Call to Order and Announcements

The University Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m., in Room 111 Harrison Hall, Oxford Campus, on Monday, March 11, 2019.  Members absent:  Jasmine Adkins, Ann Elizabeth Armstrong, Kenya Ash, Burcin Bayram, James Bielo, Stacey Lowery Bretz, Phyllis Callahan, Rodney Coates, Bradley Davis, Michele Dickey, Dawn Fahner, Annika Fowler, Jannie Kamara, Richard Keifer, Charles Kennick, Lei Kerr, Vahagn Manukian, Molly O’Donnell, Nancy Parkinson, Thomas Poetter, Ashley Pool, Vincent Smith, Caroline Weimer, and Madeline Zinkl.

1. Announcements and Remarks by the Secretary of University Senate, Jeffrey Wanko

   1. It was announced that Jeff Pegues '92, three-time Emmy Award winner and CBC News correspondent, will speak at May commencement.

Approval of University Senate Minutes

2. A motion was received, seconded, and carried to approve the February 25, 2019, minutes of University Senate.

Consent Calendar

3. The following items were received on the Consent Calendar without debate: 

   1. Curriculum dated March 6, 2019

   2. Faculty Rights & Responsibilities Committee Report – 2017-2018

Old Business

4. Proposal for New Undergraduate Internship Policy

   1. The Undergraduate Internship Policy was discussed. A question was asked whether the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is done by student or by organization. Associate Provost Haynes indicated that it is only done by organization, and it is only needed when the internship is required for the degree.

   2. Associate Provost Haynes showed the Academic Partnerships Canvas site that has templates and information on MOUs, partnerships and agreements.

   3. A vote was taken and the policy was approved unanimously by voice vote.

New Business  

5. Affordability and Efficiency Reporting – Carolyn Haynes, Associate Provost

   1. Miami is required to be a part of afford and efficiency reporting, which includes five sections: efficiencies; academic practices; policy reforms; student benefits; and, five-year goals.  There are 70 different directives that Miami has to respond to.  Much of the information is provided by Finance and Business Services due to the involvement of the budget.  Many of the requirements do not involve Academic Affairs

   2. Part of the broad-ranging requirements include an operations review that involved streamlining and outsourcing resources such as the childcare center, the print center and the packaging center. Support units, including OARS and Global Initiatives, will also be reviewed.

   3. The Southwest Ohio Regional Compact is one Academic Requirement #1 and is a collaboration with Southern State, University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati State to help reduce the number of duplicated academic programs and to strengthen regional articulation and partnership agreements.

   4. Academic Requirement #2 is textbook affordability in which there is work on cost negotiation and standardization of materials through use of digital tools and Open Educational Resources (OER). Unizin e-platform, an electronic textbook platform consortium, is going to be piloted spring 2020. Unizin is able to negotiate with the top publishers in the U.S. and provide textbooks that are fully integrated with Canvas. Departments who wish to be part of the pilot group should contact Associate Provost Haynes.  It was noted that departments generally do not use the same textbook across sections, and part of the issue could be lack of a course coordinator.

   5. Other academic requirements include moving toward uAchieve, Registration Override Request (ROR) and EAB.  Miami continues to work on competency based education, which includes a portfolio based on work experience for adult learners.

6. International Education Committee Restructuring – Cheryl Young, Assistant Provost, Global Initiatives

   1. Internationalization at Miami includes six pillars: articulated institutional commitment; structure and staffing; curriculum, co-curriculum, and learning outcomes; faculty policies and practices, student mobility; and, collaboration and partnerships. The International Education Committee reviewed best practices and determined that the best approach is to restructure the committee to be more comprehensive and include strategies based on the six pillars

   2. The proposed committee would be the ‘University Committee on Internationalization’, which has a similar composition to the International Education Committee, but also includes three administrative positions: Finance and Business Services; Student Affairs; and, Enrollment Management and Student Success.

   3. The proposal outlines two standing sub-committees. The MUDEC Curriculum Committee, currently exists as a Senate committee. The charge and the membership composition will remain the same.  International Student Administrative Advisory Council (ISAAC) would also be a standing subcommittee.

   4. The proposal is a change in committee structure and charge and therefore must go to the Governance Committee for discussion and approval before it comes to Senate in the form of a resolution.

   5. A question was asked as to whether MUDEC was consulted in the development of the proposal. Senator Young indicated that Erik Jensen, Chair of MUDEC, was in favor, and Jim Shiveley was also supportive.

Report

7. Executive Committee Report – Dana Cox, Chair-Elect, Senate Executive Committee

   1. Senate Executive Committee has met and set agendas for April 1, April 8 and April 15. Senators were reminded that elections for Chair-Elect and At-Large are April 15.  The election portion of the meeting will be for newly elected and continuing senators.

   2. The following points were discussed:

      1. Senators favored seeing the agendas ahead of time and indicated that it is useful to discuss a topic at one meeting and vote on it at a subsequent meeting.

      2. A suggestion was made to have degree programs presented, but voted on either at a separate meeting or while the proposer of the program is not in the room. Some senators felt that there was too much pressure to approve a program with the proposer in the room.  It was agreed that timing is sometimes an issue, and a delay in vote could lead to a program not being forwarded to the Board of Trustees in a timely manner. One solution would be to ask the proposer to leave the room during the discussion and vote, but to be accessible if there are any questions.

      3. A request was made to have the Ad-Hoc Committee presentation available prior to the April 1, 2019, presentation.

Adjournment

8. A motion was received, seconded, and carried to adjourn the Regular Session of University Senate.