MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
OF THE DAVIS DIVISION OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE

Tuesday, June 6, 2000
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Memorial Union, MU II

1. Minutes of the April 17, 2000 meeting

2. Announcements by the President

3. Announcements by the Vice Presidents

4. Announcements by the Chief Campus Officer

5. Announcements by Deans, Directors, or other Executive Officers

6. Special orders

7. Reports of special committees

1. *Annual Report of the Special Committee on Honors
2. Preliminary Report of the Special Committee on Academic Personnel Processes
3. Preliminary Report of the Special Committee on Transportation and Parking

8. Reports of standing committees

1. Report of the Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review
   concerning proposed revision to Bylaw 44
2. Report of the Committee on Committees concerning proposed revision to
   Bylaws 38 and 39

9. Petitions of students - None

10. Unfinished business

1. Approval of the Report of the Public Service Committee from the April 17
   Meeting announcing the recipients of the Public Service Award for 2000
   (Approval was deferred at the April 17 meeting due to a lack of a quorum)

11. University and faculty welfare - None
12. New business

1. Proposal for a new Davis Division Bylaw to establish Graduate Student
   Privilege Advisers

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Although a quorum had not yet been certified, Chair Jeffery C. Gibeling made the following announcements. The Assembly (Universitywide) met last month and approved some actions that were recently approved here. One such action was the request from Davis for diploma notation for Designated Emphasis Programs. Secondly, the Santa Barbara campus received approval for notation of minors on diplomas and this issue is likely to be considered by this campus next year. Thirdly, the minimum progress requirement approved by the Representative Assembly in June 1999 required systemwide approval, which was granted. This new requirement is scheduled to go into effect in the Fall of 2000.

He also announced that the campus Academic Planning Council is very close to making recommendations on faculty FTE allocations to college and school deans for the next five years. Finally, the University has signed a contract with UAW covering TAs, Readers, Tutors and Associates-In. Although he said as far as he knew, that action has not yet been ratified by all of the campuses. He mentioned the email to all faculty from Assembly Chair, Larry Coleman, describing some of the conditions of that contract - academic judgment rights are reserved for the faculty, grievance procedures will continue to be handled through the usual system that we have always had in place with the addition of outside arbitration and finally there will be a panel of faculty members appointed to handle disputes regarding workload - keeping those within discussion and control of the Academic Senate. He also said the University will be increasing fee benefits to 100% over the next three years. He said thanks were due to Larry Coleman for the work he did on representing the faculty’s interests in these matters.

1. Minutes of the April 17, 2000 meeting. Having received no corrections, 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 - None

Chair Gibeling called the Assembly’s attention to the items on the Consent Calendar, and noted that upon request of any member of the Representative Assembly any items can be removed. Hearing no requests, the following annual reported were noted as having been received and placed on file (pending a quorum): Academic Freedom and Responsibility, Academic Planning and Budget Review, Admissions and Enrollment, Courses of Instruction, Educational Policy, Elections, Rules and Jurisdiction, Emeriti/ae, Executive Council, Faculty Privilege Advisers, Faculty Welfare, Grade Changes, International Studies and Exchanges, Senate/Federation Personnel, Library, Privilege and Tenure, Public Service, Student-Faculty Relationships, Teaching, Undergraduate, Scholarships, Honors and Prizes, the Special Committee on Honors and Approval of the Report of the Public Service Committee from the April 17 meeting announcing the recipients of the Public Service Award for 2000 (approval was deferred at the April 17 meeting due to the lack of a quorum.)

J. Gibeling requested a reordering of the agenda beginning with items 8 and then moving to items 6, 12, and 7. No objections were voiced. Having by now been informed that a quorum was present, Chair Gibeling called the regular meeting of Representative Assembly of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate to order at 3:53 p.m. A roster of members present and absent is on file in the Academic Senate Office.

8A. Report of the Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review. Chair Alan Jackman presented the report of the Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review. He said a change in the membership is needed as a result of a significant increase in the committee’s workload. He noted that it is important that CAPBR be fully involved in planning activities related to the tremendous growth expected in the upcoming decade and that it has become clear that in order for this to happen, CAPBR will have to be represented on a number of committees, workgroups, and task forces on which they are not now represented. He said the committee concluded that full participation in the planning process would only be possible if the size of the committee were increased in order to distribute the load over a greater number of people. He moved approval of the proposed increase in membership of the Committee on Academic Planning and Budget from six members to nine members. The motion was seconded and by a show of hands the amendment passed unanimously.

8B. Report of the Committee on Committees concerning proposed revisions to Bylaws 38 and 39. Chair Judith Stern presented the Report of the Committee on Committees, noting that it, too, was proposing an increase in the number of members from six to nine. She said the proposal also alters the length of the term of office from two to three years and changes the timing of the election from October to March. She pointed out that these changes would put Davis in sync with the other campuses, and will permit greater continuity and the ability to effectively offer input to the Universitywide Committee on Committees. She said the committee had been working with Kevin Hoover, Chair of the Committee on Elections, Rules and Jurisdiction to transition the expansion of membership and length of service. Professor Stern moved approval of the proposed revisions to Bylaw 38 and 39, appearing on pages 61 of the Call to the Meeting. The motion was seconded. Discussion ensued in which Professor Hoover requested that the Assembly allow the CER&J to work out the transition from the procedures under the existing bylaws to those proposed under the amended Bylaw. He distributed a suggested addition of Section C to Bylaw 39 to accomplish this transition. The motion was seconded and by show of hands unanimously approved. Returning to the main motion - amendment of Bylaws 38 and 39 - by show of hands the motion carried.

6. Special orders

E. Annual Report of the Committee on Committees. Professor Judith Stern, Chair of the Committees reported that the Committee reappointed the Divisional Officers and that most of the appointments of members on the standing committees were complete. She moved confirmation of the 2000-2001 appointments to standing and special committees appearing on pages 18-22. The motion was seconded and approved.

7. Annual Report of the Committee on Distinguished Teaching Awards. Professor Theodore Foin, Chair of the Committee, announced the 2000 recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Awards: Thomas Adams, Department of Animal Science, Patricia Moran, Department of English, and Dean Simonton, Department of Psychology. The committee’s report was approved by acclamation. Karl Zender, Chair of the Department of English, spoke on behalf of Patricia Moran who was unable to attend the meeting, and Dean Simonton made brief comments and thanked the Distingushed Teaching Awards Committee for the award. Professor Foin’s remarks concerning the achievements of each of the recipients appear as Appendix I to these minutes.

Chair Gibeling Announced that the Annual Report of the Committee on Research was not included in the Call to the Meeting but was distributed at the door of today’s meeting. He asked whether there was any opposition to that report remaining on the Consent Calendar. None was voiced; the Annual Report of the Committee on Research was noted as having been received and placed on file.

7. Reports of special committees

1. Preliminary Report of the Special Committee on Academic Personnel Process. J. Gibeling reported that Howard Day, Chair of this special committee was slightly delayed due to teaching a class but that he would be here in due course.

B. Preliminary Report of the Special Committee on Transportation and Parking. J. Gibeling reported that Carroll Cross, Chair, was unable to be present today and that the committee has postponed its submission of their planned interim report. He said, however, that he was provided with the following brief update: The committee met approximately 15 times, talked with many relevant people including three separate meetings with Vice Chancellor Hamilton. The Committee is in the process of finalizing a written interim report containing findings to date and some recommendations. The Committee is engaged in on-going and productive discussions with the administration on ways in which the envisioned severe increases in parking fees can be avoided. It is premature to announce any specifics at this time but a full and final report will be submitted at the first Representative Assembly meeting in the fall, and one recommendation that will certainly be made is for the establishment of a permanent Senate Committee or Subcommittee on Transportation and Parking.

8. Reports of standing committees - see above.
9. Petitions of students - None
10. Unfinished business
    A.(See Consent Calendar items.)

11. University and faculty welfare - None

12. New business

A. Proposal for a new Davis Division Bylaw to establish Graduate Student Privilege Advisers - J. Gibeling presented the rationale for the proposed Bylaw appearing on page 63 of the Call to the Meeting. He reported that each year a number of graduate students experience conflicts over academic, financial or student employment matters. Normally these conflicts can be resolved at the program level through intervention by the Graduate Adviser or Graduate Program Chair. Occasionally, however, a graduate student becomes involved in a dispute with his or her program that is so severe that the student cannot obtain any support or advice from faculty in the program. The Office of Graduate Studies is unable to provide unbiased assistance in the most difficult cases, since that office has simultaneous responsibility to both the student and the program. The Dean of Graduate Studies has final authority to disqualify a graduate student, hence the Dean’s office cannot advocate both for and against the student. The Graduate Council is also unable to provide neutral, objective advice since it serves as the body to hear graduate student appeals on academic matters. While the number of disputes of this magnitude is relatively small, those that arise are extremely expensive in terms of emotional costs, faculty and staff time, legal costs and potential damage to the student’s career and the University’s reputation. For these reasons, he said the campus needs to provide an independent resource for graduate students who are involved in the most serious disputes. Only a member of the faculty can properly advise these students of their rights and privileges, grievance procedures, and resources available to assist them. He noted that the proposed Graduate Student Privilege Adviser will serve this role in a manner analogous to that of the Faculty Privilege Advisers.

Brief discussion and some clarification ensued. A motion to accept the proposal was made and seconded; the motion carried.

Howard Day, Chair of the Special Committee on Academic Personnel Processes presented an interim report of the committee. He said the committee was charged with two major tasks: review of faculty salaries and all academic personnel policies, procedures, practices and outcomes on the Davis campus. The goals of these reviews are to understand why the Davis faculty has been among the lowest paid of those in the UC system and to make recommendations for improvements in the quality and efficiency of our academic personnel system. The committee completed the list of interviews on May 30 and is now beginning to write the report which they hope to have completed prior to the end of June.

The committee prepared a detailed analysis of salaries and of Annual Reports of CAP. Annual Reports of CAP were not terribly useful because of the way the votes are counted. We are very grateful to the Office of the Vice Provost for their cooperation in providing information. The campus owes a huge debt to Colin Cameron for his efforts on the numerical analysis. The request for input from faculty from the email site resulted in responses from about 50 faculty members and about a dozen sent letters. The committee held two Town Hall meetings and had a small number of private meetings with individuals. They held 25 formal interviews, and met with Chairs of Departments in two groups of 10. They had private meetings with two chairs and every dean. They had two meetings with the Vice Provost, met with chairs of local personnel committees, former chairs of CAP and P&T. The committee held a combined meeting with Faculty Privilege Advisers and P&T. They feel they have touched most of the bases. They spent a fair amount of time discussing the "Pister Report", and a great deal of time discussing what should be the appropriate role of CAP. Review of the personnel system has been an eye opener. Members of the committee came from quite diverse perspectives coming to quite a remarkable consensus. Professor Day reported that he is encouraged that this will have been a useful exercise.

The committee will be reporting to the Executive Council. The report will ultimately be submitted to the Representative Assembly in the Fall. Professor Day then responded to a few questions.

Chair Gibeling thanked members of the Representative Assembly for their participation and dedication this year. Having no other business, he moved to adjourn.

Jay Mechling, Secretary
Representative Assembly of the
Davis Division of the Academic Senate

CITATION FOR A DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD, 2000

THOMAS E. ADAMS DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE

Continuing a tradition of Distinguished Teaching Awards to faculty in the Department of Animal Science, Professor Tom Adams has compiled a record of quality teaching that ought to make almost every one of us envious of his consistent accomplishments.

His ‘flagship’ course is Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior 130 (Physiology of the Endocrine Glands). This course reminds me of a latter-day comparative anatomy course, in which the professor resembles an octopus as he draws impeccable diagrams using a different-colored chalk in each of his eight hands. But Professor Adams is no comparative anatomist, mechanically drawing lifeless diagrams required for the next generation of would-be physicians. Year after year he has drawn rave reviews from students for his meticulous board technique, his clear presentations, his patient explanation and his extension of whatever helping hand is needed. NPB 130 was rated at 4.71 (on 5 pt scale) in 1996. This looks pretty good for anyone, but it was subsequently topped by ratings of 4.74, 4.76 and 4.76 in 1997 through 1999 respectively. One might argue that he didn’t improve in 1999, simply because there was no room for improvement. This might be true, judging from the comments of the numerous referees who started in NPB 130, subsequently commented on the very high level of consistency delivered in this course, and noted the influence it had in getting their careers started. A comment from Kellie Breen, PhD student at the University of Michigan but formerly at UC Davis, is typical: "Nearly three years ago I enrolled in Dr. Adams NPB 130 class with hopes of entering veterinary school...my future plans changed the day I set foot into [his] class. I became addicted to the physiologic relevance and excitement of endocrinology and have since committed my doctoral research to the study of reproductive physiology."

The outstanding reviews in NPB 130 are also to be found in other courses. Professor Adams teaches a variety of courses, from undergraduate individual research projects to graduate courses in biochemical endocrinology and advanced physiology. The 1997 student evaluations for EDO 240 were 4.77 for the course, fully in line with NPB 130, with the same types of comments indicating a consistently extraordinary level of care and preparation.

The final piece of evidence that the Committee found especially impressive was that the very high level that Professor Adams has demonstrated to instruction carries over to all areas of student contact. He helpful and caring attitude is not simply mentorship to his own graduate and postdoctoral students; it extends to other graduate students who happen to take his courses or seek his professional help and especially to undergraduates. The variety of referees, extending from colleagues to former students at every level, attest to the breadth of the influence he has had.

Sharon Elliott, a nominator and graduate student in the Department of Nutrition, reported a comment she made in a graduate group meeting in response to a request for an example of good teaching. Her volunteered response: "spend one hour in a class taught by Professor Tom Adams. He defines teaching at its best." The Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee is proud to endorse that statement.

CITATION FOR A DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD, 2000

DEAN KEITH SIMONTON DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Members of the committee remarked that a Distinguished Teaching Award for Professor Dean Simonton was equivalent to awarding a Master’s Degree after the Ph.D. in the same field. Dean’s previous awards for teaching are both numerous and distinguished. They include the Magnar Ronning Award for Teaching Excellence (1980); nomination for United States Professor of the Year (1997and 1998); and at the pinnacle, the UCD Prize for Teaching and Scholarly Achievement (1994).

Like Professor Adams, Professor Simonton regularly scores course evaluations of 4.8 or higher (of 5.0 possible points). But to achieve these scores in three diverse undergraduate classes at least eight times each is virtually unimaginable. To top it all off, to achieve a perfect 5.0 score once would be a distinctive accomplishment. Professor Simonton has done it at least five times in two different courses.

It would be very easy to continue on with lists of his teaching and scholarly achievements, but it would simply take too long and just be embarrassing to the rest of us. It would not be an oversimplification to simply summarize the case by saying that Professor Simonton has already "been there and done that." He teaches everything from history of psychology to multivariate statistics to modeling at the same uniformly high level. The diversity of effort and consistent standard of quality are undeniable.

Normally, we include selected quotes from letters, but again simply to choose among superlatives in these letters, coming from chancellors, past DTA winners and students alike seems pointless, with one exemption. In his nominating letter, Peter Dale, Professor of English and former Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Studies, highlighted how dedicated to teaching that Professor Simonton was:

Enough is enough. The record is both voluminous and clear. The Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee recommends that Professor Dean Simonton be given his Master’s Degree equivalent - the DTA for 2000.