MINUTES FOR THE 2nd REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FACULTY SENATE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-CAMDEN
November 5, 2002
TIME AND PLACE: 12:20 p.m., Room 121, Armitage Hall
MEMBERS PRESENT: C. Singley, R. Tarbell, R. Evans, W. Saidel, A. Roche, S. Katz, J-C Birget, J. Ma, R. Epstein, C. Fitter, L. Bernstein, A. Lees,
M. Karel, M. Greipp, C. Brown, J. Gagliardi, K. Shienbaum,I. Roseman, J. VanTil, J. Meyer, J. Siegel, J. Gerver, N. Hopkins-Evans
EXCUSED: J. Schiavo, M.A. Rafey Habib
ABSENT: L. Tan, J. Tittler, J. Soll, G. Articolo, W. Puentes, B. Adelson, S. Pandey, R. Sanchez-Mayers, W. D. Jerome
I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 12:25 p.m. in room 121 Armitage Hall, Dr. Carol Singley, President, presiding. Dr. Singley welcomed everyone to the Faculty Senate meeting and announced that Joseph Schiavo, Vice President of the Faculty Senate, is recovering well from his recent operation. We can look forward to his return at the next Faculty Senate meeting on December 3, 2002. The October 1, 2002 minutes were APPROVED, VOICE VOTE. (The approved minutes will be signed by Roberta Tarbell, Faculty Senate Secretary, with the necessary corrections. Thank you for bringing them to our attention!)
II. Approval of New Courses and Course Changes.
Copies of Form 29, Changes to the Master Course List, were disbursed to each Faculty Senate member prior to the November 5th meeting so each Faculty Senator would have ample time to review each course. The departments requesting changes/additions explained their request(s). These departments included: Computer Science – 2; Biology – 3; Religion/Philosophy – 10; and Fine Arts – 1.
There was discussion about the number of Religion/Philosophy course changes/course additions. Dr. Stuart Charme explained that with the merger within the department it was necessary to change some course titles and some course numbers. There will be 3 new courses offered. Dr. Andrew Lees questioned whether it would be necessary to have PTL’s offer these new courses. Dr. Charme explained that only one course, Religion and Science, would require a PTL; the other courses could be covered by full-time faculty members. He also noted that not all new courses were guaranteed to be taught on a regular basis. There was discussion about the number of courses being added, changed or omitted and whether all these changes would equal out to the same number of courses offerings currently being offered. Dr. Charme explained that with all the changes the net number of courses would be about the same, maybe one additional course. He also explained that there would be adequate course offerings in the Religion/Philosophy Department to balance campus-wide requirements. Dr. Martin Rosenberg, Chair of the Fine Arts Department, enlightened the Senators that there will be a large number of course change/new course offerings for the Fine Arts Department at the next Faculty Senate meeting. There was discussion regarding the Fine Arts new course, Gender in Music. Definition of the word “Gender” and “Women” were discussed. It was brought to the Senate’s attention that in conjunction with the feminist movement the word “Gender” should be used. After some debate, this course was APPROVED with one vote ABSTAINING. All other New Courses and Course Changes were APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
III. Update from Ad Hoc Committee on Curriculum.
Since Dr. Ted Goertzel, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, is on leave this semester, and Dr. Allen Woll, Acting Chair, was unable to attend the Faculty Senate meeting, Faculty Senate President, Carol Singley gave an update on the Ad Hoc Committee. She indicated that the General Requirements Proposal is ready for Senate approval. Dr. Singley announced that the Ad Hoc Committee will hold two faculty meetings and that each senator should try to attend one, if not both, meetings. The dates are: Monday, November 4, during free period at 12:15 in Armitage room 121 and Thursday, November 14th, during free period at 12:30 in Armitage room 121.
Dr. Bill Whitlow, Chair of the Academic Policy Committee, suggested that all departments give some thought to their course offerings and be prepared to assign them W, D or G ratings. Since the Ad Hoc Committee has written requirements for the W rating, it was suggested that the committee also provide requirements for the D and G ratings to help departments in making their decisions. It was noted that there is a deadline for submitting this information for the new catalog. In light of the fact that course requirements are such an important issue (too important to be rushed), Dr. Katz suggested that perhaps an interim catalog could be printed. Dr. Whitlow indicated that the APC was calling for more freshman seminar courses in Fall 2003. Dr. Bill Saidel asked Dr. Singley if a senator could send out information regarding his/her view on the Ad Hoc Committee’s proposal. Dr. Singley suggested that the senator wait until the Ad Hoc Committee presents its proposal and then the senator could present his/her information. There was discussion concerning “capped enrollment” for course offerings. No one appeared to know if “capped enrollment” rules existed, so Dr. Singley said she would investigate this issue. The senators were again reminded to alert their department of the importance of having their courses ready and to have any questions ready for the December 3rd meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 1:15 P.M.
Submitted by,
Roberta Tarbell, Secretary
Faculty Senate (AY 2002-2003)