Revision of the university bylaws was the hot topic at the University Senate meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
For the first time in a long time, quorum was reached and maintained at the meeting; motions were passed and things were finally beginning to be accomplished.
The meeting started with a moment of silence and prayer in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy at the request of the Rev. Monty Bradley. Following the silence, Bradley began his last devotion at Otterbein Senate before his retirement in June. After the round of applause and standing ovation, Beth Daugherty, professor of English at Otterbein, stood to say a few words about Bradley. “I just wanted to say for myself and for the rest of us, that senate meeting after senate meeting with his legal pad turning the pages, and his wonderful words anchoring us, thank you sir,” she said.
Senate Bill 12/13-1 is a proposal to revise the Otterbein bylaws. This bill came to senate because some committees have stopped attending or rarely go to the senate meetings, and are not meeting on their own, either. Under the proposed bylaws, the committees would be renamed and reorganized. The membership and responsibilities would be updated and restructured as well.
Some of the bylaws also need to be updated for Otterbein’s current priorities. These include the need to improve communication between committees. Also, the issues will be more clearly defined so everything will run more smoothly in the senate, as well as to insure that everyone is well represented.
“The governing system has changed since its beginning,” Lisa Lee, secretary to Otterbein’s president, said. “And now the effectiveness of the system has been questioned.”
Before voting on the motion of Senate Bill 12/13-1, Chris Reynolds, interim chair of the Department of Communication, urged all senate members to vote in favor of the motion. Finally, while continuing to maintain quorum, the motion was voted on and was approved with no objecting parties. The senate will now move forward with electing a person to chair the committee then select members to fill the committee seats.
The second reading of Senate Bill 12/13-5 came from the Institutional Effectiveness Committee and proposed to update the Institutional Effectiveness Committee/Accreditation Program Review Bylaws. The motion was unanimously adopted and approved.
Senate Bill 12/13-9 derived from the Graduate Committee with a proposal to change the requirements for the MAE Middle Childhood 4-6 Generalist Program. The motion would add two more courses to the academic requirements, including one additional math course. This was unanimously adopted and passed.
The Tan & Cardinal and Otterbein360 have been requesting the senate attendance records, but have been turned down several times. “President Krendl didn’t feel it was necessary to release the individual attendance records,” Lee said. The following photos are of the attendance sheets at the April 17 senate meeting. They should not be taken as the official records since some senate members may arrive late and do not sign in. The photos show the senate members that have and have not been coming to senate, creating the problem of not be able to meet quorum at previous meetings.
