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Senators

Ibukun Amusan (Math & Sci)

Ken Andries (AFE)

Nancy Capriles (BSS)

Rene Desborde (Business)

Gary Elliott (WYS) E

Maheteme Gebremedhin (AFE)

Caroline Gibson (FIAR) A

Cindy Glass (BSS)

William Graham (EDU)

Robert Griffin (FIAR) A

Buddhian Gywali (AFE)

Dantrea Hampton (Library)

Jens Hannemann (Comp Sci)

Ashok Kumar (at large)

Vikas Kumar (AQU)

Li Lu (Math & Sci)

Rebecca McCoy (Nursing) A

Joe Moffett (LLP)

Narayanan Rajendran (at large)

Reba Rye (at large) E Rita Sharma (Math & Sci) E Kimberly Sipes (at large) Peter Smith (LLP) Stephen Ulrich (PUA, CJ, SW) Changzheng Wang (at large)

Chandee Felder (Senate Admin)

Tierra Freeman (BSS)

Elgie McFayden (Faculty Regent)

James Obielodan (Grad Director)

Donavan Ramon (WYS)

Cynthia Shelton (WYS)

Mara Merlino (BSS)

Tom Webster (AFE)

Ralph Williams (SGA President)

Fariba Bigdeli-Jahed (MASC)

Abdul Turay (Business)

The meeting was called to order at 3:13 pm. Fourteen senators were present.

The agenda was approved unanimously.

The Minutes for the 11/14/2016 meeting were unanimously approved as distributed.

Faculty Senate President Sipes returned to the need for members for committees listed in the Committee Book. Last week the nominating committee of Ken Andries and Ashok Kumar was established. They are now in the process of getting the election prepared and a call for nominations will go out soon. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, 12/6 at 11:00 am for nominations, which will be followed by online voting.

In meantime other committee members were established.

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Academic Assessment and Evaluation Committee needed a member from PCC. Stephen Ulrich volunteered.

Facilities Management Committee needed six members from Senate. They could be from any area. Chair Andries asked if they are appointed yearly. President Sipes responded that the term limits have been removed from the Committee Book, so it was unclear. Three members of Senate volunteered to serve: Changzheng Wang, Jens Hannemann, and Maheteme Gebremedhin.

Graduate Appeals Review Committee needed three Senate members who were also graduate faculty. Vikas Kumar, Ashok Kumar, and Buddhi Gywali volunteered.

Faculty Appeals Committee requires an election. There are two vacant spots, and there can be no more than two from the same college.

Faculty Recognition Committee will also be part of the elections. Its purpose is to present the distinguished faculty award. Tom Webster from CAFSSS volunteered for nomination.

Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee members were elected earlier in the year.

Update on the Faculty Affairs Committee: President Thompson didn't have any objection to recomposing the committee as suggested by Senate, but Dr. Deneia Thomas did since the Committee Book was already published. Therefore, the committee has been tabled for this year.

Chair Andries asked who the contact person is for questions about the Committee Book. He noted that a committee for vetting animal research was not included as it should be. President Sipes replied that she believed Dr. Thomas was the contact person.

President Sipes reminded Senate about the availability of the Strategic Plan, which is now complete except for the appendices.

She noted that the Senate request that more faculty members be added to the Presidential search committee had been denied by the Board member chairing the committee.

Chair Moffett explained that at its last meeting APC worked again on a proposal for repeating remedial courses. Since Math is in the process of proposing new courses, the committee decided to table the issue until the new courses are passed.

This policy would replace the current one, which first appeared in the 2015-2016 University Catalogue. Certain processes indicated there (especially those that involved CAPS) have not

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been followed. The University needs a policy statement that reflects its processes now and offers faculty the opportunity to make decisions for their classes.

A senator noted that the proposed policy does not indicate who would make final decisions about student absences. Another senator suggested there should be a limit for overall course days missed such as LLP uses that explains that missing more than 20% of classes is sufficient for a student to receive a failing grade in a course.

An extension of time for 10 minutes passed unanimously.

A guest wanted the policy to have more “teeth” to encourage student attendance and to delineate consequences for failing to do so. President Sipes noted that there might be language put into the policy requiring faculty to keep regular attendance using the EAB system. Chair Moffett expressed concern about making the policy too rigid, and he noted the committee wanted faculty to be able to make more decisions about their own classes. Chair Glass similarly expressed concern about the implications of an attendance policy requiring all faculty to record all attendance on an electronic system.

An extension of time for 10 minutes passed with one opposed, the rest in favor.

Chair Andries suggested the insertion of language that would back up an instructor's decisions. He also wanted to see athletes on a sponsored university trip be added to the list of excused absences.

The item was tabled. APC will continue to work on it further.

This action item eliminates the limit for the number of times a course can be repeated. A guest suggested there should be a limit to how many courses can be repeated—four courses, for example. A senator proposed that repeats could add additional fees to a student’s bill.

A motion to extend time for five minutes passed unanimously.

A guest noted how repeating courses can have an effect on a student’s progress and therefore financial aid. Chair Andries offered a friendly amendment that instead of intervening during the student’s third attempt at a class, it happens on the student’s second attempt. The amendment was accepted.

The item passed with two opposed, the rest in favor.

16.17.15 Change in Category for Classes in Default Core to Fit CPE Transfer Policy Core Areas

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Chair Andries explained that this item seeks to align the University’s Core requirements with those outlined by CPE in the KY Transfer Policy. As such, IGS courses were moved into the Arts and Humanities category. The Quantitative category would include the recently Senate-approved statistics course (MAT 200). Chair Andries stressed that this new scheme does not add any courses. President Sipes pointed out that BUA 370 has been renumbered.

The item passed unanimously.

This item began as a proposal from Dr. Suzette Polson to restore language in the catalogue that had been dropped which delineated how many hours of IGS courses transfer students should take based on the number of hours they transfer in. Chair Andries explained that those transfer students with Associate’s degrees would not be required to take IGS courses since they would be considered Core complete by the KY Transfer Policy.

The item passed unanimously.

Since this was a pilot course, it is time to replace it with a permanent course. MAT 111 will take up some of its elements.

The item passed unanimously.

16.17.18 Revise MAT 111 to Remove Pre-Requisite Requirement and Increase Course Contact Hours

This course would cover material from MAT 172, but with more contact hours. It would remain a three credit course, however. The Chair of MASC, Fariba Bigdeli-Jahed, explained that there is a nationwide movement to eliminate remedial courses from college curricula. A guest asked how this course will be different MAT 200, to which Dr. Bigdeli-Jahed replied that CPE wants us to offer different pathways for students. Conversation ensued about the fact that this course would require students to meet five times a week, but it would only award them three credits. MASC decided to table the item and discuss it further.

16.17.19 Change Course Description of MAT 115 College Algebra to Include ACT, SAT, KYOTE, and COMPASS Placement Scores.

This item proposed to include placement scores in the course description of MAT 115. It passed unanimously.

MASC asked to table this item for now.

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This track will utilize courses from Ag and Business; no new courses will need to be added. Chair Andries noted that AFE had been asked to put this track together, and he directed attention to the letter of support from Business that accompanied the Senate materials for the week.

A motion to extend time for five minutes passed unanimously.

Chair Andries noted that all the options within AFE program will be reviewed for overall hours since UNV 101 and ENG 101 have altered the hour count.

The item passed unanimously.

This item is a companion to the previous item. It will require 12 credit hours but no new courses will need to be created. The certificate could help an employee seeking a job promotion or in need of further qualifications. Certificates also help our graduation rate.

The item passed unanimously.

Chair Glass reported that PCC continues to work on the University's tenure and promotion policy.

Chair Rye was excused from the Senate meeting. Vice-Chair Smith reported that BASC did not have a quorum at its last meeting. Those who attended worked on an item arguing for increased spending on instruction at the University.

Faculty Regent McFayden was asked where the university stands in the search process for a new president. He replied that the search committee is waiting for its chair to call a meeting. A guest asked if the position has been advertised. Regent McFayden replied that it has, on at least a dozen different sites. The guest then asked the deadline for applications, to which Regent McFayden indicated he wasn't sure and was still waiting for the committee to meet.

Vice-President of Faculty Senate, Ashok Kumar, asked President Sipes if the email she had recently sent, which solicited faculty to sign a petition for President Thompson to be interviewed for the job, was proper. President Sipes answered that she would allow Tierra Freeman to speak to the issue. Dr. Freeman explained that the petition was in response to the very late start for this search. Shortlists for presidents’ jobs around state have been released. She questioned whether we are well served in waiting for this search to move forward when we already have a president

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who seems genuinely concerned with shared governance and collegiality. There is also the issue that more faculty were not allowed to join the search committee.

Vice-President Kumar noted that this petition should have been cleared through Senate. President Sipes stated the petition was not created as a Senate action item; it was prepared by and on behalf of faculty, outside of senate purview. When asked about staff’s role in the petition, Dr. Freeman responded that we don’t want to speak for staff and that they are vulnerable in way faculty may not be. Dr. Freeman went on to add that President Thompson has deep experience with CPE, which could be very valuable for KSU going forward. She noted that President Thompson is likely to be heavily sought after by other institutions.

A senator wondered if we don’t need a nationwide search to confirm the legitimacy of the selected candidate. Regent McFayden was then asked if President Thompson had applied for the position, to which he responded that he hadn’t seen any applications yet.

Conversation ensued on the topic of whether or not President Thompson had been offered a position at another university. Dr. Freeman was not certain, but she did stress he was being sought after. A guest argued that it didn’t matter if he had been offered other positions. The problems we face, such as low enrollment, a poor graduation rate, an unstable budget, and frequent upper administration turnover are such that a delay in searching for a permanent president is hurting us badly. Search committees should not luxuriate. Two other public universities in the state have already closed their searches.

Chair Glass noted that the job description appeared just today on Higher Ed Jobs and was set to close in January.

A guest underscored that the petition was simply asking the Board to give President Thompson an interview. If he is the right candidate, then offer him the job.

Regent McFayden noted that proposals have not been acted upon by the President. President Sipes responded that she believed the President would disagree with this characterization. Regent McFayden went on to say that the costs for out-of-state versus in-state students were considered, and Regent McFayden argued the university should give scholarships to alumni chapters so that better students could be recruited. He also noted that he wasn’t happy with the way the budget has been balanced.

A quorum was lost at 4:53pm.

Respectfully submitted, Joe Moffett, Faculty Senate Secretary

[Approved by Senate, as distributed, on 12/12/2016]