Highlights of the September 10, 2001, meeting of the College Park Senate


The Short Version:

  • Newly appointed committee chairs and members for 2001-2002 were approved.
  • Postponed til October: Proposal to revise the Policy on Review of Academic Units.
  • Moved and approved: Requirement that individuals smoke more than 15 feet away from buildings.
  • State of Campus address by President Mote.


    The Detailed Version:

  • Newly appointed chairs and members of the standing committees for 2001-2002 were approved. This includes the chair and member appointments for committees on Academic Procedures and Standards, Campus Affairs, Educational Affairs, Elections, Faculty Affairs, Governmental Affairs, Human Relations, Programs, Staff Affairs, Student Affairs, Student Conduct, Campus Recreation, and Campus Parking.

  • Postponed until next meeting: Recommendation to revise the Policy on the Review of Academic Units. Revisions include very specific changes including the addition of an internal self-study, a time limit on the duration of the review, weakening of the requirement that faculty from outside the unit be included in the self-study, and a specific charge to the review committee as to the review criteria.

  • Moved and approved: Requirement added to the UMCP Smoking Policy and Guideline that individuals smoke more than 15 feet away from buildings. The Office of Environmental Safety was asked to do tests and found evidence of environmental tobacco smoke at the entrances of various campus buildings. The wording added to the guidelines is: "Smoking is prohibited outside of buildings within 15 feet of any building entrance, air intake duct or window."

  • The meeting closed after the State of the Campus address by President Mote. Some key points were: (1) The success of our campus last year, as exemplified by recruitment of 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, 1 Nobel Laureate, 1 Clark Medal Winner, and acquisition of research funding that topped $300 million (ranking us 15th in the US); (2) The continued commitment to diversity, including the recruitment of minority faculty and maintainenance of an undergraduate student body that is 36% minority; (3) An invitation to plan for support of a freshman mentorship program; (4) A commitment to working on graduate student needs and making improvement in the graduate student experience a priority; (5) Appointment of a Presidential Civility that will provide a statement of principle on civility and sportsmanship, e.g., hate crimes, intolerance, threats, violence, injury, and destruction---or unruly celebration of any kind. For a more complete and detailed transcript of the speech, see: Mote's speech

    Bonnie Dorr & Don Perlis
    Senators, Department of Computer Science