Minutes for February 7, 2005

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, February 7, 2005 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Siegel called the sixth 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
^ Amy Thieme attended for J. Taylor

Visitors to the Senate were: Samantha Durham, OTS; Richard Freed, English & Theatre; Megan Hansen, Eastern Progress; Kristan Johnson; Gary Kuhnhenn, CAS; Lance Melching, SGA; Bart Meyer, University Advancement; Matt Schumacher, SGA; Virginia Underwood, Chief of Staff; Elizabeth Wachtel, Academic Affairs; Tom Watkins, Economics; and Marc Whitt, Public Relations and Marketing

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Senator Siegel welcomed the students attending from the Group Theory and Professional Dynamics class.

Senator Siegel expressed her thanks and appreciation to Senator Glasser for the cookies for today's meeting. Senator Siegel also expressed her thanks and appreciation to Senators Glasser and Chapman for attending the Senate's first "Meet and Greet" session prior to today's meeting. Please encourage faculty to come and participate in the next "Meet and Greet" session one hour prior to the Senate meeting in the Faculty Lounge.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The January 10, 2005 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

A campus-wide e-mail was distributed today announcing that a new housing regulation is being developed to allow residents to use windows as a venue for free expression. The new regulation will include parameters to address potential safety concerns and prohibitions on expressions that do not enjoy full constitutional protection.

Senator Glasser expressed her appreciation to Senator Siegel, all other panelists and SGA President, Lance Melching, for their participation in the free speech forum that was recently held on campus. She also thanked all faculty and students for their participation in the forum.

Frankfort officials are back in session to work on a state budget. Last week in Governor Fletcher's "State of the Commonwealth Address" he promised to provide more funding for higher education if a satisfactory tax modernization proposal is approved by the General Assembly. As you may have read, he has proposed an austere budget for state government and in particular for higher education. The budget proposes an additional $59 million for higher education in 2004-06, but most of those funds have already been earmarked. Unfortunately, the Governor's proposed budget also eliminates all of higher education's capital construction projects. This includes phase two of the Business and Technology Center as well as the Manchester Center. Senator Glasser and Dr. Paul Blanchard will be working diligently with local elected representatives to hopefully get those two projects reinstated before the session ends in March.

One bill being considered which may provide help in funding for University projects is to allow colleges and universities to sell bonds independent of the state to help finance buildings and equipment. If the bill passes, institutions would have the option to choose this venue as long as there are sufficient funds and revenue to pay the bonds off.

CPE is currently considering a new funding model for all public universities, colleges and KTCTS. The specific funding areas that are being reviewed include base funding for all universities, the funding distribution methodology and capital funding for projects going forward in the future. A work group has been established to recommend performance criteria that CPE will look at. Senator Chapman has been appointed to serve on this committee.

As of January 31, 2005, new money totaling $1,427,000 has been donated to the EKU Foundation from 5,267 donors. This is a 20% increase in dollars and a 33% increase in donors compared to the same time last year. Alumni contributions have increased 63% this year with a total of $531,000 to date. Gifts and pledges to the capital campaign now exceed $10 million. Approximately $5 million of that total has been designated for students and scholarships. A little over $1.3 million has been designated for faculty and faculty development; a little over $2 million has been designated for new programs; and about $300,000 has been earmarked for campus improvements and new initiatives. The latest gift and pledge includes a $50,000 gift from the George D. Norton Family Foundation which will support scholarships for finance majors and student enrichment opportunities within the Department of Finance. This gift has been submitted to the Commonwealth for matching funds and with the state match will total $100,000.

This year's Alumni Weekend is scheduled for April 29-30. A special effort is being made this year to enlist volunteers from each of the featured alumni classes to encourage them to get re-connected with Eastern.

Senator Glasser shared with the Senate some recent faculty accomplishments:

1. The Forensic Science program is the cover story in the February 2005 issue of Kentucky Living.
2. The Division of Public Relations and Marketing has received five national awards in the 20th Annual Admissions Advertising Awards Competition this past year.
3. Alice Jones and Don Yow attended the "Posters at the Capital" session this past month with Geography majors Ryan Burns, Jeff Minor and Ricardo Hernandez
4. Mark Biermann served as the mentor for the Posters presentation by two Physics majors at the Capital event in Frankfort on February 3.
5. Margaret Dean recently had an article accepted by Milton Studies
6. Joy Anderson, Sharon Brandenberger, Shasby, Doris Pierce and Colleen Schneck (Occupational Therapist faculty) had national publications this past month
7. Elizabeth Hansen has been named KPA's 2004 Russ Metz Memorial Most Valuable Member

Following is a list of upcoming events:

• February 16 is Higher Education Day in Frankfort
• February 17 is the next coffee chat in Keen Johnson from 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. in the Faculty Lounge
• February 25 is the President's Ball at 8:00 p.m. in Keen Johnson

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Siegel

The Executive Committee met on January 24 and will next meet on February 28, 2005.

Senator Flanagan announced that the Arlington Board has postponed making a final decision on the massive bond issue for 60 days.

Senator Siegel thanked Senator Glasser for moving so quickly to re-open the Faculty Club.

The Faculty Club Governing Board will meet for the first time in four years on Thursday morning. If you have ideas for ways to utilize the faculty club, please contact one of the Board members or the Senate chair. The Board members are: Bill Abney, Justice and Safety; Greg Engstrom, Library; Bruce MacLaren, Arts & Sciences; Marcel Robles, Business & Technology; Cynthia Resor, Education; and Ashlyn Cunningham, Health Sciences.

There are three upcoming Provost and Senate Issue Roundtable discussions. These will be held once a month on a specific subject. The scheduled dates are February 16 from 11:30-1:00 p.m., a brown-bag lunch in the faculty club discussing alternatives to merit; March 21 8:00-9:30 a.m. to discuss the budget; and April 12 2:00-3:30 p.m. to discuss collegial governance. Please encourage your faculty to attend.

The initial parking report had some problems and was referred back to the consultant. A reconsidered report is due in mid-February. Once the report is available, Vice President Conneely will discuss the findings with the Executive Committee and the Senate.

The Senate now has two rooms available for use in the Student Services Building--rooms 410 and 414. Keys are available from both the Senate chair and secretary. Senator Siegel thanked Senator Glasser for making those rooms available for Senate use.

REPORT FROM THE FACULTY REGENT: Senator Schlomann

All of the items mentioned at the last Senate meeting were approved by the Board at the January 21 meeting.

Senator Schlomann introduced Dr. Richard Freed who was present to discuss CPE's state faculty representative position which becomes vacant this summer. He shared a tentative list of duties for the position and strongly encouraged faculty to submit their names for consideration. Three names from across the state will be submitted for consideration to the Governor. If anyone has an interest in the position and would like to discuss it with Dr. Freed, please contact him for additional information.

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Smith

The next scheduled COSFL meeting will be on Saturday, February 12 at the University of Kentucky. CPE President, Tom Layzell, will be in attendance.

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Senator Chapman

Senator Chapman reported that the policies he mentioned at the last meeting that have been placed on line may have errors and are currently only accessible to deans and associate vice presidents in order to make needed corrections. Once the policies are up to-date, they will be accessible to everyone.

The promotion and tenure process is moving along according to schedule. The University Promotion and Tenure Committee will start reviewing the applications and supporting documents next Monday.

The salary equity adjustment process is underway. The deans are currently reviewing the formula results for any needed corrections. There are about 150 people eligible for an adjustment. Additional information will be provided later.

REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: Lance Melching

Tickets go on sale this week for the upcoming President's Ball. Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple. The event is free to all full-time students.

The Rally for Higher Education will be on Wednesday, February 16 from 8:00 a.m. ­ 3:00 p.m. Please allow students to make up class work in order to participate in this event. SGA will be keeping a list of all students who attend.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Budget Committee. Senator Eakin reported that the committee should be sending a preliminary budget report to the senators within the next couple of weeks to review before the next meeting.

Rules Committee. Senator Johnson reported that the committee met on Friday and will continue to meet every two weeks for the remainder of the semester to work on the various committee charges.

Rights & Responsibilities Committee. Senator Kristofik reported that the committee continues to work on the promotion and tenure recommendations.

Elections Committee. Senator DeBolt announced that the Elections Committees has sent an announcement to department chairs to nominate senate replacements for those senators whose terms expire this year. At the March Senate meeting, the committee will announce all Senate committee vacancies and will take nominations to fill those positions. New Senators will be reminded of this via e-mail and encouraged to attend the March meeting. Hopefully, the actual vote can be handled online around the third week in March. In April the new committee appointments will be announced and any substitutions can be elected at that time.

Committee on Committees. Senator Vance reported that the committee will be sending out solicitations for self-nominations to University committees within the next couple of weeks.

Faculty Welfare Committee. Senator Collins reported that the committee is working on several charges. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

General Education. Tom Watkins was in attendance to give an update on General Education. The Provost has issued a time deadline of fall 2006 for the completion of the new general education program for the entering freshman class.

Secondly, the General Education Committee is preparing a document that will help departments design courses for the new General Education Program. There are four parts to the document: 1) the course must be designed to achieve the goals and learning objectives for the course being submitted; 2) the course syllabus should indicate how the course objectives link to the general education objectives; 3) a course curriculum matrix must be developed that shows the general education committee how your specific learning objectives link to the general education objectives; 4) and there must be an assessment plan for the course.

Because the implementation date is so close, if your degree program currently uses general education courses as support courses then that should be communicated to those departments.

NEW BUSINESS:

Council on Academic Affairs. Senator Chapman introduced the following 6 items. Action on the items was deferred to the March meeting so that a representative from the Education area could be present to answer questions. Anyone with specific concerns about the 6 items should e-mail Senator Chapman prior to the next Senate meeting.

1. Rank II, the Fifth Year Program in Secondary Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)
2. Masters of Arts in Education: Secondary Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)
3. M.A.Ed: Elementary Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)
4. Rank II, the Fifth Year Program Elementary and Middle Grades Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)
5. Rank I, the Sixth Year Program Elementary and Middle Grades Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)
6. Rank I, the Sixth Year Program Secondary Education: Environmental Education (add an Environmental Education endorsement as an option)

SACS Report Update. Jaleh Rezaie was in attendance to give an update on SACS. She presented two diagrams to the Senate in an effort to simplify the SACS process. The first shows the SACS review as a snapshot of EKU's operations according to the SACS comprehensive standards and requirements. The second graph shows the two sets of documents that must be prepared for the SACS visit. The compliance review report is the first document due by August 15, 2006. This is the report that includes information on faculty credentials. The other document is the Quality Enhancement Planning Report (QEP report) which is due by January, 2007. This report relates directly to student learning and is developed primarily from the strategic plan.

Five committees and a support team have been established to help produce these reports. Visit the website at http://www.sacs.eku.edu to review committee memberships, timelines and other information. There will also be an electronic newsletter on SACS called SACS Tracks that will be produced several times per semester.

Report on New Senator Orientation. Senator Robles introduced the following motion:

That the Faculty Senate implement a New Senator Orientation, effective with Senate elections in May 2005, organized and implemented for by an ad hoc Faculty Senate Orientation Committee composed of three appointed Senators and two members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

Senator Siegel ruled the motion substantive and deferred discussion to the March meeting.

Report on Senate Chair/Vice Chair. Two motions were introduced from the Ad Hoc Committee on Senate Chair/Vice Chair. Senator Siegel ruled the motions substantive and deferred a vote to the March meeting. Dr. Karen Janssen will be in attendance to introduce the motions at the March meeting.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:

The topic of discussion this week was "Strategies for Making Faculty Advising of Students More Efficient and Effective".

Due to time constraints, the discussion was postponed to the March meeting.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Chapman moved to adjourn at approximately 5:15 p.m.

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