Public home page Local home page How to contact us Search

Highlights of the College Park Senate meeting on November 9, 2006

1. Report of the Chair (Professor Jim Gates)

   Senate is reassembling a task force on improving campus security.

2. Report of the Senate Executive Committee

   The Revised Plan of Organization for the A.J. Clark School of Engineering has been approved.

3. Report of the Elections, Representation, and Governance Committee

   Prof. Douglas McElrath presented a proposal to set up two single member Senate constituencies for lecturers (one for 263 full-time lecturers, one for 561 part-time lecturers). This proposal would double the single Senate position currently provided for lecturers. The proposal was passed.

   During discussions it was mentioned College Park apparently treats lecturers well compared to other UMD campuses, and was held up as a "paragon of virtue" in USM system-wide discussions on policies for lecturers.

4. Special Order of the Day

   Report of Kenneth Krouse, Chief of University Police

   Chief Krouse reported on the current state of campus safety, as well as actions being taken by campus police to improve campus safety. Points presented include:

   • Recent FBI data on college campus crime listed UMD College Park as the university campus with the 2nd most amount of crime in the nation. On a per capita basis UMD College Park would drop to 66th.
   • Number of robberies on campus has been increasing.
   • Campus police is making an effort to improve campus safety. An $8 million initiative has installed 300+ cameras and additional lighting around campus. Video cameras on campus have helped to identify and lead to the arrest of some burglars.
   • Campus police have determined that students departing bars from downtown College Park around 2am (in an intoxicated state) are targeted by criminals. As a result 15 extra police have been assigned to patrol the downtown area. Prince George county police have also assigned an extra 18 police officers to downtown College Park.
   • Extra police presence has been successful in reducing robberies and producing 7-8 arrests when illegal weapons were found during traffic stops and interrogations.

5. New Business

   SGA president reported that an SGA initiative to encourage early textbook selection by College Park faculty has been working well. It is estimated that students saved $1 million in the past year in textbook purchases. Faculty are encouraged to continue reporting textbook selections early for their classes.

Chau-Wen Tseng