Minutes for May 2, 2011

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, May 2, 2011, in the South Ballroom of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Taylor called the eighth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

F. Awang	A. Back	M. Foote*^
G. Gorbett	M. Hesse*	N. Jasinski
K. Johnson*	R. Lorden	M. Martin
A. Poffenberger*^	A. Shordike*^	A. Thieme
C. Walz

^*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^{^} ALT D. Whalen attended for M. Foote
^{^} ALT S. Zaragoza attended for A. Poffenberger
^{^} ALT A. Marshall attended for A. Shordike

Visitors to the Senate: Tina Davis, Registrar; Kevin Jones, Library; Jerry Pogatshnik, Graduate Education & Research; Sherry Robinson, Provost Office; Garett Yoder, General Education

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The April 4 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Whitlock

Last Thursday the Council on Postsecondary Education set the tuition ceilings for percent increase caps for each of the institutional types in the state: 4% for the community college system,, 5% for the comprehensive institutions such as Eastern, and 6% for the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

Tomorrow the Board of Regents' Executive and Academic Affairs Committee will approve the recommended 5% increase for tuition. Also on the agenda for discussion is the regularly scheduled evaluation of the president. There will be a memo distributed to the campus community tomorrow from the Chairman of the Board with more details about the upcoming evaluation.

Faculty and staff will receive a salary increase this year. More details will be shared later.

Last year the Council on Postsecondary Education approved the Doctorate of Nursing Practice degrees for Eastern, Western and Northern. In the approved legislation, it was stipulated that all of the comprehensive institutions were limited to offering three Advanced Practice Doctorates and that a unanimous vote among the presidents would be needed to increase that number. Conversations will begin anew on the limitation issue at the university presidents meeting on Wednesday. At the same meeting, the presidents will review the work that the Chief Business Officers have done so far about how the performance metrics might be translated into some level of performance funding moving forward.

A draft of the Strategic Plan has been provided to each of the senators. There are a few blanks in the metrics to allow for adjustments. In a meeting last week with representatives from the Council on Postsecondary Education there was discussion about the metrics in the areas of student success, graduation rates, retention rates, total numbers of degrees awarded, and several others. The metrics assigned to us by the Council should be well within the capacity of this institution to reach.

Following is a list of recent accomplishments from some of our outstanding students:

• Miles Owen was selected as our very first Truman Scholar
• John Simpson in English and Michelle Hull in Economics were selected as Fulbright Scholars
• Ethan Kilgore was selected as a Goldwater Scholarship recipient
• Avery Scherer received a Goldwater Honorable Mention

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

AQC Motion on Posting Syllabi. Senator Schmelzer moved approval of the following motion: "That course syllabi be posted on departmental, college or faculty websites at the discretion of the college, department and faculty."

Senator Day moved the following, seconded by Senator Eser.

1. Consistent with best traditions of teaching and learning, and in recognition of the impact of new media on 21st century educational practices, course syllabi shall be posted on the University website no later than the second week of class. For courses offered in multiple sections, it shall be acceptable for the department to develop and post a general departmental syllabus to satisfy this requirement.
2. The intellectual products of faculty members' work, including such teaching materials as syllabus, lecture notes, overheads, and the like, shall not be sold by Eastern Kentucky University without the express agreement of the faculty member and payment of an amount, no less than thirty percent or greater than fifty percent of the profits.

Senator Schmelzer moved, seconded by Senator Borowski, to break Senator Day's motion into two separate motions. Motion carried.

Motion 1) to amend failed for lack of support. Motion 2) to amend failed for lack of support.

The majority were in favor of the main motion as originally proposed and the motion carried.

Promotion & Tenure Principles. Senator J. Palmer moved approval of the revised promotion and tenure principles, seconded by Senator Matthews. Motion carried.

NEW BUSINESS:

Shifting of Planning Focus. JoAnn Ewalt gave an informational report on the FPC/SPC process. The original charge for the SPC was to develop a new plan, work jointly with FPC to align FPC and SPC, and to make the whole experience transparent and inclusive. A lot of progress has been made during the past two years, but there is still additional work needed to complete the charge.

General Education Restructure. Senator Noblitt reported on the proposed general education restructure. Earlier this year the Provost asked the General Education Committee to review the current general education program to 1) make sure EKU is in alignment with the most recent state legislation and 2) make sure EKU continues to be as competitive as possible with other institutions around the state while still maintaining a solid core general education program. A sub committee was formed to review the issue and the members of the sub committee each developed proposals. The General Education Committee met as a whole to review all of the proposals and narrowed the choices down to the four included in the handout provided to the Senators. There will be two forums held for the campus community. The first is tomorrow in Walnut Hall at 3:30 p.m., and the second one is scheduled for May 4th at the Noel Studio in the Discovery Classroom from 3:30-5pm. If needed, additional forums will be scheduled for the fall semester. In addition, a survey on the general education restructure was recently distributed to all faculty. Please encourage faculty to complete the survey.

Report from Council on Academic Affairs - Senator Vice

New Programs

1. Minor in Environmental Sustainability and Stewardship
2. Minor in Fire Protection Administration
3. Minor in Industrial Fire Protection
4. Minor in Fire, Arson, and Explosion Investigation
5. Minor in Occupational Safety

Program Revisions, Reducing Hours Required to Graduate

6. Police Studies B.S.
   Reduce hours required from 128 to 120
7. Chemistry B.A.
   Revise the B.A. Chemistry Program to reflect recent course changes, adjust courses to the program, add a new option for a series of pre-professional students, and reduce the overall degree program to 120 hours.
8. History/Teaching B.A.
   Reflect the reduction of required credit hours for the History Teaching Major from 128 to 120. Also reflect the previously approved revision of HIS 312 to HIS 312A and the addition of HIS 312B and HIS 312C.
9. American Sign Language and English Interpretation
   To update and correct the program display to show the addition of the ITP 215W course, to correct the course number for ITP 330 (previously ITP 370), and to correct the number of supporting course requirements from 27 to 36 (this does not change the overall total hours required for this degree).
10. Master of Education in Special Education with Teacher Leader Track
    Approve an option in the Master of Arts in Education in Special Education Program that meets KY EPSB requirements for the Kentucky Teacher Leader Endorsement AND allows students to add an additional teaching certificate in Learning and Behavior Disorders, Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, OR Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education.
11. Career and Technical Education B.S.
    Add EDF 310 (1 hour) and change CTE 261 to new course CTE 262 to Professional Education Core for Pre-Service Teacher Education. Add Technical Education ) Pre-Service) Teaching Option (see addition in Part III). Eliminate "Professional Skills Seminar" from College Requirements.
12. Master of Business Administration
    Change "Options" to "Majors" in the program.
13. Minor in Military Leadership (ARMY)
    Remove MSL 311 as a requirement for a Military Science Major
14. General Dietetics
    Add new course NFA 412 and delete statistic requirements of STA 215 or HEA 350
15. Occupational Science B.S.
    Remove "cycle" from the program description.
16. History B.A.
    Reflect the addition of HIS 322 and HIS 348 to the major course.
17. Physics/Teaching B.S.
    Remove the reference to NAT 101 and replace ESE 451 with ESE 561.
18. Master of Science General Psychology
    Revise program description: 1) Revise exit requirement information; 2) include degree requirements for students who are enrolled in the Master of Science General Psychology Program who are, and are not, also enrolled in the Psy.S. Program in School Psychology
19. Specialist in Psychology School of Psychology Program (Psy.S.)
    1) Revise program description to remove PSY 888 and PSY 890 as options under the Research, Evaluation, and Statistics section of the curriculum; 2) Revise comprehensive exam and exit requirement information; 3) Include information about the MS in General Psychology that is part of the Psy.S. Degree in School Psychology.

Action Items

20. Associate to Baccalaureate Degree Pathway, Collaborative Regional Education Program; Morehead State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Hazard Community and Technical College
21. Writing-Intensive Courses, General Education Requirements
22. Minimum Academic Standards
23. Policy 4.2.11P, Non-EKU Academic Credit
24. Protocol for Independent Studies Courses

Senator Vice moved approval of items 1-5, seconded by Senator Noblitt. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of items 6-19, seconded by Senator Pianalto. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 20, seconded by Senator Eser. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 21, seconded by Senator Nelson. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 22, seconded by Senator Potter. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 23, seconded by Senator Matthews. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 24, seconded by Senator Matthews. Senator Biggins moved, seconded by Senator Lowry, to remove the numerical amount from the motion and to allow that to be determined by the instructor, chair of the department and the dean of the college. With a vote of 25 to 17, the motion to amend carried. The majority were in favor of the motion as amended and the motion carried.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Taylor

Senator Taylor announced that he has received several emails complaining about the noise level at student events held outside the Powell building. He has a meeting to discuss the issue next Wednesday with the Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Conneely, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Mike Reagle, and Special Assistant for Academics Sherry Robinson. In the meantime noise complaints should be referred to Zach Scott, Student Life Facilities Coordinator.

Senator Taylor announced that he has appointed Senator Darrin Smith as the chair of the Senate's Ad Hoc Committee on Computing which will work closely with Information Technology.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT:  Senator Frisbie

In April, seven members of EKU’s Board and President Whitlock participated in the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges annual conference in Los Angeles. In conjunction with the conference, our group was able to participate in an EKU alumni event for the Los Angeles area.

At the April 18 meeting, the Board heard a detailed financial report prepared by VP Newsom. A few highlights from the financial report follow. EKU’s budget (E&G = educational and general, which does not include auxiliaries, such as the bookstore, housing, food services) is about $200M. Tuition and fees provide $115M of those funds (57%); state appropriations account for $7 M, or 36% of our revenue. The remainder is generated by other things such as grants and contracts. On the expenditure side, salaries and benefits claim $130M (65%), financial aid takes $24M (12%), administration and institutional costs use $28M (14%), and facilities/physical plant requires $21M (11%). About $22M of our expenditures (out of $68M in maintenance and operation) are "flexible" – monies that can be more easily moved around for strategic initiatives.

Crowe Horwath, the firm that handled the University’s external audit last year, presented their plan for carrying out our audit this year. They were very complimentary of EKU – both in terms of working with our financial staff and in terms of the status of our financial record keeping and management.

The Board heard a recommendation to increase tuition for next year by 5%. The Board authorized its Executive Committee to act on its behalf to enact that tuition increase after the CPE sets the tuition caps. The Executive Committee will meet on May 3. Similarly, the Board approved giving the Executive Committee authority to enact a 3.75% increase in meal plan costs. The Board will receive the full budget recommendation at its next meeting, in June.

University Housing presented a contemplated plan to build a new dormitory on campus. If EKU goes through with the plan, the dorm would be the first new dormitory construction since 1969. Housing feels that they can construct the dorm using housing revenues over the 30-year life of the construction bond. No action was taken on this proposal.

In personnel actions, the Board approved two additional sabbatical leaves for 2011-12, approved emeritus status for 17 retiring faculty members and one retiring staff member, approved a host of tenure and promotion decisions, and approved EKU's newest Foundation Professor: Rodney White, from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

The Board passed a large packet of curriculum items that came through the Senate. These included 46 program revisions, 5 modifications to lower degree requirements to 120 hours, 1 program suspension (a minor in Canadian Studies), and a new program (a minor in Land Surveying). Also approved was the language governing when and how students may change majors. The Board discussed and approved creation, in partnership with Madison County Schools, a Middle College for high school seniors (and eventually juniors and seniors) who, for a variety of reasons, are not thriving, though academically strong, in a traditional high school setting, to be housed on EKU's campus. The Board also approved granting honorary degrees to three individuals at the May commencement ceremonies: Chunbo Li, Ralph Hacker, and Bonnie Gray.

The EKU Board will next convene for a regular quarterly meeting on June 7.

REPORT FROM COSFL:  Senator McKenney

COSFL's new website is available at http://COSFLky.org/wordpress.

COSFL met on April 11. The majority of the meeting consisted of reports from CPE President Bob King and CPE staff Adina O’Hara, Aaron Thompson, and Lee Nimocks, followed by discussion with COSFL members.

The new Strategic Agenda for 2011-2015 has "4 areas of focus": 1)Student Readiness, 2) Student Success, 3) Research and Economic Development, and 4) Efficiency and Innovation. King discussed each new area of focus in some detail.

King emphasized that individual campus strategic plans can still be used. It is hoped that these can focus on the areas of the CPE's Strategic Agenda. Metrics will measure at the institutional, state, and national level to easily track progress. King would like to have "stretch achievable goals" The CPE plans to come up with statewide goals based on the institutional goals. This will not necessarily affect funding; the goal is to learn what works.

King referred to the "common core standards" adopted for K-12 as a result of Senate Bill 1 and noted that 100 university faculty across the state had participated in the crafting of these standards on the national level. The process was driven by governors and state school board officers, and at this time 43 states have adopted the standards.

President King has been calling university board members about tuition increases and what the presidents are requesting. The CPE is looking at enrollment growth and various expenses. The caps will definitely not be any higher than last year. King noted that the legislature in Kentucky has been much more supportive of higher education than in other places in the country. There are two budget items that get higher priority than higher education: K-12 education (as mandated by the constitution) and Medicaid. As the national health care legislation allows more people to go onto Medicaid in Kentucky, money will be taken from higher education. Even tuition increases like last year's won’t allow us to catch up.

CPE staff member Adina O'Hara reported in detail on progress made in Kentucky's Transfer Action Plan. Phases I-III have all been completed, while Phase IV is currently being implemented:

Nancy McKenney, Faculty Representative to the CPE, provided a written report covering the CPE's meeting and retreat on February 3-4 which was held in Frankfort.

PROVOST REPORT: Senator Vice

CPE officially approved EKU's Doctor of Nursing Practice on Thursday, April 28.

Dr. Bob King and other CPE staff visited EKU last week to establish agreed-upon student success goals for the CPE Statewide Agenda.

On Friday, April 29, Corbin recognized more than 130 candidates for graduation, representing all five academic colleges. Included in this group were EKU's very first MBA candidates who have earned their degrees totally through the Corbin Center and distance education. Corbin also recognized its first two Associate of General Studies degree candidates. Twenty-nine of the graduates have completed a four-year General Studies degree.

Following is a list of academic work groups and committees and some of the issues they reviewed during the 2010-2011 academic year:

1. Academic Affairs Work Group (aka General Studies) - Admission Standards, Transfer Protocol, Change of Major process, College Readiness, "Use It or Lose It," Compliance with Senate Bill 1, "The Party is Over," and many other on-going discussions
2. Assessment Work Group - Recommendations for a comprehensive Assurance-of-Learning Model aimed at a) streamlining our assessment process, b) reducing the assessment layers, and c) using assessment data to enhance student learning.
3. Advising Committee - Recommendations for a comprehensive Advising Model.
4. General Education Review - Reframing General Education to maintain our transfer competiveness, comply with House Bill 160, yet ensure an Eastern Experience required of all EKU graduates
5. Scholarship PLC - Breakfast and a Book: Boyer's Scholarship Reconsidered.
6. Inverted a 2+2 agreement with Morehead for serving Applied Associate degree holders and Hazard Community College.

The following administrative searches are underway:

1. Director of International Education (newly funded position by FPC/SPC and submitted for the President's approval)
2. Department Chair for Mathematics and Statistics (Dr. Daniel Mundfrom, currently at New Mexico State University has accepted the offer)
3. Department Chair for Counseling and Educational Psychology
4. Dean of University Programs
5. Dean of Libraries
6. Coordinator of Undergraduate Research
7. Director of Women and Gender Studies

Join the Provost for lunch on Wednesday at noon in the Powell Cafeteria, outside the Faculty Dining Room. Be sure to sign in with the cashier at either door.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Elections Committee. Senator Nelson reported that the committee was charged with determining a process for electing the faculty member to the Board of Regents. The committee determined the following:

1. Who is eligible to vote
   • The following was voted upon as a revision to the Faculty Handbook at the last meeting - "All faculty members of the rank of instructor or above, or librarians holding comparable ranks, are eligible to vote. However, faculty with administrative assignments at or above the level of department chair are not eligible to vote in the faculty regent election." (new language in bold)
   • The term "instructor" is not precisely defined but adopted by the Legislature in 2010. An informal electronic conversation with Senator McKenney of the Rules Committee has confirmed that at least some other institutions likewise have concerns over the ambiguity of the language.
2. Once the proper criteria for a list of eligible voters have been determined, HR has indicated that constructing a list of email addresses is fairly straightforward. Such a list would need to be vetted, and the following procedure is suggested for doing so:
   • Through EKU Today and a mass administrative email, inform eligible faculty members to expect an email from the list provided by HR within an appropriate time frame; include who to inform if the email is not received. It may need to be stipulated by appropriate channels that EKU Today is the official means of communication for such information to be distributed to faculty if this or some other means does not already exist.
   • Send an email to everyone on the list of eligible voters.
   • Ask department chairs to assist in verifying that eligible voters have received an email or have informed the proper person that they have not (possibly through department faculty meeting and/or individual contact).
3. Set up an online voting mechanism. General purpose free sites such as Zoomerang or Survey Monkey have been used before; other free or pay sites offer potential additional features such as additional means to vote (I.e., text, telephone), ability to include information about candidates, enhanced encryption/security. Ron Yoder provided the following as examples, with prices ranging from free to $1200 for 5000 or so voters per election:
   • http://vod.votenet.com/site/index1.cfm?CFID=2754557&CFTOKEN=54488189 - voting on demand (one time only, charges)
   • https://frovs.up.edu.ph - ballotbin (free?)
   • http://www.simplyvoting.com/website..php?adid=google&gclid=CpzA1faprqgCFcm8KgodOxZJJQ - Simply Voting
   • http://www.election-america.com/?gclid=CM-Wx_yprqgCFcW8Kgod72ollw - Election-America

The Elections Committee is also setting up online elections for next year's part-time instructor representative to the Faculty Senate.

Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator J. Palmer reported that the committee continues to meet and work on the draft promotion and tenure document.

Rules Committee. Senator McKenney reported that during the 2010-2011 academic year, the Committee had the following charges:

1. Examine and determine the qualifications necessary to be able to serve as a faculty regent for Eastern Kentucky University
2. Examine and determine the qualifications necessary to be able to vote in the election of faculty regent for Eastern Kentucky University.
3. Examine and vet the current method used to elect the faculty regent for Eastern Kentucky University
4. Examine the method for nominating and electing faculty senate chair, faculty senate vice-chair, and faculty senate committees.
5. Submit a joint report with the election committee to the faculty senate executive committee and faculty senate clarifying the necessary qualifications to serve as faculty regent, to vote for faculty regent and methods for electing the regent. In the report include the pros and cons of each method and propose policy/rules if appropriate.

The Rules Committee conducted a study and completed charges 1 and 2. The Committee shared its findings with the Elections Committee as per charge 5, and the two committees issued a joint report which was shared with the Executive Committee and the full Senate. A motion recommending that the Faculty Handbook be amended to clarify that "faculty with administrative assignments at or above the level of department chair are not eligible to vote in the faculty regent election" and also to add that "all faculty members of the rank of instructor or above are eligible to vote" was brought to the Senate on April 4, 2011. The motion was passed.

The Rules Committee decided to defer to the Elections Committee with regard to charge 3 as Elections is better able to make decisions about the practical side of the regent election. Charge 4 of the Rules Committee has been postponed until Fall 2011.

In addition to the above charges, members of the Rules Committee joined the Senate Rights and Responsibilities Committee in meeting with the university-level Promotion & Tenure drafting team to offer faculty perspectives on the drafting team's proposed revisions of P&T. Joint meetings were held on November 15, 2010, March 2, 2011, and April 29, 2011. A number of substantive changes in the P&T proposal have resulted from these joint meetings.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Vice moved to adjourn at approximately 5 p.m.

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