Minutes for April 9, 2007

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, April 9, 2007 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Eakin called the seventh meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

^*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^ALT Brooke Bentley attended for E. Hunter
^SUB Elizabeth Young attended for K. Kean
^SUB Leroy Heck attended for B. Shadur
^ALT Dana Howell attended for S. Shasby
^ALT Mary Whitaker attended for L. Wray

Visitors to the Senate were: Allen Ault, Justice & Safety; Gary Barksdale, Human Resources, Sue Cain, Transition & University Services; Jim Conneely, Student Affairs; David Fifer, SGA; Jerry Pogatshnik, Graduate Education & Research; Barry Poynter, Financial Affairs; Bruce Pratt, Agriculture; Mike Sheliga, Technology; Wally Skiba, Human Resources; Aaron Thompson, University Programs; Virginia Underwood, Chief of Staff; Janna Vice, Business & Technology; Tom Watkins, Economics; and Marc Whitt, Public Relations & Marketing

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The March 5, 2007 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

Senator Glasser shared the following in her written report to the Senate.

Congratulations to Dr. Malcolm Frisbie on being elected Faculty Regent. Additionally, thanks to Dr. Pam Schlomann for her service to EKU as Faculty Regent over the last five years.

The SACS visit is scheduled for April 10-12. Everyone should become familiar with the QEP prior to the SACS visit by reviewing the information available at http://www.sacs.eku.edu.

The following updates are available for the University Advancement and Capital Campaign progress:

• Plans are being finalized for visits and events in numerous areas for the remainder of the fiscal year including key events and visits in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, several sites in the Western United States and cities across the Commonwealth.
• Alumni Weekend will be held on April 27th and 28th. Please contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at 622-1261 for additional information.
• Homecoming 2007 is scheduled for October 19th and 20th. If departments or student organizations would like to participate in any special Homecoming activities, please contact Jackie Collier at 622-1261.
• A renewed effort to provide current updates to Eastern's alumni and friends via the web has been launched. This new outreach is designed to timely provide news and special interest updates to alumni and friends who have provided us with a valid email address.

All Kentucky public universities and KCTCS have now submitted their tuition and mandatory fees for the 2007-08 academic year to the Council on Postsecondary Education for approval. As was expected, EKU's tuition and fees per semester for full-time resident undergraduate students ranked third among the comprehensive universities in terms of amount charged. In addition the CPE is continuing its work and discussion with various groups on the base funding model which will serve as a basis for the biennial funding requests for the public universities and KCTCS from the CPE in the 2008 legislative session.

OMNI continues work on Phase "B" design development for the new science building. Phase 1 project drawings that will construct utility connections to the site should be advertised for bid on April 27th. Phase 2 site demolition drawings will follow shortly behind the Phase 1 bid. Phase 2 is currently under review by Facilities Services.

Phase "B" design development for the Business & Technology Phase 2 will complete in the next week. Bidding is scheduled for August.

The University is entering the final stage of the process to contract for operation of the EKU Bookstore. Four vendors have submitted their proposals for review. An ad hoc advisory review group, including faculty members David May, Patrick Newell and Salome Nnoromele, has been reviewing and evaluating the written proposals and presentations by the four companies.

Also, the University is entering the final stage of the dining services RFP process. Three vendors submitted their proposals for review. An ad hoc advisory review group, including faculty members Alice Jones, Claire Schmelzer, and Bill Wesley, has been reviewing and evaluating the written proposals and will evaluate the upcoming presentations by the three companies.

The first year of EKU's new wellness program, Healthy You at EKU, has successfully concluded with 22% employee participation. The second year of the program began on March 1. Also, the February Health Fair was a success with over 200 faculty/staff participating.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Report from Council on Academic Affairs

Senator Carter moved to combine the two motions on the Incomplete Grades Proposal, seconded by Senator Redmond. The majority were in favor and the motion carried.

Senator Robles moved to accept the Rights and Responsibilities recommendations on the Incomplete Grade Proposal, seconded by Senator Carter. The majority were in favor and the amendment carried. The Incomplete Grades proposal, as amended, was approved by the Senate.

NEW BUSINESS:

Extended Campus Taskforce Committee Recommendations - Senator Piercey introduced the University committee's eleven recommendations as an informational item only.

Senate Chair Nominations. Senator Fenton nominated Senator Eakin.

Senate Vice-Chair Nominations. Senator Dieckmann nominated Senator Ware.

Report from Council on Academic Affairs - Senator Piercey

1. Acceptance of transfer credits (informational item)
2. Writing Intensive General Education Course Proposal
3. Suspension of UWR
4. Career & Technical Education program revisions (B.S.) - new option: Engineering/Technology Education
5. Career & Technical Education program revisions (M.S.) - new option: Agriculture Education
6. Physical Education program revision (B.S.) - deletion of option:  Sport Management
7. Coaching Endorsement - suspend program
8. Coaching Minor - New program
9. Sport Management - New Program
10. Safety, Security & Emergency Management (M.S.) - (2 options - 1) Fire & Emergency Services Option & 2) Occupational Safety Option)
11. Fire & Emergency Services Certificate - New program
12. Occupational Safety Certificate - New program

Items 1 was introduced as an informational item only.

Senator Collins moved approval of items 2-12, seconded by Senator Robles. The majority were in favor and the motion carried.

Rules Committee Motion. Senator Milde moved, seconded by Senator Winslow to approve the rules committee motion to change the Internal Procedures to include librarians in the Faculty Regent election process (see below). The majority were in favor and the motion carried.

The statement regarding "Eligibility to Vote" under "Criteria and Procedures for Faculty Regent Election" should be changed:

From:
Any faculty member with the rank of Assistant professor or higher, as indicated by the listing in the Official Catalog or in the contract letter of employment, is eligible to vote for the Faculty Regent

To:
All faculty members of the rank of Assistant Professor or higher, or librarians holding comparable ranks, are eligible to vote for the Faculty Regent.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Senator Piercey provided the following updates in his written report to the Senate.

Merit fund allocations have been distributed to the college Deans. The Deans will submit their proposed distributions to the Provost by April 15th. Distributions will be submitted to Human Resources to validate position status and employment.

As the CPE Developmental Education Task Force and their six core recommendations for colleges and universities are finalized, institutional funding will be tied to the success of developmental students in college entry-level courses and to the retention of these students. The recommendation is that the success and retention rates of these students be at the same level as those students who entered prepared for college-level coursework. Additional advising, mentoring, tutoring, summer programs, and academic skills programs have been proposed to better support these students.

In partnership with the Student Athletic Office, the Registrar's Office helped establish a revised student athlete coding schema more representative of NCAA standards. Additionally, they are exploring the implementation of a new NCAA CARES report and are assisting with the creation of a Banner interface with the NCAA CAii software.

The Financial Aid Office announced that approximately 500 scholarship offers have been made to first time freshmen for the fall semester.

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jaleh Rezaie as Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Rezaie will begin her appointment on May 15.

The Graduate Council is reviewing the roles, responsibilities and qualifications for graduate faculty membership. The next meeting of the Graduate Council is scheduled for Friday, April 6 at 2 pm in LIB 201. Faculty with ideas and suggestions are encouraged to contact the Dean of the Graduate School and/or members of the Graduate Council.

The Graduate School has established a working group of faculty, graduate advisors and departmental administrators to look at ways to streamline the process for graduation. The first meeting of the workgroup was held on March 28. The Graduate School welcomes comments and suggestions for improving the graduation process. Please forward all comments to Tina Puckett in the Graduate School.

On April 12-14, fifty-one seniors in the Honors Program will be making a 30 minute oral presentation of their senior thesis projects. A complete presentation schedule is available on-line on the EKU Home Page by clicking "Events", or by calling Debra Ball at 622-2924.

Institutional Research has created a CIRP Freshman Profile report that will soon be distributed to the campus community. This report provides a portrait of entering freshmen regarding their background, attitudes, and college expectations.

Dr. Salome Nnoromele was appointed as permanent Director of African/African-American Studies.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: David Fifer

Mr. Fifer announced that the student government debates will be held at 7 p.m. in Walnut Hall, Keen Johnson on Tuesday evening. The elections for SGA offices will be held on April 17.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Rules Committee. Senator McKenney reported the following in her written report to the Senate.

The Committee met on March 7 and March 28, 2007. Phillip Logsdon, from ITDS, was the committee's guest for the March 7th meeting. He provided information and answered questions concerning the creation of an online tracking system for Senate motions. Logsdon and committee member Rob Milde agreed to collaborate in setting up a prototype which could provide a link to the text of a motion and then indicate its progress through various levels of approval. The prototype will be essentially an electronic table with columns for the various entities that rule on a motion.

The committee is also reviewing the Senate's Internal Procedures to ensure that they are current and in compliance with the Faculty Handbook.

Election Committee. Senator Randles announced that Malcolm Frisbie won the online Faculty Regent election.

Senator Randles reported that the election for the part-time faculty representative was delayed a week.

Senator Koontz announced that he would be sending letters out to all departments within the next week asking for replacements for those senators whose terms are expiring.

Committee on Committee. Senator Dieckmann reported that the committee received 32 self nominations for University committee vacancies. The committee will be meeting on Thursday to decide if the self-nomination process needs to be extended. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in serving who has not already completed the online form, please email Senator Dieckmann.

Welfare Committee. Senator Collins reported that the Committee will be meeting on Wednesday with the Finance area to discuss the issue of direct deposits.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:

The topic of discussion was "Faculty and Administration Camaraderie: A Shared Responsibility."

Senator Carter said that one of the things she keeps hearing is that new administrators do not seem to care about institutional memory. Instead they make changes based on what they did at their previous place of employment.

Senator Eakin commented that there have been at least three examples over the past year where new administrators have put forth a proposal assuming and understanding that they had gone about it the right way, or where some kind of misunderstanding came up about what it was. Every one of those administrators has actually come to the faculty and apologized and provided opportunities for discussion. This willingness to reason with one another is a good demonstration of shared governance.

Senator Reed voiced that here has been a tremendous cultural change, where there wasn't much shared governance for a long time. Now we are in a "process" of trying to understand how shared governance works. One of the keys is determining when things should come before the Faculty Senate. If it impacts teaching, service, and scholarship, then it should come before the Senate. If it's something like the "doctrine of no surprises", then it should come to the Senate as an informational item.

Senator Carter shared her thoughts that if it's a major issue, it should come before the Senate. If it's a minor issue, faculty should at least be given written notification two or three days in advance, so that they have an opportunity to react if necessary.

Senator Schlomann suggested that if there's a problem with shared governance it may have less to do with the administration and more to do with faculty. It's disconcerting that only 32 people self-nominated for University committee appointments. Today the entire Council on Academic Affairs report was approved without discussing one item. There were some very important things in that report that should have been discussed in detail. At the last meeting, under the CAA report, a new EdD program was approved without discussion. Faculty need to take ownership of shared governance and ask if they are doing what needs to be done. If not, then that issue needs to be addressed first.

Senator Piercey agreed with all comments heard today. He shared that the Council on Academic Affairs has been discussing ways to insure that the Senate sees issues before CAA acts on them. He reminded the senators that the most significant responsibility a Faculty Senate normally has is the quality of the curriculum. So, he encouraged the senators to share those issues with their colleagues so that their faculty are not only well-informed but that they have an opportunity to provide feedback.

Senator May stated his displeasure that a progress report has not been received from the administration regarding any of the motions approved by the Senate within the last year.

Senator Piercey mentioned that the Senate-approved CAA motion that was submitted to his office is being discussed. However, is the real issue that there aren't enough faculty on the Council on Academic Affairs, or is it that faculty are not being informed about issues early enough in the process to provide feedback?

Senator Schlomann asked about the status of the promotion and tenure recommended changes that were submitted earlier this year. Senator Piercey indicated that he would check on that and report back.

Dr. Pogatshnik encouraged the senators to think of ways to link the Graduate Council and Faculty Senate to talk about research and graduate issues that are becoming more and more important at this institution.

Senator Eakin said that one way to alleviate miscommunication is to make sure information is shared through the proper chain of command.

Senator Chapman mentioned that there used to be a Graduate Council Bulletin published. It might be a good idea to resurrect that publication considering the number of changes occurring in the Graduate School.

Senator Robles shared that it is vitally important to keep an open mind and communicate with each other--both faculty and administrators. If clarification is needed, go to the source and ask. That is how to achieve shared governance.

Senator Schuester stated that there has been so many administrative personnel changes in the last few years that it's difficult to develop camaraderie. Senator Chapman echoed those sentiments and further stated that in order to have camaraderie, faculty must be able to academically disagree with administrators without fear of repercussion.

Senator Ware expressed concerns that corporate encroachment is making inroads in higher education nationally in general. Increasingly, the focus seems to be more on accountability and testing rather than on teaching and learning.

Senator Eakin asked those that had comments, to please email those to him, and he will collect them for future discussions. Please put in the subject line the topic of the FTGOTO from today.