UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS ACADEMIC SENATE
VOLUME XXIX, No. 2
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
OF THE DAVIS DIVISION OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
Monday, April 16, 2001
3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Memorial Union, MU II
1. Minutes of the October 24 and November 15, 2000 meetings
2. Announcements by the President - None
3. Announcements by the Vice Presidents - None
4. Announcements by the Chief Campus Officer - None
5. Announcements by Deans, Directors, or other Executive Officers
a. Status Report regarding Academic Senate Office remodeling
b. Status Report regarding the Special Committee on Academic Personnel
Process Reform (SCPPR)
6. Special orders
a. Presentation by the Chair of the Academic Federation, Linda Hughes
7. Reports of special committees - None
8. Reports of standing committees
a. Report of the Public Service Committee - announcement of the recipient(s)
of the Distinguished Public Service Award
b. Report of the Committee on Elections, Rules and Jurisdiction
9. Petitions of students - None
10. Unfinished business - None
11. University and faculty welfare – None
12. New business
a. Proposed Amendment to Bylaw 39 (Election and Term of Office,
Committee on Committees)
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Chair Jeffery Gibeling began the meeting informally, a quorum having not yet been certified. A roster of members present and absent is attached as Appendix I to these minutes.
1. Minutes of the October 24 and November 15, 2000 meetings. No corrections were
received. The minutes will be noted as having been received and placed on file.
2. Announcements by the President – None
3. Announcements by the Vice Presidents – None
4. Announcements by the Chief Campus Officer – None
5. Announcements by Deans, Directors, or other Executive Officers
a. Status Report regarding Academic Senate Office remodeling. Chair Gibeling reported that plans currently call for the Academic Senate Office to be temporarily located in Voorhies Hall during the summer and then back to third floor Mrak in early September. He noted, however, these plans are subject to change.
b. Status Report regarding the Special Committee on Academic Personnel Process (SCAPP). Chair Gibeling reported that SCAPP undertook a careful review of academic personnel policies, procedures and practices to identify areas where improvements were warranted. The report generated was a well-thought out document but the recommendations were not in a form that could be easily implemented. So a resolution to create a Special Committee on Personnel Process Reform (SCPPR) was approved by the Executive Council, due to a lack of a quorum at the November 15, 2000 Representative Assembly meeting. Upon receipt of the final report, he said it was his intent to call a Special Meeting of the Representative Assembly to discuss and take action on the report. He noted that the report will be on the Senate web-site prior to the Special Meeting and he encouraged members to read the report and be prepared to make comments and suggestions.
6. Special orders
a. Presentation by the Chair of the Academic Federation, Linda Hughes. Chair Gibeling reported that in the Fall, the Representative Assembly hears from the Chancellor, the President of ASUCD and the Chair of the Graduate Student Association. He said it recently occurred to him that the Assembly does not hear from the other two constituent organizations – the Academic Federation and the Staff Assembly. He said that in the interest of having better understanding of the issues of concern to the Academic Federation colleagues and administrative staff colleagues, he discussed the idea of inviting these organizations to make brief reports to the Representative Assembly with the Executive Council. He said the Executive Council supported this proposal and he therefore invited the Chair of the Academic Federation, Linda Hughes, to make a presentation at today’s meeting.
Academic Federation Chair Linda Hughes thanked Chair Gibeling for the opportunity to make a presentation to the Representative Assembly and to start a new tradition. She reported that there are about 750 academic federation members and approximately 14 titles that make up the membership of the Federation. The organization was initiated over 30 years ago by Chancellor James H. Meyer to help increase collegiality and also to provide a voice for this group of faculty. She said the Federation’s role is advisory to the Chancellor and other administrative officers. She noted that the structure parallels that of the Senate with 13 standing committees and that representatives from the Federation also serve on most of the Academic Senate standing committees. She noted that the Academic Federation also parallels the Senate structure with several awards – the Distinguished Achievement Award, the Academic Federation Teaching Award, and most recently the Academic Federation Research Award. She also noted that the Federation organization is unique in the UC system.
She reported that the Federation has been actively involved this year in the discussion concerning lecturers, coping with growth, the expansion of Summer Sessions to a full summer quarter, the proposed move of the Writing Center from the English Department to the Office of Undergraduate Studies, and expanding the paid leave program for Federation members. She also mentioned that Academic Federation members are instrumental in bringing outside funding to the campus and that they are hoping to see an expansion of the research grant program for Academic Federation members.
She then responded to questions.
7. Reports of special committees – None
8. Reports of standing committees
a. Report of the Public Service Committee. Professor Margaret Johns, Chair, Public
Service Committee by announcing Stanley Sue, Professor in the Department of
Psychology and also Program Director in Asian American Studies, as the recipient
of the 2001 Public Service Award. Professor Sue noted his gratefulness for having
received this award. Professor Sue was given a round of applause and he thanked
the Assembly and the Public Service Committee for the award. The statement
read by Professor Johns appears as Appendix II of these minutes. (Formal
approval by the Representative Assembly was deferred to the next meeting due to
a lack of a quorum.)
b. Report of the Committee on Elections, Rules and Jurisdiction. The results of
the Committee on Committees election appearing on page 19 of the Call to the
Meeting were announced. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a quorum, ratification
by the Representative Assembly was deferred to the June meeting.
9. Petitions of students – None
10. Unfinished business – None
11. University and faculty welfare – None
12. New business
b. Proposed Amendment to Bylaw 39 (Election and Term of Office – Committee on Committees. Due to the lack of a quorum, this agenda item was deferred to the June Representative Assembly meeting.
c. Chair Gibeling reported that in the absence of a quorum and the ability to
officially conduct business no action could be taken but that in consultation with
CERJ Chair, Kevin Hoover, the Assembly could informally discuss an item of
new business – scheduling of mid-term examinations. He introduced Professor
Charles Hunt who reported that legislation will be proposed at the June meeting to
permit midterm examinations out of normal class times under the following
conditions: the dates and times of the out of class exams are posted before the
beginning of classes for a given term; out of class exams cannot exceed 90
minutes each, twice per term; out of class midterm exams area recommended
to be scheduled between 5-7PM weekdays and 10AM-4PM on Saturdays;
compensatory class release time must be given for time used in out of class exams.
Discussion ensued.
Chair Gibeling thanked those present for attending and the group departed at
approximately 4:30 p.m.
Jay Mechling, Secretary
Representative Assembly of the Davis Division
of the Academic Senate
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