Minutes of 25 October 1999
Circulated 28 October 1999
Approved 22 November 1999

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SENATE ASSEMBLY MEETING
MINUTES OF 25 October 1999

ATTENDANCE

Present: Andrews, Antonucci, Birdsall, Bonner, Castle, Christiansen, Erickson, Gobetti, Harrington, Hart, Juster, Karni, Karnopp, Karr, Kleinsmith, Konigsberg, Kossoudji, Lawson, Malkawi, Marcelo, Marshal, Masson, Navvab, Penner-Hahn, Perfecto, Rahme, Robertson, Rocchini, Rosenberg, Rosenthal Scheiman, Schneider, Sears, Sedman, Sheil, Taylor, Teasley, Uribe, Walker, Ward, Whitehouse Jr., Winger, Wingrove

Alternates: Anthony Bloch for Burns; Deborah Walker for Raisler

Absent: Alcock, Anderson, Bartlett, Bernal, Boyd, Brophy, Brusati, Colletti, Deskins, Dick, Dunkle, Feldman, Foss, Guthrie, Jacobsen, Jamerson, Kabamba, Kalisch, MacAdam, Malamud, Mann, Mateo, Merchant, Moseley, Murphy, Savage, Schteingart, Taghaboni, Trumpey, Vicinus, Wright, Zorn

Chair Kossoudji convened the meeting at 3:10 PM.

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED

1. Senate Assembly Agenda (10-25-99)

2. Unapproved Minutes (10-04-99)

3. Principles of Faculty Involvement in Governance document

4. Report on the Subcommittee on Contributions of Research Faculty (03-15-99; 

revised 04-27-99)

5. Retreat on the Future of the Professoriat Committee on Interdisciplinarity Report and Recommendations (from 10-26 & 27-99 Retreat on the Future of the Professoriate)

6. Integration of Teaching, Research, and Practice (03-31-99)

7. Follow-up Committee on Non-Tenure-Track Instructional Faculty Final Report and Recommendations (05-24-99)

 

VISIT BY PROVOST CANTOR

Chair Kossoudji introduced Provost Cantor and invited her to make remarks to the Senate Assembly.

The Provost informed Senate Assembly members that reports about the future of the professoriate are now available on-line from her office and through the Faculty Governance website. The reports were developed by working groups consisting of members drawn from the Academic Programs Group and from the Academic Affairs Advisory Committee. She reviewed key points in each report, invited Assembly members to read them in entirety, and she further invited feedback to the following e-mail group mailbox: facultyretreat@umich.edu.

Provost Cantor announced that the University of Michigan is scheduled for re-accreditation review by the North Central Association, and that a committee of visitors headed by the President of the University of Minnesota will be on campus from 6 to 8 March 2000. She said that her office is taking advantage of the process to take a special focus on interdisciplinarity and collaborative work. She said that a series of working groups established to help with the process will be producing reports within the next month.

The Provost also announced that her office has developed a set of proposed revisions to the Regents’ Bylaws. She said that she had brought before SACUA the draft revisions pertaining to definitions and appointments within the professoriate, including clinical track faculty and a new Bylaw on Research Scientists. Provost Cantor said that in response to feedback from SACUA, her office will modify the draft proposals to make it explicit that the term "professorial staff" applies to the tenured and tenure-track faculty, and that they are the group that votes on whatever rights and responsibilities are extended to non-tenure tracks. The provost said that the proposed revisions will be published soon in the University Record.

The provost concluded her remarks at 3:58 P.M. and invited questions from the audience.

A member of the Assembly asked if the provost’s office had developed any statistics on the success rate to tenure for faculty holding split appointments, compared with traditional appointments. The provost replied that her office has not developed any such data formally, owing to the difficulty of identifying appropriate reference groups for comparison. Another member pointed out that management of research and of teaching requires different skills, and that for a junior faculty member to achieve expert status as a teacher could be professional suicide. Provost Cantor replied that she thought some of the best teaching is done by people who are expert researchers. The provost said that many students come to the University of Michigan for the opportunity to be exposed to research, and that students who elect not to come here do so because they think they won’t get attention. She said that therefore it was important that researchers get credit for the research experience they provide to undergraduates. She added that junior faculty need opportunities in all arenas of faculty achievement and that maybe we need to be more flexible about the tenure clock.

A member of the Assembly commented that it would be a good idea to review the negative decisions about tenure reached at lower administrative levels, but that the resulting workload could be large. Provost Cantor expressed agreement that the workload could become intense, and she said it might be necessary to make some compromises. She added that the handling of negative reviews is critical. Professor Ward commented that one resulting issue will be the degree to which information remains anonymous. He said that multiple layers of review tend to work against confidentiality.

The provost concluded her visit with Senate Assembly at 4:12 P.M.

CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM 4 OCTOBER 1999

The minutes of 4 October 1999 were amended and approved.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chair Kossoudji reminded Senate Assembly members that the proposed revisions to the Regents’ Bylaws will be published soon. She asked that the members pay attention and stay alert. Kossoudji called attention to the document "Principles of Faculty Involvement in Institutional and Academic Unit Governance at the University of Michigan". She pointed out that according to page 6, unit executive committees have certain delegated authority from the governing faculty. She noted that the "Fenty Report", a study of executive committees at the U-M, has documented severe differences in selection processes by unit. Kossoudji asked that Senate Assembly members return to their units and learn how their executive committees are chosen. She stated that in some units the top vote-getter does not become appointed automatically to the unit executive committees. She said that she wants election results to be reported with the vote counts.

Chair Kossoudji announced that the AAAC, chaired by Jean Loup, has proposed changes to the dean evaluation forms. The proposals are to eliminate 7 questions, to edit the wording of 2 additional questions, and to alter the timing of the review in the term of the dean so that it will occur in the third year of a 5-year term. Kossoudji asked members to consult the proposed changes on the Faculty Senate website and to be prepared to vote on the proposals at the next meeting of the Assembly, in November.

Chair Kossoudji announced that the President has named a committee to study the question of divesting the university portfolio of tobacco stocks. She said that the committee membership was:

TOBACCO ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Kyle Logue, Professor of Law Chair

Kathryn Dominguez, Associate Professor of Public Policy

Paul Lichter, Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

Helmut Stern, Community Member & Benefactor

Kevin Toh, Graduate Student LSA-Philosophy

Kenneth Warner, Professor of Public Health

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

The meeting adjourned at 4:22 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

John T. Lehman
Senate Secretary