Faculty Senate Minutes:
October 4, 2000

In attendance:  Phil Sell, Barbara Smith, Eric Baer, Glen Avantaggio, Han Lim, Helen Burn, Hui Ming Huo, Jeff Wagnitz, John Pfeffer, Maggie Brown, Mike Armstrong, Mike Cicero, Richard Plagge, Sharon Hashimoto, Pat Phillips

Handouts: 

    Senate Constitution
    Preliminary proposals for the Faculty Senate for changing the academic standards policies
    Grading Information
    Probation and withdrawal policies at Washington state colleges and universities

Phil:

   Reviewed the approval process for new proposals.
    Overview of membership.
    Introduced Jeff Wagnitz as Dr. Bell's representative.
    Reviewed voting procedure.
    Introduced topics for this year: suspension policy, Associate of Applied Science Degree; senate role in CAF reviews; Cabinet issues, program reviews; arbitration role for division disputes; W/WI grades; prior learning assessment.
    Reviewed role of Professional Rights & Responsibilities Committee.

Discussion:

    Preliminary proposals for the Faculty Senate for changing the academic standards policies.

Eric:  Summarized last year's work and introduced new proposal (handout).   Major differences are the emphasis on intervention rather than punishment and consideration of cumulative GPA rather than quarterly GPA.  Questions considered in the general discussion were the following:  What will the effect of a letter be on a student be?  Does this address the issues of part-time students:  Are the proposals based on successful policies at other colleges?  Are we reinventing the wheel?  Should grades be mailed to students whose GPA's are below 2.0?  What percentage of students in trouble are Running Start students? How would we ensure quality advising?

Suggestions for our next meeting:

   Invite Gwen Spencer (co-writer of the new proposals); Solicit feedback from divisions regarding the proposal and send to Eric before we meet.

Next Meeting: October 18, 2000

Pat Phillips, Secretary

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