Minutes for March 4, 2013

Program Revisions

College of Arts & Sciences

1. Environmental Studies B.S.
   reduce degree requirements to 120 hours.  Update requirements.
2. Wildlife Management B.S.
   reduce degree requirements to 120 hours. Update requirements.
3. Chemistry 3+2 Option
   1) Add BIO 378 as a support course for Pre-Pharmacy option. 2) Drop CHE 425/425L from Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Dental, Pre-Optometry, Pre-Pathology Assistant or Pre-Medical Option
   

   College of Business and Technology

4. Applied Engineering Management B.S.
   Add AEM 407 to the major course requirements and move AEM 406 as a U.D. Technical Electives and add the new AEM 467, Comp Exam for 0 credit hours.
5. Graphic Communications Management
   Add the new GCM 467, Comp Exam for 0 credit hours to program.
6. Network Security and Electronics B.S.
   Drop AEM 406 (Integrated Materials Management) and add AEM 407 (Fundamentals of Project Management) to the list of supporting courses.

College of Education

7. MAEd in SED Teacher Leader Option B: Additional Certification
   revise wording in program Requirements to assure that students have completed the required content needed in the field and prevent students from spending money to retake course work completed in previous undergraduate programs leading to initial certification.  This revision will also allow programs to be closer to the target 30-hour Master's program.
8. Graduate Certification Preparation Programs (Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Learning and Behavioral Disorders, Moderate and Severe Disabilities)
   drop SED 774 from requirements; add course options within the Prerequisite Courses section of the program requirements; make other minor revisions.

Action Items

9. New Admissions Standards, Revised Catalog Language, EKU Admissions

Senator Vice moved approval of items 1-8, seconded by Senator Palmer. Motion carried.

Senator Vice moved approval of item 9, seconded by Senator O'Brien. Motion carried.

Letter Requesting Emeritus for President Whitlock.  Senator Palmer moved approval to bestow the title of President Emeritus Status to President Whitlock, seconded by Senator Frisbie.  Motion carried.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Pressley

The Executive Committee met on Monday, February 18^th to set the March Senate agenda.

President Whitlock was in attendance to answer questions and concerns about the strategic budget reallocation process. He noted that the SPC/FPC would have an opportunity to review and provide feedback for all proposals received before any final decisions are made.

Dr. Sherry Robinson announced the formation of the following drafting teams:  1) Termination of Faculty (This will be a new policy.); 2) Post Tenure Review; and 3) Evaluation of Academic Administrators. She has met with each team and they will soon begin to review and discuss these policies.

The Faculty Task Force for Student Retention did not meet in February, however, Task Force members were invited to observe a demonstration of the Student Success Collaborative (SSC) on February 20th. The SSC is a new initiative that will assist advisors with helping students declare majors, and help them to stay on track for graduation. Pilot programs will be launched in some academic departments to prepare for the campus wide use of SSC in Fall 2013.

The Diversity Planning Council met on February 13, 2013 to discuss information from the EKU Factbook. A Diversity Seminar was held with the Library faculty and staff on February 19th.

The Gen Ed Committee last met on February 14th to approve various curriculum changes including the addition of two Veterans Studies courses to Element 6. The survey on Writing Intensive courses revealed that the courses are beneficial to students and that more courses are needed. The next meeting will be on Thursday, February 28th. The committee will discuss new courses for Element 1 including ENG 101R and EES 250.

The Presidential Search and Screening Committee met on February 20 to rank order the candidates and narrow the pool.  Committee members are currently checking references for the smaller pool and then later off-site interviews will be conducted.  The final candidates will be invited to campus during the first couple of  weeks in April.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Frisbie

Senator Frisbie reminded everyone that what the Board is trying to accomplish with the budget reallocation is to get the University to critically scrutinize everything in order to determine what is truly essential for the core mission.  By freeing up resources, the University will be able to move forward proactively.

COSFL REPORT:  Senator Summers

COSFL met on February 25 at the CPE in Frankfort.  CPE President Bob King gave a 45-minute presentation on performance funding, graduation rates, and enrollment rates in higher education in Kentucky.

Western Kentucky University’s Faculty Senate recently adopted a resolution written to the Kentucky State Department of Education addressing their concern for decreased funding in higher education.  Morehead has indicated they may adopt a similar resolution.  Eastern may want to consider adopting one as well.

PROVOST REPORT: Senator Vice

Dr. Larry Abele visited campus on February 11 to share how Florida State improved its student success over the course of his 16-year tenure as provost.  He challenged EKU to:

• identify academic milestones in each major,
• consider how to use professional advisors more strategically,
• review detailed data on students’ academic performance in order to increase graduation rates.

Dr. Abele’s visit was an excellent prelude to an introduction on February 20 to the Student Success Collaborative, which is a 27-insitution initiative, using a new advising platform from the Education Advisory Board.   Four pilot programs have volunteered to participate this spring:  Baccalaureate Nursing; Business; Justice Studies; and History, Government (perhaps Biology).

When selecting textbooks for Fall 2013, please keep in mind that four out of seven risk factors are financial in nature for incoming students.  Of 972 first-year students who completed the  survey last fall, 588 (60 percent) students reported that some textbooks purchased were never used by the instructor.

On March 6, the Chairs Association has organized the 1^st spring meeting comparable to the annual summer Deans/Chairs’ Retreat, entitled Delving Deeper into Student Academic Success. 

Below are the spring retention rates as of January 22, 2013:

• 88 % of the Fall 2012 freshmen retained to Spring 2013 (compared to 85.5 last year)
• 60.2% of the Fall 2011 cohort retained to Spring 2013 (compared to 58.2 last year)

The date for the Fall 2013 Assurance of Learning Day will be Friday, September 27.

Kudos to those 85 students and 12 faculty/staff who have planned alternative spring break trips.  The trips are sponsored by the Office of Student Life and University Housing. 

The Budget Reallocation Task Force has received many communications via the email account established last week.  Send emails to the BudgetTaskForce@eku.edu or submit themanonymously to the survey at Taskforce Feedback or https://eku.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_e3ByTBkDeQURoGN. 

Join the Provost for lunch on Wednesday, March 6 in the Fresh Food Court from 12-1 p.m.

STRATEGIC PLANNING/FINANCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL: Senator Pressley

The FSPC has not met since Thursday, January 24, 2013, however, the co-chairs of FSPC and the Provost have conducted regular meetings with the Strategic Budget Reallocation Task Force since February 12th. The next FSPC meeting is scheduled for tomorrow and discussion will continue on the budget reallocation process.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: