Present: J. Acker, M. Amid, D. Armstrong, C. Bischoff, R. Collier, R. Farrell, S. Faerman, S. Friedman, R. Gibson, F. Hauser, J. Horney, H. Horton, R. Hoyt, S. B. Kim, A. Konev. C. Lawson, S. Levine, S. Lubensky, A. Lyons, C. MacDonald,
B. S. Maloney, D. McCaffrey, J. Pipkin, M. Pryse, R. Karl Rethemeyer, J. Rudolph, J. Savitt, H. Scheck, L. Schell, K. Smith, G. Spitze, T. Turner, E. Wulfert

Old Business:

Chair Pipkin announced that there will be no reports; the meeting will pick up right where the May 5th meeting left off.

· Revision to the "Last Day for Undergraduates to Drop a Course" #0203-11, introduced by UAC. Joan Savitt explained that this bill is for a revision in the withdrawal date; it will be two weeks from the current date and students will still get a W. The primary rationale is that in the past a lot of students did not receive an evaluation in time to make a decision to withdraw; UAC wants to give more time for a decision to be made. It was asked if this proposal had been brought up as a matter for graduate students and Joan Savitt said it was brought up, but not endorsed.

A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

· Changes in Policy on Faculty Eligibility to Teach Graduate Courses #0203-12, introduced by GAC. Professor MacDonald said this bill is a reaction to an existing policy, which states that faculty members that do not have a Ph.D. have to get a waiver before they teach graduate classes. This usually happens six weeks after they begin to teach and it is difficult to hold them to the letter of the law after they have been teaching for that long. The existing policy makes for a lax system; this bill is intended to make the system more efficient.

Professor Lawson asked which programs are exempt and Professor MacDonald said only the MFA because that program uses a lot of people in the field to teach (if the teacher is a field specialist, they may not have a Ph.D.). This new policy will allow the Deans to make the decision and to document it. She added that the Chair should make the request to the Dean for the exemption and if it is approved at the Dean's level, it goes to the Council. The Council would have the right to object, but they are more apt to agree with the Dean. Jon Bartow explained that the process is not really workable as is; this change will move the locus of the final decision to be within each school with reporting to the Council for documentation purposes.

A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

· Suspension of Classes on Fountain Day #0203-13, introduced by the Student Action Committee and the University Life Council. Chair Pipkin explained that the format of the bill reflects its origin. It was originally a bill in the Student Action Committee and is cosponsored by University Life.

A lengthy discussion centered around the fact that Fountain Day is a meaningful event for students and the students feel classes should be suspended in order to enable them to attend the event. The University Life Council fully supports making that part of the day special by suspending classes so all can attend.

Revisions to the bill were agreed upon after some discussion concerning the scheduled day of the week for the event.

The revised bill reads as follows:

I. That classes be suspended from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm on Fountain Day, beginning in the Spring 2005 semester.

II. That Fountain Day be scheduled on a Wednesday in Spring 2005, and in subsequent years on a Wednesday whenever possible, and otherwise on a Tuesday or Thursday, as recommended by the Educational Policy Council in conjunction with the Department of Student Life, in consultation with the Registrar.

III. That the Bill be forwarded to the President for approval and implementation.

A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously as amended.

Meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder