The University Faculty Senate unanimously passed three student-related pieces of legislation with little discussion yesterday afternoon, during a informational meeting highlighted by an address from University Trustee Ben Novak.

A change in a senate enrollment rule specifically prohibits students from completing course requirements outside of the semester they have registered for a given course.

This legislation is designed to avoid situations such as a student failing a course Fall Semester and, after recompleting the requirements, submitting for a grade change in the spring, said Murry Nelson, chairman of the senate Committee of Academic and Athletic Standards.

"(This legislation) makes clear what the spirit of the policy is," he said.

A second legislative change specifies how degree candidates can obtain extensions to the time they have to complete an associate or baccalaureate degree. "Exceptions to (the rule) will be decided upon by the student's dean or his/her representative upon appeal by the student," according to the senate agenda. According to the senate agenda, the time limit to complete the last 30 credits of an associate degree is 3 years. Students have 5 years to complete the last 60 credits of a baccalaureate degree.

The third student-related legislation explicitly prohibits scheduling regular-season athletic contests during finals week.

"It is a request from the (National Collegiate Athletic Association) that we do something legislatively. It is not a problem since we have always done this," Nelson said.

The meeting's focus on students continued when, during time reserved for non-senators' addresses to the senate, Novak urged faculty senators to become involved in student activities. "The other half of a college education has withered away. We need a renaissance of spirit," Novak said.

"Students don't need programs," he said, because they are too detached from real life. "People have to want to be involved with students. They don't need people who are paid to be involved," Novak added.

In his address, Novak focused on what he calls a lack of unified student activism today, referring to the Class of 1950, which voted to increase tuition to build the HUB.

"They never saw that building, but they paid for it," Novak said.

"There is no way, at the present time, for students to bond with each other, with faculty," he said.

"Students are not cogs to go into the agricultural-technological-business machine -- they are human beings," Novak told his audience.

Senators offered varying responses to Novak's speech.

Council of Commonwealth Student Governments Chairman David James said he admires Novak's initiative but believes Novak overlooked activism such as the Undergraduate Student Government's quest for the open budget.

In other business, G. Gregory Lozier, chairman of the Capital Budget Request Advisory Committee, explained the capital budget request process to the senate.

Davida Charney gave an oral presentation about a program to integrate computers into English 202 classes. Some senators expressed some skepticism about funding for the hardware and software required for the program.

The senate accepted an advisory and consultative report on study areas prepared by the Joint Committees on Libraries and Student Life.

The senate also accepted an advisory and consultative report on returning adult students prepared by the Committee on Student Life.