Minutes for October 3, 2022

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, October 3, 2022 via Zoom. Chair Crosby called the second meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members were absent:

^* Indicates prior notification of absence
^ ALT Peter Edwards attended for J. Mayer

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Senator Easterling moved approval of the September 12, 2022 minutes as written, seconded by Senator Bishop-Ross. Motion carried. (YES = 46 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See also:  Individual Votes)

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT:  David McFaddin

Homecoming
Homecoming Weekend will be on October 21-22. The entire week is stacked with events and opportunities. Whether you join us Friday for the Homecoming Parade followed by the Street Festival Celebration of The Dog or gather with former colleagues and students at the Homecoming Football Game, we want you to come out and celebrate all that our campus community has done to enrich the lives of our students. 

Strategic Plans
In preparation to submit our 2022 Strategic Plan to CPE, each Dean presents their area’s final plan during the President's Leadership Council meeting tomorrow. Based on that feedback, your Dean may be bringing additional changes or recommendations that need to be made prior to submission to CPE. 

Open Enrollment
The annual open enrollment for benefits will be on October 14-November 1, 2022. The EKU Enrollment Guide will be available later this week on the Human Resources website. There will be no changes to coverage.

We will be hosting two Benefits Fairs where Flu Shots will also be available:

• October 18, 2022, at Perkins Quads from 9-3 pm
• October 25, 2022, at Keen Johnson from 9-3 pm

Fall Commencement
Fall Commencement is scheduled for Saturday, December 3, 2022, at Alumni Coliseum. The ceremonies will take place at:

• 9:00 am for Colleges of STEM, Business, and CLASS
• 1:30 pm for the Colleges of Criminal Justice and Safety, Education and Applied Human Sciences, and Health Sciences. 

Excellence Awards
Start thinking about the colleagues you work with that positively impact the work you do, the lives of our students, and the effectiveness of the EKU. The window for nominations will open in November with the ceremony confirmed for Wednesday, April 26, 2022, at the Center for the Arts. With last year being the inaugural year, there will be some minor changes to the nomination process with the most significant one being the removal of the self nomination option. 

Cold and Flu Season
A reminder to our entire campus community that with the cold and flu season upon us, please be sure to visit your doctor or BluMine Clinic or the Benefit Fair to get your flu shots. 

Facilities Heat Transition
With fall here, it also means a transition for our heating system. Later this month, Facilities will begin systematically moving from air to heat for those campus facilities. If at any point you have an issue with the heat in your building, please see your building manager to properly document the issue so it can be addressed. 

Cybersecurity Training
All employees received communication regarding cybersecurity training. This training is a required component for faculty and staff to comply with our cybersecurity insurance coverage. EKU IT will be providing mandatory cybersecurity training via Blackboard starting next week. 

Upcoming Events

• Colonel Conversation: EKU the Employer of Opportunity Wednesday, October 5, at 3 pm , Crabbe Library 
• Provost’s Fall Faculty Reception Thursday, October 13, at 4:30 pm, Keen Johnson Building
• Powell Amphitheater Ribbon Cutting Colonel Corn Roast, Powell Plaza, Thursday, October 20, at 5 pm
• Homecoming Weekend October 21-22
• Faculty Lunch and Learn October 2, at 12 pm Case Dining Hall.

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Sara Zeigler

The Cabinet looked over a salary compression model that Melinda developed and reviewed with the Deans last week. The slides and a sample spreadsheet were shared with Chair Crosby, Vice Chair Kay, and Faculty Regent Marion this morning. The information will be shared with the chairs, and then it will be brought forward for Faculty Senate review. This is essentially the model described in Senate before, where there is a certain amount for across the board, and then an additional amount for rank and time at EKU, so that we can start dealing with the fact that salaries of the associate and full professor levels are stagnating. And then, as we bring people in at market, obviously we create compression and inversion. This is designed to be a long term solution that would happen over the course of several years. We will implement whatever we decide on this year because you were very clear about how you wanted the pool set aside for compression to be used at this point. To clarify, these are recurring funds. So when this is rolled out for this year, it will be added to base as part of the salary to deal with the compression issues. So look for more information on that soon.

An additional $50,000 is being set aside from the Academic Affairs strategic pool to help with professional development for this year only. This will be discussed with the deans at their next meeting to determine the best way to allow for applications and distribution of that. 

I am aware that many people have already gone to their conferences, and so we will try to find a way to deal with the fact that some have already spent out of pocket as well. 

As mentioned last time, Beth Polin has decided to do some focused work on leadership in the College of Business. That leaves us without anyone in the faculty liaison role, and based on your feedback and feedback from others, we are going to look at what kind of role is actually necessary, since this one hasn't been ideal for any of the constituencies involved, despite best efforts and diligence on that. Richard, John Dixon, and I will be meeting with Beth later this month, and talking to her about the kinds of concerns she saw, and the issues that were being brought to her. That should help us think about what we really need to serve both faculty and staff. 

You've seen information about the allocation of asset preservation fees and Academic Affairs does have a portion of that. I'm working with the Deans on how best to use those and look at the most pressing problems in Academic Affairs. The funds set aside for building maintenance are separate from these. So, we're focusing on classroom improvements, furnishing technology upgrades, much as we did in some of the rooms in Wallace last year. That information will be shared with you through the chairs. We've got a few things in flux right now that we have to figure out before I can give you my final allocation. We do have a list of priorities that your Dean submitted in consultation with your chairs, and that is located in a giant Google Doc. that we’re using to help set our priorities. 

President McFaddin has mentioned on several occasions that our next big “ask” for the 2024 session for capital project from the State will be an academic complex. We're working with the deans and chairs to start setting priorities. It's at a very preliminary stage right now. There will be ample opportunities for faculty input. Right now, the vision is for a collaborative space that can be used for community spaces for students to interact with faculty for classes, for events, and serve all of those academic purposes at once--to be a nice space where faculty offices are co-located with spaces where students want to be. We've been doing a lot of research on how the space can best function, what kinds of classroom setups are most productive and work with the most current pedagogies, without disregarding the things that have worked for you that you may still need in terms of which programs will be prioritized for that complex. We are still looking at that, but we will certainly be trying to move people out of older buildings that are hard to maintain, and into new spaces. So that work is ongoing. You will continue to receive updates.

I have open office hours this year again, and those have been advertised through campus email. If you want to talk with me, please schedule with Sharon Lee during those times.

The next faculty social is on October 13th. Please plan to attend if schedules permit.

On the faculty position request process, the Deans have the deadlines for the spring round. They are due to my office on December 8th, so that we can make quick decisions in the spring and let you get those postings out very quickly. The fall round by and large is already posted, and you are recruiting faculty for those positions. A reminder about those processes. Most of you are familiar with it from your chairs. There's a form that is completed. But, in cases where you have a termination for cause, a non-renewal of a faculty member, or a denial of tenure, those lines are granted automatically. They don't have to go through this process.

The Cross College and Interdisciplinary Collaboration Proposals are due on October 28th, and the call has been issued. We will send reminders, and if you have questions about that process contact Dean Baggett.

Senator Sands asked for the name of a campus contact that has a good understanding of Bartleby. The Academic Quality Committee has been charged with investigating the satisfaction with Bartleby and it would be helpful to discuss this with someone who is familiar with the system.

In answer, Provost Zeigler stated that Steve Caudill is managing the partnership with Barnes and Noble and he is doing that in collaboration with Rusty Carpenter and Jeremy Mulholland. Bartleby has already made some modifications based on our feedback, so they’ve shown a great willingness to refine the product to meet our needs

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Postponed Motion from September. At the September meeting, Senator Winslow moved to continue having the Elections and University Nominations Committee handle the election process for faculty vacancies on four universities committees (General Education, Graduate Counsel, University Research, and Libraries). The motion was postponed to October. Guests Ryan Baggett, Gus Benson, Casey Humphrey, and Garett Yoder were in attendance to provide clarification on the selection process and the special criteria that should be considered when reviewing applicants who self nominate for the available faculty positions on the four committees. 

Dr. Baggett provided information on how membership is determined on Graduate Council and the University Research Committee. On Graduate Council each college has two representatives for a total of twelve people. Then there is a doctoral representative which makes thirteen members. Committee members serve for a three-year term. The members must be graduate faculty and have some intricacies within the graduate program. In addition, there are two students elected to serve one-year terms. The students are elected at the beginning of the year, based upon nominations from the Graduate Council members. Then there are special criteria for the faculty positions which must also be considered when reviewing individuals who self nominate for those vacancies. For example in the College of Education and Applied Human Sciences there are two graduate programs--TLEL and Clinical & Therapeutic. If there is a graduate faculty member from TLEL and someone is rotating off in Clinical & Therapeutic, another representative is needed from that area to keep the balance. There is a similar situation in Justice and Safety and Military Science. The new members need to be on board before the end of June so that rosters and materials can be produced in time for the organizational meeting in August. This is true for the University Research Committee as well. With the current process, there have been issues with timeliness in the last couple of years; and then last year there was no information received at all. So, Dr. Baggett worked with Ryan Wilson in the President’s office who contacted the deans asking for volunteers to fill the vacancies. 

Dr. Yoder, Chair of the General Education Committee, stated that even if the Faculty Senate elections are held on time there are often not enough self-nominations to fill all the spots on the General Education Committee. So, he still has to go to the deans to ask for volunteers to fill vacancies.

Senator Spira shared that the library has no preference on the process used to fill faculty vacancies on their committee.

After the discussion, Senator Winslow withdrew his motion.

Senator Sabin moved to return the process back to the four committees and adjust the Elections & University Nominations Committee internal procedures to reflect the change, seconded by Senator Cizmar. Motion carried. (YES = 38 votes |NO = 6 votes |ABSTAIN = 5 votes) (See also: Individual Votes)

Senator Marion stated that in prior years, a list of the university committees along with their current membership was maintained and posted on the website. The last update he was able to locate was from 2019-2020. It would be helpful if this list was updated yearly and made available for everyone to use.

Senator Kay recalled that several years ago a form was sent out to faculty each year that called for volunteers to serve on university committees, and the names were given to the leaders of the committees. It might be helpful to start doing that again.

NEW BUSINESS:

Policy Updates. Chair Crosby noted that the following academic regulations are presented for information only and are available for public comment. 

• Academic Regulation 4.3.16 – Academic Curriculum (memo & regulation) Information Only
• Administrative Regulation 5.1.3 – Student Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (memo & regulation) Information Only

Senate Standing Committee Election. The Budget Committee has one vacancy. Senator Kay nominated Senator Stevenson. Senator Sabin moved to close nominations and accept by acclamation, seconded by Senator Burns.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT FROM SENATE CHAIR: Senator Crosby

The Executive Committee met on September 26. Much of the meeting was devoted to the postponed motion regarding filling the vacancies for the four University Committees. We were joined by Ryan Baggett and Gus Benson, who gave us much-needed perspective on the issue.

President McFaddin and I hosted about 6 faculty along with the Provost, Chief of Staff Colleen Chaney and Regent Marion, for the first “Lunch and Learns” on September 27 in the Regents Dining Room at the Case Dining Hall. The discussion was enjoyable and informative. These events are not only a chance to bring up topics/questions that are on your mind, but they give the President a chance to hear faculty perspectives and concerns. With his emphasis on shared governance and transparency, these lunches are an excellent opportunity to pursue those goals. The next Lunch and Learns is scheduled for Monday, October 24th at Noon.

I was able to attend the meeting of the Board of Regents meeting on September 16 in Walnut Hall in the Keen Johnson Building. Chairman Mike Eaves mentioned how much he enjoyed getting to participate in our last Senate meeting. I reported that the Senate voted by 80% to recommend that the $500,000 available be used towards beginning to address salary compression. (Correction to the written report: the funds available will be applied to base salary so they are not one-time funds as reported.) As a side note, the President and Provost informed those of us at the Lunch and Learns that the plan for this year’s funds will be released in the early Spring semester and that the long-term plan for addressing the issue will be rolled out by the end of the Spring semester.

By now most committees have, or will shortly have, elected their Chairs and begun work on their charges. Senator Kay, Regent Marion and I are scheduled to have our next Problem Solvers meeting with Provost Ziegler a few hours before this Senate meeting. 

Board of Regents Chair Mike Eaves is having a meeting with the AAUP chapter in the Faculty Lounge in the Keen Johnson Building at 4pm on Thursday. Faculty are more than welcome to be there to participate in that conversation.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Marion

The Board of Regents had a quarterly meeting on Friday, September 16. A summary of that meeting is provided below. The next Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 1, 2022.

Summary of September 16th Board Meeting:
The Board of Regents met on September 16. The Board Agenda was much lighter than the June meeting.

Action items on the agenda were the usual items (approval of prior meeting minutes, personnel actions, and Fall 2022 degree candidates).

Noteworthy Agenda Items:
The items that were relatively new for the Fall Quarterly Board of Regents meeting include the following:

• Item IV-E on the Agenda: Recommendation for Approval of the Asset Preservation Projects
  In total, $35,000,000 will be spent using the General Fund appropriation to EKU for this purpose. An outlay is provided in the Board Book on pdf page 41 (linked directly here). Specific details documenting specific locations/buildings where the funds will go could not be provided; however overarching areas for spending funds were provided. A substantial portion of the funds will be allocated to upgrades related to HVAC, water, plumbing, cooling towers, chillers, etc. Upon some discussion with the Board, there was an indication from the University that a summary of the work that will be completed will be provided, including which buildings and areas were serviced by this state allocation. There is hope, and a desire, for EKU along with all the public universities to request furtherance of these types funds in the next biennium as the two-year allocation in this biennium, while helpful, will not address the far greater deferred maintenance costs at EKU and the other universities.
• Item IV-F on the Agenda: Recommendation for Approval and Ratification of the Football Field Naming Agreement.
  The Board approvement of a naming rights agreement for the football field at EKU. The $1.15M agreement has named the field, CG Bank field, located at Roy Kidd Stadium, for eleven years. Some news stories on the naming agreement went out the day of the announcement, one of which is linked here to a WEKU story.
• Item VIII on the Agenda: Appointment of Ad Hoc Committee on Board Governance & Evaluation.
  Chair Eaves appointed a committee including Regent Ashley Ward, Staff Regent Jeremiah Duerson, Student Regent Paige Murphy, and the Faculty Regent (me) as Chair, to align our regulatory evaluation duties prescribed by state statute with best practices in presidential assessments and university governing board self-assessments. The process is likely to yield a more efficient and useful annual evaluations for the Board itself and the President, while laying the groundwork for a future comprehensive evaluation that aligns with the current strategic plan versus the expired plan.

Informational Updates:

• A Construction Update was provided by Dr. Byran Makinen detailing completed, on-going, and some future projects. Information was provided on the two state budget-appropriated projects (Model Lab School [$94M] and Alumni Coliseum [$31.35M]. Additionally, $54M in housing bond projects (using EKU’s housing funds) to renovate Keene Hall, Palmer Hall, Sullivan Hall, and Burnham Hall are underway. The bonded projects took advantage of favorable rates to do desperately needed renovations. In addition to ongoing projects, particular attention was given to the relocation and enhancement of the Veteran’s Memorial coupled with the Powell Plaza Phase 1 enhancement. The Veteran’s Memorial Plaza is moving to the Carloftis Garden and will be more attractive and more conducive to enabling access to the space for everyone (alumni, community, students, and others) for reflection and ongoing memorialization.
• The Financial Update indicated that university was on budget for this year and is maintaining a solid financial position for this fiscal year due to increased enrollment- and housing-related revenue and from some modest increases in state support.
• An Academic Affairs update was provided by Provost Zeigler. The update oriented the Board to the current profile of EKU’s academic leadership, notably the deans, as there have been a number of newly appointed deans in the last year. Notable activities of each college were presented by the Provost, and particularly exciting for the Board, were the Provost’s presentation of EKU Faculty Highlights. Professors David Fifer and Carter Sickels were highlighted. Additional information pertaining to student spotlights and EKU’s sponsored awards were also presented, which included EKU having received $29M in new sponsored award funding across 71 new awards.
• The Student Success & Student Life Update was provided by Drs. Tanlee Wasson and Dannie Moore. Overall, enrollment increased to 14,238 representing a 2% increase year-over-year. Within that increase was a 12% increase in underrepresented minority (URM) students. There was also a 4.2% increase in e-campus enrollment. Freshmen enrollment increased 9% year-over-year to 2,765. Retention is also up, now at 77.6% retention, this is up 4% year-over-year and near the all-time high freshmen-sophomore retention rate. More details, including a couple videos, were presented to the Board showcasing the Big E Welcome events and other orientation programs. There’s enthusiasm that EKU can eclipse 3,000 freshmen students in Fall 2023 building upon investments and successes from BookSmart, increased college recruitment efforts, and the palpable excitement associated with the Exceptional Eastern Experience (E3) programming that is ongoing.
• The Development Update from Vice President Betina Gardner spotlighted the Make No Little Plans Capital Campaign which finished with a grand total of $61M which surpassed the $50M goal. Overall, there were 27,699 donors, including 11,694 new donors. Special attention was given to the 209% increase in faculty/staff (employee) giving during the campaign. Also, noteworthy were food donations and cash donations to the EKU SAFE fund (Student Assistance Fund for Eastern), which has helped students during the Pandemic, with unusual challenges (like home fires) or attending EKU following the devastating floods in our service region.
• Athletics Update: Athletic Director Matt Roan presented an update for the Department of Athletics including points of pride for the various athletic teams, including the football program being in the Top-25 rankings. Season ticket sales and revenue have continued to increase the last several years, with 2021 surpassing 2017 sales. Projections are positive for 2022. Alumni Coliseum renovations are to start following basketball season in March 2023 with occupancy in the renovated facility expected in September 2024.

Information from Council on Post-Secondary Education (CPE):
The regents and trustees from all of Kentucky’s institutions attended the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Trusteeship Conference. A wealth of information is available in the slides presented at that meeting, all of which is available on the CPE’s Trusteeship Conference page. 

The CPE will be hosting the 4th annual Higher EDquity Symposium this November 14-15 at NKU, and is currently welcoming proposals.

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Feltus reporting for Senator Cizmar

COSFL met on September 16th. Our guest speaker was Dr. Aaron Thompson, the President of the Council on Postsecondary Education. Some highlights from that are that he is planning to tour around the State to have conversations with those in higher education, business leaders, and others to promote the value of higher education. He has been diligent in discussing with legislature to try to incorporate the idea that higher education is a worthwhile investment for the State of Kentucky; and he is talking to them about performance funding because he wants a continual base of funding in addition to performance funding. He also mentioned that enrollment is down overall across the State, especially from low income people. However, underrepresented minority enrollment is up. 

After his address, we had a Q & A session with Dr. Thompson, and we asked him about performance funding, faculty burnout and workload, decline in adult learners, affordability vs faculty retention, retaining tenure, making performance funding less competitive and making funding more collaborative.

According to Dr. Thompson, he believes performance funding is here to stay. CPE is arguing for a recurring base and a larger base but higher education is considered a business. The argument from CPE is that higher education is a worthwhile investment. He does not believe that we can just keep raising tuition. It is unfair for students to fund faculty raises, but if we can get recurring consistent dollars from the State it will help. CPE is active in trying to get this across to the Legislature. Tenure is very important, but so is post-tenure review. No tenure-related items are currently on the docket at the Legislature. On the decline of adult learners, Covid did exasperate the problem, but KCTCS was hit especially hard even before that happened. There were issues with getting jobs in a good economy and displacement of the workforce. He believes the solution is to work closely with employers. And CPE has already started in the health care field, where employers have put forth $50M toward higher education.

In other business, Dr. Annie Adams of Morehead State was elected President of COSFL by acclamation. 

STANDING COMMITTEES:

Academic Quality Committee. Senator Sands reported that the committee met on September 26th and she was nominated and elected to continue as chair again this year. The agenda was set for the full academic year, and the information was forwarded to the chair and secretary.

In addition to the traditional charges that the committee has each year, there are two additional charges. One is a charge that we recommended at the end of last year--to do an ongoing review of data related to monitoring enrollment patterns and DFW rates for online and campus courses. The other charge is to investigate the satisfaction with Bartleby, which is a new service that the University is utilizing in place of the Smart Thinking. So, our committee will work on those two charges and report back to the Faculty Senate at the end of the academic year.

Budget Committee. Senator Yow announced that the committee will meet soon to elect a chair and set the agenda for moving forward.

Elections and University Nominations Committee. Senator Spira was elected to serve as chair for the academic year. The charges for the year were reviewed, the meeting schedule was set for the fall term, and the information was forwarded on to the secretary to post on the website.

Information Technology Committee. Senator Hight announced that the committee will meet soon to elect a chair. 

Senator Hight gave a brief update on laptops for faculty. IT Services is halfway through with the staff roll out and will be planning to distribute either Dells or Macs in the spring. Then they are looking at potentially issuing a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for individuals that need those as well.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator Underwood reported that the committee has not met yet.

Rules Committee. Senator Kay reported that the committee met on September 19th. Senators Bishop-Ross and Kay will serve as co-chairs again this year. One of our charges this year involves checking the handbook for any conflicts with university policies and regulations. We have invited Dana Fohl to be a guest at our next meeting to discuss this.

Welfare Committee. Senator Blair reported that the committee has met and set the schedule for the fall semester. Senators Blair and Manning will serve as co-chairs this year. We're currently planning on generating some feedback again from faculty on compensation and other benefits, such as the recent changes to the tuition waiver program, healthcare costs, and the possible Ombud person/faculty advocate changes, as well as perceptions of the university from our faculty.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Easterling moved to adjourn at approximately 4:50pm, seconded by Senator Buck.

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(See Also:  Polling Results by Motions & Senators on page 10)

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