Minutes for May 5, 2008
The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, May 5, 2008, in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Eakin called the eighth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The following members of the Senate were absent:
| C. Blades | M. Case | D. Clay |
| B. Foley* | B. Gaffney | S. Godbey*^ |
| M. Hesse | J. Koontz | M. McDermott |
| R. Milde | S. Neumann | B. Phillips |
| A. Shordike*^ | B. Wesley |
*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^ ALT Darrin Smith attended for S. Godbey
^ ALT Dana Howell attended for A. Shordike
Visitors to the Senate: Alex, Combs, SGA; Jim Conneely, Student Affairs; David Fifer, SGA; Deborah Newsom, Financial Affairs; Carol Palmer, Baccalaureate Nursing; Sherry Robinson, Academic Affairs; John Wade, Arts & Sciences; Marc Whitt, Public Relations & Marketing; and Steffen Wilson, Psychology
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The April 7, 2008 minutes were approved as written.
REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Whitlock
Senator Whitlock announced that EKU's Board of Regents proposed an 8% tuition increase. This is in comparison to Murray's proposed 6% tuition increase and the KTCTS system's 13% increase. CPE will act on the tuition recommendations on Friday, May 9th.
With the 3% budget cut earlier, and the additional 3% cut on remaining funds, which amounted to approximately $4.5 million, the proposed 8% tuition increase will not generate enough funds to cover all necessary expenses to keep the University operational. Therefore, there will need to be some reallocation of existing resources. In the last six years on this campus, FTE student enrollment has increased about 3%, faculty lines have increased 7.1%, and staff lines have increased 7.4%. So staff positions have increased slightly more than faculty positions. As such, there may need to be a much firmer line taken on keeping positions frozen in staff lines.
One of the more significant things on the budget process is that development of the 09-10 budget will begin during the summer rather than waiting until mid-winter next year to start the process. The Faculty Senate Budget Committee will be consulted in that process.
Last time Senator Whitlock misspoke on the insurance. The new health plan went into effect July 1 and will run through December 31st. Another enrollment will be held in January and the new plan will run from January 1 through December 31st. President Whitlock met with the Benefits Committee after realizing the mistake, and the committee made a good suggestion which was quickly implemented. On the high PPO plan, it could be possible that an individual could be exposed to the maximum out-of-pocket expense for the annual year within that six month period. If this occurs, the University has agreed to split the cost so that an individual would only be responsible for half of that amount during the six month period.
Senator Whitlock announced that while salary compensation has not been determined for the coming year, he hopes to have the resources available to do approximately $500 across the board for everyone and then on top of that a percentage amount, all of which would be added to the base salary. This kind of hybrid approach both recognizes the realities for the lower paid people and will also recognize the need to minimize compression and to try to do everything possible for those folks who may be approaching retirement.
The other thing this hybrid approach would do is to help this institution make up some ground that has been lost since 1998. In 1998 Eastern paid its faculty at 105% of the benchmark and was the highest paid comprehensive institution in the state; and now Eastern is down to mid range. Senator Whitlock stated that one of his goals is to once again have Eastern be listed as one of the highest paid comprehensive institutions in the state.
Another issue that the EKU community needs to be thinking about is degree productivity, because it will probably play a significant factor in future funding. One area that Eastern has potential growth opportunity in is the area of completer degrees. There are a large number of adults in the population that are close to degree completion. EKU has a Bachelor of Individualized Studies for those folks; other institutions have similar degrees but with different names. From 1999 through 2006 Western graduated 1267 people with such degrees, Murray was in the 500-600 range, and Eastern graduated 48 such folks. Based on these figures, there may be considerable growth potential in this area for EKU.
NEW BUSINESS:
Budget Committee Membership Motion. Senator McKenney introduced the motion. Senator Winslow moved to approve the recommended change to the Budget Committee membership (listed below), seconded by Senator Johnson. The majority were in favor and the motion carried. This motion will need to be approved by the Faculty-at-Large at the August 2008 convocation.
The following change should be made in the Faculty Handbook, Part VII (Organization of the Faculty of Eastern Kentucky University), VII. The Faculty Senate, E. Committees of the Senate, 5. Committee on the Budget:
Under section (a), which lists membership of the committee, remove the following sentence: "The Vice President for Government Relations and Planning shall serve as a non-voting member of the Committee." Replace it with this sentence: "The Vice President for Financial Affairs shall serve as a non-voting member of the Committee."
Report from Council on Academic Affairs - Dr. Janna Vice reported for Senator Piercey.
- Computer Science (B.S.) Program Revision - add new option in Computer Security
- Accelerated BBA/MBA Program New Program
- Course Syllabus Policy (with attached CAA's approved revisions)
Senator Robles moved approval of item #2 (new Accelerated BBA/MBA Program), seconded by Senator Winslow. The majority were in favor and the motion carried.
Senator Robles moved approval of item #3 (Syllabus Policy), seconded by Senator Winslow.
Some of the issues raised in discussing the syllabus policy included:
- "written communication" needs to be updated to reflect 100% online courses to something like "written or electronic communication"
- Syllabus should be distributed by the first or second work day of the University - listed as such because if a class meets once a week it's unacceptable to not receive the syllabus until the second week. However, some senators felt the "second work day of the University" wasn't defined well and therefore could be problematic
- The course drop date was pushed back by two weeks so "mid-term of the semester", should be rephrased to account for the change in the drop date.
- Nonstandard courses (ex: five week courses, ITV or online courses at extended sites) - having graded assignments in time to report mid-term grades can be problematic.
- This policy doesn't state that it's for undergraduate students only. If it isn't stated then it will be interpreted that graduate students are included as part of this policy. That needs to be clarified.
- The policy should be consistent throughout. On page 3 under "course instructor" it says distribute a complete syllabus to students no later than the first course meeting". That should be consistent throughout the document.
Senator Johnson moved to postpone further discussion until the fall semester and requested that an updated policy be provided prior to the meeting, seconded by Senator Borrowski. The majority were in favor and the motion carried. Senator Eakin encouraged everyone to read the syllabus policy and direct any feedback to Dr. Vice as soon as possible.
Policy on Faculty Qualifications. Dr. Sherry Robinson was in attendance to discuss the Policy on Faculty Qualifications which was emailed to the Senators earlier last week. The Provost Council will be discussing this policy at their next meeting later this week. It is possible that the Provost Council may enact this as an interim policy, but even if they do, the policy will still come back to the Senate for a vote in the fall. Anyone with comments or questions should share those with Dr. Robinson prior to the Provost Council.
Senator Redmond indicated that his department is against this policy as currently written. His department employs a large number of graduate and undergraduate students to fill lab positions, and this policy would prevent that as currently written.
Senator Waters stated that there should be additional faculty representation available when the Provost Council discusses this issue. Faculty haven't had enough time to adequately discuss this issue before the Provost Council is scheduled to act on it.
GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Eakin
Parliamentarian Miller took a moment to present a gavel of appreciation to Senator Eakin for his service as chair for the last two years.
Senator Eakin expressed his appreciation to the Senate for their hard work and collegiality during his tenure as chair. He also expressed thanks to Parliamentarian Bob Miller and Secretary Pauletta King for their service throughout the last two years.
In his written report to the Senate, Senator Eakin shared the following.
Dr. Jaleh Rezaie was in attendance at the last Executive Committee meeting to discuss the proposed Graduate Faculty Status policy. The draft policy will be distributed to the graduate coordinators who will in turn share with their colleagues. The intent is to present this policy to the Senate in the fall. Faculty will also have an opportunity to provide additional feedback at that time.
SGA shared the Bulletin Board policy draft and the Posted Item Stamping Policy Guidelines draft with the University attorney, at the request of the Executive Committee. Student Services asked the University counsel to postpone reviewing the policies until they have an opportunity to respond. However, the SGA reports that Student Services has had a continued presence over the years in this discussion. Dr Eakin reported that he had a long discussion with Mike Reagle, AVP of Student Affairs concerning the Bulletin Board Policy. Reference to a statement in the Faculty Handbook has been referenced regularly. Perhaps the best solution is to eliminate that statement from the faculty handbook and place it as the level of university policy.
SGA submitted an updated Dead Week Policy which will be reviewed by the Executive Committee at the August 25 meeting.
Senator Eakin expressed his appreciation to David Fifer and the SGA for working with the faculty on a number of issues this year. Such faculty/student/staff work groups represent an important step toward shared governance at EKU.
FACULTY REGENT REPORT: Senator Frisbie
Senator Frisbie reported that the Board met for a regular quarterly meeting on April 22, 2008.
Informational Items included the following:
- The Board heard a financial status report for the University. Tuition revenue is running about on pace with last year's, which is a bit below projected tuition revenue.
- The Board heard a report from the chair of the EKU Foundation board. Progress continues on realizing the capital campaign goal of $25M. The Foundation value is currently at $22.5M.
- Two representatives from Siemens Building Technologies reported on EKU's performance contract with them. This is an exciting, $22M, 12-year project. Siemens will provide campus-wide energy efficiency improvements and address deferred maintenance issues in six target buildings (Stratton, Campbell, Burrier, Combs, Coates, and Jones Buildings). These efforts will provide annual energy cost reductions of at least $2M, which is guaranteed by Siemens. Improvements will target things like more efficient lighting, heating and cooling, and ventilation; and water conservation. Siemens estimates that it can help the University reduce its CO2 emissions by 76M lbs., its nitrogen oxide emissions by 123K lbs., and its emissions of SO2 by 404K lbs. over the life of the contract. This is the largest such contract in the state to date.
Action Items included the following:
- The Board approved all 10 items that came to it from the Council on Academic Affairs.
- The Board approved the tenure and promotion recommendations.
- The Board approved recommendations for emeritus status for five retiring faculty members: Paul Blanchard (Government), Rick Clewett (English & Theatre), Richard Freed (English & Theatre), Un-Chol Shin (Foreign Languages & Humanities), and Richard Givan (Criminal Justice & Police Studies).
- The Board approved two new Foundation Professorships for Elizabeth Hansen (Communications) and Robert Mitchell (Psychology).
- The Board approved a tuition increase for 2008-09 of 8% (tuition and mandatory fees). This will result in an increased charge of $228 per credit hour for in-state undergraduates ($246 for graduate students). The increase for out-of-state students will be $615/credit hour (undergraduate) and $674/credit hour (graduate students). In addition, the new tuition structure calls for a $128/credit hour ($346 for out-of state undergraduate students) for each credit hour at 17 or more hours per semester. The corresponding surcharge for graduate students will be $184/credit hour ($505 for out-of-state graduate students) for each hour at 13 or more hours per semester.
- The Board approved residence hall rate increases that average 10%. This will result in increased costs to students of $216-256 for a single room, depending on the particular facility, and increases of $103-175 for double rooms. Student Affairs intends to use some of the increased revenue to carry out some maintenance and upgrade work in the residence halls.
- The Board approved a dining rate increase of 4.5% for 2008-09. This rate was negotiated with Aramark some time ago, and looks particularly good in light of more recent increases in food and other prices.
- The Board approved the re-engagement of Deloitte and Touche as external auditors for the University for 2008 09.
The Board will next convene on June 2, 2008 for a regular quarterly meeting.
REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator McKenney
Senator McKenney reported that this year COSFL met on September 17th and on January 12th. Representative Harry Moberly was invited to speak at the January meeting regarding the state budget process. Also at that meeting, Brad Cowgill gave an excellent presentation.
COSFL will hold the last meeting of the year in June.
PROVOST REPORT: Senator Piercey
Senator Piercey shared the following in his written report to the Senate.
In the area of academic affairs policy and governance, the following items represent draft policies currently in the review process:
- Policy 4.1.2 (Course Syllabi) has been reviewed for a first reading by the Faculty Senate. The policy was approved with revisions by the Council on Academic Affairs.
- Policy 4.6.1 (Determination of Qualifications for Teaching Faculty) has been reviewed a third time by the Provost Council. The policy was supported and disseminated to the Chairs Association and the Faculty Senate for review.
- Policy 4.3.4 (Joint Curricular, Collaborative, and Consortial Agreements) has not been worked on since the last report to the Faculty Senate.
- Policy 1.1.1 (Formulation and Adoption of University Policies) continues to be vetted across campus. Dr. Sherry Robinson met informally with members of the Faculty Welfare Committee to discuss possible revisions. As soon as it is ready, a revised draft will be re-submitted to Faculty Senate.
All new or revised policies are presented as drafts until they are approved by the Board of Regents.
Editorial clarifications for Policy 4.6.4 (Promotion and Tenure) will be sent to University Counsel for review. As soon as possible, the clarifications and the revised policy will be published to the academic community. A small work group consisting of someone from Faculty Senate who previously worked on the promotion and tenure policy and of an administrator who works with implementation on the policy will begin evaluating some potential amendments to Policy 4.6.4.
In the area of Graduate Education and Analysis, comments are being sought on a draft of the Strategic Plan for Graduate Education and Research. Formal invitations for review have been sent to all Graduate program coordinators, chairs, deans and members of the Graduate Council. The draft plan is posted for comment on the web at http://ekuculture.ning.com. A special thanks to faculty members JoAnn Ewalt, Derek Paulsen, Marcel Robles, Sharon Shasby, and Melinda Wilder for their contributions to the development of EKU's Strategic Plan.
In the area of Institutional Effectiveness, Dr. E. J. Keeley (with Dr. Kendra Stewart and Corey Bray) presented a University Strategic Plan progress report to the Board of Regents. Dr. Keeley continues to collaborate on the Graduate Education & Research and Powell Student Center strategic plans. The Program Review Work Group is finalizing its plan to reform program review as part of the Institutional Effectiveness process. Dr. Keeley continues to refine the Fall 2008 enrollment forecast based on inputs from a variety of university constituencies.
Internal interviews are being conducted for a QEP Director.
Dr. E. J. Keeley participated in a conference call with SACS to discuss EKU's upcoming Ed.D. in Educational Leadership six-month SACS team review to be held in January or February 2009.
REPORT FROM THE STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: Alex Combs
As outgoing SGA President, David Fifer was in attendance to review SGA's efforts throughout the past year and to introduce the new SGA President, Alex Combs. The Bulletin Board and Posting Placement Policies are still pending. Both policies were submitted to University Counsel at the suggestion of the Executive Committee. The Colonel path is finished and will be opened officially in the fall semester. Furthermore, renovations have begun on the Herndon Lounge in the Powell Building.
Mr. Fifer thanked the Senators for working closely with SGA throughout the past year. Current Elect SGA President Alex Combs announced his commitment to continue to work closely with the Faculty Senate next year.
In addition, Mr. Combs stated that one of the most important points on SGA's platform for next year is to re-evaluate the orientation classes for all students.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Budget Committee. Senator Ciocca reported that once CPE has determined the budget, EKU's budget should be completed within the next couple of weeks.
Committee on Committees. Senator Foote stated that the committee compiled a report based on the information received from the survey regarding University Committee vacancies, and the report has been shared with the Senate chair.
Elections Committee. Senator Randles distributed a tentative list of committee vacancies. Election for those positions will be held at the organizational meeting immediately following the regular meeting in May.
Welfare Committee. Senator Waters wished to review the last Welfare Committee report as there was insufficient time to do so at the April meeting.
One of the committees' charges this year was to discuss the philosophy and reality of shared governance at Eastern. The committee would like for the EKU community to consider the following two questions in order to facilitate further discussion next year: 1) what does faculty think about shared governance at Eastern at this time? 2) what shared governance model, principles and elements does this faculty want at Eastern.
The committee met twice since the April Senate meeting. Senator Waters thanked President Whitlock for meeting with the committee to discuss benefits issues. She also thanked Dr. Sherry Robinson for meeting with the committee to discuss the proposed policy on policies and how that affects faculty and this academic institution.
Senator Waters expressed her appreciation to her fellow committee members for their hard work and dedication during the past year.
Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Dead Week Policy. Senator Ware reported that a draft of the proposed policy will be reviewed at the August Executive Committee meeting.
Report on Colonel 1 Card. Senator Noblitt reported that the new Colonel 1 Cards have been distributed to current students. As freshmen come to campus, they will start getting these cards as part of their orientation, and there will be on-going marketing afterwards to clarify questions for students. As previously reported, Senator Noblitt reiterated the need to continue to assess this program for students and that the assessment should be independent of anyone related to the Colonel 1 Card program. She further stated that SGA would be the most logical choice for the assessment and that she would like to work closely with SGA next year to hopefully develop a type of assessment for implementation about this same time next year.
As far as faculty cards, faculty will get new cards as was reported last month. This is only because the new card readers can't read the old cards. There will also be printing on the cards that identify faculty are public employees for the state of Kentucky so that faculty can receive government employee discounts at various locations.
When asked if Model Laboratory students would be receiving the new cards as well, Senator Noblitt indicated that she would have to look into that and report back later.
Senator Eakin thanked Senator Noblitt for outstanding work on the Colonel 1 Card issue.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:30 p.m.
click here for printable version of minutes
You will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in installed on your computer in order to view and print a hard copy of the minutes.