Eastern Washington University
Rules Committee
Minutes of
April 20, 2015
Page 1 of 3
Members Present: M. Breen, J. Anderson, K. Decker, S. Goff, L. Lindholdt, J. Smith, B. Tipton, J. Otto, H. Sook Lee, K. Evans
Ex Officio: L. Kieffer for R. Fuller, C. France
The meeting was called to order by M. Breen at 3:03 p.m.
1. Approval of Minutes of April 6, 2015. Hearing no objections the minutes of April 6, 2015 were approved.
2. Additions/Changes to Agenda. None.
3. Chair's Report. M. Breen reported: a. She would like to thank everyone for making NCUR so successful. b. Friday, May 1st, is President Cullinan’s Investiture Ceremony and all faculty should have received an invitation to participate in the procession. She stated faculty who participate in the procession are invited to the breakfast preceding the ceremony. c. Leading up to the investiture there are several events on campus, i.e. Jared Diamond, Get Lit, ceremonial tree planting on the Showalter lawn, opening exhibition at the new student art gallery on the first floor of Brewster Hall, Pride Week, Earth Day, and the dedication of the mall. d. Dr. Fuller accepted the position of President at Western Oregon University effective July 1, 2015. She stated the search process for a new provost has begun.
4. Legislative Liaison Report. None.
5. Administrative Report. L. Kieffer reported: a. R. Fuller is in New York with M. Conlin of the UFE and they are giving a report on the faculty contract. She stated we are the leaders in collective bargaining. b. Dr. Fuller and his wife will be moving to Monmouth, Oregon and they are very excited. She stated the Board approved his nomination in the morning and they had a reception for him that afternoon where everyone welcomed him. c. NCUR was a great success with only a few glitches. She stated C. Robbins did a great job organizing the event. d. The accreditation site team will be on campus May 4-6th. She stated they will hold meetings with various groups on campus and there will be some open sessions. It is important to attend the open sessions because they do take note of that.
6. ASEWU Report. C. France reported: a. On Wednesday there is a Clubs and Organization Fair scheduled. She stated if you know of any groups that would like a table they can contact the ASEWU office at X2514. b. The primary election for ASEWU council positions will be held tomorrow. She stated all students are being encouraged to vote.
7. Information Item. a. Critical Foundations Update. J. Smith reported the plan is to discuss the first phase of the Critical Foundations between now and the end of the academic year. She stated they want to make sure all the CF policies and documents are vetted properly.
b. Update on Faculty Values Committee’s review of Research & Scholarship Committee. K. Decker reported has not heard from L. Kieffer regarding the proposed changes however they will continue to reach out to her to work on this during the spring.
8. Brief Reports. ASAC. a. J. Otto reported since D. Dean has retired G. Crary will step into his position until a permanent replacement has been found. b. They continue to work on the Faculty Computer Replacement Program and are exploring different avenues they can bring forward to the senate. He stated he isn’t sure if they will be able to go from a five year replacement to a four year however they would like to if possible. Assessment Committee. B. Tipton reported they met last Tuesday and are discussing how they can incentivize assessment. Critical Foundations. a. J. Smith reported they are working on the Phase One proposal however they won’t bring anything forward to the Academic Senate until fall. She stated they want to make sure everyone has time to review the policies and documents prior to senate review. b. The Critical Foundations CPAC has received and approved five FYE proposals and they have planned a summer workshop for the faculty who will be teaching those courses. FVC. a. H. S. Lee reported they finished summarizing the comments last week and will meet with the evaluated administrators. She stated they plan to send a summary letter to all faculty by May 18th. LAC. P. Lindholdt reported the members of the LAC were not really familiar with all the parts of the Library so they went on a tour where they had several surprises. He stated they spent a lot of time in the Learning Commons and the ways technology has changed. They found out there are more tools of technology circulating in JFK than print materials. UAC. K. Evans reported they invited A. Skaer to the next meeting to discuss course fee issues. They resolved the Declaration of Major issue and will be having joint meetings of CPAC to discuss how the proposals aren’t being properly vetted prior to arriving at UAC. She stated CPAC did get through tons of proposals and they should be commended however there needs to be more collaboration between the committees.
9. Council Elections/Selections/Confirmations. a. M. Breen stated there are several volunteers for next year’s councils/committees that are coming forward for approval by the senate.
10. Unfinished Business. None.
11. New Business. a. Revision of Finals Schedule. M. Breen stated the Finals Schedule was approved by the Academic Senate however B. Houser raised an issue regarding daily courses whose finals are scheduled on Monday and Tuesday. She stated the way the previous Finals Schedule was laid out students could potentially have several finals during those two days. M. Baldwin and R. McCray worked on the schedule to eliminate the conflicts for block scheduling and daily courses. B. Tipton moved to suspend the rules to make this unfinished business. J. Smith seconded. Motion carried. B. Tipton moved to approve the Revision of the Finals Schedule. J. Otto seconded. Motion carried.
12. Agenda Items for April 27th Senate Meeting. (10a) Evaluation of Upper Administrators; (10b) Critical Foundations Update will be listed under Information Items; (11a) Graduate Faculty Policy will be listed as Unfinished Business; and (12a) Finals Schedule Revision will be listed as New Business.
13. Good of the Order. None.
14. Adjournment at 3:43 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled on May 4, 2015.