Table of Contents
Archived 1995-1996 Resolutions
Resolution 1995-1996-1 GEP Program Requirement – Senate Bill 2330
Whereas, The State of Florida passed Senate Bill 2330 which calls for a 36-hour General Education Program requirement;
Be It Resolved that the General Education Program be changed in the following ways:
- In the Communication Foundations area, a new course SPC 1605, Technical Presentations, will be offered along with Speech 1600.
- In the Science Foundations area, the requirement will read: “Take one course from each group. Some majors require a specific course with a laboratory or a higher level course in this area. Consult your advisor.” The total credits for the area will be changed from seven to six.
- In the Social Foundations area a student will take either American National Government or Micro-Economics or Macro-Economics.
- While a required diversity course will not at this time become part of the GEP, the Faculty Senate will appoint a committee to study the incorporation of diversity as a graduation requirement. The report of this committee will be due to the Faculty Senate at its November, 1996 meeting.
A copy of the recommended GEP is available here.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on October 26, 1995.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-2 Awarding Posthumous Degrees to Students
Whereas, There are occasional requests to award posthumous degrees to students; and
Whereas, Currently there is no University policy on awarding such degrees;
Be It Resolved that a posthumous degree can only be awarded when the student was in good academic standing and the student’s department has certified that the deceased student has completed approximately 90 percent of course work requirements of his/her degree program at the time of his/her demise.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on January 25, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-3 Appropriate Use and Employment of Part-time (Adjunct) Faculty
Whereas, There are concerns about the appropriate use and employment of part-time faculty members;
Be It Resolved that the Faculty Senate is in agreement with the SACS Committee recommendation that the University of Central Florida develop and implement a plan that is consistent with the goals of effective teaching, advising, and scholarly or creative activities. The plan and its implementation must ensure that appropriate numbers of full-time departmental faculty are available to participate in curriculum development, policy making, institutional planning, and governance. Furthermore, the Faculty Senate supports the University target upper limit for adjuncts of 25 percent unless specific justification is provided.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on January 25, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-4 Overload Compensation for Chairs
Whereas, Faculty serving as administrators on twelve month (annual) contracts who supervise others and/or execute financial controls are considered academic professionals, and are expected to perform reasonable assigned duties in administration, teaching, research, and service for the compensation provided by their twelve month contract;
Be It Resolved that when such persons are assigned these duties, their contributions shall be recognized by reasonable non-monetary accommodation in their other assignments, and no overload payments will be authorized for such persons.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on February 22, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-5 Teaching Responsibilities of Chairs
(Not Approved)
Whereas, Teaching is central to the mission of the University of Central Florida, and academic chairs/directors are expected to perform reasonable assigned duties in teaching;
Be It Resolved that academic chairs/directors are normally expected to teach a minimum of six credit hours in load per contract year. Such exceptions shall be approved and justified in writing by their supervisors.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Returned by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996 with the following comments:
“We basically agree with the spirit of this proposal but suggest a rewording to incorporate the policy statement attached to this memo. The proposed policy for overload for administrators incorporates the general policy of the university toward overload for all faculty, which requires that overload may be paid only for those duties beyond those expected of normal assignments and is allowed only for instruction at off-campus sites or emergencies. The application of this policy to administrators incorporates Faculty Senate Resolution 1995-96-5, which specifies the normal teaching load for administrators and further address the conflict of interest issue raised by the Faculty Senate.”
Resolution 1995-1996-6 Plus/Minus Grading
Submitted by Undergraduate Policy and Curriculum Committee.
Whereas, Faculty would like to more clearly reflect the academic achievement of individual students in their courses; and
Whereas, Our current full letter grade grading system (A, B, C, D, F) places students with widely different achievements with the same grade;
Be it Resolved that the University adopt a policy of plus minus grading.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on February 22, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996:
“Specific details of the policy are needed. Provost Whitehouse charged the Senate to organize a committee to survey the resolution more thoroughly.”
Transmitted Implementation Plan to Provost Gary Whitehouse on April 27, 1998
Implementation Approved by Provost Whitehouse on May 18, 1998.
Implementation distributed to all faculty on July 30, 2001
Resolution 1995-1996-7 Withdrawal Deadline
(Not Approved)
Whereas, Large numbers of students who register for courses each term withdraw prior to the withdrawal deadline; and
Whereas, Student withdrawals from courses contribute the excess hours held against the University; and
Whereas, It is believed an earlier withdrawal deadline will increase the number of students who commit to completion of a course at the time of registration;
Be it Resolved that the withdrawal deadline be moved to the end of the week which falls one third of the way into the term. For the fall and spring semesters this would normally be the end of the fifth week of class.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on February 22, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Returned by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996:
“Resolution 1995-1996-7 was denied after a review of course drop dates throughout the SUS and with neighboring community colleges. All institutions had the same policy that UCF currently has. There were also concerns expressed by the deans that students might not receive academic feedback before the early drop date.”
Resolution 1995-1996-8 Length of Academic Calendar
(Returned to Committee)
Whereas, The faculty are in the best position to determine the length of time needed to present content in courses as designed and approved through the university curriculum process; and
Whereas, Current courses are designed for presentation of content over a full fifteen week semester plus a final examination class;
Be It Resolved that a regular semester be composed of at least fifteen calendar weeks of instruction.
Returned to the Undergraduate Policy and Curriculum Committee by the Faculty Senate on February 26, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-9 American Sign Language
(Defeated)
Whereas, The practice of having a foreign language graduation requirement is not universal across Florida state universities; and
Whereas, Universities who do have a foreign language graduation requirement frequently determine the languages which meet this requirement at the department level; and
Whereas, Individual departments within the colleges are in the best position to determine if American Sign Language meets their requirement;
Be It Resolved that college departments within UCF have the option to allow American Sign Language to meet the foreign language graduation requirements within specific degree programs.
Defeated by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-10 Transfer GPA/UCF GPA
(Returned to Committee)
Whereas, The calculation of a transfer GPA results in a GPA which is confusing and sometimes detrimental to students because of the loss of grade forgiveness and plus minus grades awarded at prior schools; and
Whereas, The calculation of a transfer GPA requires use of large amounts of university resources; and
Whereas, Decisions on admission to the university are made on GPA at the last school the student attended, regardless of overall GPA as calculated for a transfer summary request
Be It Resolved that a transfer GPA based on courses taken at other institutions will not be calculated resulting in the elimination of the overall GPA. All prior course work will appear on the transcript and may count toward general education and major requirements. However, only the UCF GA will count for graduation and honors requirements. UCF course work may include work done at other institutions as a part of a UCF approved study program.
Returned to the Undergraduate Policy and Curriculum Committee by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-11 Student Perception of Instruction
Whereas, The existing UCF student evaluation of faculty form has not been reviewed for over 15 years; and
Whereas, The Board of Regents has mandated the inclusion of eight “core” questions on all student evaluations of faculty instruction; and
Whereas, The faculty desire to improve teaching effectiveness; and
Whereas, The primary function of such an evaluation is to provide feedback to faculty to improve teaching effectiveness; and
Whereas, Results of the students perception of faculty instruction provide only one of the several factors to be considered in assessing teaching effectiveness of a faculty;
Be It Resolved that a new student perception of instruction form (attached) be adopted. The questions on the form should be tested over a one year period of time, and at the end of that period of time, recommendations on any changes be made to the Faculty Senate. The form is to be administered for each course, at the start of the class period, during approximately (and a similar time frame during the various summer terms).
Be It Further Resolved that a Teaching Learning Center be established to assist faculty in enhancing teaching effectiveness.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on February 22, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.
Resolution 1995-1996-12 Support of Tenure at UCF
Whereas, Institutions of higher learning must provide an environment in which individual faculty can express diverse views in teaching, research and service to accomplish its objectives,
Be It Resolved that the faculty at the University of Central Florida support the concept of tenure as traditionally configured in the State of Florida.
Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 1996.
Transmitted to Provost Gary Whitehouse on May 1, 1996.
Approved by Provost Whitehouse on August 16, 1996.