Faculty Senate Minutes
October 4, 2012
Call to Order: Chair Chatham called the meeting to order at 4:15 pm; Riggle Room; ADUC
Senators Absent: Ritta Abell, John Hennen, Shondrah Nash
Visitors: Provost Hughes, Aaron Gay
Minutes: Senator Wymer moved to approve the minutes of September 20, 2012 as submitted. Senator Chapman seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Reports:
Chair’s Report:
• Senate Team Site is available now on my.moreheadstate.edu portal; working Senate documents will be placed there i.e., agendas, minutes, PAcs under review etc.
• Chair Chatham and Chair-Elect Rathbun met with the Provost regarding the “Senate/Academic Affairs Policy Recommendation Committee” that was announced at the last Senate meeting. This committee was to work on the appeal process called for in PAc 35. After discussion between the Provost and Senators Rathbun and Chatham, they agreed that this committee will also prepare proposals for PAc 30 – currently PBSI and PAc 2 - promotion. The name for the committee will now be the Reconciliation Committee. The Chair of Faculty Welfare and Concerns (Senator Cyndi Gibbs) and FWC member Gilbert Remillard will also be added to this committee.
• Report from Scheduling Committee will be available from October 5, 2012 thru October 29, 2012 for public review and comment
• FWC will present PAc-17 for a second reading. Chair Chatham explained the rules regarding amendments to a PAc.
Documents found on the sign-in table are:
• Gold paper document is friendly amendments received prior to today’s meeting by FWC regarding PAc 17
• White paper is a comparison of faculty salaries at various Universities given anonymously to an EC member
Provost’s Report:
• Fall break is next week, urged Senators to notify University College Advisors or department chairs of students that are having difficulties
• Science and Technology forum is still to be held; President and Provost are compiling a list of responses to the most frequently asked questions in the other college forums; questions and answers will be posted for review by all
The Provost answered questions as presented
Regent’s Report:
• Attended the forums for the candidates for CFO/VP for Administration and Fiscal Services; in meeting with his college, the President assured the faculty Regent that there would be more information coming and opportunities for discussion in the implementation of the Faculty Salary Plan
General Education Council: Chair-Elect Rathbun presented a report from GEC:
• New FYS textbook is - Don’t believe everything you think by Thomas Kida
• Need more FYS instructors; Dora Ahmadi reported this need to the Chair’s Council
• Close to having new SLO documents for Senate approval
• Requiring a grade of “C” or better in FYS is still under review
• Provided an answer to the question from last meeting regarding “Report on SLOs where students did not achieve 70% or better” was only for the SACS Accreditation Report
• Exchange courses already in place will require a simple submission form to become formal and comply with General Education assessment requirements. No new exchange courses are being solicited at this time. Proposals will be considered if they are required by the program for accreditation purposes.
• Computer competency has been discussed with the following results: Students who still require these skills need to have access to on-line modules and tutoring. Formal proposals to establish these services will be coordinated with Academic Affairs.
Evaluation: Senator Lennex, Chair, Evaluation Committee, presented the Senators with a “Draft Analysis of Student Evaluation Pilot Systems” that could be used for piloting the new student evaluation tool. Senator Lennex explained the various systems on the list. Evaluation will be looking for faculty to volunteer to run the pilot along with the IDEA form. Senator Lennex asked if anyone has suggestions about other systems or specific ways to run the pilot to let her know.
Governance:
• The Governance Committee recommended that Sherry Stultz from Education be approved to fill a vacancy on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. After discussion, the Senate approved Sherry Stultz to serve.
• The Governance Committee recommended that Lynn Haller from S&T be approved to complete the term (one year 2012-2013) of an S&T member of the Tenure Committee due to a conflict of interest with the original member. Hearing no discussion, the Senate approved Lynn Haller to serve.
Faculty Welfare and Concerns:
Senator Gibbs presented a draft of revisions to PAc 17 (Sabbatical Leave of Absence) for a second reading.
• Deletion of lines 11 thru 13 met with no objection
• Deletion of lines 18 thru 23 (beginning with “The privilege of…”) met with no objection
• Senator Carlson submitted a friendly amendment to line 17 to change “or” to “and” to read “above-average teaching, scholarship, and service”. After discussion, FWC did not accept the friendly amendment.
• Deletion on line 24 and 25 met with no objection
• Under ELIGIBILITY: Lines 27 thru 30 were changed to read “Full-time faculty members and academic administrators may apply for a sabbatical leave of absence provided they meet all of the following criteria:”
Senator Aleman made a friendly amendment to line 27 to add “and professional librarians” after “academic administrations” which, if approved, would change other lines throughout the document. There was considerable discussion about this amendment. It was noted that in PAc 31 it does state that librarians are eligible for sabbaticals. The Provost stated that the question for now is, should PAc 17 be gone thru from beginning to end to change all places where Librarians need to be added, or footnote something like “the criteria used for librarians is consistent with the criteria that is spelled out for the evaluation of librarians”.
Senator Berglee made a friendly amendment to make PAc 17 congruent with PAc 31. Friendly amendment seconded and accepted.
• Senator McCormick moved to send PAc 17 back to FWC to make the appropriate revisions to include Professional Librarians. Motion seconded. Senator Remillard asked that, before discussion ends and it is sent back to FWC, the Senate go thru the rest of the document to determine what other changes might be needed. Senator McCormick agreed.
Senator Gibbs continued on through the document.
• Delete “LIMITATION:” on line 37 met with no objection
• Line 38 thru 40 reads: “The candidate must agree to provide two contract years of full-time service to the University following return from the sabbatical leave.” Met with no objection.
• Deletion of “equally considered” in Line 42 met with no objections
• Senator Gibbs provided two written friendly amendments on a yellow sheet that she received prior to today’s meeting. FWC discussed these two amendments and did not accept either of them.
• Discussion continued on line 44 with the CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION: Senator Wymer made an amendment to change Line 48 Item 3. to read “The potential to enhance the University, enhance an academic program, and/or help to meet a program’s goals and objectives.” Motion seconded. Amendment passed.
• Deletion on line 50 met with no objection
• Combined The Review and Approval Process: on line 59 – no objection
• Changed “Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty” to “Provost” everywhere it is referenced in the document
• Insert “the candidate” on line 71 – no objection
• Added verbiage line 75: “All dates and deadlines are enumerated in the Personnel Action Calendar Summary” – no objection
• Senator Wymer made a friendly amendment to add “for a future year” at the end of line 80. Amendment accepted by FWC.
• Change “nine” to “twelve” on line 84 – no objection
• Clarification on line 117 – no objection
Senator McCormick moved to commit PAc 17 back to FWC for insertion of new language. Motion seconded and passed.
Announcements:
Next meeting October 18th in ADUC 301.
Steve Richmond from IT will address the Faculty Senate on Thursday October 18th regarding technology issues.
A suggestion was made to forward any questions/concerns for Mr. Richmond to Chair Chatham who will compile and forward them to Mr. Richmond.
Senator Lyons stated that, during a meeting of the School of Business, there was confusion and misunderstanding regarding when the University Tenure Committee meets. Senator Lyons clarified for the School of Business that the University Tenure Committee meets every year and reviews every portfolio submitted for tenure.
On behalf of one of her constituents, Senator Lyons asked for two faculty from each college to participate in a focus group on student cheating in online classes for a student research project. The focus group will meet on Monday at 11:30 a.m. in Combs.
Adjournment: 5:50 p.m.
