University of Minnesota, Morris

Campus Assembly Minutes

May 5, 2010

I. Chancellor's Remarks.

Chancellor Jacqueline Johnson gave the following remarks, “Congratulations to everyone here on the many, many successful events that are the hallmarks o the end of spring semester—this year’s better than ever, I think. As I watch UMM students present and perform and compete—as I watch you move from presentations at the Undergraduate Research Symposium to lead or supporting roles in the spring theatrical production—as I listen to the music that you have composed, that you conduct, that you perform. As I watch my first ever rugby game (which I did in Big Cat stadium two weekends ago), or as I sit in the audience to view your originally choreographed pieces in the dance ensemble or see the products of your scientific research at the Symposium or artistic productions in the art gallery—I am reminded of the core mission of this institution and the meaning of the liberal arts. Maybe some of us don’t always or entirely get what that liberal arts mission is or we can’t articulate it very well, but you students certainly get it and you certainly live it.

You combine multiple disciplines in your major and minor programs and you create a disciplinary perspective. You weave the curriculum and co-curriculum together in ways that prepare you for careers and citizenship and lives as engaged community servants. From the bread and bowls event to the community meal, from the senior seminar presentations to the smooth leadership transition that has happened this year in MCSA—I am reminded of the leadership opportunities that exist on this campus and the way in which students seize them and faculty and staff support them. So I congratulate you, especially you students, and I thank you—and while I hate to see you graduate, I do want you to do it in four years, and I look forward to Commencement when we celebrate you accomplishments and new beginnings. Commencement is May 15, the Native American Honoring Ceremony, the honors recital, and the honors convocations are on May 14, and I hope to see all of you there.

It’s easy to get discouraged at this time of year, when everyone is burned out and maxed out and when we are still trying to sort through the meaning of the salary reductions and furloughs and salary increases midyear or not for new employees or not, but there is so much to be encouraged about here. It’s what I signed up for when I am here and it gets better every year.

To counteract the end of semester blues or exhaustion I want to mention a few more pieces of good news: we are looking at record numbers of applications in NHS this year and record numbers of offers of admission in to a highly qualified class of students—and these are beginning to translate as we had hoped into what I expect will be very positive numbers for the fall—we’re up this week over last year in deposits for NHS. I understand that that can change—hopefully in a positive way. This is the time of year that NAS deposits begin to come in, as transfer students make their commitments on a somewhat different time schedule than NHS students—we’re trying to enhance those numbers in a variety of ways, including visits to some of our local “feeder” schools and by crafting transfer guides that will facilitate a smooth path for these students. We want these qualified transfer students to know that we want them here and we want to make the transition as positive and smooth as it can be.

As important as our recruitment efforts, are our efforts to retention—you CAN make a difference here. If you’re a faculty advisor you have the ability to impact and encourage students who haven’t registered to do so; to advise students who aren’t sure about their return so please don’t be shy about these efforts.

Yesterday, we had a spring meeting of the Chancellor’s Advisory Group—and I was amazed that nearly everyone who is a member agreed to phone in and log in—the spring meeting is done on line, the fall meeting happens in person. That we continue to have interest and investment of time and talent and opinion from this very sophisticated group of UMM alumni, donors, and friends from around the country is another good sign of our viability and vitality.

More … we have a gasification team on campus today and we are hopeful that the final details will be worked out so that we can commission the plant; we are also working on final details for financing that second turbine that we hope will go up this summer.

On Thursday of last week, we celebrated the life of one of the original Morris thirteen—one of the first faculty members on this campus and its first basketball coach, Jim Gremmels, who died in September. Thanks to those of you who helped plan and who participated in this event, which began with the remaining of the center court in the gym for Jim Gremmels. Thanks to campus assembly for authorizing that action. And last Thursday, we celebrated the lasting contributions of five members of this community who will or who have recently retired from it: Van Gooch, Art Kunde, Ron Kussatz, Tom McRoberts, and Tom Swenson.

Did I forget someone? Oh, right Bert Ahern. I want to end my remarks with an expression of appreciation for Bert Ahern and his leadership this past forty some years—in particular, because this is Campus Assembly, I want to express my appreciation for this efforts to define and maintain the meaning of shared governance on this campus. I hope that our practice of shared governance is stronger than ever in the year of our 50^th celebration—in my opinion, shared governance is certainly more necessary than ever, as we call on the resources, the wisdom, the knowledge that each one of us, each constituency brings to the table to make this a better place. And so it seems right to me at this last campus assembly of the year that we take a moment to acknowledge an individual who has understood the concept, advocated for and defined it on this campus since his first days here.

If I could ask Bert Ahern to come forward for just a minute—we have a special recognition for him—and I’d like to ask him to say just a few words as we begin our regular Campus Assembly meeting.”

Bert accepted a copy of UMM’s original constitution and said he believes mentorship is part of shared governance. We he came to here, he had many mentors who, out of nothing, created a college with a very participatory model. We don’t do shared governance as a part of our job; however we invest ourselves and we almost always say we can now go forward and will be stronger for it. Hard work, a willingness to comprise and the sense that we’re never finished is always ongoing. He would urge everyone to change the constitution. It has been a great joy to have been here for 43 years and he thanked everyone. The members of assembly gave Bert a standing ovation.

II. For Action. From the Executive Committee. Minutes from 4/6/10 Campus Assembly meeting approved as presented.

III. For Information. From the Curriculum Committee. Intellectual Community (IC) Slate of Courses.

On March 3, 2010, the Campus Assembly approved the Intellectual Community (IC): First-Year Experience Curricular Component proposal. At the April 7, 2010 meeting of the Curriculum Committee, the slate of IC courses was approved. As approved in last Assembly, these courses have been provisionally approved for inclusion in the fall 2010 course schedule. Regular approval will take place with the catalog course revisions in the fall.

Goal of the IC requirement

Foster development of an intellectual community among new college students at UMM

IC courses are designed to

• Introduce students to intellectual and practical skills needed to participate effectively in an intellectual community;

• promote active participation (written, oral, creative);

• provide students the opportunity to work with and to know others from their cohort well;

• provide students with the opportunity for close interaction with faculty.

The courses themselves come from various disciplines and areas of study at UMM. Some involve outside of class projects and commitments; some involve creative endeavors while others are research-based; some involve deeper exploration of yourself as an individual while others promote discovery of people and places less familiar. All offer an opportunity to engage more deeply in an area of study and to be an active contributor to what is learned.

Pick 2-3 sections that interest you. Your advisor will help you select a section based on your choices that also fits the scheduling of your other courses.

Class# Course# Title

57377 ArtH 1801.1 Memorials & Memorialization

57378 ArtH 1801.2 Memorials & Memorialization

57379 ArtS 1801 Mural Project and Public Art

57382 CMR 1801 Legal Argument and Free Speech: Ready to Become a Supreme Court Justice?

57380 Csci 1801.1 The Design of Everyday Technologies

57381 Csci 1801.2 The Design of Everyday Technologies

57383 Ed 1801.1 Critical Issues in K-12 Education

57384 Ed 1801.2 Critical Issues in K-12 Education

57385 Hist 1811 A History of You(th)

57386 Hist 1812 FIRE!: An introductory Seminar to American Environmental History

57387 IS 1802.1 Music, Education, and the Liberal Arts

57388 IS 1802.2 Music, Education, and the Liberal Arts

57389 IS 1803 Dangerous Minds: Images of Education in Popular Culture

57390 IS 1804 Community Engagement: From Volunteerism to Social Justice

57391 Phil 1801 THINK: An Introduction to Philosophy

56494 Phys 1064 High Altitude Ballooning: An Exploration of Near Space

57392 Pol 1811.1 War and Terrorism

57393 Pol 1811.2 War and Terrorism

57394 Psy 1811 My Wonderful Life: Career and Life Planning for College Students

57395 WSS 1801 Mind and Body: Mental Skills and Martial Arts

IV. For Action. From the EC. Proposed Assembly and Adjunct Committee Roster were approved as presented.

V. For Action. From the EC. The following Resolution for UMM Constitution was approved as presented.

Resolution: The Executive Committee requests that the Campus Assembly entrust the Executive Committee to formulate a process for disseminating information related to the constitution and create a voting procedure that will be enacted during fall semester 2010.

VI. For Action. From the EC. Dorothy DeJager was elected to serve as the 2010-11 USA EC member.

VII. For Information. From the Scholastic Committee.

Academic Alert Policy

The Scholastic Committee strongly urges the use of a web based notification system for 1xxx classes and first year students. If faculty are not using a web based system for alerts, this information should be included in the syllabus. A full report of the alert report can be found at: www.morris.umn.edu/Scholastic/. For 2011-12, due to reduced resources and delay in new All-U web based alert system, we’re encouraging the use of the mid-term alert system over the academic alert system.

VIII. Campus Committee Reports.

CRPC – Pete Wyckoff said many people are aware that budgets have been set up with a reduction of $350K in SE&E and the campus is moving forward on establishing a $2M reserve fund that will get us through the budget cuts over the next biennium. He would encourage those who will be putting the budget together to consult with the division chairs and members of CRPC.

IX. All University Reports.

Kathy Julik-Heine said she had attended five meetings of the Presidents Advancing Excellence Steering Committee. The committee listens to reports across the units about their cost saving strategies. The last meeting of the Student Senate will be this week were they will discuss the presidential advisory search committee. If anyone would like additional information, they should contact Kathy.

Peh Ng reported that SCEP approved the 2014-15 and the revised 2013-14 Morris calendars. They have also discussed the four-year math requirements for entrance into the University of Minnesota. Peh has consulted with the Scholastic Committee and they unanimously agreed to support the requirements.

X. Old Business.

None.

XI. New Business.

None.

Bert Ahern made a motion to adjourn. So moved.