At its Nov. 4 meeting, the Urbana-Champaign Senate passed an amendment to the University Statutes and Senate Procedures that will restrict Faculty Advisory Committee membership to tenured faculty. Linda Beale, professor of law, spoke against the amendment, expressing concern that it would render the committee exclusionary, precluding input from a spectrum of faculty members. However, Senator Herman Krier, the Richard W. Kritzer Professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, supported the amendment, saying that the committee’s sphere of influence comprises matters that long-term faculty members could better address, such as promotion and tenure decisions.
Nicholas Burbules, chair of the committee on conduct governance and the Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor of educational policy studies, presented for discussion proposed revisions to the student disciplinary code. In part the proposed changes would limit the university disciplinary system’s auspices to “those instances in which the university community’s interest is substantially affected,” potentially excluding criminal acts not directly affecting the university. Harry Hilton, professor emeritus of aeronautical and astronautical engineering, expressed concern that the proposed changes might be misconstrued as condoning illegal acts.
In other business:
- Chancellor Nancy Cantor told the senate that her Oct. 16, 2002, presentation to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, which outlines the campus vision for the next several years, has been posted to the chancellor’s Web page. White papers have been commissioned on the cross-campus investment initiatives, and steering committees will be assembled to direct them, Cantor said. The chancellor’s Web page will be updated as work progresses on key initiatives.
- The senate passed a resolution renaming the College of Commerce and Business and Administration the College of Business. Avijit Ghosh, dean of the college, sponsored the resolution, stating that the new name would better reflect the college’s programmatic initiatives, such as technology and research.
- The senate also approved a resolution creating a master of science degree in human factors in the Institute of Aviation and eliminating the applied engineering psychology master’s degree.
- Jim Barrett, professor of history, voiced support for the upcoming election on graduate student unionization but expressed concern about the election’s timing, asking the chancellor why the university had refused to postpone it until a more auspicious time for the students. Cantor responded that the date was selected by the administrative law judge overseeing the election and not by university administration.
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