Grundy Reporter

Illinois State University Senate Committee on General University Policy met April 2.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Present: Chair Nicholas Burbules, Jared Bastian, Maria Bonn, Adel Ibrahim, David Lange, Melissa Madsen, Mike Ward

Ex officio: William Bernhard, Deborah Stone

Absent: Fred Johnson Asiimwe

A regular meeting of the Senate Committee on General University Policy was called to order at 9:30 am with Chair Burbules presiding.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the February 27, 2020 meeting were approved as distributed.

II. PUBLIC COMMENT

No requests received.

III. CHAIR’S REMARKS

Chair Burbules welcomed committee members to the Zoom meeting which is allowed since the Governor has relaxed the Illinois Open Meetings Act provisions to allow public bodies to meet online as long as quorum is still present.

IV. OLD BUSINESS

GP.19.03, Resolution to Protect Instructors from Classroom Disruption

Bernhard reported that the Responding to Disruptive or Threatening Student Behavior: A Guide for Faculty and Staff document has been posted on the Office of the Dean of Students website. GP suggested that the document also be linked to the Office of the Provost website as a resource for faculty.

GP.20.07, Unit Bylaws Template

Copies of the revised template were sent to committee members prior to the meeting.

GP reviewed the template and discussed revisions including adding a reference to the Civil Service Advisory Committee and a suggestion that unit bylaws should be reviewed periodically. GP noted that the template is intended to provide a guide for units but should not be viewed as a mandate.

The template will be updated and sent to the Office of the Provost for inclusion as an appendix to Provost’s Communication #27 (Shared Governance for Academic Units) and also shared with all deans, directors, and department heads. GP suggested that the template should also be forwarded to the Senate Executive Committee so that it can be shared with the Senate.

Chair Burbules will update the template based on the input from GP. The updated template will be sent to the Office of the Provost and the Senate Executive Committee.

GP.20.05, Review of the Role of the Senate Executive Committee Chair and Committee Chairs

The draft guidelines for Senate committee chairs were sent to GP members prior to the meeting. GP discussed the draft guidelines and it was suggested to include wording to include students more consistently during meetings.

Chair Burbules will update the guidelines and forward them to the Senate Executive Committee.

GP.19.09, Discussion of Provost Communication #27: Shared Governance for Academic Units

The draft memo regarding periodic reviews of shared governance was distributed to committee members prior to the meeting. GP discussed the suggestions in the memo to regularly evaluate the shared governance processes on campus as part of each Senate Review Commission and also as part of the periodic unit review by the Office of the Provost.

Chair Burbules will finalize the memo and send it to Rob Kar, Chair of the Senate Executive Committee, Shawn Gilmore, Chair of the Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures, and William Bernhard, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.

GP.20.09, Bias Assessment and Response Teams

GP noted appreciation for the discussion with Justin Brown, Associate Dean of Students, at the last meeting. Chair Burbules noted that GP’s work on this item is finished so it will be removed from the agenda.

GP.15.01, Statement on Administrative Hiring Practices

No new discussion.

GP.17.03, Guidelines on Senate Meetings

Chair Burbules noted that GP’s work on this item is finished so it will be removed from the agenda.

GP.19.04, Professional Employment Redesign

Stone reported that the functional review of academic professional positions is continuing. It was noted that this item could be moved to the list of monitored items by GP.

GP.15.08, Tenure Review

No new discussion.

GP.20.02, Review of Provost Communication #9: Promotion and Tenure

No new discussion.

GP.20.03, Proposed Revisions to the Statutes, Articles IX and X – Administrative Leave

No new discussion.

V. NEW BUSINESS

GP.18.01, Faculty Policy Guide

Chair Burbules asked committee members to review the Faculty Policy Guide for discussion at the next meeting.

GP.20.11, 2019-2020 Annual Report of the Senate Committee on General University Policy

The draft annual report was sent to committee members prior to the meeting. Chair Burbules asked committee members to review the draft report for discussion at the next meeting.

VI. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 am.

https://uofi.app.box.com/v/GeneralUniversityPolicy/file/659383272428