xt7wst7dvp99 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wst7dvp99/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. University Senate University of Kentucky. Faculty Senate Kentucky University of Kentucky. University Senate University of Kentucky. Faculty Senate 1986-12-08  minutes 2004ua061 English   Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Special Collections Research Center. University of Kentucky. University Senate (Faculty Senate) records Minutes (Records) Universities and colleges -- Faculty University of Kentucky University Senate (Faculty Senate) meeting minutes, December 8, 1986 text University of Kentucky University Senate (Faculty Senate) meeting minutes, December 8, 1986 1986 1986-12-08 2020 true xt7wst7dvp99 section xt7wst7dvp99 [ENVERSHY OF KENTUCKY

LEXINGTON. KENTUCKY 40506-0032

UNIVERSITY SENATE COUNCIL
Io ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 25 November 1986

AGENDA:

Members, University Senate

The University Senate will meet in regular session on Monday,
December 8, 1986, at 3:00 p.m. in room 115 CON/HSLC Building.

Minutes of l3 October 1986.
Resolutions.

Chairman's remarks and announcements.

Action Item:

a. Proposed change in University Senate Rules, Section VI —
5.1.2 b. regarding the ability of the Appeals Board to
assign letter grades. (Circulated under date of 21
November 1986.)

 

Report on Presidential Search Committee.

Randall Dahl
Secretary

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY UNIVERSITY

 

 ANNOUNCEMENTS

SENATE MEEETING V DECEMBER 8, 1986

END—OF-SEMESTER PARTY WITH BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRESIDENT AND MRS.
SINGLETARY, AND OTHERS TOMORROW,' 4: 00 to 6:00 P. M. KING ALUMNI HOUSE.
IF YOU CAN'T BE THERE AT 4 O' CLOCK, COME WHEN YOU CAN, BUT PLEASE
COME. REMEMBER SPOUSES ARE INVITED.

 

SENATE COUNCIL BREAKFAST MEETINGS ARE GOING VERY WELL.

—SENATE COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS

~CHANCELLOR WETHINGTON

-SELECTED ADMINISTRATORS

-STUDENT LEADER GROUPS

—FAYETTE COUNTY LEGISLATORS

—OTHER INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS TO BE IDENTIFIED LATER

NEW THINGS IN THE WORKS:

-PROPOSAL FOR M. S. IN PHYSICAL THERAPY.

—PROPOSAL FOR M. S AND Ph. D IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.
—RECOMMENDATION ON PART— TIME INSTRUCTORS.

—REVISION OF EXCUSED ABSENCE POLICY.

—CONNIE WILSON WILL GIVE REPORT FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT
FEBRUARY MEETING.

OMBUDSMAN SEARCH COMMITTEE:

PROFESSOR JIM KEMP, CHAIRMAN

PROFESSOR ENID WALDHART

MS. KAREN SKEENS - SENIOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
MR. MEHRAN JAHED - GRADUATE STUDENT

NOMINATIONS DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 12. SEND NOMINATIONS TO JIM KEMP,
ANIMAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT.

NEW MEMBERS OF SENATE COUNCIL BEGINNING 1 JANUARY 1987.

PROFESSOR CHUCK AMBROSE
PROFESSOR JIM APPLECATE
PROFESSOR JIM WELLS
PKDFC'SSDR $1M) LEE/6%
BOARD OF TRUSTEE FACULTY MEMBER ELECTION IN PROGRESS — NOMINATIONS
BALLOT DONE. RULES AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE PREPARING FIRST BALLOT
WITH SIX OF THE TOP CANDIDATES ON IT. BALLOT OUT ABOUT FIRST OF
YEAR.

NOMINATIONS FOR ACADEMIC AREA ADVISORY COMMITTEES BY JANUARY 9.

JOINT MEETING OF SENATE COUNCIL AND INSTITUTIONAL FINANCES AND RESOURCES;
COMMITTEE WITH JIM KING.

 

 MINUTES OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE, DECEMBER 8, l986

The University Senate met in regular session at 3:00 p.m., Monday,
December 8, l986, in Room ll5 of the College of Nursing/Health Sciences
Building.

Wilbur w. Frye, Chairman of the Senate Council, presided.

Members absent were: Frank Allara, Sandra Allen, Robert A. Altenkirch*,
Charles T. Ambrose, Richard Angelo*, Michael A. Baer, Charles E. Barnhart,
Raymond F. Betts, Ronn Borgmeier, Jeffery A. Born, Peter P. Bosomworth, Ray M.
Bowen*, Daniel J. Breazeale, Joe Burch, D. Allan Butterfield, Bradley C.
Canon, I. K. Chew, Richard R. Clayton*, Emmett Costich, George F. Crewe*,
Frederick Danner, Robert Lewis Donohew*, Anthony Eardley, Donald G. Ely*,
James Freeman* Richard w. Furst, Thomas C. Gray, Donna G. Greenwell*, Marilyn
D. Hamann*, Jody Hanks, Zafar Hasan*, Roger w. Hemken, Ronald C. Hoover,
Raymond R. Hornback, Jennifer Jacquet, Mehran Jahed, James 0. King, James R.
Lang, Robert G. Lawson, Donald Leigh*, Bruce A. Lucas, Edgar D. Maddox, Paul
Mandelstam*, Sally S. Mattingly*, Patrick J. McNamara, Robert Murphy, Michael
T. Nietzel*, Robert C. Noble*, Arthur J. Nonneman, Thomas Olshewsky*, Alan
Perreiah*, John J. Piecoro*, Robin D. Powell*, David J. Prior, Peter Purdue,
G. Kendell Rice, Frank Rizzo*, Christy Robinson, Thomas C. Robinson, Thomas L.
Roszman, Nimberly C. Royster, Edgar L. Sagan, Karyll N. Shaw*, Timothy
Sineath*, Otis A. Singletary*, Nathan R. Sullivan, Joseph V. Swintosky*,
Sheree Thompson, Thomas L. Travis, Enid Waldhart, Marc J. Wallace, James
Wells, Charles T. Nethington, Carolyn Williams*, Constance P. Wilson, and
Peter Ninograd.

The Minutes of the meeting of October l3, l986, were approved as
circulated.

Chairman Frye recognized Associate Professor Emeritus, Jean Pival, for a
Memorial Resolution on Leila Gott Harris.

MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
Leila Gott Harris

Leila Gott Harris died on November 7, l986, at the age
of 86. Ms. Harris retired in July, l970, but continued her
teaching duties in the English Department until July,
l97l. A native of Ontario, Canada, Ms. Harris earned a
teacher's certificate from Hamilton (Ontario) Teachers'
College and taught in the public schools in Ontario until
her marriage to Kilroy Harris, an Australian journalist—
lecturer. In 1930, they moved to Berea, Kentucky where she
earned an AB from Berea College in l943. In l945, she was
awarded an MA in English from the University of Kentucky.

In l943, she became a Teaching Assistant in the
English Department and was awarded a Haggin Fellowship.
From l944-l956, she was an instructor. In l956, she was
granted tenure as an Assistant Professor.

*Absence explained

 

 While she was in Berea, she co-authored a number of
children's books with her husband: two novels, Blackfellow
Bundi: A Native Australian Boy, l939; The Lost Hole of
Bingoola, l942; a social science reader—still used in—
Canadian and British Schools; and a travel series for
elementary schools——It Happened in Australia, It Happened
in South Africa, and—Sunny Australia. A talented musician,
she also wrote _and pu6I1sh hed many c hildren' 5 songs.

 

 

 

During her years at Berea, Ms. Harris spent many
afternoons riding horseback over the country roads around
Berea. Through this activity, she became acquainted with
many poverty-ridden women living in the mountains and was
appalled by their poor health conditions. With the aid of
other interested women in Berea, she formed the Mountain
Maternal Health League to supply health and birth—control
aid to the impoverished women she had contacted. Since
birth—control supplies could not be sent through the mails
at that time, they were brought to Berea by her husband
when he returned from his lecture tours and were delivered
on horseback by the volunteers.

Ms. Harris is remembered by her colleagues and
students as a dedicated, inspiring, and demanding teacher
of writing, speech, and the humanities. Always willing to
give of her time to students, she volunteered to tutor many
who needed extra help. When the program for Martin Luther
King Scholars was started, she volunteered several of her
summers to teach writing to minority students.

She became a naturalized citizen of the United States
in l945, the year she and her family moved to Lexington.
Her exemplary citizenship is attested by her active
involvement in service and civil rights organizations.
While at the University, she was an active member of the
American Association of University Women.

After her retirement, she pursued a lifelong hobby of
painting. Ms. Harris became a Donovan Scholar and studied
art with Robert Foose and others in the Art Department. In
her early eighties, she showed and sold many of her
paintings, one of which has been donated by her family to
the Faculty Club.

Her husband, Kilroy Harris, died several years ago.
She is survived by a son, Kenward Kilroy Harris, a lawyer
in Washington 0.0., a sister, Irene Laverty of Lexington,
and two grandchildren.

Steeped in a liberal arts tradition, Leila Harris was
a liberal in the true sense of the word and her
contribution to the humanities at the University of
Kentucky cannot be measured. She served as a role model of
professional integrity not only to her students, but to her

 

 fellow colleagues. And more importantly to me, she was a
pioneer for women in the academic world, opening up for
future women possibilities not available to her.

Ms. Pival requested that the Memorial Resolution be spread upon the
Minutes and that copies be sent to the family. Chairman Frye asked the
Senate to stand for a moment of silent tribute.

The Chairman made the following announcements and remarks.

"I would like to remind everyone of the end—of-
semester party with the Board of Trustees, President and
Mrs. Singletary, and others which is scheduled tomorrow
from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in King Alumni House. If you can't be
there at 4:00, come when you can, but please try to come.
Also, remember spouses are invited.

The Senate Council Breakfast Meetings that Bill Lyons
reported to you on at the last Senate meeting are going
quite well. We have had two breakfast meetings so far.

The first was with the Senate Committee Chairpersons and
the second one was with Chancellor Methington of the
Community College System. We feel these have been very
valuable to us and have been beneficial in a lot of
different ways, and we expect to continue them throughout
the rest of the year. We plan to meet with selected admin-
istrators, student leader groups, Fayette County legisla-

tors, and other individuals and groups that we might
identify at a later time.

There are several new things in the works that I might
mention to you. There is a proposal for an M.S. program in
Physical Therapy and a proposal for an M.S. and Ph.D. in
Biomedical Engineering. A recommendation on part-time
instructors will be coming out of the Senate Council
soon. We are also working on a revision of the excused
absence policy and that should be coming to the Senate in
February. It is not an attendance policy. There has been
some misunderstanding about that. An instructor may
require attendance as part of the grading, but it is an
excused absence policy.

Connie Wilson will give her report from the Board of
Trustees in February. I will remind you there is no Senate
meeting in January, so the next meeting will be in February.

The Ombudsman Search Committee is being formed and is
about ready to begin work. The chairman of that committee
is Professor Jim Kemp from the Animal Sciences Department.
Professor Enid Naldhart is on the committee, Ms. Karen
Skeens, a senior in Business and Economics is the under—
graduate student on the committee and Mr. Mehran Jahed is
the graduate student member of the committee. The
nominations deadline for ombudsman is December l2. If you
have nominations, send them to Jim Kemp.

 

 There are four new members of the Senate Council
beginning January l, l987. They are Professors Chuck
Ambrose, Jim Applegate, and Don Leigh, who were elected to
the Senate Council, and Jim Wells was appointed to the
Senate Council to take the seat vacated by Bob Hemenway.

The Board of Trustee Faculty Member election is in
progress. The nomination ballot has been completed. The
Rules and Election Committee is preparing the first ballot
with the six top candidates on it. That ballot should be
out around the first of the year. The six top candidates
are Professors Bob Bostrom, Mike Brooks, Mary Sue Coleman,
Ward Crowe, Marcus McEllistrem and Robert Spedding.

The nominations for the Academic Area Advisory
Committees and other important committees are due January
9. I sent a memorandum to all of you a few days ago. I
would like to remind you of the importance of getting names
from you for those committees. Please, as soon as you have
the opportunity to do that, prepare a list and send it to
us.

There will be a joint meeting of the Senate Council
and Institutional Finances and Resources Committee with Jim
King on December 18. This is a result of the expected
budget cuts that are being talked about around campus at
the present time. We hope to meet with Jim King and
perhaps others and find out some information about that.

The Senate Council felt we needed to have an update on
the University faculty situation with regard to liability
insurance. Dr. Jack Blanton agreed to come today and give
us an update report on the liability insurance."

Chairman Frye recognized Dr. Jack Blanton, Vice Chancellor for Administra-
tion who gave the following report:

”Thank you Dr. Frye and good afternoon ladies and
gentlemen. I am pleased to be here to speak to you this
afternoon. I have brought with me Mr. Bruce Miller who is
the University guru of liability insurance. He and I have
learned more about liability insurance than we would have
preferred over the last twelve months, but if you have
questions after we are through, I will be very pleased to
try to answer them. If I can't, I'm sure Bruce can. This
will be a brief report. It constitutes an update of my
memorandum to the campus that was sent in August setting
forth the various avenues we were pursuing in an effort to
get errors and omissions--active malpractice insurance--if
you will, for faculty and staff of the University of
Kentucky. Our insurance was cancelled last spring because
the company that was our underwriter decided it would no
longer issue that kind of insurance.

 

 As I said in August, we were pursuing four avenues for
obtaining liability insurance. The first of those was with
the national, and even international insurance brokerage
firm, Marsh and McLennon. We gave them an exclusive "agent
of record letter” which meant they could be the only group
that would be representing the University since we had
asked a number of companies to try to get insurance and
they were getting in each other's way. The best advice we
had was to contract with someone that was a heavy hitter in
this league and see if they could acquire the insurance for
us. They have worked diligently we are persuaded, since
last spring and they have had no results whatsoever in
acquiring liability insurance for us from a commercial
company. I would say to you that given their track record
to date, I don't think it is likely they are going to be
able to buy insurance for us in the private market. We
have decided we must go beyond that because we expected
that might indeed be the outcome.

A second alternative we are pursuing, led by myself
and the Vice President for Business at the University of
Louisville, is to put together a consortium of all of the
public universities in Kentucky —— there are eight of us ~—
and enter into a self—insurance program. In order for that
to take place, it will be necessary for a commerical
underwriter to come and look at the risks, the exposure if
you will, at each of the eight institutions in the
Commonwealth. Once they have examined our track record,
they will tell us what they think is necessary in the way
of capital funding for us to establish a self—insurance
fund. It would then be necessay for us to form a legal
trust fund. Under the terms of that trust agreement we
would self-insure. That trust agreement could be managed
by some external agent such as a bank. That process is
proceeding ahead. 0n the l7th day of this month we will
open proposals under the purchasing consortium that exists
in Kentucky for selection of an underwriter that will visit
our campuses and advise us on what would be required of us
to enter into this form of self-insurance. We know ini-
tially that will not be a large amount of insurance
coverage. We would not have the resources initially to put
millions into the fund which would be required to have an
adequate self-insurance program. What we could perhaps do
is get what is called the first layer of insurance. Then
we could go into the commercial market or go elsewhere and
buy excess aggregate insurance which would cover us for
large kinds of claims that would be protection for all
faculty and staff. That has good prospects. We are
proceeding ahead with it, but it is moving more slowly than
we would have preferred. No less, it is going ahead.

The third avenue we are approaching is with something
called URMIA —- The University Risk Managers and Insurance
Association. This is a group comprised of persons such as

 

 Mr. Miller, who is the Risk Manager for the University of
Kentucky. They are in the process of using a consultant,
the firm of Karun and Black, well-known insurance
consultants, to establish a mutual insurance company where
all universities covered by this mutual company will own it
and will write insurance for the members only. If you are
insured under this company, then you are a part-owner of
the company. The limits of this policy we don't know at
this time. They will not be large multimillion dollar
sums, we are sure of that, at least in the beginning. They
need $750,000 as the capital for the establishment of this
company. We may indeed be one of the subscribers for this
firm. It is a company which is to be chartered in the
state of Tennessee under the laws of the state of
Tennessee. They hope to be in business by February 1.
Their initial target date was October 1, and they have
missed that deadline, but they are still proceeding ahead.
They ran afoul of the insurance commissioner in Vermont
where they had originally planned to charter the company.

The fourth avenue we have approached is with a group
called SCUUL, which is something to be wondered about!
This is an acronym for School, College, and University
Underwriters, Ltd. The firm of Marsh-McLennon again along
with Morgan Guarantee 00., which is one of the large Wall
Street firms, are forming a for-profit company, an
off-shore company, that will be headquartered in Bermuda
because of various tax laws that are applicable to
insurance companies in the United States of America. That
is not uncommon. Bermuda is full of insurance companies.
This company required a $2,000,000 capitalization, and the
institutions they went to for the capitalization were
largely the private institutions with big endowments that
could help capitalize the company. They are forming what
is called a "captive company” that will write only
liability insurance for colleges, universities and
schools. The company was successfully capitalized at the
end of November. Those members, and there were some
nineteen of them, were the initial subscribers that raised
the $2,000,000. They are covered because they were
catitalizers of the company. Other institutions can make
application in the month of December, and the company hopes
to be able to write contracts in February. They are going
to be very selective about the universities they let into
this company. They are not going to take in any
institutions that have had a long history of bad experience
with respect to malpractice insurance for professors and
staff. We have asked them to send us an application. We
have no idea what the premium for such insurance will be,
but this company also offers us the opportunity for
malpractice insurance, errors and omissions liability
insurance. The SCUUL Company will indeed offer, we hope,
the excess aggregate kind of insurance that we would buy
for liability insurance and, therefore, if we can get the
first layer under our own self-insurance, a second layer

 

 with the URMIA group; then we could be insured for several
millions of dollars through the off—shore company that is
headquartered in Bermuda.

The bad news is that we had hoped to have liability
insurance when we entered this school year. We have not
been successful with that. The good news is that there is
some opportunity out there. He would hope to have
insurance before this school year is out for those of you
who are here and others on the campus. We are now 99
percent sure we will have insurance commencing with the
school year next fall for certain. Let me stop there and
see if you have any questions you would like to ask."

Professor James Applegate (Communications) said many of his colleagues had
been working in getting membership through the AAUP as temporary measures to
cover themselves during this period. He wanted to know if there was any
problem for faculty who wished to go that route on a temporary basis to cover
themselves to help the faculty to pick up the cost of that insurance. Dr.
Blanton said the University had been confronted with that issue and if there
was no success in covering everyone by next fall, then that possibility would
have to be examined. He added that would be the last resort, because it would
be very difficult to administer. There are a number of associations but the
University does not want to piecemeal it, but prefers to cover faculty and
staff with one umbrella policy.

Professor John Just (Biology) wanted to know if the upper administrators

had liability insurance. Dr. Blanton said the trustees, the president, the
vice presidents, the Chancellors, the vice Chancellors and the deans are
covered under the policy which is in effect today. Professor Just said it
seemed to him there was a greater risk for those who worked in laboratory
situations than someone in English, and he was amazed that nothing has been
done. Dr. Blanton said the reason insurance companies are not covering
laboratory personnel is that they agree with Professor Just. He said a
professor's work is probably more risky than that of a trustee. He said the
University has had no offers from anybody, including Lloyds, to insure the
whole faculty and staff at the University. Professor Just wanted to know what
he should do -- shut down the lab and refuse to be in charge. Dr. Blanton
said if Professor Just felt he had that kind of exposure, then it was a
decision he had to make.

Professor JoAnn Rogers (Library and Information Science) said she had
brought some information about the AAUP insurance plan in case anyone was
interested while the University was searching. The annual fee is $6l.20 for
$500,000. The AAUP is trying to get a salary deduction possibility for the
faculty, and until the University has a policy, she felt it would be nice to
take a monthly amount from the paycheck to cover themselves. Professor Hans
Gesund (Engineering) said that AAUP would not cover personal injuries which
was a problem for lab directors. He suggested that the insurance should cover
the lab personnel. -He added it was also a problem for the students and
strongly urged the University not to overlook the students.

Professor Jesse Heil (Physics and Astronomy) wanted to know what the
timetable was for the first level of coverage outlined and what was included.
Professor Rogers said the coverage was for dismissals, suspension, and

 

 and disciplinary infractions. She said there was limited coverage.

Professor Weil wanted to know what kind of timetable was anticipated. He
wanted to know if people would come in and give advice. Dr. Blanton was not
sure and said that would be one of the things covered when the proposals were
opened in December. He said the institutions had been asked to collect data
in order to make the task easier. He felt it would take two or three months
to get through the initial review, put the data in the computer to know what
each institution would have to put up. He said that would probably take
until the end of the semester. He said the quickest thing might be the SCUUL
program and we might be insured as early as February.

Professor Constance Hood (Statistics) said that obviously there was
someone willing to underwrite the policy for AAUP and wanted to know who that
was. Professor Rogers said the company was Home Insurance Company of
Illinois. Professor Neil said he had been told by State Farm Insurance that
they would write liability coverage. Dr. Blanton said that when the company
the University was with decided to go out of business, there was not a
company in this country that would insure an institution where there are
10,000 employees, a medical center, and is a major research university. He
said that AAUP coverage was very different than that of a very complex
university.

Professor Philip Palmgreen (Communications) said he had called the
Washington office of the AAUP and was told that normally a person had to be a
full-time member to be eligible for the insurance. Professor Lawrence Harris
(Mathematics) wanted to know what the University was presently paying for the
liability coverage for the directors and officers and how much the University
is willing to pay for the coverage they wanted. Dr. Blanton said he did not
know the answer to the second question, but the cost was $93,000 per annum
for the officers and directors. How much the University is willing to pay
would depend on the budget situation.

Professor Just wanted to know if Dr. Blanton was essentially telling the
faculty that the University was saying if one did not want to get sued in a
lab situation, the only option was to refuse to teach a course. Dr. Blanton
said he did not offer any advice. He said, "You will have to make your own
decisions in consultation with whomever you wish to consult."

Professor Applegate wanted to know if the state understood that without
liability insurance the University might have to shut down. He said if some
astronomical fee had to be paid for the insurance that would be subtracted
from the budget, which has already been cut once, the University may be
talking liability insurance at the expense of laboratories. He added that
the University might not have the money to run the labs. He wanted to know
if there had been any word from Frankfort that they would be willing to make
a special effort for the University. Dr. Blanton said Frankfort was aware
and there was a task force headed by a former state legislator that is
examining insurance for the entire state. He said the State Legislature is
attempting to formulate some kind of legislation that will give us relief.
Before they can do that the Governor would have to have a special session.
The next regular session is January l988. ”They are sympathetic with our
plight, they are understanding and yes we are in our own boat," he said.

The Senate showed their appreciation by giving Dr. Blanton a round of
applause.

 

 The Chair recognized Professor William Lyons. Professor Lyons, on behalf
of the Senate Council, moved approval of the proposed change in University
Senate Rules, Section VI - 5.l.2 b. regarding the ability of the Appeals Board
to assign letter grades. This proposal was circulated to members of the
Senate under date of November 21, l986.

The Chair said the proposal needed no second since it came from the Senate
Council. Professors Constance Wood and William Fortune were on the ad hoc
Student Affairs Committee chaired by Professor Michael Brooks. Since
Professor Brooks was unable to be at the meeting, Professors Wood and Fortune
came to answer questions. The floor was opened for discussion of the motion.

Professor Juanita Fleming, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs,
Medical Center, said that a student in the College of Medicine cannot withdraw
from a required course. She added that a P cannot be given for a required
course. She did not feel the proposal should be grossly changed, but that
fact should be considered when passing the motion and some modifications
should be made. Professor Charles Byers (Academic Ombudsman) said the
rationale presented was in error a little. According to the Senate Rules the
Appeals Board awards a student a P even though it is a required course in a
student's program.

There was no further discussion on the motion, which passed and reads as
follows:
Proposal: (underlined portion=new; delete bracketed portion)

5.l.2 Cases of Student Academic Rights
After hearing a case involving a violation of student
academic rights as set forth herein, the Board may
select from the following remedies:

 

a. The Board may direct that a student be informed
about the content, grading standards, and
procedures of a course when a violation of the
pertinent rules has been proved.

[The Board may direct that a student's grade in a
course be changed, but only to a w (withdrawal) or
a P (passing, credit toward graduation but not
toward grade point standing) when an academic
evaluation based upon anything other than a
good—faith judgment of a student has been proved.
Under no circumstances shall a student's grade be
lowered as a result of his/her appeal.] When an
academic evaluation based upon anything other than
a good—faith judgment of a student has been proved,
the Board may direct that a student's grade in a
course be changed to a w (Withdrawal), or a P
(Passing, credit toward graduation but not toward
grade point standing), or, if such determination
can be made, to an appropriate letter grade. (See
Section V - l.l)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board may take any other reasonable action
calculated to guarantee the rights stated herein.

 

 Background and Rationale:

 

The current University Senate Rules allow the Appeals Board to
change a grade to P or w. The Ombudsman receives an estimated
four cases per year in which a good case can be made for
changing the student's grade, but a P or N would damage the
student. Such cases might include students in pre—professional
or professional programs, graduate students, and other students
who are required to have letter grades in certain courses.

 

Professor Charles Byers, Academic Ombudsman, requested that the
Senate Council consider recommending a rules change to permit
the Appeals Board to assign the appropriate letter grade when
it has been proved that an academic evaluation was based on
anything other than a good-faith judgment of the student. The
Senate Council referred the matter to the newly formed 29.328
Committee on Student Affairs, chaired by Professor Michael
Brooks.

The Committee on Student Affairs recommended to the Senate
Council that the following two changes be made in the
University Senate Rules, Section VI — 5.1.2.b.

 

l. That the Appeals Board be permitted to assign a letter
grade where it can be proven that an alternative grade is
appropriate and the appropriate letter grade can be
determined. In such a case, the student should have that
option. The committee reasoned that ”denying this option
penalizes the very good student who appeals a B but cannot
receive an A which he/she earned, and indeed may penalize
any student for appealing by arbitrarily denying them
quality points to apply toward his or her grade point
standing.”

That the sentence be deleted that reads, "Under no
circumstances shall a student's grade be lowered as a
result of his appeal.” The Committee offered three reasons
in support of this recommendation: (a) careful
investigation might cast the student's appeal and grade in
a different light and, although unlikely, might dictate
that the grade should be lowered; (b) it would discourage
frivolous appeals; and (c) it would ensure that the
student understands the serious nature of the appeals
process.

The Senate Council recognizes the nearly exclusive right of the
instructor, under ordinary circumstances, to assign grades and
was reluctant to tamper with that right. At the same time, the
-Senate Council acknowledges the right of a student to be
evaluated on nothing more or less than a good—faith judgment of
performance and to receive the grade he or she has earned.

Further the Senate Council is aware that the number of such
cases (estimated to be about four per year) may seem

 

 insignificant; however, proven cases of injustice cannot be
insignificant regardless of how few the number.

The last item on the agenda was a report from the Presidential Search
Committee. Chairman Frye said he had wanted to get Bob McCowan, Chairman of
the Search Committee, to give the report. Mr. McCowan was unable to attend the
meeting. The second choice was Mary Sue Coleman, who was also out of town.
Therefore, Chairman Frye gave a report from the committee.

Chairman Frye's remarks follow:

"What I would like to do is take a few minutes to tell
you a little bit about the committee, its activities, and
give you some of my impressions of the situation where we
stand right now. The members of the committee are: Bob
McCowan, Chairman from Ashland; Albert Clay, Mt. Sterling;
Ted Lassetter, Lexington, Frank Ramsey, Madisonville; and
Jim Rose, London. These are t