Faculty Congress (FC) Motions 2009-2010

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Faculty Congress is the policy making body of UH Hilo for all academic matters of concern to more than one unit. On UH system-wide issues, the Congress conveys the views of the UH Hilo faculty to the UH President through the UH Hilo Chancellor.

Motions Passed by FC and Status of AA

April 9, 2010

Motion 1

Amend Congress bylaws (First reading March 12, 2010, second reading and vote April 9, 2010).  Move to modify the charge to the Curriculum Review Committee as follows and amended (added text underlined):

Curriculum Review Committee
The Congress will appoint a Curriculum Review Committee of not less than five members with at least one member and one alternate from each degree-granting College, one member and one alternate from the Graduate Council, and the University Registrar or his/her designate. The Congress will also appoint a faculty member currently serving on Congress to serve as Chair of this Committee. The purview of this committee will be to approve all curricular revision and new curricula university-wide. New programs requiring BOR approval, after being reviewed and approved by the Curriculum Review Committee, will be submitted to Faculty Congress for a vote. Members shall serve two-year staggered terms. The Chair of this committee will receive a one-course course reduction or one-course overload payment for year. Terms of office will be overlapped so that each year half of the membership will be replaced to provide continuity from year to year.

Motion passed: 13 in favor, 2 opposed, no abstain.

Motion 2 from GE Committee

To reduce certification period from 7 to 5 years for courses certified as general education.
Motion passed: 15 in favor, 0 opposed, no abstain.

Motion 3 from GE Committee

Approval of revised GE Certification application form.
Motion passed: 15 in favor, 0 opposed, no abstain.

Motion 4

Approval of System-wide MOA for transfer of general education courses between UH campuses.
Motion passed: 15 in favor, 0 opposed

Motion 5 from GE Committee

Endorsement of “Crosswalk” document for articulation of UHH GenEd  and UHM Gen Ed courses for transfer.
Motion passed: 15 in favor, 0 opposed

March 12, 2010

Motion 1

: Motion to modify the curriculum review flowchart to read: “New programs that require BOR approval will be reviewed first by the appropriate faculty governance body (bodies for interdisciplinary programs), and then by the Dean (Deans for interdisciplinary programs), and then will be reviewed by the Curriculum Review Committee. The Curriculum Review Committee will then submit proposals for new programs requiring BOR approval to the Faculty Congress for approval.’’

Motion passed 16 for, 2 against, 0 abstain.

December 4, 2009

Motion 1

: To approve the following Achievement Award to be engraved on a plaque and granted to Dr. Regina Titunik, posthumously.

Achievement Award
The University of Hawaii at Hilo 2009-2010 Faculty Congress Recognizes Dr. Regina Titunik
For Her Service to the University
For Her Teaching Excellence
For Her Research Contributions
And For Being a Role Model
To Us All

Motion was approved by acclamation

Motion 2

: To amend Charter to enable Congress to use electronic voting to change the Charter (Second reading, changes will be sent to the faculty via written ballot to approve these changes).

Article VII, Amendments to the Charter

Whenever after two readings, a majority of the Congress votes to amend the Charter, the proposed amendment shall be referred to the faculty for ratification, and written or electronic ballots shall be distributed to all UH Hilo tenure-track faculty. The Charter shall be amended when proposals are approved by a majority of those voting.

Motion approved by acclamation

Motion 3

: To amend the Bylaws to charge Faculty Congress with administering annual Dean evaluations and to allow for electronic ballots: (Second reading)

Administrative Review
Congress will conduct an annual administrative review. Tenured and tenure-track faculty will be sent a confidential form via electronic or written means. If the form is mailed, it is to be returned in a blank inner envelope with the faculty member’s name on the outer envelope. At least three Congress members will oversee the opening of the envelopes such that confidentiality is maintained. The forms will be analyzed and summarized with a report sent to the appropriate supervisor. In the case of an electronic form, every reasonable means should be taken to ensure confidentiality, anonymity, and one vote per person. At least three Congress members will oversee the electronic assessment and compilation of results. In the case of a Presidential evaluation, a report will be sent to the Board of Regents. In the case of a Chancellor evaluation, a report will be sent to the President. In the case of Vice Chancellor evaluations, a report will be sent to the Chancellor. In the case of Deans, a report will be sent to the Chancellor via the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. Academic units may choose to administer their own Dean evaluations, but if they have not done so by April 15 of each year, Congress will be charged with administering the Dean evaluation. The report summary will be reviewed by Congress in executive session and shall not be reported in the minutes.

Motion approved, 12 for, 0 against, 2 abstain.

Motion 4

: That the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs take measures to efficiently utilize all available classrooms so that the maximum amount of courses can be offered to our students.

Motion approved unanimously.

Motion 5

: Change the existing Grade Policy to the following: Once a student has graduated, grade changes may not be made in the student’s record except in cases of documented instructor error.  Requests for changes resulting from documented instructor error must be made through the College Dean within the following regular (fall or spring) semester. The Dean will communicate the change of grade to the Registrar’s office, which will implement the change.

Motion approved unanimously.

Motion 6

: Approve revised policy on Residency Requirement (New language is underlined)

Baccalaureate Degrees: General Requirements
Baccalaureate degrees are granted only to those students who
  1. earn at least 120 semester hour,
  2. complete satisfactorily the program of courses prescribed for their majors,
  3. earn at least a 2.0 UH Hilo cumulative GPA in courses required for the major (a higher GPA may be required for some degrees) and minor (if any), 4. earn a minimum of 30 semester hours from UH Hilo,
  4. are registered as a classified student with a declared major and in attendance at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo during the semester or summer session in which the degree is granted,

  5. ) have been registered as  classified students with a declared major in attendance at UH Hilo within the preceding year and

  6. meet all requirements of their respective colleges and departments.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 7

: Motion for the final endorsement of all documents to be submitted to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs for the Fall 2011 implementation of the General Education Program, including the Fall 2010 catalog preview.

  1. Fall 2010 Catalog Preview
  2. Fall 2011 Catalog Entry
  3. Matrix for 2010 Preview and 2011 Catalog Entry
  4. Articulation of General Education Transfer Policy
  5. Policies on Retroactive Credit and Special Topics courses
  6. Finalized Learning Outcomes for Catalog Entry and Assessment Purposes
  7. GE Certification Tally Sheet
  8. GE Certified Course List by Category

Motion approved unanimously

November 13, 2009

Motion 1

: The Global and Community Citizenship criteria in the 2007-2008 GE proposal will be amended to read as follows (addition has been underlined):

Students are required to take one three-credit Global and Community Citizenship (GCC) course that will:

  • enhance awareness of local and global community and environmental issues;
  • stress application of knowledge and skills to solving community or environmental challenges and/or benefiting the community through course conducted workshops;
  • encourage interaction with community, business and/or government sectors in order to effect positive change;
  • encourage students to become informed and active participants in their communities;
  • include, but is not limited to, internship, field work, community workshop, service learning component, or a research-based project that utilizes field work to explore ways in which one can contribute to the global or local community.

Motion approved unanimously.

October 30, 2009

Motion 1

‘The Six Goals with Learning Outcomes’ prepared by the summer 2009 task force GE committee, shall be used forcatalogue entry andprogram assessment purposes. All courses certified by the GE Committee do not need to be recertified until the process begins again as specified in the original 2008 proposal."

Motion passed unanimously.

Motion 2

“For implementation purposes, the Integrative Requirements – Writing Intensive, Hawaii-Asian-Pacific, and Global Community Citizenship – shall be separated from the General Education Core Curriculum – Basic and Area requirements.  Transfer students with an A.A. degree, who are exempt from GE Core (Area and Basic) requirements, will still be required to fulfill the Integrative requirements for graduation purposes.”

Motion passed unanimously.

Motion 3

“The GE Committee requests authorization to reexamine and articulate the GCC requirement in order to solicit more courses to fulfill the requirement for full implementation in Fall 2011.”

Motion passed unanimously.

Motion 4

“The World Culture requirement within the GE Core (Area and Basic) should be returned to 6 credits to bring the total GE Core requirements back up to 37 credit hours separate from a possible 15 integrative credits (+HAP+GCC = 43/ + WI = 46 to 52) which can be double counted.  This change will help meet WASC Criteria for Review guidelines of 45 credit hours for GE.”

Motion passed unanimously.

September 25, 2009

Motion 1: Amend the Charter to enable Congress to elect its own members

Faculty Congress will hold elections for representatives to the Congress each spring semester. Each unit will elect its own representatives to the Congress.”

Motion to amend the motion was passed unanimously.

The motion will be voted on, as amended, at its second reading at the October Faculty Congress meeting. If approved, it will be mailed out to the tenured and tenure-track faculty for approval.