BOT voters met with Internet voting problems
Faculty election may be a week longer; Senate council debates cheating rules
By Adam Sichko   Kentucky Kernel
 March 29, 2005

Internet problems prompted the University Senate Council to add an extra week of voting for a faculty spot on the Board of Trustees in a meeting full of intense debate yesterday.

According to data from the council, 320 faculty members voted yesterday for either incumbent Michael Kennedy, a geography professor, or Jeff Dembo, a dentistry professor. But about 50 complaints of Internet or login problems arose, so the council decided to make paper ballots a second voting option.

"We are really intent on moving toward all-electronic voting," said University Senate Chairman Ernie Yanarella. "Unfortunately, the snafus we've experience demonstrate that as long as we have a university whose computing system has such variability in terms of Web browsers, the Senate council is going to have to make adjustments to make sure all those faculty who do wish to vote will be able to."

"Part of the problem clearly is voter education," said Yanarella. "Certainly, some faculty just don't know the appropriate IDs and passwords; they don't use them very much."

A printable ballot will be posted on the University Senate's Web site today, Yanarella said.

"While at the same time preserving anonymity of the vote, we will check those outside envelopes against the electronic vote to be sure that people aren't double-dipping when it comes to the vote," he said.

Dembo said he had some reservations on the timing aspect, but both he and Kennedy agreed to the new parameters of the election.

Additions and changes to a new academic offenses proposal for UK, initially proposed in late January, drew contentious debate at the meeting.

The proposed policy assigns an "XE" or "XF" to classes on a student's transcript where the student was caught committing an academic offense. Senate councilman Bob Grossman, who created the policy, said he's trying to protect students who fall victim to unlawful dealings with such instances.

Grossman wants to protect students who are innocent and catch those who are "truly dishonest."

Grossman amended his proposal in several ways yesterday, working to "ameliorate concerns that an 'XE' is too harsh." For instance, students who receive a penalty less than an "E" can appeal that to a board of the department's faculty members, strengthening the lower levels of the appeals process.

Currently, "the student can do the same thing in different classes and receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist," Grossman said. "That practice needs to be ended."

But mechanical engineering professor Kaveh Tagavi said the "X" mark on a student's transcript is too harsh.

"Has there been a groundswell from the faculty that makes it necessary to have an 'X'?" Tagavi questioned. "Putting an 'XF' is a huge departure" from current procedures, he said.

The council is scheduled to vote Monday to recommend the Senate approve the proposal.