The Academic Senate passed a resolution supporting a academic policy toward American Sign Language for Central Michigan University at its Feb. 23 meeting.

The resolution would "establish American Sign Language as a discipline in Humanities under Area 1 for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science and encourages CMU to accept ASL as a foreign language, as many other reputable universities have already done.”

The senate voted 76 percent in favor of the resolution.

The resolution doesn’t require immediate change, but is a vote of support for a similar resolution passed by CMU's Student Government Association.

Academic Senator Maureen Eke said she was unsure if ASL should be classified as a foreign language.

“Is it associated with a cultural space, geographical location, a group of people outside the national boundaries of the United States? she asked.

Senator Desirae Massey, who co-authored the resolution, used Native American languages like Ojibwe as an example of a language located in the U.S., but still considered foreign.

“With that knowledge, knowing that that’s actually a native language, I guess we could say it’s more of a cultural thing that we’re reaching for,” she said. “We would like students to be more culturally competent and if that’s what we’re going for, then ASL is definitely a culture within itself.”

Eke said the metaphor wasn’t applicable since the Ojibwe are considered a foreign state by the U.S. despite being geographically located within its borders.

Senator Mary Senter asked why SGA had sent the resolution for endorsement.

"I think the way this should proceed is that a curricular proposal comes to the senate and then there’s discussion on the curricular proposal,” she said.

Students from ASL courses came to the meeting to show their support for the resolution.

“There are students who are in support of this kind of thing who want to see the ASL become something that they can take as a foreign Language,” Massey said. “I don’t think that it’s too much to ask for you all to consider at least supporting the students that you serve here at CMU.”

The Academic Senate also voted to delete three undergraduate programs: The Environmental Studies Major: Environmental Science Concentration, Biology Major: General Option, and the Biology/Biomedical Sciences Major.

One graduate program was also deleted, the Master of Arts in Industrial Management and Technology. The senate added a new graduate program, a Graduate Certificate in Actuarial Science.

Provost Michael Gealt announced that the College of Science and Technology has been renamed to the College of Science and Engineering. The decision was made at the Feb. 18 Board of Trustees meeting.

The senate passed a motion to adjust how transfer credits are considered by the university. Transfer credits were considered based on the numerical equivalent of a letter grade rather than the grade itself.

The motion had previously been delayed due to concerns raised by Senator Mark Deschaine about the lack of information. Deschaine was not present at the Academic Senate meeting.

The senate voted to have Senator Brad Swanson replace Senator Bradley Long on the Board of Trustees/Faculty Liaison Committee.