MINUTES
LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY SENATE
Volume 14 January 2005 Number 5
1. Call to Order: D’eane Sheehan
The January 25, 2005 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at
4:00 p.m. in Ropp Center, Room 105, by President D’eane Sheehan.
2. Roll Call: Rose Butler
Senators absent from the meeting: Paul Murray, Jeff Walczyk, Pauline Leonard, Sumeet Dua, Carey Cox, Rastko Selmic, and Jason Pigg.
3. Adoption of Agenda
A motion was made to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded and approved.
4. Adoption of the December 13, 2004 minutes.
A motion was made to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded and approved
5. Announcements
A. Administrative and Planning Council Report – D’eane Sheehan
The Council met in December. At that time, the Deans were instructed to prepare the 2005-2006 with a 5% decrease in each budget. The next meeting is January 26, 2005. At that time, the budgets will be discussed.
6. Treasurer’s report – Amy Stegall
A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded and approved.
7. Unfinished Business
A. Bookstore policy
A proposal to the current textbook policy was distributed. A discussion followed on the wording of the policy. After several changes were suggested, voted on and passed, a motion was accepted from the committee to accept the proposed amendment.
The amendment now reads:
‘Required textbooks for multi-section courses will be the same for all sections, except that the departments may substitute new textbooks in chosen sections to keep up with the evolving pedagogy in their fields. Selection will be a departmental decision based on appropriate faculty review and recommendations.’
Rationale for amendment:
‘The course text is a fundamental part of any curriculum and the choice of a text by a department is a major commitment, both in terms of pedagogy and resources. By allowing substitutions, departments gain flexibility for appropriate instruction in certain sections of a course. Such sections could be honors sections (which may desire deeper content coverage), Internet sections (which may require a text with more resources than an on-campus student needs), and pilot sections for new curricula or a reorganization of the course (in which new instructional methods and content alignment are compared to the “tried and true”). Overall, the proposed policy encourages innovation and supports the drive for continuous improvement from good to great.’
B. Large Format Printer
It was reported that an estimated 150 posters per academic year are created by faculty and students. This information will be forwarded to Joe Thomas for further discussion on the possible purchase of a large format printer.
C. Phone Committee report – Dave Anderson
More time is needed to finalize the report. The written policy should be ready by next meeting. A motion was made to postpone the report to a later date and accepted.
8. New Business
A. University Traditions Committee – D’eane Sheehan
A representative from the Senate has been requested. The purpose of this committee is to gather information on old traditions and perhaps create new ones. Anyone from the Senate interested in serving on this committee was asked to let D’eane Sheehan know of their interest after the meeting.
9. Voluntary Remarks
D’eane Sheehan asked if anyone was interested in attending a conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education. If so, please contact her.
Trey Gibson announced that the Debate team will have tournaments February 5-6. Judges are needed. Please let him know if you are interested in being a judge.
Beverly Johnson reported that there is some student worker funding available. If you know of anyone with a need for a student worker, please contact Codi Grubbs in Financial Aid.
Amy Stegall reminded everyone of the upcoming Time Out for Tech on January 30, 2005.
A motion was made to adjourn, motion seconded.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:20p.m.
Rose Butler, Recording Secretary
