering overfilled courses as summer courses, or late addition of courses to the available course lists. CPM also points out that the many flyers that are seen around campus and in common student hang out spots off campus are not free. Therefore, CPM does not feel that using departmental funds to advertise courses is inappropriate. Furthermore, we do not feel that a recommendation on acceptable forms of advertising on campus is needed.

Composition of DPC: The VCAA has addressed an issue related to the composition of the DPC at the CRC. Composition of DPCs in general should be governed by faculty. CPM recommended last year to UHMFS and it was approved that each unit consider appropriate authorship conventions for their faculty and that the objectivity of external reviewers be addressed. General Guidelines for DPCs are in the UHPA Contract, UH Manoa Guidelines and Criteria for Contract Renewal, Tenure and Promotion documents and within specific unit procedures (if approved). Deans have been informed of the UHMFS recommendation that departmental guidelines be reviewed. It is hoped this might be accomplished by May 2012 and sent forward for approval to the VCAA and UHPA.

Tenure Promotion Review Committee (TPRC) make-up: Problems with the current structure include the difficulty of constituting 13+ TPRCs, and inconsistency in the review of dossiers. Suggestions include a single super TPRC, fewer (3-5) TPRCs, or multi-year appointments within the current structure of TPRCs. Concerns include the value of broad representation, workload of TPRC members, and potential release time. It is not clear why members of the applicant’s college are excluded from the TPRC.

Faculty Classification: In Spring 2011 COR brought a resolution recommending consolidation of faculty categories to the Senate. The resolution was deferred and CPM and CORGE will study the issue. CPM suggests a survey of faculty regarding issues/perspectives. The CTAHR Senate Personnel Committee is also reviewing this. Issues raised include differences in degree requirements with some classifications requiring a master’s degree while others require a PhD, differences in benefits, 9 versus 11 month appointments, feasibility of teaching by neighbor island faculty, and appropriateness of requiring research by faculty holding a master’s degree. UHPA is concerned that there be no negative impact on salaries or benefits.

Emeritus Faculty: Executive policy calls for “ Internal campus procedures for the identification of those individuals to be awarded the emeritus title.” The committee will make recommendations to the Senate for changes to the current procedures.

Partner Hiring: UHM has a partner hiring policy. The trailing partner’s CV is vetted by the department. CPM will review this policy in light of the 2010 AAUP recommendations on spousal hires.

Evaluation of Administration/Administrators: This was discussed last year, and CPM and CAB agreed that the Michigan model was appropriate. Under Hawaii law, no evaluations can be made public without the consent of the person evaluated. CPM developed a proposed consent form last year. CPM and CAB will follow up. [Pdf]

(As of December 7, 2011)

CoRGE has been asked, in addition to CAB, to review the reorganization plans for CTAHR and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. It has endorsed CAB's recommendations in both cases, although with a friendly amendment regarding the OVCRGE plan.

CoRGE, as well as CAB, has been asked to keep an eye on the VCRGE's plans to close down the Kewalo Marine Laboratory, and to try to ensure that faculty feedback is sought, at least, before any such decision to close the facility is acted upon. So far we have been unable to do anything significant on this issue, as Gary Ostrander has proven unavailable to meet with CAB and CoRGE to discuss this matter. (Since this report was written, VCRGE met with CAB and CORGE in January and the Senate endorsed the joint Resolution Relating to the UHM Administration's Continuing Effort to Abolish the Pacific Biosciences Research Center and to Close the Kewalo Marine Laboratory.)

CoRGE has also been considering the plan to transfer to Hilo the Hawaii Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit, and has brought forward a resolution asking that this move be cancelled.

CoRGE put forward a resolution asking that experience as a professor at UH be listed as a desirable qualification on the advertisement for the open chancellorship position, a resolution which the Senate rejected by a narrow margin.

CoRGE was asked by the SEC to consider whether there was a problem involved in Grad Division's willingness to have Ph.D. candidates participate in their graduation ceremonies before they had completed their dissertation defences. After some discussion, CoRGE decided this was an acceptable practice, and decided not to pursue the issue any further.

A problem, involving a particular doctoral student, was brought to CoRGE's attention early in the term. Grad Division's policy of stamping "probation" on the transcripts of all doctoral students who, for whatever reason, had not finished before the end of their seventh year in the program was jeopardizing the student's chances of successfully applying for a post doctoral fellowship. CoRGE's concern that this seemed to be an unnecessarily punitive policy was brought to Interim Dean Cooper's attention, and it seems now that the policy will come under review at Grad Division. (CoRGE's two liaison faculty members on Grad Council will be keeping an eye on this issue.)

CoRGE has begun work on formulating a "Graduate Student Bill of Rights & Responsibilities." We have had some communication already with the GSO on this, but anticipate fuller discussions in January. We have discussed the matter with the Dean of Graduate Division, and plan to have our draft commented upon as well by Graduate Council, before bringing it to the GSO for a final round of revisions. We expect to have a resolution on this issue ready to bring before the Senate in March.

Grad Division has asked that CoRGE play a role in examining the graduate program annual reports that all departments have been asked to submit by the end of this semester. We will be looking, in particular, at the "problem cases" after these have been identified by Graduate Council.

Finally, it is one of CoRGE's responsibilities to vet for approval any new graduate programs introduced at Manoa. We have not yet received any such programs to consider, but several new graduate programs have already been approved by Graduate Council this fall, and CoRGE will presumably be looking at those programs as well in the spring term. [pdf]

In Fall 2011, CSA introduced a Resolution on the Importance of Undergraduate Education in the Chancellor Search that was approved by the full Senate. CSA was also working with COA to access the student athletics fee. ASUH is in the process of surveying students to discern the success of the student athletics fee.

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