===== PAGE 1 ===== ## Submitted by Danny Collum, Secretary 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 1:04 p.m. 2. Approval of Agenda [5 minute time limit] Agenda was approved as submitted. 3. Approve Meeting minutes from 10/2/2020 [5 minute time limit] Minutes approved as submitted. 4. Faculty Senate President Report [15 minute time limit] Academic Affairs has extended the deadline for submission of midterm grades until Friday at midnight due to technical problems encountered earlier in the week. ### a. Terminal Degree Policy (EC\_20-21\_02) Following up on discussion at the last meeting, President Keeler presented new language for a resolution on payment to faculty who complete their terminal degree during their KSU employment. The resolution calls for faculty in that situation to receive a one-time bonus that will be five percent of the median pay of all KSU assistant professors. This resolution was approved. 18 senators voting for it and none against. This resolution was approved. 18 senators voting for it and none against. #### 5. Spring Class 2020 First Destination Survey Mr. Daryl Love [10 minute time limit] Mr. Love, director of the KSU Career and Professional Development office, introduced his associate, Tonika East, to present information on the First Destination Survey. Purpose of this survey is to gather information on the employment experience of recent college graduates. Of 126 2020 KSU graduates, 22 (17.5 percent) have completed the survey. At the end of October, staff will begin following up with graduates who have not completed the survey via personal email, phone and social media. Survey results will be reported to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in April 2021. Mr. Love also noted the upcoming virtual career fair, with participation from 52 employers. He asked faculty to encourage students to register. He also announced that an Intern Advisory Council is being formed to develop a handbook for internship policy and process and to champion the internship concept. ### 6. Academic Policy Committee report [15 minute time limit] APC Chair, Senator Gyawali, reported that discussion of a policy on faculty exchange programs has been delayed while awaiting revised documents from Academic Affairs. And discussion of a policy on student evaluations of faculty for Fall 2020 will be taken up again after consultation with the Senate Executive Committee and the Professional Concerns Committee (PCC). Regarding the “Academic Integrity” statement previously presented by APC and sent back by the full Senate, Senator Gyawali reported that the committee has invited Thea Mason of the testing center, who initiated the statement, to attend a future APC meeting to explain the purpose of the statement. Senator Gyawali then presented an APC action item. ===== PAGE 2 ===== ### a. APC_20_21_2 Pass/Fail_Fall2020 The resolution from APC called for extending the Pass/Fail (P/F) policy used in the Spring 2020 semester through Fall 2020. This would allow students a P/F option for any class for which they request it, and allow a student to receive a “P” for any grade of “D” or above. The rationale for extending this policy is that public health emergency conditions still exist, as do student problems with access to technology for distance learning. In addition, communication failures at the beginning of the semester led students to believe they would have in-person classes when, in fact, they do not. A question was raised about whether other schools are doing this. APC member, Senator Whittinghill, reported that a significant number are. Most discussion then focused on whether “D” or “C” should be required for the “P” grade. Some senators suggested that we could simply extend the deadline for selection on the existing P/F policy in the catalogue. This calls for a Pass to equal a grade of “C” or better. After extensive discussion, the resolution was tabled and APC was directed to revisit it after consulting with the Student Government Association (SGA). ### 6. Curriculum Committee report [15 minute time limit] Committee chair, Senator Wang, reported that director of Institutional Effectiveness, Lauren Graves, attended the last committee meeting to give an update on the Council on Post-secondary Education (CPE) process for approval of new programs. Result of this discussion was that, in the future, whenever the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee (FSCC) approves a new program proposal, it will notify Ms. Graves. ### a. CC_20_21_6 new form adoption Senator Wang presented a proposed revision of the FSCC forms to take the dean signature line off new course and program change proposals and put it on the tracking document for any such proposals approved by the committee. Senator Whittinghill, who chaired FSCC the previous two years, noted that the dean signature line was there to make sure that deans were in the loop on changes in their colleges. No action was taken on this item, and Chair Wang agreed to invite Senator Whittinghill to the next FSCC meeting to assist in their discussion of this issue. ### 7. Professional Concerns Committee report [10 minute time limit] PCC Chair, Senator Valentine, reported that the committee met last Friday, October 9, and learned that committee members were still gathering information for a resolution on faculty salary issues. In order to deal with that issue, another meeting was held Tuesday October 13 to work on that resolution. In addition, at the next meeting, October 23, the committee will vote on a proposed policy on hiring of deans and chairs. At this point, Senate President Keeler noted that the provost search committee has met once, but did not meet in the past week. Derek Greenfield is in charge of the search. There is no job ad or timeline yet. Also, in President Keeler's meeting with the provost he asked about the tenure/promotion calendar for this year, which has not been distributed. The provost told him that the tenure/promotion calendar comes from the Board of Regents. President Keeler stated that this is not true, and other senators affirmed this fact. President Keeler is supposed to meet with President Brown next week, and at that time he will push the question of the tenure/promotion process. Senator Wang asked if he could also ask about the status of course proposals approved by Senate, and President Keeler said that he would. ===== PAGE 3 ===== 8. Budget and Academic Support Committee report [15 minute time limit] a. Remote Learning Technology Needs Assessment Committee chair, Senator Novelo, reported that committee member, Senator Ballard-Kang is working on a survey for student technology needs. A template of this survey will go out to faculty to be used in our classes. Dr. Schneller in Academic Affairs urged faculty to get information about student needs in as early as possible as acquiring laptops or hot spots for students will require time and money. ### b. Incomplete grade policy BASC member, Senator Kashan, presented an action item on student access to materials needed to complete an “Incomplete” course. The proposal makes it the student’s responsibility to seek out and acquire access to the class etext and the faculty’s responsibility to ensure access to any other necessary materials. This proposal was approved by a vote of 17 for and none against. ### 9. Faculty ombudsman report [5 minute time limit] Ombudsman Wilfred Reilly reported that his meeting with President Brown was postponed, but when does meet him again he, too, will press on the issue of the tenure/promotion calendar. He reported that he has gotten questions from faculty about whether KSU can ever provide subvention funds to assist publishers in the publication of faculty research. He will research that question and have an answer in his next report. There was some discussion of the appeal process in tenure/promotion cases that referred to a particular individual case. Dr. Reilly said that KSU has a “level up” process meaning that, if, for instance, a provost disapproves a tenure application, the president could still approve it, and the president’s judgment would carry the day. Dr. Reilly suggested that an individual case should be discussed privately, and he would make himself available for that. ### 10. Other Business [10 minute time limit] Senator Griffiths reported that the Liberal Studies Core Committee, on which he serves, is seeking input about skills that students need, but often don't have, such as submitting to Blackboard, or other basic communication issues. Please forward any suggestions to Senator Griffiths. 11. Adjournment The Senate adjourned at 3:09 p.m. ## Senators Attending:
Danny CollumGary Stratton
Dr. Donavan L. RamonHelen Smith
Jason Michael KeelerEmmanuel Amadife
Jens HannemannJennifer Ballard-Kang
Patricia Ann MarracciniLeigh Whittinghill
Barbara WittyRene Desborde
Bobby WalterSharon McGee
Bruce GriffithsShawn Lucas
Buddhist GyawaliNancy Capriles
Monica ValentineNoel Novelo
Changzheng WangPhillip Clay
Fariba Bigdeli-JahedKristopher Grimes
Fariba KashanAlexander Lai
===== PAGE 4 ===== Senators Absent: Herman Walston, Jonathon Sharp, Keith McCutcheon, Gavin Washington, Guests:
BanTierra Taylor
Beverly SchnellerKeturah Nix, PhD
Debbra TateKim Sipes
Dr. Patricia HigginsLauren Graves
HKMara Merlino
Wilfred ReillyMargery Coulson-Cla