Minutes for March 4, 2013
The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, March 4, 2013, in the South Ballroom of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Pressley called the sixth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The following members of the Senate were absent:
R. Cleveland | M. Cropper* | W. Hatcher* |
L. Heath* | C. Hughes* | S. Hunt |
R. Johnson* | I. Slusher*^ | C. Sommer* |
D. Whitlock* |
*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^ALT Terri Loan attended for I. Slusher
Visitors to the Senate: Tina Davis, Registrar; David McFaddin, Government Relations; Rick McGee, Registrar’s Office; Brett Morris, Admissions; Val Parks, PC&G; Sherry Robinson, Provost Office; Elizabeth Wachtel, Enrollment Management; Sara Zeigler, University Programs
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The February 4, 2013 minutes were approved as written.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Motor Vehicle Use Regulation 9.4.1R. Senator Frisbie moved approval, seconded by Senator Spock. The majority was in favor and the motion carried.
Travel Requirements/Procedures Regulation 6.1.3R. Senator Frisbie moved approval, seconded by Senator Smith. Motion carried.
Motion Opposing Regulations 9.4.1R/6.1.3R. As the issues in both regulations had been addressed, Senators Kopacz and Pogatshnik withdrew the motion opposing regulations 9.4.1R and 6.1.3R.
Policy on Evaluation of Non-Tenured Tenure Track Faculty. Senator Frisbie moved approval, seconded by Senator O’Brien. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
Report on Government Relations. David McFaddin gave a brief report on Government Relations. The goal of the Government Relations office is to make sure that all constituencies on campus have an opportunity to provide feedback on processes, whether regulatory or legislative, and that the best interests of the university are represented. (See: ATT-1, ATT-2)
Report from Council on Academic Affairs - Senator Vice
Program Revisions
College of Arts & Sciences
- Environmental Studies B.S.
reduce degree requirements to 120 hours. Update requirements. - Wildlife Management B.S.
reduce degree requirements to 120 hours. Update requirements. - 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
- 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. - Graphic Communications Management
Add the new GCM 467, Comp Exam for 0 credit hours to program. - 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
- 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. - 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
- 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 18th 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 1st 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:
Academic Quality Committee. Senator Marshall reported that the committee met on February 18 to continue work on two different issues. The first issue has to do with gathering data on faculty/administrative/student/staff ratios. The committee will be working with Institutional Research to determine how to analyze and report that data. The other issue being reviewed is the quality of online programs, specifically non-EKU facilitators and EKU instructors who aren’t directly overseen by EKU faculty, course design, and student/teacher interactions. The next committee meeting will be on March 18 at 1:30pm in Dizney 133.
Budget Committee. Senator Thieme reminded that the first charge of the committee was to identify the number of positions created in recent years at EKU. The chart below indicates the number of full-time faculty and staff positions created or deleted from 2004-2011. The information for 2012 will not be available until April.
Unrestricted Funds | Increase/Decrease in # of positions from 2004-2011 |
Executive/Admin and Managerial | (+44) |
Other Professionals | (+82) |
Clerical and Secretarial | (+230) |
Technical and Paraprofessional | (-165) |
Skilled Crafts | (+63) |
Service/Maintenance | (-51) |
Faculty | (+64) |
The second charge of the committee was to review faculty salary equity issues. Senator Thieme shared CUPA data which compares external equity between similar institutions. This data can be used as a starting point for discussions about equity issues. (See: ATT-1, ATT-2)
Elections & University Nominations Committee. Senator Roush announced the five nominees for Faculty Regent: Malcolm Frisbie, William Hatcher, Amy Thieme, Sherwood Thompson and Matthew Winslow.
The Faculty Regent Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, March 6 at 3:30pm in the Teaching and Learning Center. For those unable to attend, the forum will be videotaped and posted to the Senate website.
Ballots for the Faculty Regent Election will be distributed via email beginning Monday, March 18. The election will run from March 18 to March 29. The name of the elected representative will be announced in early April.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Vice moved to adjourn at approximately 5 p.m.
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