At the beginning of the senate meeting of February 28, President Waterbury briefed the members on the portrait of Howard Bliss recently hung in the senate meeting room in Marquand House. He noted that the room was once the private library of Howard Bliss. The president then  welcomed Professor Huda Abu-Saad Huijer, the new director of the School of Nursing.

A presentation by André Nahas, director of service quality and organizAtional improvement, emphasized the role of the Balanced Score Card Initiative in helping "articulate, communicate, and implement AUB strategies" for the work-force, considering also "the customer, internal processes, learning and growth, and financial perspectives." The following discussion focused on the objectivity of Key Performance Indicators and communication between the University and its customers.

In the course of the discussion of the senate representative to the March meeting of the Board of Trustees,  a motion to cancel the trip of the senate representative was defeated. After much discussion of the need to present a statement to the BOT, a motion calling for a special senate meeting to prepare such a statement was also defeated.

The possibility of a senate retreat for informal discussion of the role of the senate was presented by Professor Abdul Malak. In light of the lack of clarity on the proactive role of the senate, a recommendation suggesting the senate compile the corporate bylaws and senate bylaws in a booklet was made.

A brief discussion of the evaluation of senior academic officers focused on formal versus informal processes of evaluation. The provost agreed to look into presumed omissions in the Corporate Bylaws regarding evaluation of senior administrators.

In a report on a retreat held on the subject of admissions, the provost noted that the academic year 2003-04 will see a two to three percent increase in enrollment. A maximum of 17 registered credits per student was agreed.

Much of the meeting of March 28 was taken up with the voting of mid-year degrees, granted as follows:

Faculty of Arts and Sciences: 47 BAs, six  with distinction and two with high distinction; forty-two BSs, 10 with distinction, and eighteen master's degrees.

School of Business:  Five BBAs, one with distinction, and 12 MBAs.

Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences: Six BS degrees with the diplôme d' ingénieur agricole, three with distinction; and eight MS degrees.

Faculty of Engineering and Architecture: Seven bachelor's degrees in architecture and graphic design, three bachelor of engineering degrees, and ten master of engineering degrees.

Faculty of Health Sciences: Two BS degrees, four MPH degrees, and three MS degrees.

Faculty of Medicine: One BS degree in the School of Nursing and one MS degree in the Faculty of Medicine.

The provost announced that the president's report on the BOT meeting would be circulated with the minutes of the meeting. Vice President Bernson, reporting on the operating and capital budget, said the board backed the necessity of balanced operating budgets and emphasized the need for more self-discipline in the future.

Reporting on her trip to the BOT meeting, the senate representative described her discussion in the plenary session of long-term faculty appointments, and recommended that AUB establish a senate-endorsed policy on such appointments. A motion requesting that the ad-hoc committee on faculty promotions include the issue of long-term appointments in its proposal was passed unanimously.

The chair of the Senate Steering Committee, Professor Abdul Malak, said he had received a request from a faculty member for reconsideration of the number of years senators may serve on the University Senate.  Professor Nabil Dajani spoke of the need for reexamination of the entire structure of the senate. Following a presentation by the registrar noting a request of the University Student Faculty Committee, a motion reinstating the reading period in the 2003-04 University Calendar was passed.

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