Minutes for November 6, 2023

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, November 6, 2023 via Zoom. Chair Kay called the third meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members were absent:

^* Indicates prior notification of absence

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Senator Lauk moved to approve the October 2, 2023 minutes as written, seconded by Senator Stevenson.  Motion carried. (YES = 48 votes | NO = 0 votes | ABSTAIN = 0 votes) (See also: Individual Votes).

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Chair Kay announced the recent loss of Senator Carolin Walz and asked for a moment of silence in honor of her memory.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT:  David McFaddin

EKU Highlights in the News - October 2023
EKU received notable coverage this month in local, state, and national media outlets touting our EKU success. (See: Article links on pp. 1-3) If anyone knows a faculty member who can serve as a subject matter expert for Communications and Brand Management (CBM), please contact Sarah Baker at sarah.baker@eku.edu.

Organizational Changes to Construction Management and Aviation
The Aviation and Construction Management programs have moved from the College of STEM to the College of Justice, Safety, and Military Science. The reorganization produces the following benefits for the programs and for EKU: 

• Both Aviation and Construction Management will have a natural fit with the safety and security programs in CJSMS.
• Aviation and Construction Management will be included under the Program of Distinction (POD) banner, helping to further elevate their brands with the Council on Postsecondary Education and others within the State. 
• The smaller number of Departments within CJSMS will help us to provide more focus and resources to these programs than in a college with a larger and more diverse portfolio of departments. They will be one of four departments in CJSMS as opposed to one of 8 units in CSTEM. This also benefits the programs in CSTEM by ensuring more college-level attention and support. 
• EKU is the only University in Kentucky with both Construction Management and Occupational Safety degrees providing us an advantage in producing high-quality graduates for critical sectors of the Kentucky economy. Housing them together in the same college could provide advantages in fundraising and resource sharing. 

Thanksgiving Dinner
In the spirit of Thanksgiving and recognizing your important role in making EKU such a special place, the President’s Office and EKU Dining Services invite all faculty and staff to bring their family at no charge to enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner at Case Dining Hall from 5-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. Dinner will include traditional Thanksgiving dishes with a variety of other options.

City of Richmond Christmas Parade
The Alumni Coliseum Lot will close early on December 1, 2023. All vehicles must be moved no later than 3:30 p.m. that day in preparation for the annual City of Richmond Christmas Parade. Please contact EKU Parking if you have any questions. 

Winter Advantage Schedule (Please visit https://hr.eku.edu/advantage-winter-schedule for FAQs.)
The EKU Winter Advantage Schedule begins the week of December 4, 2023, and will conclude on January 12, 2024. The core University hours during this period will be set at 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, with a 30-minute lunch period; all University campuses will be closed each Friday during the period. As always, supervisors will have the flexibility to alter employees’ schedules for work demands and office coverage as needed. 

Winter Break
The University closes December 18, 2023 through January 1, 2024 for the holiday season. 

Calendar of Events

• November 4 - Veteran’s Memorial Plaza Dedication 
• November 15 - Board of Regents Meeting 
• November 21 - Thanksgiving Dinner 
• November 22-24 - Thanksgiving Break 
• December 1 - City of Richmond Christmas Parade 
• December 2- Graduation/Commencement 

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Sara Zeigler

Provost Zeigler shared the proposal for the new academic calendar and supporting documents and asked for faculty feedback. There is one change that has to be made to the Fall 2029 draft calendar. The Richmond Christmas parade has apparently been scheduled for the first Friday in December for the past 40 years, so the date for commencement will need to be changed. Any additional feedback should be shared with Provost Zeigler within the next couple of weeks.
 (See: calendar proposal, revised term length timeline, classtime adjustment comparison, draft calendars)

Senator Price questioned if the courses moving from 8 weeks to 7 weeks would qualify for redevelopment payments for faculty. Provost Zeigler responded that a course development work group is currently working on recommendations on how to handle redevelopments and provide support for both on ground and online courses.

The next Provost reception will be on November 14th from 5pm to 7pm in the Atrium of the Business College building. That will be followed by the concert band and Wind Ensemble Concert at 7:30pm in the Center for the Arts. Please attend one or both, as schedules permit.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Student Government Association Update. Camden Ritchie shared the following updates from SGA and the Student Senate.

• RSO appropriations were recently awarded. We gave away $33,173 to 21 different registered student organizations.
• Kyra Mills was just appointed as our Director of Inclusive Excellence and Engaging Issues. She will handle things such as diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and mental health. The main thing she is currently working on is our Mental Health Week which will be held in the spring.
• SGA’s Safety Walk is scheduled for tonight at 6pm. Faculty are welcome to participate. 
• There are still some college senators who have not met with their deans. If you don’t hear from them by the end of the semester, please contact Camden.Ritchie@eku.edu.
• SGA requested that CAA vote on the suspension of the MA program in History instead of having it listed as a notification only item on the agenda. The proposal was voted down 7 to 6.

Policy Updates. Lauren Keeler shared links for the following administrative regulations that are available for review on the Policies website.

1. Administrative Regulation 6.2.2 ADR – Contract Review, Approval, and Execution
2. Administrative Regulation 11.2.5 ADR – Social Medial Communications

Lauren Keeler and Lynnette Noblitt provided a brief update on the Academic Regulation 4.7.4 ACR – Faculty Grievances which is available for review and comment on the Policies website until Friday. The previous regulation that was reviewed by Faculty Senate had a lot of administrative oversight, and this new revision attempts to focus more on faculty involvement in the roles of the faculty group and liaison, as well as a jurisdictional committee. That responsibility is currently held by Associate Provost Jennifer Wies, but now that jurisdictional determination would be in the hands of a committee.

Senator Lauk asked if the faculty advocate position was removed in the new regulation version. Professor Noblitt stated that when there was a faculty advocate on staff there was not a lot of interest shown in using her services. So, it was thought that the money could be better spent on faculty lines, and the position was eliminated. Then, a faculty member was appointed to serve as a sort of mediator, but she felt that the role was misunderstood and again, the services were underutilized.

AAUP Representative Nancy McKenney stated that the original senate proposal called for a mediator and a mandatory mediation process prior to a grievance being filed and asked if that was considered by the drafting team. Ms. Keeler responded that the drafting team started with the 2021 Faculty Senate draft, so it was discussed. However, that involved a budgetary consideration, and the resources for that are not available at this time.

Senator Newhart asked why Faculty Senate no longer gets to vote on policies. In response, Lauren Keeler stated that Faculty Senate has not voted to approve any policies since probably 2019. Policies and regulations are sent to Faculty Senate as notification that the documents are available for review and comment on the Policies website. The idea is that Faculty Senate can meet, discuss, and express concerns at that time. The policy or regulation then proceeds through the vetting process. Since this is an academic regulation, it is approved by the Provost Council, the Provost, and then the President.

Professor Noblitt announced that the Grievance Policy Drafting Team will be meeting tomorrow and again later this week, so the committee is continuing to work on this. If anyone has additional comments, please email Lynnette.Noblitt@eku.edu or Lauren.Keeler@eku.edu.

NEW BUSINESS:

Report from the Council on Academic Affairs. Associate Provost Jennifer Wies presented one new program (BFA in Documentary Film Production) for action. Senator Cogdill moved approval, seconded by Senator Stevenson. Motion carried. (YES = 41 votes | NO = 1 vote | ABSTAIN = 6 votes) (See also: Individual Votes)

Items 2-12 were presented for notification only.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT FROM SENATE CHAIR: Senator Kay

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee met on October 23, 2023. The committee discussed some questions regarding the process for the program closure of the MA in History and the decision to use BloomBoard. In addition, the committee is working with the Rules Committee to develop a faculty section to add to the new Employee Handbook.

The next “Problem Solvers” meeting with the Provost is scheduled for November 16th.

Vice Chair Blair discussed the recent work of the Welfare Committee at the fall forum sponsored by the AAUP on October 5th.

Vice Chair Blair and I are still serving on the 8KBY28 working group, which is drafting some initial plans for increasing the number of online students enrolled at EKU to 8000 by 2028. We held a couple of focus group discussions and gathered a lot of useful insights from faculty. If you have any input to share, please contact us.

We had a successful Lunch and Learn event on October 30th. The President answered questions and led a productive discussion.

We continue to receive a lot of comments via the anonymous virtual suggestion box on the Faculty Senate website, and we are forwarding the suggestions to relevant individuals or committees. We also share the comments with Provost Zeigler and Regent Marion as part of the Problem Solvers meetings. Here are some recent topics:

• Scholarships for underrepresented groups
• Tuition increases
• Compensation
• Therapy dogs
• First-day drops
• Support for students just prior to spring semester
• IDC
• 8KBY28
• Thanksgiving break
• Student commencement speakers
• Building temperature
• Travel reimbursement

We have received several comments related to building maintenance, temperatures, etc. Those have been forwarded to Associate Vice President Makinen, who addressed them immediately. Please note that every building should have a building supervisor or coordinator, so any concerns about the status of a building should first be reported to the building coordinator so they can submit a work order to Facilities Management.

Provost Zeigler and the Office of Human Resources helped me to acquire a data set that contains information on faculty turnover. The data will be analyzed by a couple of faculty members with statistical expertise from different colleges: Dr. Kerem Ozan Kalkan from the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences; and Dr. Samuel Kakraba from the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. A summary of the data will be presented at the next Board of Regents meeting.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Marion

The Board of Regents had a special meeting on October 16, 2023 due to the recent appointment of Regent Michael Garland. The Board of Regents will be having their fourth quarterly meeting of the year on Wednesday, November 15th at 9am in the Powell Building.

Regarding the October 16th meeting of the Board, the agenda was focused on newly appointed Regent Michael Garland taking Kentucky’s oath of office, and then the statutory required election of the Vice Chair, Board Secretary, and Treasurer following a change in the Board membership. The officers of the Board were re-elected.

Council on Post-Secondary Education Updates:
The CPE is hosting their 2023 Higher EDquity Symposium at Eastern Kentucky University on November 13 and 14.

The first session of the 2023 Postsecondary Education Trusteeship Webinar: All members of Kentucky’s postsecondary education governing boards are invited to attend and participate in the annual “Trusteeship” conferences held by CPE. For this year, CPE decided to do the conference virtually over a period of weeks. The first webinar was with the Lumina Foundation’s President and CEO, Jaime Merisotis. In the webinar, Merisotis discussed trends in higher education and how board members may think appropriately and look/think beyond their university for ensuring institutional relevance and responsiveness to issues impacting our local, national and global citizenries. A replay of this one-hour webinar is available from the CPE.

Closing:
In addition to the regular teaching, service, scholarship, and outreach duties, this last month has been one with many university and community events. One included the commemoration of the new El Centro space in the library and recently this weekend, the new Veterans Memorial was dedicated in the Carloftis Garden. If your circumstances permit, or if you have students who you think would benefit from knowing, please feel free to share and visit.

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Feltus

COSFL met on October 29th, and two main issues were discussed: 1) shared governance and 2) Senate Joint Resolution 98. In order to get a better idea of how shared governance looks like around the state, the representatives from each of the different universities and colleges talked about their experiences at their own institutions.

The other issue discussed was Senate Joint Resolution 98. The resolution requires CPE to conduct a study on the impact and feasibility of a potential 4-year public university in southeastern Kentucky. The study will consider current and projected population conditions and trends for the comprehensive 4-year university assuming academic programs from the technical and community college system. The report from CPE is due in December. While the report is not yet finalized, some information is available:

• They have gotten input from stakeholders across Kentucky, and the basic thing that they have found is that there are areas for improvement in post-secondary education. 
• Constructing a new 4-year university in southeastern Kentucky is not practical, so it probably will not
• Acquiring an existing private university to transform to a public university would be too costly, and therefore there should be some restructuring of the technical college system based on that.
• What is needed is strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of the transfers from the technical colleges to the 4-year universities and playing on those strengths.

STANDING COMMITTEES

Academic Quality Committee. Senator Stevenson reported that the committee met on October 16th. In future the meetings will be scheduled on the third Monday of each month at 9am on Zoom. Charges from last year were reviewed, and the items remaining for this year is to look at evaluating satisfaction with Bartleby and to look at enrollment trends on campus. As the LMS system is changing and Bartleby is a part of that, the issue was put on hold until after the LMS is decided later this month.

Our current focus is on gathering data on setting priority registration potentially for student parents. Robyn Moreland, Director for the Center for Student Parents, has gathered some data for us that we will review at our next meeting on Monday, November 20th.

Budget Committee. Senator Lauk announced that the Budget Committee will have a joint meeting with the Executive Committee for a budget overview with Barry Poynter and his staff on Monday, November 27th.

Elections & University Nominations Committee. Senator Spira stated that the committee met on Monday, October 16th to review the current charges and to begin work on revisions to our internal procedures. Our second charge was about notifying all faculty about available university committee vacancies. We investigated and learned that the Slate team is developing an automated process to send out to faculty once a year on university committee opportunities.

Information Technology Committee. Senator Fry reported that the committee met on November 2nd and reviewed the charges for the year.

Several colleagues have shared with us that the quarantine functionality in our email system is not as effective as it should be. At our next meeting, we plan to draft a Google form to send out to Faculty Senate in the spring to learn about the senators’ experiences with the quarantine tool.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator Brent shared that the committee is primarily focused on reviewing the Policy on Policies 1.1.1. To recap, our committee is:

• Reviewing any policy changes that have been made since Policy 1.1.1 was changed in June, 2021.
• Checking with benchmark institutions to look at the role of their Faculty Senate in regards to the decision-making process within those universities.
  • The committee is currently reviewing about 15 different share governance documents to find 5 to 8 themes to help develop a new idea of shared governance. One of the big tasks is to not only identify these themes, but to figure out how to translate these themes into actual avenues and practices moving forward to move the rhetoric of shared governance into the actual practice of shared governance.
• Taking stock of all policies and procedures at EKU and going through them one at a time to identify which of the ones that have been revised since June 2021 should come through Faculty Senate for purview, oversight, and voting.
  • The reason for doing this is that the rationale that was given for the recent change to Policy 1.1.1 was that faculty were being asked to weigh in on things that were not faculty related.

We hope to have a brief summary to present to Senate in the early spring so we can identify next steps for the academic campus moving forward.

Chair Kay noted that in talking with President McFaddin about this he seemed willing to consider updating the Policy on Policies and Regulations.

Rules Committee. Senator Bishop-Ross reported that the committee last met on October 30th. The next meeting is scheduled for November 13th.

Chair Kay reached out to ask the Rules Committee to work with the Executive Committee to create a faculty addendum to add to the new Employee Handbook.

An email was distributed to all standing committee chairs asking that they review their internal procedures and submit any changes to Senator Bishop-Ross by January 30th.

Welfare Committee. Senator Manning stated that the committee met last month and reviewed their charges. They also started generating a question database on Jaggaer and they may do a focus group or a survey at some point. If there are any questions about Jaggaer, please forward those to one of the committee members.

In addition, the committee reviewed some of the comments submitted anonymously to the Senate’s suggestion box. As a result, we have scheduled a meeting next week with our partners through HR about the insurance and medications that are not currently covered by our insurance.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Lauk moved to adjourn, seconded by Senator Buck, at approximately 5:30pm.

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(See Also:  Polling Results by Motion & Senators)

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