Faculty Senate Minutes
September 15, 2011
Call to Order: Chair Sharp called the meeting to order at 4:13 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC
Senators Absent: Ray Bailey, John Hennen, Stephanie Johnson, Gary LaFleur, Denise Watkins
Visitors: Charlie Patrick, Regent Morrison, Donna Baker
Senate pictures were taken by Tim Holbrook, MSU photographer.
Minutes: Senator Berglee moved to approve the minutes of September 1, 2011 as submitted. Senator Katz seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Academic Issues: Dual enrollment
Evaluation: Looking for IDEA expert to provide professional development for faculty on how to use IDEA more effectively; Surveying other universities to determine what they use for faculty evaluation
Faculty Welfare and Concerns: PAc 27 will soon be coming back to the Senate; Donna Baker will report on sabbaticals; working with chairs committee on travel money
Governance: Revision to Gen Ed Council description; nomination for University Promotion Committee
Senate Committee on Issues: Working on proposal for faculty ombudsperson
Reports:
Chair’s Report: PAc 27 is on the Provost’s desk for approval; Discussion of PAc 29 and PAc 7 continues until a clarification on a definition/structure for Faculty Workload Agreement (FWA) is resolved; Senate Executive Council met with President Andrews and Provost Hughes and discussed their goals/issues for the year; Salary Study for University is complete and should be available soon
Donna Baker, Chair Professional Development Committee, provided information and answered questions regarding sabbaticals and the process. The University will not accept new Sabbatical Leave Applications this academic year. Instead, they will evaluate those applications that have been submitted but not awarded, and make every effort to get funding for as many sabbaticals for the 2012-2013 academic year as possible. There was considerable discussion about the process for the Fall of 2012. Questions and concerns regarding Sabbatical Leave should be directed to Donna J. Baker, Professional Development Committee Chair, at dj.baker@moreheadstate.edu.
Charlie Patrick answered questions from Senators regarding General Education. Dr. Timothy Hare has been appointed the First Year Seminar (FYS) Coordinator. The Gen Ed Council is continuing to accept FYS proposals and developing an improved process for submitting new course proposals. Senators also had questions about the APNA process. Dr. Patrick suggested questions regarding this should be directed to Dr. Gerald DeMoss, Academic Affairs Liaison.
Regent’s Report: Regent Morrison reported on three items from the Board of Regents meeting held today:
• Enrollment
• A privately funded incentive package for President Andrews for continuing to serve at the University
• Equity and market salary adjustments made for administrators
• Promotions and tenure for faculty
There was considerable discussion about some of these items.
University Scheduling Committee: Senator Hypes reported that subcommittees have been formed under this committee to look at the Enrollment Taskforce Report; scheduling best practices; what is MSU policy on scheduling; and what is MSU actually doing. There was considerable discussion among Senators about how this will affect teaching and other activities. Does this committee overlap the Registration Advisory Committee? Senator Hypes will take all the concerns voiced to the Scheduling Committee. Chair Sharp will provide a list of the Scheduling Committee members to the Senators.
Computer Competency Administration Workgroup: A draft proposal for assessing and administering computer competency testing is ready to present to the GEC on Friday.
Senate Actions:
Academic Issues: Regarding Dual Enrollment/Early College, Academic Issues is looking at guidelines and procedures for the program; course assessment; job descriptions; and quality control. Dayna Seelig will meet with Academic Issues on October 27th.
Evaluation: Evaluation Committee is continuing to evaluate instruments to be used to evaluate teaching at MSU. Current MSU policy requires tenure-track faculty to use the IDEA form. Tenured faculty members are not required to use the IDEA form but could do so as an option. There was considerable discussion regarding instruments used for the evaluation of teaching.
Governance: Approval of a change in the GEC description to make the FYS Coordinator for General Education a voting member of the GEC was table at the last Senate meeting. Senator Royar, Governance Chair, introduced updated language in the GEC description under Membership Rules: “#6. Departmental membership restrictions do not apply to the First Year Seminar Coordinator and the Chair-elect of the Faculty Senate”. A full description of the FYS Coordinator position was provided. The revision from the last meeting: Membership: “#19. First Year Seminar Coordinator (ex-officio, voting)” and today’s revision to the GEC description were approved by vote of the Faculty Senate.
The Governance committee nominated Dr. Steven Hunt to serve on the Faculty Promotion Committee. The Senate approved this nomination.
New Business: New Business was introduced by Senator Brent Rogers. He brought up how faculty computer support regarding security and updates were restrictive and cumbersome to work around. Other senators shared additional concerns regarding the lack of the ability to use additional software or programs in their academic activities. Concerns over the protection of intellectual property were also raised. A motion was made and approved to send these concerns to the Academic Issues Committee for review and evaluation.
Announcements:
The Senate will not meet on September 29th. The next Senate meeting will be October 6th.
Adjournment: 5:55 p.m.
