Northwestern University
Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
November 27, 2001

I. The minutes of the May 17, 2001 meeting were approved unanimously without changes.

II. President Henry Bienen nominated newly eligible candidates for membership in the University Senate. These nominations were approved unanimously.

III. After excusing observers, Associate Provost John Margolis, acting on behalf of Andrew Wachtel, Chair of the faculty Committee on Honorary Degrees, presented the slate of nominations for honorary decrees. Ballots were distributed to be marked and collected later in the meeting.

IV. Bob Decker of the General Faculty Committee reported that at its meeting of the previous spring the Committee discussed its continuing work with the Provost’s Task Force to develop a child care program. Another project under joint development with the Provost is the draft of an intellectual property policy. The GFC anticipates an outcome that will support the objectives of the Administration and the Faculty alike. Another concern has been an institution-wide approach to the problem of plagiarism in student writing. It now appears likely that the University will license a computer service to check the originality of student work. Because plagiarism is a problem on both campuses, an institutional remedy is most appropriate. Northwestern was host this fall to the annual meeting of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago. A major issue at that meeting was the opening up of athletic programs at member institutions. A document from the CIC faculty senates which will be presented for approval by each senate will propose means by which information about athletic programs at member institutions can be made more available. Northwestern’s athletic program is widely admired for its protection of academic values. A draft of the proposal has been sent to President Bienen and Provost Dumas. Though short on specifics in its present form, the proposal could have a significant impact on athletic policy in other Big Ten institutions. At a recent meeting of the Committee on the Research Enterprise (CORE), Vice President for Research Lydia Villa-Komaroff proposed a new research handbook. The GFC is interested in the nature and composition of this handbook, and has invited Villa-Komaroff to its January meeting to discuss her views regarding its content. Another concern of the GFC is released funds and the application of additional salary dollars. CORE has established an exploratory committee to determine what type of salary requests Evanston campus faculty should make on their research grants. The outcome of this deliberation may be patterned after practices common in the Medical School, and the GFC will have an active concern in resulting policy. Decker expressed thanks to the Administration for developing new fringe benefit plans, particularly Vanguard funds, a Fidelity investment plan, and a cap on prescription drug costs. A recent message from the Women’s Center expressed concern about changes in fringe benefits of women faculty going from full-time to part-time status. This question will be considered in coming meetings. Institutional Review Board issues are another topic for GFC discussion in the coming months. Researchers on both campuses are concerned about the amount of time required to receive IRB clearance for clinical studies.
Provost Lawrence Dumas commented that in the Medical School model, the University does not appropriate the salary of a faculty member to units. The Medical School must provide its own means of collecting sufficient money from external sources to pay salaries. This is a very different model from the one that operates on the Evanston campus, where salaries are appropriated and external funding releases budget resources to cover other kinds of expense. The models are mutually exclusive, and cannot be employed on a mix and match basis.

V. Associate Provost Stephen D. Fisher reported on the progress of an initiative that would employ a proprietary agency, Turnitin.com, a division of iParadigms, LLC, to give faculty members the opportunity to vet student papers against a database of previously submitted student work and against Internet resources to determine the originality of papers submitted for academic credit. This initiative is the joint result of a proposal by Undergraduate Academic Conduct Committee chair Daniel Garrison and a rash of plagiarism cases that came from a philosophy course last spring. Plagiarism concerns have also been voiced in the Medical School. A contract with the service provider is currently under review by University Counsel and is being negotiated. When a paper is submitted it becomes part of the service provider’s database; the University needs to be sure that their future use of that written material does not violate the rights of the student whose work is submitted. Fisher is optimistic that a satisfactory agreement will soon be reached. Instructors are already using Internet search engines such as Google to look for Web sites that may have provided improperly used material. Everyone has become more sensitive to the problem of Internet plagiarism. The goal is to find the best methodology to steer students onto the right path. Students entering Northwestern are given literature explaining the importance and definitions of academic integrity. Beginning next fall, they will be required to sign a pledge affirming that they have read this literature and agree to abide by its stipulations. In response to a comment from the floor, Fisher agreed that an objective of all the current and anticipated measures is to affect the culture in which plagiarism has come to be thought acceptable. Consistent policies and procedures across the six undergraduate schools are an important part of our program for academic integrity, which is ultimately a part of Northwestern’s educational mission. Robert Decker remarked that the concern with plagiarism is not solely an Evanston Campus affair, as the verbatim lifting of material by graduate students is also a problem in the Medical School, and that it would be valuable to have student views about the use of an outside service to check student work. Garrison explained the role of the UACC, and expressed his willingness to seek the views of student members regarding the cultural and educational ramifications of using Turnitin.com at Northwestern. Fisher stated his belief that faculty members could use some help with how to bring the issue to their students. Instructors in WCAS freshman seminars are particularly encouraged to discuss the subject with their classes, but the same may not be as common in the Medical School, where faculty may be well advised to acquaint classes with their expectations regarding originality and correct citations in their written work.

VI. Katherine Faber reported on the work of the University Child Care Committee, whose members include Charlotte Crane of the Law School, Robert Decker of the Medical School, Margaret McDonald from the Office of the Vice President for Research, Suneetha Vaitheswaran from the Office of the Controller, and Associate Provost Jean Shedd. The Committee was constituted by the Provost in response to a proposal made by the GFC, with contributions from the Organization of Women Faculty, the Committee on Women in the Academic Community, the Women’s Faculty Committee of the Medical School, the GSA Child Care Committee, and the Northwestern University Staff Advisory Committee, and submitted to the President and the Provost in May, 2001. The Committee looked at child care from three vantage points: the potential for on-site child care; child care in the community with opportunities for partnership; and the current benefits package with a view to flexible spending accounts and child care subsidies. The overall philosophy is that there is not a single solution because of the various needs of faculty, staff, and students. This is not a reason for inaction (as it has been in the past) but a mandate for a range of solutions. The Committee has met four times to date: first with the authors of the proposal, then with the Evanston Child Care Network (which by October had 165 names on their waiting list for infant child care). The Committee toured three not-for-profit child care centers in Evanston, and met with Northwestern’s Facilities Management to discuss space and zoning requirements on both campuses. One other tour is planned to the Evanston Hospital child care center. The Committee expects to submit its report be February 2002. In response to a question by Stephen Fisher, Faber said that her Committee is researching child care for faculty, staff, and graduate students. The age range being considered is 6 months to 2½ or 3 years. The youngest group are the most challenging to accommodate, as there are more restrictions, accreditation standards are more exacting, and more space is required. Bob Decker remarked that the Committee was surprised to learn that some 280 children from Northwestern’s constituent families are currently in existing child care systems. President Bienen commented that it would be useful to learn the breakdown of child care client groups, as ability to pay would be a significant variable. It would also be valuable to know how many Northwestern faculty and staff use non-Evanston facilities. Faber replied that direct response rates have been low in that category, but the Committee has some sense of these numbers, and of Northwestern constituents who get child care benefits from spouses, from indirect sources.

VII. President Bienen noted that there has been some slowing in results from Development activities since September 11. While numerical results may look quite good by the end of the fiscal year next August because of some very large gifts that will soon be announced, across-the-transom gift income has changed drastically for almost every university including Northwestern. Gifts under $1 million are down by two-thirds to three-quarters. There have also been unpleasant surprises in negotiations for larger gifts. Uncertainty about the markets and a lack of confidence in the economy have ended the expansionary mode that has prevailed for the past seven years. New campus construction and an absence of serious cost cutting beyond the closing of the Dental School have brought budget planning to the point where severe shortages will force a re-evaluation of spending in the difficult times ahead. Though Northwestern will be advantaged by comparison with state universities that face brutal cutbacks, the opportunities to take advantage will have to be selectively taken. The full impact of new Federal regulations in the wake of September 11 has not been fully absorbed: a demand for information about students, scrutiny of research, and a decline of enrollment by foreign students and others trained abroad are possible outcomes that still lie ahead.

VIII-IX. Voting on honorary degrees having been completed and tabulated, and there being no new business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Daniel H. Garrison
Secretary to the University Senate