MINUTES

 

 

LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY SENATE

Volume 16                March 2007             Number 7

 

1.                  Call to Order:  Patsy Bourgeois

The March 26, 2007 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at

4:03 p.m. in Ropp Center, Room 105, by President Patsy Bourgeois.

 

2.                  Dr. Rea addressed the Senate regarding Blackboard and CITDL issues.  He gave a background on the mandated use of Blackboard by Louisiana Tech.  As part of a statewide disaster recovery plan, using Blackboard assists in keeping academic integrity of each class intact.  The amount of information to be put on Blackboard should be decided by faculty member and department head.  A question and answer period followed. 

 

Dr. Rea also discussed the 07-08 budget for Tech.  $12 million dollars is budgeted for the university.  He mentioned the Fischer group’s recent visit at Tech and said that he felt their visit went well. 

 

The group thanked Dr. Rea for an informative presentation.

 

3.                  Roll Call:  Rose Butler

Senators absent from the meeting:  Tammy Butler, Sally Thigpen, Bill Deese, Tabbetha Dobbins, Rastko Selmic, Chester Wilson, David Smith, and Marie Bukowski.

 

4.                  Adoption of Agenda

A motion was made to accept the agenda.  The motion was seconded and approved.

 

5.                  Adoption of Minutes

A motion was made to accept the February 12, 2007 minutes.  The motion was seconded and approved. 

 

6.                  Treasurer’s Report

A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s Report.  The motion was seconded and approved. 

7.       Announcements

A. Faculty Advisory Council – Patsy Bourgeois attended the meeting.  Students with cell phones were discussed.  At issue was the picture taking ability of cell phones.  Football coaches’ salary supplement was discussed.  A referendum to update intramurals was also discussed along with approval of some endowed professorships.

B. Administrative and Planning Council – Patsy Bourgeois attended two meetings.  The Smoking Policy was approved.  2020 brochures and video for Tech recruitment are now available.  She reported that the Fischer group said the Tech did well and was pleased overall.  The outcome of their visit will help in keeping Tech’s budget intact.  She did not know if the report will be on-line or available elsewhere.  The voice mail policy was accepted.  She read the policy regarding guidelines on the voice mail policy. 

C. Student Athletic Advisory Board – No report

D.  Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities

Patsy Bourgeois and Aziz Saber attended the meeting held in Gonzales.  Charles Miller was the main speaker.

 8.      Unfinished Business

A.       CITDL – The Blackboard Advisory Group has met twice and 3 sub groups were formed.  Said groups being Disaster Plan, Syllabi Statement, and Alternative Senate members will serve on these groups.

          Debra Blackman reported that the alternatives subcommittee is researching three alternative - Blackboard Enterprise,   Desire2learn and moodle.

Amy Vessel said that a brief statement is to be designed to put into syllabus to tell students where to go in case of an emergency while using Blackboard.

Andrei Paun’s group has met once and continues to gather information.

B.       Plagiarism – Aziz Saber reported that Dr. Rea will have a committee establish criteria for this problem, and Dr. Saber will represent the University Senate.

C.       Awards

1.       Regularization of Voting Procedures

This procedure was approved by Dr. Reneau.

2.                  Nominations for F. Jay Taylor Undergraduate Award

The four nominees are:

Janis Hill – College of Education

Jim Cochran – College of Business

Aziz Saber – College of Engineering and Science

Galen Turner – College of Engineering and Science

3.                  University Senate Chair Award and Virgil Orr Junior Faculty Award

Faculty should have received their voting information.

         

  8.     Voluntary Remarks

Amy Vessel – The College of Education will be showing a movie about China in the Planetarium.

 

Dave Anderson asked if it would still be possible to have Mr. Vento address the Senate before the end of the academic year.  Ron Cathey will contact Mr. Vento and ask him to address the Senate.

 

Rick Simmons will ask the Parking Committee to address the problem of blocked parking spaces.  He will ask that if 5 or more parking places in one area are blocked with cones, that the Campus police have someone on duty to keep students from parking in the remaining blue zones.

 

Patsy Bourgeois thanked everyone again for their participation in the Fischer Commission visit.

 

Adjourned at 4:55pm

 

Rose Butler, Recording Secretary