Faculty Senate Minutes
November 17, 2011
Call to Order: Chair Sharp called the meeting to order at 4:10 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC
Senators Absent: Ali Ahmadi, Cyndi Gibbs, John Hennen, Stephanie Johnson, Rebecca Katz, Beverly McCormick, Lisa McDavid, Manuel Probst, Brent Rogers, Rodney Stanley
Visitor: Tim Conner
Minutes: Senator Wright moved to approve the minutes of November 3, 2011 as submitted. Senator Watkins seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Academic Issues: Met with Dr. Dayna Seelig regarding Early College Program; Chair Hypes will be meeting to discuss processes used in the Early College Program and will prepare a fact sheet for Senate
Evaluation: Survey sent to all departments regarding student evaluation and encouraged participation of all faculty
Faculty Welfare and Concerns: Bringing PAc 7 to floor for second reading
Governance: Presenting a revision to the General Education Council description; nomination for replacement for the Professional Development Committee
Senate Committee on Issues: Working on Ombudsman proposal
Reports:
Chair’s Report:
· Jeffrey Liles, Director of Enrollment, presented a report to the President’s Leadership Council regarding the 2011 enrollment figures
· University developing a program for Veteran students to better accommodate their needs
· First two open houses for the year saw record attendance
· Mr. Bob King, President of CPE, presented the strategic agenda for KY’s institutions of higher learning to the Board of Regents.
Open Chair Segment:
Timothy Conner spoke during the Open Chair Segment regarding concerns over faculty travel allocations. He asked about receiving a waiver of taxes on hotel lodging at professional conferences as a part of a public institution. The Provost suggested contacting Theresa Davis to assist with receiving tax-free or lower state rates.
Provost’s Report:
The Provost responded to questions from Senators.
Q: Is there an initiative on campus to require all tenured faculty to be evaluated?
A: The President has asked that there be an evaluation component connected to merit increases for faculty.
Q: What about First Year Seminar incentives?
A: First Year Seminar incentive packages should be complete by the end of the semester.
Q: Was the structure of departments in the College of Business to not have chairs but coordinators successful, and if it was, is a model of that being looked at to be replicated in other colleges or departments in other parts of campus?
A: Provost waiting on proposal from Dr. Bob Albert regarding chairs versus coordinators/Associate Dean.
Q: How is the Faculty Salary Study progressing?
A: Provost Hughes and Phil Gnoit provided the President with a white paper regarding the Faculty Salary Study. The Provost will meet with the President on Monday.
Q: APNA process?
A: APNA process is evolving. Provost Hughes, Dr. Gerald DeMoss and Dr. Jill Ratliff have met with the chairs, associate deans and deans and are finalizing feedback to chairs and associate deans. Provost will make recommendations for the biennium budget with regard to positions.
Q: E-grade vs. U-grade?
A: Current system created problems for Financial Aid and the Federal reporting procedures. Resolution from last year will be revisited using more data that has been gathered regarding whether or not students fail a class or just don’t show up.
Regent’s Report:
· E-grade vs. U-grade was brought up in the audit report in the BOR meeting.
· CPE is continuing to request funding for higher education from the state.
· BOR quarterly meeting will be December 8, 2011.
General Education:
· Chair-elect Doug Chatham, representing the GEC, brought forward the name of Dr. Sara Lindsey, from the College of Education, for nomination to the GEC. Dr. Lindsey’s nomination was approved by vote of the Senate.
Scheduling Committee:
· Preliminary reports from subcommittees are available for feedback on the Portal.
· Working on a student survey.
Senate Actions:
Evaluation: Senator Nabb encouraged Senators to remind the faculty to provide feedback on the course evaluation that is being distributed. The form will be used by students to evaluate a course for the purposes of annual review, tenure or promotion.
Faculty Welfare and Concerns: Senator Rathbun presented PAc 7 (Faculty Evaluation Plans – FEPs) to the Senate for a second reading.
Senator Rathbun began by answering questions from the last meeting.
· Line 13 and 14 “A department FEP must be consistent with university and college policies” Are there University and College Policies on FEPs? Answer: This language was approved by the Senate the first time. This language refers to PAc 27 PAc 2 and PAc 30.
· Adding non tenure track faculty to FEP process? Answer: Dr. DeMoss thought that would be an amicable amendment to the administration.
Senate Hare made friendly amendments to replace 1) “a FEP” with “the FEP” on lines 13, 14, 20, 51, 73, 75 and 78; 2) “50%…” with “51%...”on line 15; 3) Add a sentence on line 17 “Although the FEP must be approved by the tenured faculty of the department, both the tenured and tenure track faculty shall contribute to the creation of the FEP.”; 4) Add a sentence on line 54 ”The annual report may also include a report of activities that cannot be accommodated by Faculty 180.” 5) Add sentence Line 85 “The FEP may be modified if 51 % or more of the tenured faculty in the department agree to modifications.” The friendly amendments were accepted by Faculty Welfare and Concerns. Senator Wymer made a friendly amendment to change the title “Faculty 180” in the document to “an established campus-wide faculty credentials database”. Senator Lennex made a friendly amendment to add “to full professor” after promotion on line 80. Senator Lennex asked for clarification of what an appropriate peer review would be for on-line courses. Discussion followed. The Provost indicated that general guidelines for evaluation of on-line courses are being discussed. A question was brought up about lines 63 thru 65. A suggestion was made to add a sentence at the end of the document to read “For tenured faculty seeking promotion, if the FEP was modified within the last 5 years they have the option of using the previous or current FEP.” Considerable discussion followed this suggestion including a friendly amendment to revise this statement. A clear friendly amendment was never reached and never actually accepted by Faculty Welfare and Concerns. In the interest of conducting the remainder of the business on the agenda, Senator Chatham moved to postpone more discussion of Pac 7 until the next meeting. Motion seconded and passed.
Governance:
· The Governance committee recommended professional librarian Jennifer Little serve on the Professional Development Committee to replace Donna Baker, who is no longer at the University. The recommendation was voted on and approved by the Senate.
· Senator Royar brought back to the floor a revision to the General Education Council Description. Senator Royar explained that the changes were: 1) visitors, not members, may be invited to present before the GEC; 2) the procedure for nominating people to the council, nominees come from the Council, brought to Senate by the Chair-elect and voted on one at a time. The GEC description revision was voted on and passed.
Announcements:
The next Senate meeting will be December 1st.
Chair Sharp asked the Senators to email their vote on Pac 7 to her, if they are going to be absent on December 1st.
Chair Sharp will email Jeffrey Liles’ PowerPoint on enrollment to the Senators.
Senator Wymer moved to adjourn. Motion seconded and passed.
Adjournment: 6:00 p.m.
