2005-2006 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

AGENDA
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Foothill Suite, 3rd Floor, University Union
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

REGULAR AGENDA

The Faculty  Senate elects college representatives to the 2006-2007 Committee on Committees (see Attachment A  for eligibility by college.  (Remove this attachment from your agenda to use as a ballot.)  Members must be available to meet Tuesday, March 21 and Tuesday, April 4 from 3:00-4:00 p.m.).

ANNE-LOUISE RADIMSKY, FACULTY CONSULTANT TO CMS - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - 3:30

*Note: This procedural motion requires affirmative votes of 30% of the Faculty Senate (22 senators) to be referred to the faculty electorate. It will not receive a first and second reading.

The following background is provided by Senator Art Jensen, from the College of Business Administration:

Background: The Faculty Senate of California State University, Sacramento approved FS 05-69/Ex. (UARTP DOCUMENT – AMEND SECTION 6.06D) at the meeting of February 2, 2006. This amendment to the University Appointment, Retention, Tenure and Promotion Policy makes substantial changes to the section of the policy dealing with Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Representatives. The faculty of California State University, Sacramento have a direct and vital stake in the University Appointment, Retention, Tenure and Promotion Policy as it guides the professional conduct of most phases of faculty employment. The Faculty Senate encourages the faculty of California State University, Sacramento to review and express their approval of the changes to the UARTP Policy. The senate’s approval on February 2, 2006, was for a document that had a number of editorial changes to be made based on input during the floor discussion (second reading) of the agenda item; this referendum gives the senators as well as their constituents a chance to review and approve the final, corrected document.

The Faculty Senate submits FS 05-69/Ex. (UARTP DOCUMENT- AMEND SECTION 6.06.D) to a referendum of the faculty of California State University Sacramento.

SECOND READING

At the February 16, 2006 Senate meeting, the Senate voted to refer FS 05-77 back to the Academic Policies Committee to draft language for inclusion in the motion that includes specific reference to pre-majors and indicates that, for native and lower division transfer students, they can declare before reaching the 60 units. The amendments to FS 05-77 are denoted by italics and underscores.

The Faculty Senate recommends implementation of the following requirements regarding student declaration of a major:

• Undeclared freshmen and lower division transfer students are required to submit a declaration of major form by the time they have completed of 60 units; failure to do so will result in a hold on subsequent registration.
   
• Undeclared junior-level transfer students are required to submit a declaration of major form prior to registration for their second semester; failure to do so will result in a registration hold.

Note.  For those majors that classify their entering students as pre-major, submitting the declaration of major form will result in their being appropriately classified as a pre-major. It is generally beneficial to seek academic advising early in your career, especially with respect to disciplines that have pre-majors or other pre-requisites. Earlier declaration of a major is encouraged. Declaring a major for disciplines with pre-majors does not guarantee acceptance into the major program.

In the implementation of this policy:

• The 60 units of coursework identified above shall include only those courses that carry unit credit toward the degree. (This excludes, therefore, remedial courses and courses taken at non-accredited institutions.)
   
• The Academic Advising Center shall have responsibility for placing and removing the registration holds specified above.
   
• It is recognized that this requirement is for an initial declaration of major only; students still have the option of changing their major after completion of 60 units.

The letter of transmittal from the Academic Policies Committee providing background information can be found at the February 2, 2006 Faculty Senate Agenda Attachment B.

FIRST READING

Background: amendments to the Constitution of the Faculty are made according to Article IV, Section 2:

Section 2. AMENDMENTS TO THIS CONSTITUTION.

Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by two-thirds (2/3) of the voting members of the Faculty Senate present and voting to do so, or by an initiative petition signed by twenty (20) percent of the faculty eligible to vote in the elections of this organization and presented to the Chair of the Faculty Senate. Amendments shall go into effect when they have been approved by a majority of the members of this organization voting upon the amendment, and by the President of the University.

The Faculty Senate recommends amending the Constitution of the Faculty as follows:

ARTICLE II

FACULTY SENATE

. . .

Section 5. MEMBERSHIP

1. The membership of the Faculty Senate shall be composed of (1) the representatives of the electing units; (2) four representatives to be elected at-large by the temporary faculty from those temporary faculty who are teaching six or more units during the semester in which the election is conducted; (3) chairs of certain standing committees of the Faculty Senate (as specified in the committee's charge), as at-large voting members, unless such chairs are already serving on the Senate as representatives of the electing units; the statewide academic senators, as ex officio, non-voting members; (5) the President or designee of the Emeritus Association of CSU, Sacramento, as an ex officio, non-voting member; (6) three student representatives, as non-voting members, chosen by, and in a manner determined by, the Associated Students of CSUS.
    
2. Representatives of electing units shall be elected by and from those units. There shall be two (2) types of electing units, single and combined.

1. Single electing units shall normally be academic departments or divisions having ten (10) or more probationary, tenured, and full-time temporary faculty appointments (including faculty participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program, and faculty on paid leave or reduced load, but excluding faculty holding administrative appointments). If a college ceases to be organized by academic departments or divisions, its electing unit or units shall become the unit or units that elect its primary retention, tenure and promotion committee or committees. The Library shall be a single electing unit. A single electing unit, named the Student Services electing unit, composed of all Student Service Professionals and Academically Related Counseling Faculty included in the membership of the faculty (Article 1, Section 2) shall be established for the purpose of electing their representatives(s). Academic departments or divisions having fewer than ten (10) probationary, tenured, and full-time temporary faculty appointments (including faculty participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program, and faculty on leave or reduced load, but excluding faculty holding administrative appointments), may choose to become single electing units or may choose to form combined electing units as described below.

BACKGROUND: In response to the CSU-wide Facilitating Graduation Initiative, the General Education Policies / Graduation Requirements Policies Committee recently discussed changes in General Education policies related to Area C and D restrictions and overlap between G.E. and major. The complexity of policies addressing specific limitations in the General Education Program makes it difficult for students and many faculty advisors to interpret and apply them. Clearly written explanations of policy restrictions do not suffice; follow-up explanation and clarification from experienced advisors is often necessary. Due to a misunderstanding or a lack of awareness of these policies, students often take courses they believe will apply to G.E. and learn after the fact that courses do not apply as intended.

The Faculty Senate recommends amending General Education policy as follows:

1. Broaden the Definition of GE Area C4

Change the Area C4 requirement to: One course from this area or a second course from Area C1, C2, or C3.

Current policy requires students to take one course from each of the four sub-areas in Area C, The Arts and Humanities:

• C1, World Civilizations
• C2 Introduction to the Arts
• C3, Introduction to the Humanities
• C4, Further Studies in the Arts and Humanities

Students may fulfill Area C4 either with a course listed in Area C4 or an extra course from either Area C2 or Area C3 – but not from Area C1.

ARGUMENTS: The current General Education policy provides no explanation for the exclusion of Area C1 as an option for fulfilling Area C4. Excluding Area C1 from the “Further Studies” area does not address the objectives of Area C, nor does it add to the overall integrity of the GE program. Furthermore, enabling students to apply an additional World Civilization course to General Education is consistent with the university’s goals related to diversity and global education. Finally, the exclusion of Area C1 as an option for the “Further Studies” area is inconsistent with a parallel policy in Area B5, Further Studies in Physical Science, Life Forms, and Quantitative Reasoning, in which a course can be taken from either Area B5 or an extra course in any other sub-area in Area B.

2. Remove course restrictions in Areas C and D1a

Remove the restriction "No more than 2 courses may be taken from the same subject designation" from Area C and Area D1a. [Since the only practical application of this restriction was in D1a, remove the general language for all of area D.]

Currently students are limited to not more than two courses from the same subject designation, e.g., History, in Area C, Arts and Humanities (four courses required) and in Area D1a, Foundations in Social and Behavioral Sciences (one or two courses required).

ARGUMENTS: Removing these limitations would provide greater flexibility for all students and would reduce the number of GE courses taken erroneously. This change would address the problem encountered by many students who are disadvantaged when they change majors and are left with surplus, unusable GE courses. The recommendation would also resolve the inequity between native students who are limited by this policy and transfer students who, not being informed of the restrictions, do not have it applied to courses taken prior to their enrollment here.

3. Consolidate and simplify GE – Major Overlap Policies

Consolidate policies addressing overlap between major and General Education to a single basic rule: “Not more than nine units from courses bearing the same designation as students major, e.g. Photography. may be applied to General Education requirements."

Current policies regarding overlap of courses between major and General Education include many, interacting variables—

• Is the course in question upper or lower division?
• Is the course from the student’s major requirements or major department?
• Is the course required for the major, but from a department other than the major?
• Will the course be applied to a GE Area requirement, the nine-unit upper division GE requirement, the Race and Ethnicity requirement, the Writing Intensive requirement – or to one of the many possible combinations of these?

ARGUMENTS: The complexity of GE – major overlap policies make it impossible to clearly articulate these requirements in writing. (See example below.) Faculty advisors who have worked in the Academic Advising Center need at least a full semester to learn them. The complexity of overlap requirements make the desirable prospect of integrating GE and major advising daunting for most faculty. Students often make mistakes and take longer than expected to fulfill GE requirements because of the complexity of overlap requirements.

To illustrate the complexity of G.E.-Major overlap policies, the university’s current effort at trying to explain it in the printed and online Advising FAQ is included below:

Can I use a course from my major for GE requirements?

Parts of this can get complicated, so we’ll answer in sections:

• Lower Division Courses. Up to 6 units of lower division courses from your major department, including courses in your major, can also count toward GE. Some majors require lower division courses from other departments, e.g., Business, Engineering, Biology, Kinesiology; there is no limit on overlap of these courses with GE.
• Upper Division Courses in Your Major. No upper division courses used in your major can count for GE. This applies to specific GE area requirements (e.g. C1, D2, etc.) and to the 9-unit upper division requirement in GE. (See exceptions for some majors in the chart below.)
• Upper Division Courses in Your Major Department. Upper division courses from your major department which are not used in your major can be used for GE area requirements and the Race and Ethnicity requirement. However they cannot be counted toward 9-unit upper division GE or GE residence requirements. (See exceptions for some majors in the chart below.)
• Race and Ethnicity Courses in Your Major. A course used in your major can be used to satisfy the Race and Ethnicity requirement. (If it’s a lower division course it can also be applied to a GE area.

CSU ACADEMIC SENATE REPORT - TOM KRABACHER

INFORMATION

1. Faculty Senate's home page:  www.csus.edu/acse, or, from the CSUS home page, click on Administration and Policy, then Administration, then Faculty Senate.
2. Status on actions taken by the Senate:  http://www.csus.edu/acse/05-06_actions.htm
3. Naming of planned new field house: memo from President Gonzalez: Broad Athletic Facility; Executive Committee's response
4. "Resolution on Faculty Compensation" - passed by the Academic Senate, Humboldt State University:
   http://www.humboldt.edu/~acadsen/Resolution18-05-06-EXAPPROVED.doc
5. Upcoming Senate meetings:

March 23, 2006 - Senate meets March 30, 2006 - Senate meets April 6, 2006 - 1st organizational meeting of the 2006-2007 Senate (3:00 - 3:30); 2005-2006 Senate meets (3:30-5:00) April 13, 2006 - advising initiative showcase; 3:00-5:00 (Foothill Suite)

SPECIAL EVENT: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - Outstanding Teaching and University and Community Service Awards reception April 20, 2006 - 2nd organizational meeting of the 2006-2007 Senate (3:00 - 3:30); 2005-2006 Senate meets (3:30-5:00) April 27, 2006 - Senate meets May 11, 2006 - Senate meets