2005-2006 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

Minutes
October 13, 2005

ROLL CALL [+ indicates alternate]

The agenda was amended to add the following item from the Executive Committee as a first reading item: FS 05-55, New Doctoral Authority for California State University, Sacramento and Associated Implementation Issues, Resolution On.

ACTION ITEMS

Search Committee, Dean, College of E&CS
Mary Ann Reihman, NS&M

Carried unanimously.

Pedagogy Enhancement Awards Subcommittee
Bruce Bikle, H&HS, 2008

Carried unanimously.

Magazine Advisory Group
Manuel Barajas, SS&IS, 2006

Alumni Board
Sylvester Bowie, H&HS, 2006

Carried unanimously.

The Faculty Senate recommends approval of the program proposals outlined in Attachment A.

Carried unanimously.

Carried unanimously.

Background: While discussing graduate course issues in the spring 2004, Academic Affairs decided that they would approve pairing of courses for departments making such requests and that this would help some departments that were experiencing graduate level enrollment problems. Some departments were interested in pairing courses, but didn’t know they could since there was no formal policy. CPC concluded that serious problems might arise without a policy. After researching the issue and conducting an informational hearing with graduate coordinators to receive their perspective and suggestions for developing a policy, CPC concluded that the current practice varied amongst departments and was completely unregulated since there was no policy and that the University needed one in order to insure there were adequate safeguards, standardization, and University oversight. Also, some departments believe that there may be pedagogical reasons for pairing courses that could provide a positive educational experience. Graduate coordinators have had the opportunity to review the initial Paired Courses policy and this latest version that has been placed before the Senate for consideration. NOTE: In response to discussion during the first reading at the September 22nd Senate meeting, the motion has been amended as denoted by strikethroughs and underscores.

California State University is committed to providing quality undergraduate and graduate education. The University understands that graduate education requires more advanced and rigorous instruction. For pedagogical and fiscal reasons, the University permits individual departments on a voluntary basis to develop courses for undergraduate and graduate students with similar subject matter and offer such classes with a single instructor and a common meeting schedule.

This policy will be reviewed by Academic Affairs and the Curriculum Policies Committee after 2 years to assess the policy’s efficacy.

In order to ensure the integrity of the degree major and the individual courses that may be used to meet graduation requirements, approval to offer courses in a paired arrangement will be subject to the following conditions:

1. Only advanced undergraduate courses (i.e., upper division and excluding general education) may be paired with graduate courses. Such courses must cover similar subject matter. The words used in the titles and descriptions of the two courses must reflect this similarity of subject matter and the same number of units.
    
2. The Class Schedule should make clear, by means of footnotes that both courses of a pair of courses meet at the same time and location, and with the same instructor, but that the two courses have differential requirements reflecting the different course levels.
    
3. Paired offerings must be arranged through the use of regular courses which are published in the Catalog, and the course descriptions should indicate that the courses may be paired.
    
4. Paired graduate courses may only be taken for elective credit and may not replace core or required graduate classes. Additionally, paired arrangements may not include thesis/culminating experience work, internship credit, or directed reading credit. (Note: Gordon amendment to strike "and may not replace core graduate classes" failed.)
    
5. Neither paired course taken as an undergraduate may be repeated in a graduate program.
    
6. Students shall neither be expected nor permitted to obtain a graduate degree with more than 10 units of paired courses. (Note: Sheppard amendment to strike "Students shall neither be expected nor permitted to obtain a graduate degree with more than 10 units of paired courses" failed.)
    
7. Faculty teaching paired courses will receive weighted teaching unit (WTU) credit based on an agreement between the department and the College Dean.
    
8. Colleges will approve the pairing of courses for already approved courses through the University process.
    
9. Proposals to the college must address the following:

1. Justification for the pairing must be attached to each of the proposals at the College level.
    
2. Course descriptions and syllabi must be explicit about how the experience of graduate and undergraduate students is to differ. The syllabi must clearly establish additional requirements for graduate students that might include (but not be limited to) significant research papers, oral presentations of research, and/or demonstration of more sophisticated laboratory or studio skills than those required of students in the paired undergraduate course.

Please see the September 22, 2005 Faculty Senate Agenda Attachment A for the letter of transmittal from Ben Amata, Chair of CPC.

Carried.

Paul Noble, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Planning and Budget presented a report on the "Guidelines for Hiring New Tenure Track Faculty". A motion was introduced and seconded requesting the Executive Committee to look into the formula used by Academic Affairs (as adopted by the Council on University Planning) to make tenure track faculty hiring decisions. The motion carried.

The following item's first reading will continue at the Faculty Senate meeting on October 27, 2005:

WHEREAS,	SB 724 authorizes the CSU to offer a doctoral degree (EdD) in Education, broadly defined as leadership for community colleges and K-12 administrators;
WHEREAS,	This new and exciting opportunity has received faculty support;
WHEREAS,	This may be the first of multiple, related program development opportunities at the doctoral level, and is unlike any program prior;
WHEREAS,	California State University, Sacramento has, subject to campus, system-wide and legislative guidelines, well established policies and precedent for faculty-driven curriculum and program development;
WHEREAS,	The Senate recognizes the urgency necessary to and involved in the development of the Ed.D; therefore, be it
RESOLVED,	That the Faculty Senate will support the development of such a curriculum in keeping with the existing policies regarding new programs;
RESOLVED,	That the Faculty Senate will support the expediency needed in moving these policies forward and, with faculty input, amending them as may be necessary for programs of this nature; and be it further
RESOLVED,	That the Faculty Senate, in the spirit of interdisciplinary, collaborative, and innovative curriculum development will support the involvement of all interested faculties on campus in the development of this exciting and entirely new program; and be it further
RESOLVED,	That the Faculty Senate authorizes the Chair to form an ad hoc committee comprised of faculty with appropriate and demonstrated curriculum policy experience to develop, for curricular review purposes, the necessary quality parameters identified, but not limited to those, below: faculty doctoral program workload qualifications for doctoral faculty nature of culminating project, qualifying examinations appropriate use of part-time faculty resource parameters per FTES fee structure guidelines for use of technology

SB 724 can be accessed at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0701-0750/sb_724_bill_20050922_chaptered.pdf

Having reached the hour of adjournment, the following items will receive a first reading at the Faculty Senate meeting on October 27, 2005:

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. Senate Chair's newsletter:

4. Upcoming Senate meetings: 

October 27, 2005 - Senate meets November 10, 2005 - Senate meets November 17, 2005 - Senate meets December 1, 2005 - tentative December 8, 2005 - Senate meets December 15, 2005 - tentative