Kentucky State University Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes December 3, 2021 Submitted by Danny Collum, Senate Secretary
Call to Order
Meeting called to order with a quorum at 9:01 a.m.
Approval of Agenda
Agenda approved unanimously.
Approval of Minutes
Minutes of the November 12, 2021 Senate meeting approved unanimously.
Health and Safety Report Nurse Samantha Todd
The OSHA COVID 19 vaccination or testing mandate deadline has been extended to January 19, 2022 pending court consideration of the mandate.
New CDC guidelines call for vaccinated people who have been exposed to COVID to be tested five to seven days after exposure.
Regarding the Omicron variant, we don’t’ know what we don’t know. Assumption is that it will be more transmissible. So far it seems to produce milder cases, but we don’t know. Travel guidelines for upcoming holidays are changing daily, so be aware of this and check.
In the 2021 fall semester, KSU had 74 student cases of COVID 19. This is compared to 115 cases in fall 2020. Among employees, there were 21 in fall 2021, compared to 19 in fall 2020.
Continue to wear masks and be vaccinated and boosted if you aren't yet.
Faculty Senate President Report
The president reminded us of the Faculty Senate purpose stated in our constitution and of the email and phone number for COVID 19 information: covid19@kysu.edu and 855-598-2246.
In the Senate president's meeting with the provost, they discussed student course evaluations, which are now open, preregistration for Spring 2022 and the Academic Affairs strategic plan.
The Senate Executive Committee worked on getting all Senate business onto Microsoft Teams and discussed possible repercussions of the Omicron variant for faculty work.
Schedule reminders: Classes end today, finals end December 10, grades are due December 13. Spring classes start January 15, 2022 and resume after the January 17 Martin Luther King holiday.