Faculty Senate Minutes
February 17, 2011
Call to Order: Chair McCormick called the meeting to order at 4:12 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC. Chair McCormick welcomed Scott Davison as a new Senator, replacing Pam Ryan.
Senators Absent: Ali Ahmadi, Vincent Cesaro, John Hennen, Euijin Kim, Rebecca Miculinich, Lee Nabb
Visitors: Cathy Thomas, Rebecca McGinnis, Lesia Shemwell, Charlie Patrick
Minutes: Senator Chatham asked that the minutes of February 3, 2011 be changed as follows:
Page 3, second paragraph under GENERAL EDUCATION: The Foundation of a University Education
Delete “The Faculty Senate approved the statement submitted by the General Education council to be added to the syllabus checklist for Gen Ed.” This was actually not approved at the February 3rd meeting.
Senator Lyons asked that the minutes of February 3, 2011 be changed as follows:
Page 4, second paragraph, line 3 under Academic Issues:
Change “FOR ONE CLASS” to “Thirty day tutorial”
Senator Sharp moved to approve the minutes of February 3, 2011 as amended. Senator Carlson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Academic Issues: Will have 2 motions
Evaluation: Will have a report
Faculty Welfare and Concerns: Second reading of PAcs 7, 29, 27
Governance: Propose a new Special Rule of Order; 2 Committee Descriptions revisions: Announcement regarding upcoming Regent election
Senate Committee on Issues: No Report
Reports:
Chair’s Report: Reminded Senators to post their comments regarding Blackboard/Moodle; Asked for a volunteer to serve on a task force for the emergency notification system – Senator LaFleur volunteered
Open Chair Segment:
Senator Donna Baker informed the Senators that the Library is conducting an Undergraduate Research Prize Contest. Information is available on the Library webpage. The research/project must have used Library materials.
Provost’s Report:
· Senate Bill 1 summit on March 2nd in ADUC, the speaker will be Mr. Terry Holliday, Commissioner of Education
· Developmental Education Conference will be held on March 14
· SACS site visit will be the week after spring break; encouraged Senators to read the Compliance Report
· Comments regarding Blackboard/Moodle will be reviewed during spring break; Provost is looking at the best forum for a “Seat at the table” for faculty
· Data Strategies reports have been reviewed by the deans of three colleges and are being revised; Fourth college report will be to the dean by February 21st
A Senator asked if summer enrollment will count toward Data Strategies. The Provost indicated that it is being reviewed at this time.
Senator Baker asked about the search for a Dean of Libraries. The Provost indicated that there will be an active search in the fall.
Regent’s Report: The Board of Regents will have a work session on February 24, 2011; Regent Morrison is continuing to request information on the results of the “Are We Making Progress” survey; there are 19 pages of comments that Regent Morrison is asking be made available; the Provost indicated that answers were provided to Regent Morrison this afternoon; he will report at the next meeting
General Education Report: Accepting First Year Seminar proposals for next year; Provost is working on an incentive package for teaching First Year Seminar that will be retroactive; reviewing Capstone course requirements and rubrics;
Follow up to vote on the following from the February 3rd meeting:
The following statement was approved by the General Education Council to be added to the General Education syllabus template located on the General Education Reform website:
GENERAL EDUCATION: The Foundation of a University Education
This is an approved course in the General Education Program. Morehead State University’s General Education Program recognizes that a university education is more than preparation for a career. Learning to “live well” should have equal consideration with “making a living.” The General Education Program adds to students’ major field of study by providing them with a foundation of knowledge and skills in reading, math, writing, communication, the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. General education prepares students to participate intelligently and responsibly in their community.
Senator Sharp moved to approve the above statement as presented by the General Education Council. Senator LaFleur seconded the motion. After considerable discussion, the motion did not pass by a vote of 17 against and 12 for. It was suggested that the council condense the statement and resubmit it. Dr. Patrick clarified that the syllabus checklist is generated out of the Provosts’ office. Even though not approved by the Senate, the Gen Ed Council will take the statement they approved to the Dean’s Council, for that body to determine the final outcome.
In response to a question regarding the deadline for revisions to the Capstone courses, Dr. Patrick stated that the proposal process for exchange courses and capstone courses should be out to chairs and deans next week. Dr. Patrick will verify that the deadline for capstone proposals is March 7th. Several Senators were concerned that the deadline for capstone proposals was too short. Dr. Patrick indicated that the timeline for the capstone proposal submission has been online for a year. If there are special circumstances, the GEC will consider that. The full Gen Ed Process is supposed to be in place and all incoming students are to be under that process in the fall of 2011. There was discussion regarding capstones for students who have a double major. After additional discussion, Dr. Patrick indicated that he would ask for the capstone deadline to be moved back.
Senate Actions:
Governance:
Senator Chatham presented the following proposal for a Special Rule of Order:
“The Secretary of the Faculty Senate, with the consent of the Faculty Senate Chair, may amend University Standing and Advisory Committee descriptions to ensure that positions and bodies mentioned in those descriptions are referred to by their current, correct names. Minor editorial corrections may also be made.”
On behalf of the Governance committee, Senator Chatham moved to suspend the rules and move to a second reading of the Special Rule. Motion passed. The Special Rule of Order was approved by the Senate.
Senator Chatham presented a revision to the description of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for a first reading. The revisions originated from the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.
Senator Chatham presented a revision to the description of the Graduate Committee for a first reading. The revisions originated from the Graduate Committee. The Governance committee is not recommending the removal of their duties to conduct graduate appeals. Senator Remillard made a friendly amendment to leave in “and to conduct hearings on graduate student appeals” in line 7. Friendly amendment accepted. The Provost stated that the entire appeal process has been revised. The Provost asked the Governance committee to inquire as to the rationale for this revision and if “graduate students are a part of the overhaul of the appeal process, and if that is the case, is there a necessity to have duplicate appeal processes”?
Senator Chatham announced that in the upcoming Faculty Regent election the rules have been changed by the legislature to allow faculty at the rank of Instructor to vote for Faculty Regent. Instructors cannot run for that office but can vote for it. The letter that was provided at the last meeting will be changed to reflect this action.
Academic Issues:
Senator Hypes, chair of Academic Issues, introduced two motions. 1) to revise documents in an effort to clarify the intention of the documents when they were originally approved regarding computer competency requirements, and 2) corrections to the Computer Competency Requirements passed in the last Senate meeting.
Motion#1: “The Academic Issues Committee makes a motion to amend the computer competency requirement in general education, #13, located in the May 2009 General Education Curriculum and Courses Distribution Proposal document by: Replacing ‘MSU should’ to ‘The General Education Council will’ in line 1; and in line 3 replacing ‘should’ with ‘will’.”
Revision of Computer Competency Requirement in General Education
13. The General Education Council will MSU should develop and administer a skills-based, applied exam to assess the computing competency of all entering students. Students who do not pass specific sections of the test, or the test in general, will should be required to complete training modules in a given area of computing or an entire computing course. General Education courses will utilize these skills and will assume that students already possess them.
Senator Berglee moved to suspend the rules and move to a second reading of the motion. Motion seconded. Motion to suspend the rules passed with 1 nay.
Chair McCormick provided some additional information. She and/or Senator Sharp met with the Provost and Dr. Patrick today and agreed that a subcommittee consisting of faculty, members of the GEC, and representatives of the deans and chairs will be formed to address computer competency. Chair McCormick called for a vote on motion 13. The General Education Council will MSU should…. Motion passed.
Senator Hypes presented motion 2:
Motion#2: “The Academic Issues Committee makes a motion to amend after adoption, the Resolution for Faculty Senate General Education Computer Competency by: adding ‘in point 13’ to the first sentence; and correcting an unintentional omission of ‘College’ in the last sentence after University.”
“Revised Resolution for Faculty Senate for Gen. Ed. Computer Competency
- Whereas the General Education Requirements recommended in point 13 by the FGEAC and approved by Faculty Senate requires computer competency through the following statement:
“The General Education Council will develop and administer a skills-based, applied exam to assess the computing competency of all entering students. Students who do not pass specific sections of the test, or the test in general, will be required to complete training modules in a given area of computing or an entire computing course. General Education courses will utilize these skills and will assume that students already possess them.”
- Whereas the existing General Education Council has been charged with implementing the approved FGEAC recommendations for a new General Education curriculum.
- Whereas the new General Education curriculum was supposed to be implemented in Fall 2010.
- Whereas no action has been taken to date by the General Education Council to deal with this computer competency requirement and thus we have a whole class of entering freshman who have never met that requirement because no action was ever taken to deal with this requirement.
We resolve that the General Education Council immediately take up this issue to implement a testing and remediation program. Further, considering the very late implementation of this requirement, to expedite this process they base their decision upon the proposal that was submitted to University College, Faculty Senate and recommended by the Testing Center, and IS Department.”
Several Senators volunteered to serve on the subcommittee for computer competency.
Senator Sharp moved that the Senate Secretary review the tapes of the meeting in which the Senate was asked to approve computer competency in an attempt to clarify if the Senate was fully aware of the purpose of the vote. Senator Baker, Records Manager for the University, stated that once minutes are accepted, State Law does not require the tapes to be kept.
After considerable discussion by all parties in the room, the question was called. Chair McCormick explained that the vote will be on Motion #2 which corrects errors in the resolution passed last week. The vote on Motion #2 passed.
Faculty Welfare and Concerns:
Senator Fultz presented PAc 7, Faculty Evaluation Plans, for a second reading. The Chair provided the members with a copy of PAc 11 and read the definition of scholarship. Several questions were asked and concerns expressed by Senators. Clarifications were provided by Senators and the Provost regarding PAc 7. After much discussion, the question was called. PAc 7 was passed as presented with no changes or amendments.
Adjournment: 6:05 p.m.
