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| 04-20-2004 | Previous edition: 04-19-2004 |
        
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Printer-friendly version University Senate plans to place ban on commercial note takingBy Charise PettitEditor in Chief The "use of copyrighted materials" section in University Regulations will contain specific policies pertaining to commercial note taking, if University Senate members have their way. The Senate unanimously approved the addition at its meeting Monday. The policy stems from faculty concern that note-taking businesses are profiting from their work. The regulations would make it clear that all lecture material is protected by copyright and rightfully belongs to the instructor who authored the material. It states that no individual is permitted to sell or otherwise barter notes without the express written consent of the instructor, and only students and approved class visitors may request such permission. The educational policy committee also presented a report on due dates for grades.. Many faculty members have expressed concern that Saturday exams make it to difficult to complete grades by 5 p.m. the following Tuesday, said Tim Skvarenina, committee chair. He said the committee looked into scheduling procedures for exams and commencement and the grade-reporting deadline. The committee determined it is not feasible to extend the deadline at this time. Beginning this May, there will be a Friday night commencement in addition to the Saturday and Sunday events. Purdue desires to have diploma in the folders at graduation, and in order for that to happen audit packages for candidates have to be sent to departments for verification prior to then. Because of the outdated academic record software, all grades have to be entered manually by the Registrar’s Office. Skvarenina said the Registrar’s staff would not be able to complete their jobs in time with the new Friday ceremonies, and thus an extension until noon on Wednesday is not possible. A new records system approved in 1991 — the same system that would allow the 1998-approved plus-minus grading system to be implemented — will sufficiently speed up the graduation preparation time by allowing electronic reporting. Skvarenina said the Board of Trustees has been made aware of the serious problem with the "antiquated" software system. If it fails, academic along with financial record keeping will also fail. The new software package will be developed at Purdue beginning July 2005, with the academic portion set to be completed by August 2008. Bob Montgomery, associate professor of electrical engineering and athletic affairs committee chair, gave the annual report on Purdue’s student-athlete performance. He said Purdue’s goals are those of the "25/75 Club," a group of universities striving to have athletic programs consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally and have a 75 percent graduation rate. For the Fall 2003 semester, the cumulative grade point average for approximately 450 varsity-level athletes was 2.9 compared to the all-campus average of 2.84. For the most recent six-year graduation timeframe, Purdue athletes are at 61 percent. However, Montgomery pointed out that a new head football coach (Joe Tiller) was appointed at this time which relates to a lot of transfer activity. Looking at the 1997-98 starting class, the graduation rate is at 81 percent with another year to go. The Senate unanimously elected the nominees for open spots on Senate committees, and outgoing chairman Chris Harper gave his comments on the role of University Senate and the job it did this year. He said that although looking at the number of actions made could make it appear that the group didn’t do much this year. However, he said, something more significant has been happening. "The Senate is taking on an increased role in the governance of this University," he said. "More and more, the administrators are asking for our opinions and ideas. It gives me hope that it is possible for us to be a community of scholars, in a time when so many schools are becoming more corporate." Printer-friendly version |
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