Minutes for May 6, 2019
The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, May 6, 2019 in the South Ballroom in the Keen Johnson Building. Chair Winslow called the eighth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The following members were absent:
| P. Boutin | M. Benson* | C. Cassidy |
| R. Causey-Upton*^ | B. Clark*^ | J. Constantine |
| W. Dooley* | Z. Eser*^ | P. Gao*^ |
| J. Gershtenson*^ | A. Gossage* | P. Kraska |
| E. Liddell*^ | G. Nachtwey | D. Rothe |
| S. Self* | D. West* | B. Young |
* Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^ ALT Jennifer Hight attended for R. Causey-Upton
^ ALT Michelle Gerken attended for B. Clark
^ ALT Cynthia Harter attended for Z. Eser
^ ALT Judy Jenkins attended for P. Gao
^ ALT Matthew Howell attended for J. Gershtenson
^ ALT Javier Alvarez-Jaimes attended for E. Liddell
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Senator Crosby moved approval of the April 1, 2019 minutes, seconded by Senator Woodruff. Motion carried. (YES = 49 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See Also: Individual Votes)
REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Benson
Senator Benson shared the following in his written report to Senate.
- Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for May 10-11.
- Two students recently earned notable honors. Ciara Perez has been selected for a Fulbright Award to Guatemala. Nick Koenig has been named the newest Barry Goldwater Scholar, the first EKU recipient of this honor since 2011.
- Congratulations to our 2019-2021 Foundation Professors: Dr. Dana M. Howell from Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and Dr. Cynthia Williams Resor in Curriculum and Instruction
- Congratulations to English professor Dr. Erin M. Presley who is the first recipient of the Rowlett Award for Faculty Scholarship, Research or Professional Development. We offer tremendous thanks to the Rowlett family for this gift to support academic excellence.
- Congratulations are also due to the faculty who were honored at the Noel Faculty Awards program, representing the best in innovation and leadership in teaching practices.
- And all of us can celebrate the collective achievement demonstrated on EKU’s first-ever Giving Day last week. Our Office of Development and Alumni Relations received nearly 750 donations from every U.S. state and Puerto Rico, totaling more than $125,000 in a single day.
As we recognize these points of pride, we acknowledge this year has not been without its share of challenges and opportunities. I had hoped that by the close of this semester our legislature and governor would have solidified a plan to address our pension obligation and the increasing strain it has placed on our budget. We are hearing word of a special session to be called very soon (perhaps as early as the week of May 6th) and remain hopeful a resolution is still attainable.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
FAR Update. Outgoing FAR Sheila Pressley introduced Scotty Dunlap, the new Faculty Athletics Representative. Both will be attending the upcoming OVC Conference meeting in Nashville later this month where she will introduce Dr. Dunlap as EKU’s new FAR.
Ombud Report. Ombud Beck stated that the number of contacts with faculty and staff more than doubled from the pace of the previous year with 36 visits during her 28 days on campus in the first quarter. There were more group facilitations and individual coaching and slightly less two-part mediations.
A topic that is coming up with greater frequency is lack of cultural competency. It is not expedient – perhaps even not possible – to train everyone on all cultural norms. It is possible, however, to grow recognition of the valuable essence of each human being, and to improve our ability to be respectful of those norms that are different from our own. Some techniques that can be helpful are:
- Take a moment to clear away distractions and give your whole attention to the person before you.
- Consider the road your visitor traveled to get to this place and time.
- None of us is just one thing and who we are is often not visible.
- Acknowledge shortcomings and create a learning opportunity.
- Put yourself in her or his shoes – would you find this conversation awkward/ insulting/ disrespectful/ demeaning/ threatening? If you aren’t sure the answer is probably yes.
Ombud Beck has now completed the requirements for the certified organizational Ombudsman practitioner and will be awarded that designation by the International Ombudsman Association shortly.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Policy 4.4.11 – Misconduct in Science and Scholarly Activities. Senator Ciocca moved approval of Policy 4.4.11, seconded by Senator Pinion. Motion carried. (YES = 49 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 1 vote) (See also: Individual Votes)
Policy 4.7.8 – Faculty Emeritus. Senator Woodruff moved approval of Policy 4.7.8, seconded by Senator McCardle. Motion carried. (YES = 50 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See also: Individual Votes)
NEW BUSINESS:
Report from Council on Academic Affairs. Vice Provost Robinson presented the following materials.
New Programs
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Government
- Certificate in Community Development
- Certificate in Emergency Management & Disaster Resilience
- Certificate in Interdisciplinary Studies
(New Certificate Dean's Approval Form for items 1-3)
Program Suspensions
College of Health Sciences
Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
Program Revisions - Add Concentrations
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Government
- B.A./M.P.A. Political Science 3+2
Add Concentrations: Emergency Management and Disaster
Resilience and Interdisciplinary; Restructure formatting
Remove POL 319 from Comparative Politics of the BA Political Science.
Remove Community Health and Environmental Health Concentrations from the MPA program section; - M.P.A. Public Administration
Add/revise three concentrations and remove two concentrations
Program Revisions
College of Business and Technology
Agriculture
- B.S. Agriculture, Animal Science Concentration
Add AGR 330 as option for Evaluation and Selection of Livestock
Add AGR 372 and AGR 421 as an option for Additional Agriculture Electives - B.S. Agriculture, General Pre-veterinary Medicine
Drop Wellness requirement
Update number of University Requirements from 36 to 37 hrs
Add AGR 326 to the Core Courses as an option in production electives
Remove CHE 431 from Additional Vet School Requirements
Add CHE 430 to the options for Science Electives
Add AGR 374 as an option for meeting the Genetics requirement
Applied Engineering and Technology
- AA in General Studies, Applied Engineering and Technology concentration
Drop GCM 211 and TEC 190 from the concentration. Add AEM 195 and TEC 161 to the concentration. - B.S. Aviation
In supporting course requirements, drop BIO 301 (Human Physiology) and add BIO 307 (Anatomy and Physiology I) as BIO 301 will no longer be offered after fall 2019. - University Certificate in Land Surveying
Drop GEO 425 from the minor. Add GEO 453 to the minor. - Minor in Applied Engineering Management
Change the name of the minor from Applied Engineering Management to Engineering Technology Management. Drop TEC 190 from the minor. Add AEM 195 to the minor.
Change the prerequisite designation for AEM 202 from MAT 114 or higher to MAT 112A and 112B or higher. - Minor in Aviation (Flight)
Drop AVN 192, AVN 192A and 193A and replace with AVN 161, 161A and 162A.
Add AVN 335 as an option to GEO 315. - Minor in Construction Management
Drop CON 323 from the minor and add CON 325. - Minor in Land Surveying
Drop GEO 425 from the minor. Add GEO 453 to the minor.
Management, Marketing, International Business
- Minor in Business
Replace MGT 300 and MKT 300 with MGT 301 and MKT 301.
List ECO 230 as a required course rather than as a supporting course.
College of Education
American Sign Language & Interpreter Education
- B.S. ASL and English Interpretation
Add ITP 320 back to the required core classes; Remove ASL 310 from the required core; Add SJS 101 as a supporting course
Curriculum and Instruction
- Minor in Special Education (Non-Teaching)
Update course requirements and electives.
Educational Leadership, Counselor Education, & Communication Disorders
- M.A. Student Personnel Services in Higher Education
Change EAD 845 Student Personnel Services Internship from 3 hours required (and may be taken for up to 6 hours) to 6 hours required (3 hours within the first 9 hours of the program and the second 3 hours to be taken within the last 9 hours of the program); Move POL 847 Strategic Planning and Grant Writing from a required core course to an elective course; List POL 847, EAD 801 or PSEUDO for the elective course.
Educational Leadership, Counselor Education, & Communication Disorders
- M.A. Ed. Communication Disorders
Revise admission requirements to reflect minimum examination requirements for state teacher certification in Communication Disorders; Revise prerequisites for admission to ensure candidate eligibility for national and state licensure/certification; Revise elective course list; Add exit requirement information
College of Health Sciences
Exercise and Sport Science
- Minor in Coaching (Non-Teaching)
Drop HEA 202(3); Drop / remove ESS 261(2), ESS 360(2), ESS 361(2), ESS 362(2), ESS 420(2); Add ESS 322(3); and 407(3) or 590(3); Change total number of credit hours for the minor from 20 to 19. - M.S. in Athletic Training
- Revised general description.
- Revised mission statement.
- Program goals and objectives (redirect to program's website).
- Pre-requisite course changes in admission requirements.
- Application procedures and requirements.
- Minimum pre-requisite GPA.
- Remove ATR 800, 801, 811, 822, 822L, 825, 832, 832L and 833 from the core courses.
- Add ATR 807, 809, 815, 830, 830L, 835, and 835L to curriculum to teach content of removed courses.
- Increase credit hours allocated to ATR 810 and 843.
Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
- O.T.D Occupational Therapy Doctorate
Revise the program outcomes, add a professional concentration, revise post-professional concentration hours from 40 to 40-43, and discontinue the BS to OTD option.
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work
- B.A. Anthropology
Move ANT 330 from Physical Anthropology section to core requirement
Remove ANT 308 & 377S (dropped courses)
Correct hours from 18 to 15
Change name of "Physical Anthropology" section to "Biological Anthropology"
Add ANT 498 as an option in Biological Anthropology section
Communication
- B.A. Public Relations
Add BEM 202, ECO 120 and PUB 305 (new) to core options;
Remove dropped course, PUB 420; Revise hours based on additions. - Minor in Public Relations
Remove BEM 375; Add BEM 305W
History, Philosophy, & Religious Studies
- Minor in Applied Ethics
Remove PHI 100 (dropped 5/17/18--CAA); Add "PHI 101 or PHI 101R" to replace dropped PHI 100 course; Adjust the hour totals for students taking the four credit PHI 101R - Minor in Philosophy
Remove PHI 100 (dropped 5/17/18--CAA); Add "PHI 101 or PHI 101R" to replace dropped PHI 100 course; Clarify the requirement description; Remove PHI 130 as a requirement. Change the PHI 100 or PHI 110 requirement so that PHI 101 and PHI 110 are both required. Adjust the hour totals for students taking the four credit PHI 101R.
College of Science
Chemistry
- B.S. Chemistry
Replace BIO 171 and 301 with BIO 307 (Human Anatomy and Physiology I) and 308 (Human Anatomy and Physiology II) courses in Pre-health and Pre-pharmacy Concentrations.
Drop BIO 378 lab; Separate CHE 515 into CHE 515 and CHE 515L. The class will be 3 credits, and the lab will be 2 credits; Correct editorial mistakes in the current catalog. - B.S. & M.S. Chemistry Accelerated 3+2 Dual Degree Program
Replace BIO 171 and 301 with BIO 307 (Human Anatomy and Physiology I) and 308 (Human Anatomy and Physiology II) courses in the Pre-health and Pre-pharmacy Concentrations; Drop BIO 378 lab; Separate CHE 715 into CHE 715 and CHE 715L. The class will be 3 credits, and the lab will be 2 credits. - Minor in Pre-Professional Health
Update courses to account for changes to anatomy and physiology course numbering changes
Senator Woodruff moved approval of items 1-3, seconded by Senator Brewer. Motion carried. (YES = 47 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 1 vote) (See Also: Individual Votes)
Senator Crosby moved approval to suspend item 4 (program suspension), seconded by Senator Spigelman. Motion carried. (YES = 47 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See Also: Individual Votes)
Senator Dyer moved approval of items 5-6 (program revisions), seconded by Senator Woodruff. Motion carried. (YES = 46 votes | NO = 1 vote | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See Also: Individual Votes)
Senator Crosby moved approval of items 7-31 (program revisions), seconded by Senator Woodruff. Motion carried. (YES = 48 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See Also: Individual Votes)
GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
REPORT FROM SENATE CHAIR: Senator Winslow
The Executive Committee charged the AQC with “review[ing] best practices for teaching large classes (>100). Investigate the types of instructional resources and/or approaches, e.g., teaching practices, instructional resources, peer mentorship, teaching assistants, classroom layout, furniture, technology, etc., that have been found to facilitate learning. Also search for and summarize scholarship that compares the effectiveness of large and small class sizes.” The Executive Committee has received their report and thanks the AQC for their hard work and excellent scholarship. We consider this report the first phase of an investigation into best practices for teaching large-enrollment courses.
Chair Winslow thanked Parliamentarian Melanie Adams-Johnson and Secretary Pauletta King for their service during his tenure as chair. He also thanked the Senate committees for their dedication and outstanding work during the past two years.
REPORT FROM REGENT: Senator Marion
The Board met on April 23 at 12:30pm in Walnut Hall of the Keen Johnson Building. Below are highlights from the meeting.
- Performance-Based Funding (the Good)
EKU outperformed the state’s rolling three-year average in five of the 11 metrics in Kentucky’s Performance-Based Funding Model (Table 1). EKU accomplished this feat in the midst of draconian budget cuts not faced by UK or U of L, which have a longstanding exemption from the state pension system. Overall, only UK outperformed EKU in more areas (10 out of 11). Overall, from 2017 to the current, EKU has earned more back in performance-based funding than we paid into the state-mandated performance-funding based pool.
For tough news though, our general fund appropriation from state government has decreased by a greater amount than our gains in performance-based funding resulting in an overall reduction in the state’s support for instruction at EKU. As a looming issue, going forward, due to formula weighting and rewarding universities with very large student populations and building area (sq. footage), the overall formula will favor UK and U of L when the state mandates Kentucky’s public universities be 100% “performance”-based funding all while engaging in this experimental process unlike any other system in America. The statute that created this system requires a review by the post-secondary education working group, which remains charged to make recommendations to the legislature on negative consequences. It will be important for interested parties to participate in the policy setting and amending process in the next year. (To view VP Poynter’s report along with the tables and figures on this matter, view the Board agenda book pages 61-71 at this link or Figure1 and Table 2 in my report.)
To further clarify the dilemma (see Table 2) from 2019 to 2020, whereby the percentage of real dollars rewarded from the performance-based funding pool only increased for UK and U of L. In the near future, with this particular formula left unchanged, these increases (or disparities) will continue, but only with more real dollars on the line (100% of all state money being “performance-based”, rather than ~50%).
- EKU Enrollment Impacts on Tuition Revenue – Undergraduate Tuition Increase
For March 2019, due to the 6% enrollment decline, our tuition and fee revenue totaled $137.9M, which was less than $146.6M from March 2018, resulting in a year-over-year negative change in position of $8.7M. Despite receiving more in performance-based funding than we contributed to the pool, the overall state appropriation was reduced leaving us with a $685K loss from this time last year in state support. Despite holding tuition flat last year for undergraduate students, we still had a substantial enrollment decline that exceeded our institution’s predicted decline for budgeting purposes. Given the administration’s recommendation and our current financial placement, the EKU Board voted to increase undergraduate tuition by 3% ($135 per full-time student per semester or $11 per part-time credit hour). Graduate tuition and e-campus tuition rates were unchanged. Increases were also approved related to meal plans due to prior contractual obligations with Aramark tied to inflation. Housing rate increases also occurred based upon university recommendations related to meeting debt obligations and maintaining housing stock.- During the meeting, the Board Chair and President Benson stated a goal of improving enrollment by 3% this upcoming year to offset some of the negative budgetary effects of the 6% decline. Dr. Benson has been touring area high schools to help improve interest and share information about EKU opportunities. An EKU education remains a strong value and among the most affordable in our region of the U.S.
- Perceived helpful tools for inspiring improved enrollment will be the opening of the $30M renovated Powell Student Center in January 2020 and the $40M student recreation and wellness center in November 2019.
- In addition, we received a glowing report regarding enrollment in the aviation program and information on their perceived growth in that area. Several other areas of the university are growing, and with potential strategic investment in those areas, future enrollment gains are possible as well as shared benefits to the institution at-large.
- Congratulations to faculty colleagues who received promotion and tenure.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as Faculty Regent. Faculty and others wishing to meet or discuss any matters or needing assistance from me this summer can reach me at jason.marion@eku.edu at any time.
REPORT FROM PROVOST: Senator Pogatshnik
Below are a few updates from Academic Affairs.
- Textbook Adoption
Please encourage faculty in your department to forward their recommendations for fall textbooks to the bookstore. Currently, we are well behind where we should be in the number of classes that have textbooks identified for the fall. Late submissions end up costing our students more because of difficulties in placing orders and, in some cases, expedited shipping charges.
This year, as a pilot, we are giving faculty an option to choose a textbook for a three-year adoption. The ability to adopt on a three-year cycle enables us to place larger orders (reducing costs) and increases the price that students get when they sell back their textbooks at the end of the term. This should also reduce administrative burden on faculty and departmental staff since they will not have to submit requests each term. Going forward, we may look at making the three-year adoption the default, still giving faculty the option to select a textbook on a year-by-year basis.
- EKU Marching Band
The EKU Marching Band was invited to this year’s Thurby Festival in Louisville. Because of their outstanding performance, they were invited back to next year’s Oaks Day. Congratulations to all the band students on a stellar performance.
- Pension Updates
We are still waiting for additional information on resolution of the pension issue. We are expecting a call for a special session (hopefully) this week. We are assessing the impact on the FY 20 budget of the various options under the latest proposal.
A special thanks to all of you for your role in shared governance here at EKU.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Academic Quality Committee. Senator Shannon stated that the committee was charged to “review best practices for teaching large classes (>100), investigate the types of instructional resources and/or approaches, e.g., teaching practices, instructional resources, peer mentorship, teaching assistants, classroom layout, furniture, technology, etc., that have been found to facilitate learning.” Their finished report is available for review.
Budget Committee. Senator Ciocca announced that the committee met on April 24.
Rules Committee. Senator Bishop-Ross reported that their charge to define “faculty-at-large” will continue into the fall semester.
Ad Hoc Committee on Textbook Resources. Senator Winslow stated that the ad hoc committee will continue through next year.
Ad Hoc Committee on EKU Forward. Senator Winslow stated that there were two productive discussions on April 15 and 29 that centered on recruitment and retention. Some topics discussed include the letters Departments send out to admitted students in the summer before matriculation, the transition from University advising to Departmental advising, recruitment of out-of-state students, closing the distance between administrators and the classroom, and how much money Open Educational Resources could save our students.
Thanks to the Senators who have attended these sessions.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Parliamentarian Johnson presented Chair Winslow with an engraved gavel as a token of appreciation for his service and dedication as Senate chair for the past two years.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Pogatshnik moved to adjourn at approximately 4:15pm.
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(See Also: Polling Results by Motions & by Senators)
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