Minutes for September 11, 2017

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, September 11, 2017 in the South Ballroom in the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Winslow called the first meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members were absent:

^* Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Senator Winslow thanked President Benson for providing refreshments for the meetings again this year.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Senator Slusher moved approval of the May 1, 2017 regular and organizational minutes as written, seconded by Senator Turner. Motion carried. (YES = 57 votes | NO = 1 vote | ABSTAIN = 1 vote) (See Also: Individual Votes)

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT:  Senator Benson

Senator Benson is in Louisville to attend a meeting of the Council on Postsecondary Education. He shared the following in his written report to Senate.

Below are some recent highlights of our faculty, academics programs, students, and our facilities.

• Faculty Senate Chair and psychology professor Dr. Matt Winslow will receive the Acorn Award on September 12th, the highest honor for teaching excellence bestowed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
• In a few weeks, Dr. Cynthia Harter, assistant professor of economics and director of our Center for Economic Education, will receive the prestigious Henry H. Villard Research Award, presented by the National Association of Economic Educators and the Council for Economic Education.
• Earlier this summer, Dr. Eric Parker, executive director of Model Laboratory School, was one of only 15 educators nationwide chosen to participate in the 2017 Global Education Policy Fellowship Program.
• The Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology Program recently earned national accreditation from the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology through September 2021. EKU offers one of only two ABET-accredited Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology degrees in the world, and the only accredited program that is offered online.
• Recently, EKU became an approved site for the only play therapy center in about a 10-state area. Dr. Teri Nowak and Dr. Charlie Myers are co-directors of the Academy of Play Therapy and Expressive Arts.
• EKU is the only regional university in Kentucky to receive the 2017 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight into Diversity magazine. We will be featured along with 79 other national recipients in the November 2017 issue of Insight into Diversity magazine.
• Eastern ranks second among all public universities in Kentucky in Washington Monthly’s annual “Best Bang for the Buck” rankings, scoring highest in the category of earnings performance.
• The University is coming off another record year for private support. We recently concluded Fiscal Year 2017 with $9.2 million in gifts and commitments, our second consecutive year with an all-time high. Included in that total are record annual amounts for scholarships. In all, the EKU Foundation funded 1,151 scholarships this past year.
• It was also another stellar year for volunteer service. EKU students, faculty and staff contributed more than 22,650 hours of volunteer service in 2016-17, with 170 individuals earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
• On the student side, Mitchell Scholar and recent graduate Tyler Swafford is one of only 57 students nationally to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship, which includes a $5,000 stipend for graduate or professional study.
• Later this month, we will unveil a statue in honor of former football Coach Roy Kidd. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 23.
• The All “A” Classic is returning to EKU for at least the next three years. The annual small-school basketball tournament will boost the local economy and bring more prospective students onto our campus and will take place January 24-28, 2018.
• Phase 2 of the Science Building is now complete, and it is the largest of its type on a college campus in Kentucky. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 15, at 10:30 a.m. in the Science Building atrium.
• 2006 EKU physics graduate Dr. Tracie Prater will serve as alumni speaker during the celebration of Science and Mathematics week. Dr. Prater, now an aerospace engineer with NASA, will speak tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Room 3104 of the Science Building.
• On Thursday, September 14, National Medal of Science recipient Dr. Sylvester James Gates, the first African-American physicist elected to the National Academy of Sciences, will address “Does Diversity Matter in Science?” when he speaks at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building.  

GUEST SPEAKERS:

Review of Parliamentary Procedures. Melanie Adams-Johnson reminded senators of the following.

• Stand to be recognized by the chair, and once recognized, state name.
• A senator may speak two times to a motion until all who wish to speak have spoken; then the chair may call on that senator for third time if a filibuster is not underway.
• If an amendment is made to a motion, a senator may then speak two additional times on the amendment—but not to the main motion.
• When a senator has the floor, please address the chair instead of other members of the Senate.
• Items submitted for inclusion on the Senate agenda should reach the chair or a member of the Executive Committee two weeks prior to a scheduled meeting of the Senate. A substantive matter not so submitted but presented on the floor of the Senate shall be placed on the agenda for action at the next Senate meeting. The chair ultimately will determine if an item is substantive. However, if the Senate disagrees with the ruling, a vote may be called for.
• According to Robert’s Rules of Order, with rare exception, motions that come before the Senate do require a second before discussion begins.
• If a motion is presented from the floor, it must be written out in advance and provided to the chair for precise reinstatement.
• Sometimes one motion may contain several issues and a senator may move to divide the motion. If approved, then the items will be moved on separately.
• Sometimes after lengthy discussion, items are referred back for additional committee review or sent to departments for feedback. The appropriate action is to move to postpone the motion to a definite time. Do not table the motion unless the intention is to kill it.
• If a senator feels that the chair or another member is not following proper procedure, call for a point of order. The chair will ask what the point of order is and will then make the ruling with or without consulting the parliamentarian. If the objecting senator is unsatisfied with the ruling, the senator can call for a vote on the point of order.
• A record of all votes will be included in the minutes and will register the vote of each member. Unanimous votes may be recorded in the minutes with that notation. Abstentions for faculty senate votes are thrown out and not counted in the total number of votes cast. (Example: 10 = Yes 5= No 35= Abstain - motion passes).

Provost Search Update. Shirley O’Brien reported that the Provost Search will continue to use Myers McRae as the Search firm—with no additional fees to the university. Thank you to President Benson for providing staff support to the committee.

The process of forming the committee is underway. All recommendations are due to Jeremy Raines by Monday September 18th. During the week of September 18th, the committee will be reviewing and editing the current position/institutional profile draft. Senators will be asked to gather feedback from their department/unit.

The website will be up and running (provost.eku.edu) by the end of September.

Below is a tentative schedule:

LMS Update. Dean Betina Gardner shared the latest update on Blackboard SAAS. Currently there are ten courses running in Blackboard SAAS. The faculty involved are being called “trailblazers” for helping us to learn how the new system is working.

Blackboard SAAS has several advantages over the current version.

• Everything lives in the cloud so there is no down town for upgrades
• A new tool called “collaborate” is available which simply put is a convenient and reliable online collaborative learning solution which makes distance teaching and learning simple and worry free.
• By the end of September, IT will offer 24/7 support for Blackboard.

Blackboard, IT and the Instructional Design Center are hard at work developing training materials that will be made available throughout the semester. Those will be in-person trainings as well as online modules.

The old LMS Review website will soon be replaced with a page of helpful links, more training materials, and other information.

If feedback from the “trailblazers” continues to be positive, it is anticipated that all online courses will be moved into the new system by January 2018 which is ahead of schedule.

Campus Update on Construction Projects. Paul Gannoe shared the following:

• Martin and North residence halls are open and occupied.
• The dedication ceremony for North Wing Science building is scheduled for later this week.
• The new visitors section for football is scheduled to open for the first home game. The locker room will not be open yet, but the seating and the concourse with restrooms and the concessions will be open.
• Last Friday was the dedication ceremony for the Scholar House.
• The new Case Hall dining project should be completed by December 15 and should be open to students for service by the middle of January.
• The new Rec Center (which will be in the spot where Todd and Dupree were formerly) should open in August 2019.
• Negotiations are underway with a constructor to build the Pedway across the Bypass. Kentucky Utilities had to relocate some transmission lines which required the removal of several trees in that area to allow the Pedway to be located where needed.
• Renovation of the Powell Student Union is still in schematic design. Once the new dining facility in Case is open, Powell will close down. The bottom level of Powell should open again in August with retail dining space available for Starbucks and Steak & Shake. Shortly afterwards, Barnes & Noble will move into space in lower Powell. The rest of Powell should open at the end of 2019 or early 2020.
• Preliminary planning is underway for Moore, Memorial Science, and Roark. Some of the functions that are currently housed in Powell will be temporarily relocated to these areas during Powell renovations.

NEW BUSINESS:

Elections for Committee Vacancies.

• Budget Committee – 1 vacancy
  Senator Sickels was nominated and elected by acclamation
• Elections & University Nominations Committee – 1 vacancy
  Senator Adams was nominated and elected by acclamation
• Rights & Responsibilities Committee – 3 vacancies
  Senators Vandenberg, George, and Eser were nominated and elected by acclamation.
• Board of Governors Committee – 1 vacancy
  Richard Crosby was nominated and elected by acclamation.
• COSFL Alternate – 1 vacancy
  Senator Mason was nominated and elected to serve as second alternate.  

Report from Council on Academic Affairs. Vice Provost Sherry Robinson presented the materials for approval.

Program Suspensions 
College of Health Sciences
Exercise and Sport Science

1. Minor in Dance (Non-Teaching)
2. Minor in Dance Certification (Teaching)

Program Revisions
College of  Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Psychology

3. M.S. Clinical Psychology - Add PSY 863. Remove PSY 827. Decrease the number of hours of PSY 838 from 9 to 7. Remove the Thesis defense statement.
4. Psy.S. School Psychology - Add PSY 857S. Decrease the number of hours for PSY 938 from 21 to 18.
5. Psy.S. School Psychology - Add PSY 860, 802, and 863 as elective options; Remove PSY 826; Change the required Educational Foundations courses from 6 hours to 3 hours; Add PSY 822: Crisis Management as new course 5. Replace PSY 847 with PSY 849.

Senator Ciocca moved approval of items 1 & 2 (program suspensions), seconded by Senator Dyer. Motion carried. (YES = 49 votes NO = 3 votes ABSTAIN = 5 votes) (See Also: Individual Votes)

Senator Christensen moved approval of items 3-5 (program revisions), seconded by Senator Corley. Motion carried. (YES = 56 votes NO = 2 votes ABSTAIN = 1 vote) (See Also: Individual Votes)

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT FROM SENATE CHAIR: Senator Winslow

The Executive Committee has prepared charges for each of the Senate committees.

The Academic Quality Committee has been given a new charge to investigate the ways that EKU is responding to the challenge of performance-based funding, with particular focus on academics. Faculty need to know what resources are available to us and our students. Gill Hunter, the Executive Director for Retention and Graduation, has agreed to work closely with the Committee on this charge.

The Executive Committee is considering retaining an outside firm to assist in President Benson’s 4-year review, primarily to collect the data, ensuring that faculty responses are completely anonymous and that we obtain a representative sample of the faculty. The report produced will be our own and will comply with all policies regarding the evaluation of the President.

Vice Provost Robinson needs faculty to serve on the following policy drafting teams this fall.

Policy 4.1.3, Academic Integrity - 3 faculty
Policy 4.8.3, Assignment of Summer Teaching – 1 faculty from each college
Policy 4.1.15, Grade Appeals – 1 faculty from each college
Policy 4.3.8, Posthumous Degrees – 3 faculty
Policy 4.7.7, Outside Activities (for Faculty) – 3 faculty
Policy 4.7.2, Sabbaticals – 1 faculty from each college
Policy 4.7.11, Faculty Responsibility for English Composition -- 3 faculty
Policy 4.2.4, Transfer Credits; Policy 4.3.15, Pass-Fail Option; Policy 4.1.2, Catalog; Policy 4.2.10, CLEP – 3 faculty

Finally, the performance-based metrics are only one challenge that awaits us. There will be more challenges that we cannot now foresee. We have representatives in Frankfort working diligently on our behalf. We do them no favors if we contribute to an impression of conflict and discord at EKU. There will be issues that we feel lie at the core of our mission as academics, and we must stand firm in the face of threats to that core mission. There will also be issues that are less central, and we may have to accept changes in those areas even if we see them as misguided or ineffective. The hard part will be determining if an issue is the former or the latter. We need to approach the challenges with the understanding that everyone has EKU’s best interests at heart. We can not only survive this difficult time, we can take this opportunity to improve Eastern, to serve our students even better, and thus improve the Commonwealth--but, only if we work together.

One final note, Senate committees need to approve minutes from final meetings last year and forward to the secretary for posting on the website.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Day

Senator Day is in Louisville to attend the Governor’s Conference on postsecondary Education Trusteeship. He shared the following in his written report to Senate.

The Board of Regents will meet in regular session on October 24, 2017 at Model Lab School. Meeting at Model will give members an opportunity to tour the building, assess the current state of the facility, and begin to explore options for the future.

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Kopacz

COSFL will meet on Tuesday, September 12 in Louisville.

PROVOST REPORT: Senator Whitehouse

Senator Whitehouse is in Louisville to attend a meeting of the Council on Postsecondary Education and to attend the 2017 Governor’s Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship. She shared the following in her written report to Senate.

• CPE Policy Priorities for AY 2017-18
  Earlier this month, Kentucky’s chief academic officers met to discuss statewide academic policy priorities for Academic Year 2017-18. Broadly speaking, the conversation focused on academic quality and achievement gaps.
  As we begin this year, we need to continue to build on our strengths and celebrate our success. This year, we work to:
  1. continue transformative curriculum revisions,
  2. provide the education students seek and employees desire both now and in the future,
  3. embrace intrusive advising,
  4. decrease our DFW rates,
  5. coordinate soft hand-offs to resources and student success initiatives,
  6. address the challenge to get adult learners returning to EKU by offering accessible certificates and degrees, embrace technology that provides new opportunities through e-campus and e-presence delivery, and
  7. collaborate closely and effectively with Student Success.

• Assurance of Learning Day
  The 2017 Assurance of Learning Day will be held on Friday, September 29. Visit (http://oie.eku.edu/assurance-learning-day-resources), for guidance and resources, including suggested topics and pre-workshops, for departments as they plan their agendas for the day. (See the ad for this year’s Assurance of Learning Day).
• Faculty Leadership Institute
  The 2018 Faculty Leadership Institute is scheduled to take place on January 8-9, 2018. Application deadline is November 1, 2017. Visit http://studio.eku.edu/faculty-leadership-institute for more information and to apply.
• Annual Faculty Awards Opportunities
  The Noel Studio has announced that applications are now being accepted for six annual faculty awards. Award winners will be announced during Scholars Week held in April. Applications for all awards are due on February 1 each year. Applications and descriptions for all awards are available at http://studio.eku.edu/annual-faculty-awards.
• Foundation Professor
  Nominations are being accepted for Foundation Professor. Nominations should be submitted to the Foundation Professorship Selection Committee Chair by Friday, October 27. For nomination criteria and procedures visit http://foundationprofessors.eku.edu/.

• Important Dates
  • September 29 – Assurance of Learning Day (http://oie.eku.edu/assurance-learning-day-resources)
  • October – ADA Awareness Month
  • October 5 – ADA Awareness Sidewalk Fair (Powell Corner)
  • November 1 – Application deadline for the 2018 Faculty Leadership Institute (http://studio.eku.edu/faculty-leadership-institute)
  • October 27 – Nomination deadline for Foundation Professor (http://foundationprofessors.eku.edu/)
  • February 1, 2018 – Application deadline for Annual Faculty Awards (http://studio.eku.edu/annual-faculty-awards)

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Academic Quality Committee. Senator Polin will serve as chair of the committee. The committee has already met to review their charges for the year.

Faculty Club Board of Governors. Senator Kopacz announced that the committee will meet next week to select a chair.

Budget Committee. Senator Ciocca announced that he will serve as chair of the committee. Meetings have already been scheduled for the semester and have been posted on the website.

In addition to their appointed charges, the committee also plans to work closely with the Faculty Welfare Committee to research how rates are determined for health benefits.

Elections & University Nominations Committee. Senator Mason announced that the committee will meet next Monday.

The committee is asking for feedback from the senators and their colleagues on the change to the university committee selection process from last spring.

Information Technology Committee. Senator Baggett reported that the committee met on Friday and he and Senator Cogdill will serve as co-chairs: Jonathan Sikora will meet with the committee soon to train new members on the Senate’s digital voting system.

At the end of last semester the committee distributed a short faculty technology survey. The committee will use the compiled data to help guide the direction for future committee work.

Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator Quan announced that the committee will have their meeting schedule for the fall posted soon.

Rules Committee: Senator Kay reported that the committee met briefly on August 28 and she and Senator Martin will serve as co-chairs. The next meeting will be on Monday, September 18. The schedule for the academic year has already been posted to the website.

Faculty Welfare Committee. Senators Bentley and Turner will serve as co-chairs. The committee will meet briefly after today’s Senate meeting to schedule the fall meeting dates.

AD HOC COMMITTEES:

Ombud Framework. Senator Zeigler stated that the committee has resolved the remaining issues on the framework. A committee representative along with Senator Winslow will share the document with President Benson. It will be brought forward to the Executive Committee for review soon.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Vice moved to adjourn at approximately 4:30pm.

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