Faculty Senate Minutes
April 7, 2011
Call to Order: Chair McCormick called the meeting to order at 4:13 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC
Senators Absent: Vincent Cesaro, Cynthia Faulkner, Cyndi Gibbs, John Hennen, Julia Hypes, Stephanie Johnson, Gary LaFleur, Randy McCoy, Rebecca Miculinich, Biswajit Panja, Steven Snyder, Denise Watkins
Visitor: Dana Seelig, Darrin DeMoss, Eric Jerde, Ron Morrison, James Masterson
Minutes: Senator Sharp moved to approve the minutes of March 17, 2011 as submitted. Senator Carlson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Academic Issues: No Report
Evaluation: Second reading of two resolutions
Faculty Welfare and Concerns: Continued second reading of PAc 27
Governance: Faculty Regent Election announcement was sent today, candidates are: Darrin DeMoss, Michael Harford, Eric Jerde and Ron Morrison; electronic voting via ballotbin.com will start Monday April 11th and end at 4:00 pm Thursday April 14th; if no candidate receives a majority vote, a runoff will be held between the top 2 candidates; there will be an open forum on Monday, April 11 at 12:40 pm in the Crager Room to hear from the candidates
Senate Committee on Issues: Working on faculty survey
Reports:
Provost’s Report: Dayna Seelig presented the report for the Provost.
• Rob Royar and Wesley White represented the University well with the QEP paper and the presentation to the SACS committee. Dr. Seelig thanked all the faculty who participated in the very successful SACS review process.
• Data Strategies report is completed and in the President’s office for review
• Two names for sabbaticals will be forwarded to the Board of Regents for approval
• Discussion groups will be set up for the PAcs as soon as the Provost returns
A Senator asked if sabbaticals will be accepted next year. Dr. Seelig will forward the question to the Provost.
Chair’s Report:
The Executive Council will meet with the President and Provost for a general discussion on Tuesday, April 12, 2011.
Open Chair Segment:
The Open Chair segment was available for the four candidates running for the Faculty Regent position. The four candidates are Dr. Ron Morrison, Dr. Eric Jerde, Dr. Michael Harford, and Dr. Darrin DeMoss. Dr. Harford was attending a conference and could not be present for the senate session. In his place, Dr. James Masterson read a statement prepared by Dr. Harford. The other three candidates each gave a short message regarding their views of the Faculty Regent position. After the short messages, questions were asked of each of the candidates.
Regent’s Report:
• Encouraged faculty to read the information from the “Are We Making Progress” survey that will be available on the President’s Council web site
• Regent Morrison spoke with the President regarding wage increases
• Open forums are being held for the four finalists for Recreation and Wellness Center Director
• The issue of the MSU Basketball coach receiving a $75,000 pay increase was discussed. Most of the increase was paid for by the revenue from the NCAA tournament. The debate centered on the payoff in publicity that the University was receiving because of the success of the team. Different opinions were expressed. A Senator asked for information regarding how many online student applications were submitted in the two days after Morehead’s NCAA game.
Green Committee Report:
Senator Ann Rathbun gave a report on the activities of the Green Committee. She indicated that the ad hoc committee was entering into its second year and that she was willing to continue to serve on this committee. The committee consists of 3 subcommittees: 1. Energy Conservation 2. Recycling 3. Events and Educational Awareness. Work on campus to address environmental issues has been ongoing during this past year and will continue. Campus buildings are being monitored for energy usage and lighting appropriateness. Residence halls now have Kilowatt hour monitoring systems. Recycling efforts will increase. Composting is beginning at the MSU farm. Earth Week events are being planned - more information on these activities will be posted. The Green Committee is looking into making itself a Standing University Committee.
General Education Report:
Gen Ed Council is reviewing capstone proposals. Senator Sharp served on the SACS interview committee for Gen Ed. The committee asked the Gen Ed members why computer competency was removed from General Education. Discussion followed and the Gen Ed members assured SACS that a computer competency work group has been established and is working diligently to have computer competency in place by fall 2011. Senator Sharp clarified that the current catalog (2010-2011) could only be used for those students who entered the University with this catalog. No other students could ever be under this catalog because it was considered a transition year.
Senate Actions:
Faculty Welfare and Concerns:
Senator Fultz presented PAc 27, Tenure Review, for a continuation of the second reading. The document being presented today has been changed due to the motions passed at the last meeting. The changes were to take out the College committee and reestablish the University committee. A minor change was made by FWC on lines 305 to 307. The sentence now reads “If the vote is split, minority opinions must be included in the written evaluation and the opinion(s) must address how the candidate’s performance does not meet the requirements of the department Faculty Evaluation Plan.” Considerable discussion centered on “minority views” in the document.
Senator Carlson made a friendly amendment to add “tenure committee” after department on lines 332, 335 and 338. Friendly amendment was accepted.
Senator Chatham moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting until 6:15 pm. Motion seconded and passed.
Senator Miculinich made a friendly amendment to delete the word “primary” from line 231. Friendly amendment was accepted.
Senator Lennex made a friendly amendment to add “, or appropriately presented digital materials,” after “documents” on line 125. Friendly amendment accepted.
Senator Rogers called the question. Senator Chatham seconded the motion. Motion passed. The Senate voted unanimously to pass PAc-27, Tenure Review, as revised.
Evaluation: Resolutions will be presented at the next meeting.
Adjournment: 6:15 p.m.
