PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

TACOMA, WA  98447

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE FACULTY ASSEMBLY

Friday, March 9, 2001

Leraas Auditorium

Call to Order – Norris Peterson, faculty president, called the meeting to order at 4:12 p.m.

Opening Prayer – Dennis Sepper offered the opening prayer.

Approval of Minutes – The minutes of the February 9^th meeting were approved as submitted.

Motion to Allow a Guest – Joanne Lisosky, Communication, made a motion to allow both Mike Brouillette, Officer in charge of ROTC at PLU and representatives from the student media at PLU as guests at today’s meeting.  The motion PASSED.

Announcements and Communications – Dana Zaichkin, Nursing representing the Wellness
Committee, announced two fitness events:
      1)  The Nine-week Fitness Challenge that runs until late April and
      2)  The Lute Loop 5K Fun Run; Notices have been distributed to faculty and staff about these events.
     Kit Spicer, Communication, announced that the 2010 Academic Distinction Commission has already met with approximately one-half of the academic units on campus.  A brainstorming session is to be held on March 15, 2001 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. in the Regency Room.  All are invited to attend.
     Bill Teska, Associate Provost/Biology, announced for the Retention Task Force.  He extended appreciation both to the task force members and the faculty for their help in recent months.  The task force is working on its final report.  Questions elicited that next fall will see a new system requiring advisor/student contact employing a PIN number in order for the student to register
     Christine Moon, Psychology and Chair of the Education Policies Committee, related that EPC will continue its distribution of grade data within the respective academic units.  A report on grades will follow in Spring, 2003.  On Friday, April 6, EPC will be hosting an on-line discussion.
     Chuck Bergman, English, Environmental Studies Committee, announced that there will be several Earth Week events.  William Kittredge, author of “Hole in the Sky”, will be a guest speaker in Leraas Auditorium on Monday, April 23.  There will be a related reading group discussion in the Faculty House dining room on April 18, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
     Jim Albrecht, English, offered reservations about the Provost’s proposal to increase to 16 from 15 the number of students in Freshman Writing for the academic year 2001-02.  He believes that there could be loss of individual attention to students in classroom pedagogy (possibly risking lower freshman-to-sophomore retention.)
     Louise Kaplan, Nursing and Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, announced that the Domestic Partner Policy recommended has been adopted starting in 2001-02.
     Susan Mann, Director, Human Resource Services, announced for the Benefits Committee that health insurance provider coverage options will likely change June, 2001.  Quotes from Regence came back with extremely high premium increases and reduced coverages.  Alliant appears to have better options, a premium increase of only about one-third that of Regence, and lower out-of-pocket costs for faculty and staff.

Question and Answer Period – President Anderson thanked the faculty for their assistance in accommodating the grieving process of students over the last week.  He also spoke about the successful turnout, with some 250 prospects, at last weekend’s Admissions open house.

Reports – Christine Moon, Psychology and Chair of the Educational Policies Committee, introduced a proposal for PLU to become a host institution for the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).  The EPC plans to bring a motion to adopt this proposal on our April 20 meeting of the Faculty Assembly.  The proposal requires PLU to adopt a new Department of Military Science; to designate the senior Army officer in charge of the program as a Professor (not eligible for tenure); to create a ROTC Advisory Committee; and to offer annually a PLU supported public forum related to issues of discrimination against people of minority sexual orientation.
Mike Brouillette, Officer in charge of ROTC at PLU, offered a presentation about the various changes and benefits to PLU from becoming a host institution.
     Paul Menzel, Provost, explained the financial impacts to PLU from becoming a host institution and contrasted the demographic profile of current PLU ROTC students with PLU’s overall student demographics (ROTC students are relatively more male and more diverse).
Discussion ensued and included a motion to invite an official from Seattle University, the current host institution for PLU’s ROTC students, to campus for his/her perspectives.  This motion was DEFEATED.

Old Business -

New Business -  

Adjournment - Norris Peterson, adjourned the fairly large group of stick-it-outers at 6:18 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Faculty Secretary

Steven Thrasher, School of Business