Veritas, Vol. 22, No. 02, September 14, 1981

              For the Faculty, Staff and Friends of the University of Miami
Voi. 22, No. 2 September 14, 1981
Faculty Senate re-elects Flashy; Vice-chairmanship still undecided
Eugene Cl as by, associate professor, English, was elected to another term of office as chairman of the Faculty Senate Aug.
24, out-polling Mary Ann Fletcher, associate professor, immunology, by four votes.
Senate approved a motion for a new election for the vice-chairmanship to be held at the Sept. 28 meeting.
According to Faculty Senate Secretary Lynn Morris, absentee ballots for the elec-
Faculty Senate Chairman Or. Eugene Clasby
Of the three faculty members nominated for the post of vice-chairman—
Charles Calhoun, associate professor, accounting, Jack Coffland, professor, education, and Robert Zaller, associate professor, history, none received a clear majority. A run-off between professors Coffland and Zaller ended in a tie with each candidate receiving 20 votes. The
tion will be accepted up until the actual start of the September meeting. In order to be counted, the name of the preferred candidate must be w ritten on a piece of paper and delivered in sealed envelope addressed to Mrs. Morris bearing the signature of the elector.
Following up on action from the June meeting, Clasby announced the Provost’s
Team effort stressed
Student Affairs Division says ^Students arc our liusSncss*'
According to Dr. Rick Artynan, some people have the wrong idea about what it means to work on a university campus.
"Some people have actually said this is a nice place without the students,” Art-man said.
As assistant to Vice President for Student Affairs William Butler; Artman is concerned w ith factors that keep students returning to UM, or conversely, those elements that can be identified as discouraging students from completing their education here.
Artman speaks from the position of knowing the University from the viewpoint of a student — he earned three degrees here — and from that of an administrator of nine years duration.
"1 see it all the time. We don’t have system problems, we have people problems,” Artman said.
Can people involved in "service” positions be taught to be friendly and helpful? Artman thinks so. He seized the program for employee orientation at Disney World for his example: A program that graduates employees w ho appear happy w earing heavy costumes, often in intense heat, and dealing w'ith all ty pes of problems and languages would have something to offer, he reasoned.
appointment of James Ash, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as director of the Honors and Privileged Studies Program. This program is University wide and provides special courses for superior students with the top instructors in the subject area. Ash, who w ill report to the provost, told Veritas that his aim is to expand the curriculum of the program and make it more competitive with those offered at other universities in the state and region.
"Our program has not been as large or as well supported by University resources as others in the area,” Ash said. He succeeds Dr. John Harrison w ho directed the program for seven years until his retirement last June.
The Senate passed and forwarded to ~ President Edward T Foote for his approval a policy statement defining "good academic standing.” The definition, apparently the first ever adopted by the University, resulted from a need to comply writh NCAA regulations.
Study ing the matter during the last spring term, the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Standards issued a report stating the "University appears, at this
"Based on the Disney orientation program, w'e began our own employee orientation program in the fall a year ago. But, since people join the University at different times of the year, we felt that it was necessary to reduce to writing the information we presented during the orientation session,” Artman said.
The result is a 19-page guide titled Welcome to Student Affairs: A Guide for Nen* Staff. From Dr. Butter’s opening statement to the last punctuation mark, the guide stresses a team effort for serving students.
"Because of the focus of the Division, it is important to have those who come in contact with the students be the kind of people who will take the time to help a student or take the time to refer — and refer correctly — the student to the person who can help,” Artman said.
Because they feel the same philosophy can be applied campus-wide, the Division of Student Affairs has agreed to share its 10 principles of business here.
STUDENTS ARE OUR BUSINESS!
The complexities and bureaucratic red tape of a large organization, such as the University of Miami, necessitate the
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time, to have no official definition of in good academic standing .” The committee reported that the athletic department interpreted the phrase to mean any student enrolled in the University at that time. Specifically, the committee reported, a student in dismissal status whose dismissal status has been waived by the dean is considered in good academic standing. Thus, under existing interpretation, only students who had been dismissed were not in good standing.
The measure proposed by the committee and adopted at the Aug. 24 meeting states: "A student is considered in good academic standing if his cumulative grade point average is higher that that established for the determination of academic probation. A student is not in good academic standing if he is in probation status or dismissal status, even though the dismissal has been successfully appealed.”
The Senate amended the motion to apply to all students who might participate in activités as representatives of the University and not just athletes.
Clasby said the action would probably not apply until the time of the printingof the next school catalogue.
haboring under an illusion ... construction workers dismantled the framework of the awning at the Faculty Club last week. A December completion date has been set for the refurbishing project w hich includes expansion of the President’s Dining Room and construction of a new conference room replacing the patio area.