Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1988 [PAGE 296]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

286

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[June 11

variety of topics. These include issues raised directly by the chancellor or the vice chancellor, items arising from reports on meetings of the University Planning Council or the University Senates Conference, topics brought forward by committee chairs, and matters scheduled by the chair following some inquiry by a student or faculty member. The council does not restrict itself to educational policy. Indeed, both President Ikenberry and Chancellor Everhart use it as a means of communication and consultation with faculty and students. Two meetings were held with President Ikenberry at which he discussed items suggested by the council. The council also had the pleasure of meeting the Board of Trustees at a reception following the September 1986 meeting. The Fourth Annual Meeting of the Faculty was arranged by the council for October 22, 1986. This meeting included presentations by President Ikenberry and Chancellor Everhart. They dealt with the current state of the University including budgetary matters and program and resource planning. Presentations were followed by a period for questions from the audience. In addition to the twenty-one standing committees of the senate, four special committees were in operation this year. The Senate Review Commission, formed in September 1986, will make recommendations on possible changes in the structure and function of the senate. The senate council's ad hoc Committee on Policies Governing the Academic Calendar, formed in March 1987, is reviewing the present rather inflexible policies and inviting suggestions for possible changes. Both of these committees are seeking a spectrum of opinion and will report next year. The senate council's ad hoc Committee on Salary Policy recently issued its final report. This is an impressive study which will have an impact on the campus. The senate will consider it next year, but the report has already been widely distributed. Finally, the Educational Policy Committee's ad hoc Committee on Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education has submitted a substantial report which has been presented to the senate as an item of information. The report contains many recommendations and will stimulate wide discussion across the campus. These are some of the issues dealt with by the senate and the council during this academic year: • Proposed conversion of classrooms to administrative space — the subject of a senate action deploring this move which has not yet occurred. • Divestment — possible responses to apartheid. A special senate debate took place, and the senate did pass a resolution somewhat stronger than the subsequent Board of Trustees' action toward divestment. • The academic calendar — an ad hoc committee is now studying all aspects of this subject. • Functioning of the senate — the Senate Review Commission on Participation in University Governance is meeting regularly. • University functions in private clubs — a senate resolution opposed conducting University business in private clubs that practice discrimination. • Salary adjustment following a 1986 summer budget cut — the council asked for more faculty consultation in the future. The senate council considered many subjects that have not reached the senate floor. These include University relations with the State's Central Management Services, parking, instructors' oral proficiency in English, the University's situation in DuPage County, and the Review of Administrator Evaluation Policy, as well as many routine items. The activities of the senate's committees are detailed in their annual reports, available in the senate office. Two very active committees were the Committee on Educational Policy and the Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures. The former has among its duties the responsibility for analyzing all curriculum changes and presenting them for senate action. The latter submits to