Minutes for April 1, 2002

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, April 1, 2002 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Schlomann called the seventh meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

^*denotes prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary

Visitors to the Senate were: Jill Allgier, Registrar; Gary Cordner, Justice and Safety; Rita Davis, Student Affairs; David D. Gale, Health Sciences; Mona Guckes, ITDS - Banner; Karen Janssen, Special Education; Ken Johnson, Finance; Jim Keith, ITDS; Jennifer Rogers, The Eastern Progress; Chip Smith, Athletics; Vern Snyder, University Advancement; Aaron Thompson, Academic Affairs; Elizabeth Wachtel, Academic Affairs; Doug Whitlock, Administrative Affairs; and Mark Wasicsko, College of Education. The following students were also in attendance: Michael Alley, Horricia Barton, Jacinda Bertie, Doris M. Bowman, Taryn Brandenburg, Tabetha Brummett, Miranda Bullock, Nenna Castle, LaKesha Churn, Abigail Conant, Lynn Cooper, Matt Decker, Susan Dye, Martin Dye, Erin Enyart, Bethany Fackler, Kristy Frolo, Megan Gampher, Earnest Gilliland, Jada Gilmore, Shayla Handley, Bre Harris, Allison M. Henley, Toni Holder, Jennifer Hoover, April Irvin, Heather LaRue, Jason Lee, Lindsay Martin, Emily Montgomery, Kim Morton, Nathan Polsgrove, Brittany Ricks, Matt Schular, Crystal Scott, Lisa Scott, Regina Settle, Hayden Shawler, Monica Shotzbarger, Lisa Spicer, Rebecca D. Sparks, James Storm, Trevor Taylor, Vicky Trimble, Jennifer Wallace, Chuck Whatley, Jennifer White, Timyata R. Williams, Jennifer Wolford and Karmen York.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The March 4, 2002 minutes were approved as written.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Senator Schlomann announced that President Glasser is at an out-of-town meeting and has been unavoidably detained. Therefore, there will not be a President's report today.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Schlomann

Senator Schlomann announced that the Executive Committee met on March 11 at 3:30 p.m. The meeting was relatively brief with the focus on a variety of housekeeping issues such as developing the agenda. In addition, the Committee discussed modifying the Senate rules to include a process to review the President on a regular basis. A motion related to this will be coming later in this meeting.

FACULTY REGENT: Senator Thompson

The Board has met twice by teleconference since the Senate last convened. The following three items were approved by the Board:

1. Helen Thomas, the senior member of the White House Press Core, will be the May commencement speaker;
2. EKU's health insurance package for 2002-2003. (The family plan increased approximately 15 percent.) The Board discussed the need to plan for a needed cushion in the Health Insurance budget in the future.
3. The changes in the Bylaws and structure of the Student Government Association.

Senator Thompson mentioned that COSFL has had several discussions this year about the qualifications of Board members appointed by the Governor and has developed a list of criteria for those individuals interested in serving.

Senator Thompson announced that the Governor has established a training institute to be held during the summer for trustees and regents around the state.

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Senator Marsden

Senator Marsden mentioned that the fall 2002 semester marks the full completion of the pre-college curriculum state-wide and that the institution needs to respond specifically in the areas of the sciences, social sciences and visual and performing arts. Interdisciplinary teams are working to develop remediated coursework in those areas. English and Math were handled in this process earlier.

Senator Marsden reminded the Senate that there is an honorary degree committee which is chaired by Dr. Onda Bennett; anyone wishing to nominate someone for an honorary degree should contact this committee. Our honorary degree recipient and commencement speaker this spring will be Helen Thomas.

On April 11 the Office of the Provost and the Department of Athletics will be co-sponsoring a presentation by Dr. Rogers Redding at 4:00 p.m. in Walnut Hall.

Spring commencement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on May 11. The reason for the time change is to accommodate those families and friends who have to travel some distance to attend. College receptions will occur from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Graduation line-up will begin around 12:30 p.m.

REPORT FROM STUDENT SENATE: Nick Bertram

Mr. Bertram reported on a number of items.

1. SGA was approved to continue plans to broadcast the student radio station, WXII, live on campus.
2. The shared governance proposal was approved at all levels of the University.
3. SGA approved 75% of the annual organizational funding allocation, using funds from the student technology fee and organizational funding.
4. The reforestation project with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government is this Saturday. E-mail Mr. Bertram to have your name added to the list of volunteers who will be participating.
5. Distinguished Leadership applications are now available and are ready to be approved for this semester. Those selected will be honored at SGA's annual banquet.
6. The annual student government banquet will be on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. in the Stratton building.
7. Mr. Bertram thanked the Senators for considering the plus/minus issue brought forth by the students.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Elections Committee. Senator C. Everett announced that last Tuesday and Wednesday two faculty regent forums were held. Ballots will be available to faculty today; please return them by this Friday.

Ad Hoc Committee on Compensation & Benefits. Senator Johnson announced that the committee continues to meet and work on merit and salary equity issues. Senator Johnson addressed some misunderstandings about the recently approved merit proposal. He indicated that it was the intent of the motion to only deal with how to allocate funds for the across the board merit raises for the upcoming two years. As it has been done in the past, it is up to the deans based upon the recommendations from the chairs to determine if someone is not meeting the minimum standard as to how that should be handled. The motion was NOT meant to alter the process of annual faculty evaluations for post tenure review in any way.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Council on Academic Affairs. (Items postponed from March 4, 2002.)
Senator Collins moved approval of the proposal for a Master of Science in Correctional/Juvenile Justice, seconded by Senator Marsden. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal for a program revision in the Associate Science degree Technical Agriculture, seconded by Senator Siegel. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to create a new B.S. in Military and Applied Leadership, seconded by Senator Dunston. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Plus/Minus Grading. At the February Senate meeting Senator Falkenberg moved to approve the following proposal, seconded by Senator Flanagan. Further discussion was postponed until today's meeting.

Whereas: There continues to be controversy over the issue of plus/minus grading, and

Whereas: The student government perceives that it had insufficient input into the establishment of the plus/minus grading proposal, and

Whereas: The full impact of the plus/minus grading system on the University s current recruitment and retention efforts is unknown, and

Whereas: The full impact of the plus/minus grading system on the University s scholarship programs is unknown, and

We Move: That, a temporary moratorium beginning Fall 2002 be placed on the continuation of the plus/minus grading scale and the University return to the previous four point grading scale by assigning the grades of A and A- four points, the grades of B+, B, and B- three points, the grades of C+, C, and C- two points, the grades of D+, D, and D- one point and the grade of F zero points,

And: That, the University continue to collect plus/minus grades with the above grading scale for the purposes of research and expanded information for students concerning class performance,

And: That, a special ad hoc committee be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the Student Government to study the impact of the plus/minus grading scale and report the results of that study to the Faculty and Student Senates in the Fall of 2003.

Senator Marsden announced that he would abstain from voting on the issue. The motion passed with a vote of 32 for and 19 against.

NEW BUSINESS:

Nominations for Senate Chair: Senator Johnson and Senator Flanagan were nominated for the chair's position. They will each give a short speech at the organizational meeting on May 6.

Periodic Review of the President: Senator Flanagan moved approval of the proposed procedure for the review of the President and the recommended change in the rules, seconded by Senator Johnson. The proposed procedure is listed below.

Whereas: The President is appointed by the Board of Regents and serves the University at the pleasure of the Board of Regents, and
Whereas: The primary responsibility for the evaluation of the President lies with the Board of Regents, and

Whereas: The major thrust of the review of academic administrators is to improve the effectiveness of Eastern Kentucky University's academic administration, and

Whereas: To accomplish this the review process requires the active support and appraisal from all persons in a position to express valid viewpoints in the performance of individual administrators, and

Whereas: The full-time faculty of the University can provide a unique perspective on the state of the University and the performance of the president which can lead to valuable insights to improve administrative performance and accountability, and

Whereas: The Faculty Senate is the delegate assembly of the University faculty through which the faculty normally exercises its responsibilities as a group;

We Move: That, the Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University, through the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, conduct a systematic review of the President during the second and fourth year of service and every four years thereafter by all full-time faculty to be transmitted to the President and to the Board of Regents.

Supporting Materials for Motion for Faculty Review of The President

1. A new section V to be added to the Faculty Handbook under "Evaluation of Academic Administrators" [Faculty Handbook, page 42] with following sections V and VI appropriately renumbered VI and VII.
5. Administrative Review of the President by the Faculty
   1. The President shall be reviewed by the faculty during the second and fourth year of service and every four years thereafter. The Board or the President may request more frequent reviews.
   2. "Organization of the Faculty of Eastern Kentucky University" [Faculty Handbook, page 101] shall be given the opportunity to complete the questionnaire as approved by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate. The completed questionnaires shall be transmitted to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.
   3. Members of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate will be responsible for the tabulation of the responses and the transcription of all comments. A summary will be transmitted to the President and to the Board of Regents. The individual review forms will be confidential and will be destroyed.
   4. The questionnaire used to review the President shall solicit responses in the areas of leadership, management, communication, personal relations, fairness and an overall evaluation. Opportunity should be given to provide open-ended comments as well as more quantitative review. Signature on the actual questionnaire should be optional, however, signature on response envelopes may be necessary to ensure faculty status of respondents. Procedures for the distribution of questionnaires and verification of respondents should be the same as those used for the election of the Faculty Regent.

Senator Schlomann indicated that as this is a substantive issue, action should be delayed until the May 6 meeting.

Academic Affairs Curriculum Items. Senator Marsden moved approval for the departmental name change from Art to Art and Design, seconded by Senator O'Connor. This motion was passed by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the B.A. in Chemistry, seconded by Senator Yoder. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden, seconded by Senator Thompson, moved approval of the proposal to revise the M.A. in Education, LBD P-12. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the MA in Teaching: Middle Grade, seconded by Senator Hubbard. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the BA in English to delete the writing option and add creative writing and technical writing options, seconded by Senator Milde. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the title of the BS in Assets Protection to Assets Protection and Security, seconded by Senator Reed. This motion was approved by the Senate.

Senator Marsden moved approval, seconded by Senator Fenton, of the program revision in the BS in Fire Safety Engineering Technology to drop the Occupational Safety and Health Engineering Technology option and add the Safety and Industrial Relations option. This motion was approved by the Senate.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Marsden moved to adjourn at 5:30 p.m.

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