Faculty Senate approves proposal about undergraduate admissions policy

The UNT Faculty Senate approved a proposal to continue automatically accepting new college freshmen who are in the top 25 percent of their high school graduating class for the 2003 academic year during the senate's April meeting.

The Faculty Senate's academic affairs committee must conduct a review of undergraduate admissions every year, including the top 25 percent policy. The review is required by legislation.

Emile Sahliyeh, chair of the academic affairs committee, told senators the committee reviewed the admission policies and procedures for undergraduate admissions, including admission standards for entering undergraduate students and admission standards for transfer undergraduate students. He said the committee also reviewed the impact of automatically admitting the top 25 percent of Texas high school graduates on the quality and diversity of the student body at UNT. Based on those reviews, the committee recommended that the policy to automatically accept students in the top 25 percent of their class remain unchanged.

The UNT Faculty Senate also approved the implementation of plus-minus grading system levels (see table), upon implementation of the new student information system. The senate voted last year to adopt a plus-minus grading system. The policy has been sent to David Kesterson, provost and vice president for academic affairs, for consideration.

The senate also approved a survey to determine how the Faculty Senate is perceived by faculty. This survey will be distributed via e-mail to all UNT faculty members. The issue was discussed during the March senate meeting, when senators asked that certain survey questions be added or changed and that objectives be added. The altered survey was presented and approved by the senate. Juliet Getty, senate chair, said faculty members will receive an e-mail message about the survey, which they can access via the WebCT system.

In other business, the senate:

• heard a report from the benefits committee presented by Kent McGregor, committee chair. The report included four topics — a proposed revision to the sick pool policy, allowing UNT employees to use sick pool leave on an intermittent basis rather than only consecutively; new insurance offerings and insurance concerns voiced by UNT employees; the Employees Assistance Program; and a retirement issue involving proposed legislation that would allow employees to change from the optional retirement plan to the Teachers Retirement System. McGregor said the human resources department is reviewing the sick pool policy as well as the insurance concerns.
• heard a report from Suzanne La Brecque, vice provost and associate vice president for academic affairs, who reported on the ninth annual Community College Day Conference at UNT April 5, the UNT College of Engineering proposal that was to go before the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board April 19 (the board approved the proposal, creating the UNT college) and the many departmental and unit moves that have taken place and those slated in the future as UNT continues to expand and build.
• saw written reports from the scholarship committee and the Faculty Senate executive committee.
• Heard a report from Getty including reminders about planned town hall meetings regarding UNT at Dallas planning and about the University Curriculum Assessment Committee's curriculum assessment cycle.

The Faculty Senate meets again at 2 p.m. May 8 in Wooten Hall, Room 322.

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Coordinating board approves UNT College of Engineering
• Arts patrons give UNT College of Music $1.2 million gift
• Rogers' Story of North Texas updated
• MIT dean to speak at TAMS commencement
• UNT faculty members offer seminars to local teachers
• Elm Fork Explorer's Camp planned this summer
• UNT professor aids in improving hospital food
• Springtime in Texas means keeping an eye on the sky

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