The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #135 on March 6, 2006:

MOTION:
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The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the "UAF Advanced Placement Credit" for Foreign Languages/Alaska Native Language to delete Foreign Languages from the policy (p. 31-33 of the 2005-2006 catalog). 

CAPS  - Additions
[[   ]]  - Deletions

Alternate Ways to Earn Credit

UAF Advanced Placement Credit

*[[Foreign Language/]] Alaska Native Language

After completing the course in which you were placed (above 101) and earning a B grade or higher, you may ask to receive credit for the two immediately preceding prerequisite courses, if any.  However, credit cannot be awarded for such courses if university credit has already been granted for them (e.g., through College Board Advanced Placement national tests or credit transfer from another college).  Credit will not be awarded for special topics courses, individual study courses, literature or culture courses, conversation courses, or any course taught in English. 

            EFFECTIVE:               Fall 2006

            RATIONALE:  The Dept. Foreign Languages is asking to do away with this manner of earning credit for the following reasons:

• it is redundant: Students may earn up to 16 credits in French, German, and Spanish through the CLEP test offered by Testing Services. Tests in Japanese and Russian are offered by BYU and are also accepted by UAF. (see p. 31 of the UAF catalog)
• it duplicates AP credit: local AP language teachers are advising students not to take the AP test if they are planning to attend UAF because they can get the credit simply by taking a class.
• it is inconsistent with other academic disciplines: Foreign Languages and Alaska Native Languages are the only programs that offer this sort of credit. ANL chooses to maintain the policy because there are no tests available in Alaskan Native languages. Other departments have no such policy- why should we be different? Students cannot earn credit for Biology 104 and 105 by taking Biology 106.
• it does not benefit heritage and native speakers: as languages grow in popularity more and more heritage and native speakers (in Spanish particularly, but also in other languages) are signing up for classes. Under the current policy they must begin at the 300-level in order to earn bonus credits for the prior courses. Many of these students are not served by 300-level classes and should go directly into more advanced courses, but cannot do so because they will lose their chance to earn “bonus” credits.
• it creates difficulties for instructors: students take classes that they really should not be in (for which they are either under- or over-prepared) so that they can try to get bonus credits. This creates difficulties for instructors who are trying to deal with, for example, a native speaker in a third-year language class.
• it is overly complicated: along with increased popularity and enrollment come increased difficulties. While we attempted to draft a policy that would cover all situations, this has not turned out to be so. Not a week goes by without some new, unexpected request for credit that must be dealt with on a case by case basis. The evaluation of these cases is causing an undue burden to faculty and staff.

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The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #135 on March 6, 2006:

MOTION:
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The UAF Faculty Senate moves to change the Grading System policy for the "I" -- Incomplete grade and add the "NB" -- No Basis grading option (2005-2006 Catalog, page 70-71), as follows:

[[   ]]  - Deletions
CAPS - Additions

Grading System and Grade Point Average Computation

"I"   Incomplete -- [[Indicates that you have not been able to complete the course during the scheduled course time.  When the I grade is given, the instructor will include a statement of the work required of you to complete the course and the time limit you have to complete the work.  The maximum allowed time is one year.  At the end of the defined time limit, the instructor may issue a grade based on the work turned in.  If the instructor does not change the I grade, it becomes permanent at the end of one year.  The I grade is not computed in your GPA.  You cannot graduate with an I grade in any required course.]]

THE LETTER GRADE "I" (INCOMPLETE) IS A TEMPORARY GRADE USED TO INDICATE THAT THE STUDENT HAS SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED (C OR BETTER) THE MAJORITY OF WORK IN A COURSE BUT FOR PERSONAL REASONS BEYOND THE STUDENT'S CONTROL, SUCH AS SICKNESS, HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO COMPLETE THE COURSE DURING THE REGULAR SEMESTER.  NORMALLY, AN INCOMPLETE IS ASSIGNED IN THE CASE WHEN THE STUDENT IS CURRENT IN THE CLASS UNTIL AT LEAST THE LAST THREE WEEKS OF THE SEMESTER OR SUMMER SESSION. NEGLIGENCE OR INDIFFERENCE ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE REASONS FOR AN "I" GRADE.  THE DEFERRED GRADE (DF) SHOULD BE USED FOR THOSE CASES WHEN A STUDENT IS UNABLE TO COMPLETE A COURSE DUE TO INSTITUTIONAL REASONS, SUCH AS BREAKDOWN OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENT.             

THE INSTRUCTOR WILL ALSO INCLUDE A STATEMENT OF THE WORK REQUIRED OF THE STUDENT TO COMPLETE THE COURSE AT THE TIME THE "I" GRADE IS ASSIGNED AND A COPY OF THE NOTICE OF THE INCOMPLETE GRADE WILL BE SENT TO THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OR COLLEGE IN WHICH THE COURSE IS GIVEN.  AN INSTRUCTOR INTENDING TO ASSIGN A GRADE OF ‘I” WILL MAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO CONTACT THE AFFECTED STUDENT AND SECURE HIS/HER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE CONDITIONS.           

AN INCOMPLETE MUST BE MADE UP WITHIN ONE YEAR OR IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CHANGED TO AN "F" GRADE BY THE RECORDS OFFICE.  THE "I" GRADE IS NOT COMPUTED IN THE STUDENT'S GRADE POINT AVERAGE UNTIL IT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO A REGULAR LETTER GRADE BY THE INSTRUCTOR OR UNTIL ONE YEAR HAS ELAPSED AT WHICH TIME IT WILL BE COMPUTED AS AN "F".  A SENIOR CANNOT GRADUATE WITH AN "I" GRADE IN EITHER A UNIVERSITY OR MAJOR COURSE REQUIREMENT.  TO DETERMINE A SENIOR'S GRADE POINT AVERAGE AT GRADUATION, THE "I" GRADE WILL BE COMPUTED AS A FAILING GRADE.

"NB"   NO BASIS --

INSTRUCTORS MAY AWARD A NO BASIS (NB) GRADE IF THERE IS INSUFFICIENT STUDENT PROGRESS AND/OR ATTENDANCE FOR EVALUATION TO OCCUR.  NO CREDIT IS GIVEN, NOR IS THE "NB" CALCULATED IN THE GPA. THIS IS A PERMANENT GRADE AND MAY NOT BE USED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE INCOMPLETE (I).  IT CANNOT BE REMOVED BY LATER COMPLETING OUTSTANDING WORK.

            EFFECTIVE:              Fall 2006

RATIONALE:              On December 9th, 1996, the Faculty Senate eliminated the No Basis (NB) grade and changed the ‘I’ so that it would not turn into an ‘F’ after a year.   With NB no longer an option, some faculty assigned grades of ‘I’ to students who had no intention of ever completing a particular course.  This caused a huge amount of paperwork (each 'I' requires a separate sheet of paper) and massive paper jams in Admissions & Records, as they’re supposed to keep a record of every ‘I’ grade.  CRCD faculty, through the Associate Dean, request restoration of the ‘NB’ grade—essentially viewing the changes of 12-9-96 as a failed experiment.  In doing so, it would be logical to return to the old ‘I’ at the same time.   Consequently, this proposal is to essentially turn back the clock to November 1996; restore the grade of ‘I’ to its originally intended use; and restore the option of giving a grade of ‘NB’ to a student who has registered but not substantially participated, and not withdrawn.  The addition of the line in italics is to help prevent giving an ‘I’ to a student who would prefer to take a (low) grade instead of finishing a course.

 

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The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #135 on March 6, 2006:

RESOLUTION

ON

Constitutional Amendment: Benefits & Marriage
(SJR 20 and HJR 32)

WHEREAS, Discrimination against faculty on the basis of marital status is expressly prohibited by the University of Alaska Board of Regents Statement of Non-discrimination; and

Whereas, the UAF Faculty Senate affirms the importance of complying with university non-discrimination policies; and

WHEREAS, to comply with SJR 20 and HJR 32 the university would deny financially interdependent partners (FIPs) insurance benefits, family membership at the Student Recreation Center, tuition waivers, faculty housing, and other valuable benefits currently offered counter to university policy prohibiting discrimination based on marital status; and

WHEREAS, The Faculty Senateaffirms thatproviding insurance and other benefits to FIPs is a valuable way to recruit and retain excellent faculty; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the UAF Faculty Senate is opposed to SJR 20/HJR 32; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the UAF Faculty Senate commends the University of Alaska statewide administration for its ongoing support of financially interdependent partner (FIPs) benefits.