Conclusion of 35thFaculty Senate
Opening of 36th Faculty Senate
Dr. Max Fridell, President
Dr. Shelly Hiatt, Secretary
Minutes
April 15, 2009
Administration Building, 2nd Floor
Shared Conference Room
3:15 p.m.
Senate members present:Mike Bellamy, Martha Breckenridge, Judy Clark, Max Fridell, Frank Grispino, Shelly Hiatt, Carolyn Johnson, George Kegode, Carolyn McCall, Michelle Nance, Jason Offutt, Amanda Petefish-Schrag, William Richardson, Renee Rohs, Jenny Rytting, Lauren Leach-Steffens,Jeff Thornsberry, Denise Weiss,
Guests:Paul Klute, Dave Oheler
Doug Sudoff, President 35th Faculty Senate, called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m.
- Approval of minutes from April 1, 2009 faculty senate meeting
Connie Ury moved to approve the April 1, 2009 minutes. Armin Muhsam seconded. Approved unanimously.
Doug Sudoff adjourned the final meeting of the 35th Faculty Senate at 3:16 p.m. and passed the presidential gavel to Max Fridell.
The 36th Faculty Senate
Max Fridell, President of the 36th Faculty Senate, called the initial meeting of the 36th Faculty Senate to order immediately.
- Approval of Agenda
MaxFridell invited additions to the agenda:
Clark: Proposal to change language in the Academic Honesty policy language (undergraduate and graduate) –Add as item E
Fridell: Appoint a parliamentarian—Add under item C
Fridell: Approval of committee chairs—Add under item C
Rohs: Curriculum report –Add as item F
Rytting: Senate Resolution regarding support of ISPC proposal to initiate multilingual signage on campus—Add as item H; Approval to bring discussion of a Senate Resolution to support naming for PresidentHubbard, a garden to be developed near the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship—Add as item G
Fridell: Election of secretary—Add under item C
- Convening the 36th Faculty Senate
- Presentation by 35th Faculty Senate President, Doug Sudhoff.
Sudoff, recognized and expressed appreciation for the preparation, collegiality, and directness with which the 35th Senate dealt with the many issues brought to them over the past year—giving a special compliment to the work of the executive committee. New committee chairs were encouraged to look to the retiring committee chairs for mentoring. Max Fridell thanked Doug Sudhoff for his leadership.
- Introduction of senators
Senators Keogde, McCall, Rohs, Petefish-Schrag, Rytting, Clark, Johnson, Weiss, Nance, Breckenridge, Thornsberry, Bellamy, Richardson, Leach-Steffens, Hiatt, and Fridell introduced themselves.
Abbey Freeman, outgoing Student Senate President, was recognized. Ms. Freeman thanked the Faculty Senate.
Guests Paul Klute and Carol Spradling discussed a complication with the electronic voting process that was initiated to elect the Committee on Rank. The
ballot will be resent to faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Human Services. A new email address and password will be secured from Marolyn Alloway which will solve this problem.
- Election of President-Elect, and other offices.
Fridell and Sudhoff shared information about the process for nominations stressing the importance of faculty nominations. In the event that all nominations are declined, a report is made to the University President and he appoints someone as President-Elect.
Nominations proceeded: Carolyn Johnson was nominated by Hiatt. Declined.
Frank Grispino was nominated by McCall. Declined. Doug Sudoff interjected that the position allows for a 25% reduction in classload and again discussed the importance of faculty leadership. Non-tenure issues were discussed as a worry for senators without tenure. Renee Rohs was nominated by Leach-Steffens. Declined.
Richard Fulton was nominated by McCall. Fulton was phoned and accepted the nomination.
Rohs moved for nominations to cease. Rytting seconded.
Vote: approval to elect Rich Fulton as President-Elect.
Fridell appointed Leach-Steffens as Parliamentarian.
Rohs nominated Shelly Hiatt for Secretary. Seconded by Bill Richardson.
Vote: approval to elect Hiatt as Secretary.
Fridell presented a slate of committee chairs. Breckenridge moved to approve the slate of committee chairs. Leach-Steffens seconded.
Academic Appeals, Judy Clark
Admissions and Advanced Standing, Michelle Nance
Curriculum and Degree Requirements (CDR), Renee Rohs
Designated Curriculum Matters (Subcommittee of CDR), William Richardson
Assessment, Jenny Rytting
Budget, Planning, and Development, Jeffrey Thornsberry
Faculty Welfare, Amanda Petefish-Schrag
Vote: unanimous approval
- Report by 35th faculty senate president
Doug Sudhoff reported on Level I and II committee activity during the 2008-2009 academic year. He discussed the work of the executive committee in the presidential search process, the five year constitutional review, and the online voting initiative. He also summarized the work of the Academic Appeals;Budget, Curriculum and Degree Requirements, and Faculty Welfare committees. The full report is available for review in the faculty senate office.
Major initiatives for the 2009-10 academic year were explored at the request of Max Fridell.Fridell named the Presidential and Provost searches, health insurance, HB 668 (conceal and carry legislation), parking,faculty evaluations, and budget as issues of interest for faculty senate.
Rytting indicated that the English department would like Senate to continue discussion of issues surrounding the adoption of e-books.
Rohs noted that it has been 10 years since the last review of the General Education package.
Fridell shared faculty assessment and student forms used in the evaluation of faculty would also warrant Senate attention in the coming year.
- Academic Appeals Committee: Proposal to change the Academic Honesty policy and the Adding, Dropping, and Withdrawals policy
Committee Chair Clark presented information that the proposal was to change the language in the policy to prevent students charged with academic dishonesty from dropping or withdrawing from a course to avoid imposed sanction. (Proposal is available for review in the faculty senate office)
Thornsberry moved to accept the proposal. Nance seconded.
Discussion: Was there any further word on the ability of the registrar to implement this change? Dave Oehler indicated that the registrar can lock the entire record to prevent add/drop and if a student did drop the course it could be added back administratively. At this time it is best to go forward with current language in the proposal and it can be modified if needed. The current proposal is adequate to address the spirit of the intended change.
Vote: Unanimous approval
- Curriculum Committee
Committee Chair Rohs reported that there was a concern noted from the English Department in regard to the e-reader. The English faculty felt the discussions moved from “it’s possible to put it on” to an “e- reader initiative.” This is disconcerting, as the faculty review in regard to e-readers was mixed at best. The communication about e-readers has not been as clear as they would have liked. They have concerns that e-readers may be required when their understanding was it would not be forced on any department or instructor.Rytting stated that the English department was concerned that the media attention is misleading, giving false impressions to students, and therefore creating pressure for faculty to adopt. An additional concern was the survey language presented to faculty was biased in favor of e-texts.Johnson discussed the impact of e-text on students with disabilities. Publishers may have more difficulty making available audible versions of e-texts because of copyright issues as publishers may not own the copyright to all texts they publish.
Rohs presented Curriculum Proposal 209-08-10 which was tabled at the April 1 faculty senate meeting because it was not submitted electronically with adequate time for review. The proposal sought to add a Sport Psychology course as an applied option within the B.A. in Psychology. Richardson moved to approve. The motion was seconded.
Discussion: Richardson, in the interest of departmental collaboration, questioned if there was objection by HEPERD at the last meeting. Rohs indicated the course had already been passed as part of the B.S. and restated why the B.A. proposal was tabled. Hiatt stated that the course would be another option in the applied category for psychology majors seeking the B.S. or the B.A.
Vote: Unanimous approval
- Discussion of Resolution to name the garden developed near the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in PresidentHubbard’s honor.
Motion to remove discussion of the resolution from the table by Johnson. Leach-Steffens seconded. 13 approved. 4 abstentions.
Discussion: Rytting reminded that this does not yet have President Hubbard’s approval. Grispino queried who would pay for this project. Rytting indicated that the garden is already partially funded (a budget already exists from the development fund and also the possibility of asking for donations). The garden will be built as part of the Center for Excellence plan working with Deb Mullens. Weiss and Rytting are appointed to the planning committee. The timeline is tentative with a possible dedication ceremony planned for next spring. If President Hubbard declines this option what is the plan? Perhaps we name a road or CITE, or we start over with new ideas. If President Hubbard is agreeable, perhaps departments could contribute.
Nance moved to table the discussion until we hear from Rytting and Weiss. Thornsberry seconded.
Discussion
Thornsberry called question.
Vote: Unanimous approval
- Discussion of Senate Resolution regarding support of ISPC proposal to initiate multilingual signage on campus
Rytting wrote the signage project initiative as a resolution for senate’s consideration. The resolution states senate’s support of the International Studies and Programs and the Multicultural Committees in their proposal to establish multilingual signage across campus.
Grispino questioned how many languages and which languages. Rytting indicated that languages would be selected to represent our student population.
Thornsberry moved to accept resolution. Richardson seconded.
Vote: 13 approve;2 opposed; 2 abstentions. Motion Carried.
III. Business from the floor.
Fridell opened discussion of HB 688, conceal and carry legislation. Senate expressed its concern regarding conceal and carry on campuses. Fridell asked if we should pursue. Fridell indicatedthe bill has passed the House. Fridell requested that Petefish-Scrag get a proposal together as faculty welfare chair. Need:
- Disseminate the Internet link for the current copy of the bill
- Get legislatures’ contact information out to the faculty so they may make their opinions known regarding this bill;
- Draft a resolution which reflects the current Faculty Senate’s opposition to HB 688.
Move to approve a general resolution in opposition to concealed weapons on college campuses by Thornsberry. Seconded by Leach-Steffens.
Vote: 15 approve; 0 opposed; 2 abstentions. Motion carries.
IV. Adjournment
Move to adjourn at 4:30 by Leach-Steffens. Seconded by Nance.
Vote: Unanimous approval.
Respectfully submitted by Shelly Hiatt.