Kentucky's COVID 19 positivity rate is 6.4 percent. The Green and Gold Commission is considering the future of the masking policy. We will continue to follow CDC guidance. Nurse Todd noted that EKU has gone mask-optional for non-class settings. A Suicide Awareness Training is being held today. All of us should be reaching out to each other to ask how we're doing. An Employee Assistance Program for mental health issues is available for full-time employees. Check with Human Resources about that.
On student excuses: In considering an attendance policy, faculty should remember that medical excuses may include confidential information. At this point, policy says that excuses should come from Student Engagement, but that office lost the administrative assistant who handled this. As of now, medical excuses are coming from the Health Service and non-medical excuses come from Destini Baker. Employees with medical excuses should go to Human Resources, but cc Health Service on anything regarding COVID 19.
Digital badges for faculty training are on the way. There will be more training opportunities after spring break.
Dr. Grimes is now overseeing Dual Credit for Academic Affairs. He wants to keep faculty updated on this program and see it integrated into our programs in ways that are compliant with SACSCOC and CPE requirements and also get more of the Dual Credit students to KSU.
A guest asked how much the high school students pay for dual credit classes. The answer was that ENG 101 and MAT 115 cost a flat fee of $60. All other courses cost $72 per credit hour.
Grimes said that in his experience, high school teachers, counsellors and administrators want KSU to succeed. Current attention to the school’s problems hinder that. KSU has an advantage in that most dual credit classes from the other universities are offered online whereas we are putting some professors in the high school classrooms. Dual Credit has not done much to get students to enroll at KSU so far, but Dr. Grimes believes that it could and wants to implement a strategy toward that goal.
Provost Hamilton interjected that Dual Credit is very important to the university. He pointed out that this semester total undergraduate enrollment at KSU is 2276: Of these, 1342 are regular students and 817 are dual credit.
Acting on behalf of committee chair, Senator Gary Stratton, Peter Smith presented the committee's report on ways to make necessary cuts to the KSU budget and generate revenue. He then asked for faculty comments and questions. In the course of that discussion, friendly