The University Faculty Senate Chairman Jamie Myers opened yesterday's meeting by showing images of trash strewn about the room where monthly meetings are held.
Myers' presentation may have aimed to recognize the university's custodial staff, but the problem he drew attention to was addressed in the legislation on classroom problems passed yesterday at the Senate's last meeting of the semester.
A policy titled "Resolution of Classroom Problems" already exists in the Senate's policies to cover student issues other than grades, but it does not have a standard student-policy number. With this number, students can easily find the policy. The new policy 20-00 states that student concerns arising from questions about classroom situations or behavior will be resolved in a manner that provides for equity and confidentiality for both students and instructors.
Such situations or behavior addressed in the legislation include trash in classrooms, as well as a professor not showing up for designated office hours. It offers direction to students who experience these problems and outlines the necessary steps to be taken in order to make sure the problem is recognized and solved.
Myers said this policy parallels a piece of legislation the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Academic Assembly passed on Feb. 13 to request the cooperation of associate deans and other university officials to raise student awareness about the former policy regarding classroom problems.
Academic Assembly President Ashley Harris said the motion passed yesterday will help students solve problems plaguing academia. "Making the policy more accessible is a really good move in the right direction," she said.
Senators also discussed implementing uniform course abbreviations.
The Uniform Course Abbreviation (UCA) subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs has been working on a piece of legislation from last April to remove redundant or campus-specific course abbreviations from university courses. Under this legislation, course abbreviations would be the same at every campus.
The report showed that of the 48 teams established to achieve the goals of the legislation, about 32 are making significant progress and should be able to submit proposals soon, while the others have either encountered "stumbling blocks" or did not respond.
