Minutes for February 1, 2010
The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, February 1, 2010, in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Ware called the sixth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The following members of the Senate were absent:
| A. Back | M. Bhandari* | Z. Eser |
| S. Godbey* | T. Hartch* | M. Hesse* |
| N. McKenney* | K. Minor |
*Indicates prior notification of absence
Visitors to the Senate: DaJuane Harris, SGA; Debbie Newsom, Fnancial Affairs
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The January 11, 2010 were approved as written.
REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Whitlock
Senator Whitlock announced that he would be leaving for Hazard immediately after giving his report to attend the inaugural meeting for the Young Professionals of Eastern Kentucky.
Senator Whitlock remarked that it will take a combination of economic recovery and a new revenue stream to solve the state's budget problems. As this is an election year for the House, hard budget decisions may be deferred to the second year of the biennium. There may be additional stimulus dollars available which may help in the short term. In the proposed federal budget $25 billion is tentatively listed for the states.
While state budget details are not available yet, Senator Whitlock forewarned that even in lean times there may still be some capital projects approved.
For the next two years Senator Whitlock has been selected to serve as spokesman for the nine university presidents in Kentucky.
CPE has asked the Attorney General for an interpretation of the language in the Chapter 164 statute dealing with doctoral education. In the meantime, Senator Ken Winters plans to introduce an amendment to the existing language to specifically add the Doctorate of Nursing Practice to the list of authorized degrees.
Thanks to faculty bodies across the state such as EKU's Faculty Senate and the collaboration between the Chief Academic Officers and the staff from the Council on Postsecondary Education, there has been significant improvements made to the proposed transfer legislation. The changes will be submitted to the Senate and if approved will go back to the Conference Committee.
Western is considering adding instructors to the list of those eligible to serve as Faculty Regent and have asked for feedback from the other comprehensives. The current statute indicates that the Faculty Regent must be a full time member of the teaching and research faculty holding the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor. Senator Whitlock requested the Executive Committee and/or the Senate to review the issue and provide feedback.
The Enrollment Management Advisory Council (EMAC) has developed a draft Enrollment Management plan which is currently being vetted by the Strategic Planning Council and other groups on campus One item the EMAC plan calls for is the implementation of a content management system which will help to communicate more effectively with current and prospective students.
On January 25th, the Board saw two impressive presentations: 1) Math Education transitions program and 2) Analysis of the data from EKU students' participation in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NESSIE).
Senator Johnson will be meeting with interested faculty on Friday to discuss data received from the Council on Postsecondary Education listing the number of faculty and administrators on this campus. Senators Whitlock and Vice are also looking at this issue. Senator Whitlock reminded that CPE's data includes everyone and that the information needs to be parsed out into E & G, Auxiliary, and Restricted Funds. While there has been some growth in faculty and staff in E & G during the time period reviewed, most of the growth in staff has been within University Programs, with smaller growth in IT and Accounting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Domestic Partner Benefits. Dr. Marta Miranda was in attendance to inquire about the status of Domestic Partner Benefits for Eastern.
Senator Johnson, seconded by Senator Wade, moved the following:
That the Senate Welfare Committee submit a formal request to President Whitlock for a resolution of the status of domestic partner benefits recommendations as approved by the Faculty Senate and the University Benefits Committee with a targeted implementation date of 2010.
Motion carried.
Status of University 5-Year Calendar. Senator Ware announced that the Senate still needs to vote on whether or not to move from a 17-week semester to a 16-week semester so that the 5-year calendar can be planned. The Provost Council has approved moving to a 16-week semester and that recommendation was shared with President Whitlock. However, President Whitlock is waiting for the Senate to vote on the issue before making his final determination. Information on previous discussions will be distributed prior to the next meeting. In addition, the Registrar will be invited to attend the meeting to address questions. Senator Ware requested that, if possible, questions on this issue should be emailed in advance to her and to Senator Vice, so that concerns can be addressed in a timely manner.
Policies under Review. Senator Ware noted that the Policy on Policies and the Policy on Authorization for Regulations were listed on the agenda as a discussion item and that a vote would be considered at the March meeting. Please share the two policies with colleagues and be prepared for further discussion at the March meeting. Dr. Sherry Robinson will be at the March meeting to address questions.
NEW BUSINESS:
Posthumous Degree. Senator Collins approval of a Posthumous Degree for Daniel Evans Rigney, seconded by Senator Wade. Motion carried.
Report from Council on Academic Affairs - Senator Vice
New Programs
- Doctorate in Occupational Therapy - Create a doctorate program in Occupational Therapy
- Certificate in Financial Literacy (Undergraduate) - Create a 12-hour, in-house certificate. This certificate will not require CPE approval.
Program Revisions Reducing Hours Required to Graduate
- French/Teaching (B.A.) - Add requirement of GPA 2.75 in courses for French teaching major, reduce required hours from 128 to 120, and delete recommendations for specific supporting courses. Delete reference to FRE 400 and replace with FRE 312.
- Spanish/Teaching (B.A.) Add requirement of GPA 2.75 in courses for Spanish/Teaching major, reduce required hours from 128 to 120, and delete recommendations for specific supporting courses.
- Earth Science/Teaching (B.S.) Revise major and supporting course requirements. Editorial corrections of General Education Requirements, Teacher Education Requirements and hours totals from 130-143 to 126-143.
Program Revisions
- English/Teaching (B.A.) - Change ENG 499 from a required course to an elective.
Senator Vice announced that item one was submitted prematurely and should be withdrawn from the agenda.
Senator Vice moved approval of item 2, seconded by Senator Biggin. Motion carried.
Senator Vice moved approval of items 3-5, seconded by Senator Shordike. Motion carried.
Senator Vice moved approval of item 6, seconded by Senator Pressley. Motion carried.
GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
REPORT FROM SENATE CHAIR: Senator Ware
COSFL met last Friday in Frankfort at the Council on Postsecondary Education and most of the discussion was focused on House Bill 160. EKU's resolution did go to the House and President Whitlock has indicated that he will also take the resolution to the Senate.
Senators Ware and Vice thanked the Academic Quality Committee for their assistance with the suggested revisions for the proposed transfer legislation.
The Academic Technology Focus Groups will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at 3pm in the Keen Johnson South Ballroom.
The next "Faculty First" will be held jointly with AAUP on Friday from 3:45-5pm in the Faculty Lounge in Keen Johnson. AAUP is hosting the event and refreshments will be provided. Senator Johnson, as chair of the Budget Committee, will be there to discuss data received from the Council on Postsecondary Education which lists faculty, staff and administrative lines.
REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Frisbie
The Board elected Gary Abney as its new chair and Craig Turner as its new vice chair.
The Board heard updates on the Foundation from its chair, and on the University from VP Newsom. The Foundation has seen about 25% growth this year and continues to grow in number of donors. The University is on target in terms of revenue and expenditure rates in comparison to this same time last year. One problem noted from last year was a large expenditure overrun in student financial aid. The university has taken steps to correct that problem, but because financial aid often entails a multiyear commitment to students, that problem will not completely disappear this year. Overall, VP Newsom predicts that there will probably be an unrestricted fund balance of approximately $6 million.
Also on the financial front, the Board formally accepted the audit report for the year ending June 30, 2009. The Finance Committee received the report and spoke directly with the auditors (Deloitte and Touche) in November. The Board has begun the process of selecting another auditing firm to take over from Deloitte and Touche this spring. It is standard practice to change external auditors at least every five years.
In personnel actions, the Board approved RTP applications from four individuals. On the Academic Affairs front, the Board approved 53 program revisions, three new programs, and six program suspensions. All are items that had been recommended through the Faculty Senate. The Board also approved revisions to the University's Hazing Policy and changes to the Student Government Association Constitution, particularly in the portion pertaining to the Judicial Branch.
As was reported in the newspaper, the Board approved two new capital projects a hotel to be associated with the new Performing Arts Center and a communications tower. Those projects are possibilities, but have not yet been fully appraised. Nevertheless, in order to investigate the feasibility and advisability of these projects further, state regulations require that they be incorporated into the state budget even if no state monies will be used. While the Board approved these projects so that planning may go forward, the university has not yet committed to either project.
The Board will next convene for a regular quarterly meeting in April.
REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator McKenney
COSFL met on Friday, January 29th in Frankfort at the offices of the Council on Postsecondary Education.
COSFL members met with CPE President Dr. Robert King and with a number of other CPE staff members to discuss the Transfer Bill (HB-160) which recently passed in the State House of Representatives. The bill is now on the desk of Senator Ken Winters who chairs the Senate Education Committee. COSFL members are deeply concerned that the provisions of this bill, as it was originally proposed, be modified so that they will not be unduly restrictive and in violation of the academic freedom of faculty.
With regard to the Transfer Bill, President King says the CPE and the Chief Academic Officers (i.e. provosts) of the public institutions of higher education have agreed upon changes to the bill. He has spoken with Senator Winters and thinks that the 120 hour provision might be dropped. Further, King believes he has been able to convince Senator Shaughnessy that it is not necessary to have common course numbering and identical course content throughout the public colleges and universities. Instead, the CPE and the CAOs are emphasizing common learning outcomes which could be achieved by a variety of courses. He noted that the CPE plans to maintain a cross numbering system for courses, but that faculty would not have to worry about this.
COSFL President Peggy Pittman Munke suggested that President King write a letter to all faculty stressing the uniqueness of the comprehensive universities and explaining that the CPE is already working on the things addressed in the Transfer Bill. This would allay further misunderstanding and alarm on the part of faculty, some of whom are already jumping to conclusions about what is in the Transfer Bill. King indicated that he was willing to write such a letter.
PROVOST REPORT: Senator Vice
The Office of Institutional Research has reported the following enrollment as of January 29, 2010 (compared to this same time last year):
- Total enrollment is up 3.1%to 15,077
- Undergraduate enrollment is up 2.3%to 12,868
- Graduate enrollment is up 8.2%to 2,209
- New Freshmen enrollment is up 14%to 237
- New Transfer enrollment is up 20%to 540
- New Graduate Student enrollment is up 15%to 237
- Black Student enrollment is up 10%to 781
- Total credit hours are up 4.2%to 183,377
- Corbin credit hours are down 3%to 8,107
- Danville credit hours are similar to this time last year (4,334 to 4,341)
- Manchester credit hours are down 17%to 1,912
- Online credit hours are up 38%to 17,333
Kentucky's Chief Academic Officers of all the public institutions have provided feedback on House Bill 160 (Transfer Bill) to CPE via two lengthy conference calls and multiple e-mails. As a result, the language of the Bill has been somewhat modified to be more acceptable to the universities. CPE plans to present the modifications to Representative Rollins with the hope he will accept the changes. The Faculty Senate Academic Quality Committee has reviewed these changes and offered a follow-up iteration, which has been forwarded to Dr. Aaron Thompson at CPE.
The General Studies Work Group has been reviewing three proposals regarding student success. forward formally. The Faculty Senate Academic Quality Committee, the Council on Academic Affairs, Associate Deans, Deans, and others will soon be reviewing the proposals:
a. First Day of Class Attendance: Use it or Lose it
b. A formal University Withdrawal Process
c. Senate Bill I Implementation and implications for EKU's student population
The Early Alert Retention System for 2010 has been successful in identifying students who are not attending class. The collaborative efforts between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs will help students succeed.
Following are important dates for upcoming events:
Student Tuition Forums Walnut Hall, Keen Johnson Building
Wednesday, February 24, 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 4, 3:30 p.m.
Visit from Kati Haycock, President of Education Trust Open meeting with faculty
Wednesday, March 31, Itinerary to be announcedVisit from Dr. Abdul Kalam - India's 11th President, 2002-2007
Tuesday, April 13, 2010, Brock Auditorium
10:00 a.m. Presentation to Campus Community, Energy Independence Alternative Energy for 2010 and Beyond
Senator Vice shared a written copy of her January report since there wasn't time to present it at the January meeting.
Join the Provost for lunch on Wednesday, February 3rd from 11:45-1pm in the Faculty Dining Room in the Powell Cafeteria. Please sign in at the register.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: DaJuane Harris reported for Afsi Siahkoohi
Mr. Harris shared the following announcements:
- January 23rd to February 17th - EKU and Morehead are engaged in a Philanthropic Challenge to see which school can get the most donations. Kids First Dental is the chosen philanthropy. The winner will be announced at the EKU-Morehead game in Morehead on February 17th
- February 8th - Listen Up Legislators - Question and answer forum in the Powell Building lobby - 3-5pm
- February 9th - Rally for Higher Education - Frankfort, KY
REPORT FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL: Senator Ware
The Financial Planning Council is scheduled to meet on Monday, February 8th. The main item of business will be setting the tuition.
The chair of the Budget Committee has now been appointed to serve on the Financial Planning Council, and Senator Johnson will serve in the capacity at the February 8th meeting.
REPORT FROM STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL: Senator Taylor
The Strategic Planning Council is scheduled to meet tomorrow.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Academic Quality Committee. Senator Shordike reported that the committee has met several times and provided input to the General Studies Work Group, to the Provost on the Transfer Bill, and to the drafting team working on the final exam policy.
Budget Committee. Senator Johnson reported that the committee met on January 15th and 29th and were given a preliminary report from the Provost and Institutional Research regarding numbers of faculty lines and administrators from 2005 and 2009. A full report of that data is expected to be presented at the next meeting on February 12th.
The committee is also working on guidelines for Faculty Development Funds.
Senator Johnson thanked Senator Ware for requesting and Senator Whitlock for adding the chair of the Senate Budget Committee to the University Financial Planning Council.
Committee on Committees. Senator Staddon reported that the committee met last Monday to continue developing guidelines for the committee to follow.
Elections Committee. Senator Randles reported that the committee is working on the Faculty Regent election. Additional information will be forthcoming.
Rights & Responsibilities Committee. Senator J. Palmer reported that the committee should be through reviewing the draft of the 2010 Faculty Handbook by the next Senate meeting.
The committee has suggested that the policy "Academic Work While Under Contract to Teach at Eastern" be reviewed for clarification, relevance, or appeal.
The committee is in the process of reviewing a "Social Web Policy" which is in the early stages of development. More will be shared on this as it moves through the process.
Senator J. Palmer encouraged everyone to review the Interim Policy on Policies and send questions or concerns to the Rights & Responsibilities Committee or post concerns directly on the website at www.policies.eku.edu/. The 30-day commenting period ends on February 20th.
Welfare Committee. Senator Ciocca reported that the committee met briefly this afternoon to discuss the article in the Richmond Register regarding the $800,000 purchase of properties by the University. The article is available at the following url:
http://www.richmondregister.com/religioneducation/local_story_019102540.html.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Vice moved to adjourn at approximately 5:20 p.m.
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