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Faculty Senate Minutes 10/29/18

NAME Attendance Department Office

Shawn Lucas PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Academic Policies

Leigh Whittinghill PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Chair, Curriculum

Ken Semmens PRESENT Agu and Aquatic Sci Vice Chair, Bud & Ac

Herman Walston PRESENT Fam and Cons Sci Professional Concern

Erin Gilliam (Parliamentarian) PRESENT Soc and Beh Sci Vice Chair, Acad Pol

Mara Merlino (Vice President) PRESENT Soc and Beh Sci Professional Concern

Jyotica Batra PRESENT Math and Comp Sci Academic Policies

Clifton Wise PRESENT Math and Comp Sci Professional Concern

Caroline Gibson PRESENT Hum and Perf Arts Chair, Prof Concern

Marlin McKay EXCUSED Hum and Perf Arts Chair, Acad Policies

Helen Smith (Secretary) PRESENT Hum and Perf Arts Secretary, Curriculum

Dantrea Hampton PRESENT Library Vice Chair, Curriculum

Rene Desborde PRESENT Bus and Tech Budget and Ac Sup

Jason Keeler PRESENT Edu and Hum Dev Secretary, Acad Pol

Phillip Clay EXCUSED Edu and Hum Dev Chair, Bud & Ac Sup

Li Lu Nat Sci Vice Chair, Prof Con

Bruce Griffiths PRESENT Nat Sci Secretary, Bud & Ac

Rebecca McCoy PRESENT Nur and Health Sci Curriculum

Lisa Turner PRESENT Nur and Health Sci Budget and Ac Sup

Robert Griffin PRESENT At-large (Hum and Per) Curriculum

Joe Moffett (President) PRESENT At-large (Hum and Per)

Debbra Tate PRESENT At-large (Library) Secretary, Prof Con

Allison Young PRESENT At-large (Ag, Coms, En) Professional Concern

Swagata Banerjee PRESENT At-large (Bus and Tec) Academic Policies

Non-Senator Committee Members

Nkechi Amadife Academic Policies

Ken Andries PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Curriculum

Changzheng Wang Ag, Communities, and Env Curriculum

William Welsh Budget and Ac Sup

Mike Unuakhalu Budget and Ac Sup

Farida Olden Ag, Communities, and Env Professional Concern

Guests (in order of sign-in)

John Sedlaceck PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Chair

Beverly Schneller PRESENT Academic Affairs Vice Provost

Abdul Turay PRESENT Business Dean

Kirk Pomper PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Dean

Buddi Gyawali PRESENT Ag, Communities, and Env Faculty

James Obielodan PRESENT Business Chair

Wilfred Riley PRESENT BSS Ombudsman

The fifth regular meeting of the 2018-2019 Faculty Senate took place on Monday, 29 October 2018, at 3:10 p.m. in 123 Hathaway Hall.

1. 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:12pm, with quorum.
2. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved without changes.
3. Approval of Minutes of the 8 October 2018 Faculty Senate Meeting: The minutes were approved without changes.
4. Faculty Senate President Report: President Joe Moffett reported on the following issues:
5. Reminder about the elections for members on the Faculty Recognition Committee, Faculty Appeals Committee and the University Tenure and Promotion Committee. The nominations close tomorrow at the conclusion of the nominations meeting, which will begin at 11am in the ASB auditorium. The vote will occur next week, per the Faculty Handbook. There are three open positions on the Faculty Appeals committee. Dantrea Hampton, Swagata Banerjee, Kim Sipes and Helen Smith are on the Standing Elections Committee.
6. This semester there was a change in the operations of the Graduate Program, and there has been a disruption in programs getting graduate applications from prospective students, and also prospective students' queries have gone unanswered. Moffett had asked the Provost to come to today's Senate meeting to address questions about the administration of the graduate programs, but he was unable to attend. Moffett asked Senators to send him their questions about this issue, and he will send them on to the Provost. Beverly Schneller, the Vice Provost, confirmed that the Provost's office is in the process of hiring a support person for graduate admissions.
7. o0 A Senator said that the main problem is not knowing the status of applications: she has talked to prospective students whose applications seem to be lost or misplaced. She doesn't know how to follow up on their questions about their applications.
8. oAnother senator asked, what is the current process and is it working? If someone is seeking information about a program, they can find someone to talk to, but what if a prospective applicant emails “grad@kysu,” the email posted on the KSU website? Are those emails answered in the Provost’s office or forwarded to faculty? The Senator pointed out that, as a recruiter, you have to be responsive to potential recruits.
9. o0 Moffett acknowledged that this is a real problem for the integrity of the graduate programs.
10. oSchneller reiterated that faculty should put these concerns in writing and send them to the Provost; the Provost has been working on this issue directly, she said.
11. oA Senator asked whether the person they're hiring will be in the Provost's office or in the Registrar's office. Schneller responded that she did not yet know. The Senator requested that there be more communication about what's happening in the interim until this issue is settled.
12. o0 Moffett again asked faculty to email him with their concerns, and he will forward them.
5. Academic Policies Committee - Marlin McKay: McKay was excused from the meeting. Committee member Erin Gilliam gave the report:
6. The Provost had asked the committee to consider alternative academic terms: a 3-week Winter-mester, a May-mester, two 8-week semesters, an “Extreme Spring Break” 7-day term, and two 8-week summer terms. This Action Item passed the committee.
7. oCommittee member Jason Keeler said that at the APC meeting, it was explained that not every department would be required to offer classes every term.
8. oA Senator asked if e-textbooks would be available for these terms. Moffett responded that he and the Ombudsman, Wilfred Reilly, had met with Deputy Provost Kim Sipes about such details of these short terms, including the issue of residence halls; Sipes had said that these details would be worked out later.
9. oA Senator asked when these terms would begin. Gilliam responded that they would begin Winter 2018. The Extreme Spring might be for a student who had an incomplete: they could sign up for the Extreme Week and complete it during that week.

• o0 Moffett noted that the urgency for creating these alternative terms is that we have 65 students in the graduation pipeline who need to graduate to improve our numbers for performance funding.
• oA guest noted that the sooner we have the details on these terms, the better we can use that information to promote the classes and recruit students for them. He said that in the past when we had a Winter term, it was all online.
• o0 A Senator suggested a friendly amendment to the Action Item stating that class offerings during these alternative terms would be optional, depending upon department need.
• o0 A senator asked how much course creation would be needed for the “special topics” spring-break term courses.
• o0 Another Senator asked how “optional” it would be if a student needed the class to graduate?
• oAnother Senator asked how would this affect course planning? He noted that there will be students who need a certain class, which will put pressure on the instructor to teach the class right away.
• o0 Moffett acknowledged that this process will probably be very messy in the spring, but at the moment, we are just trying to focus on whether or not we could offer these alternate instructional sessions.

Ten minutes were added to the discussion.

• oA Senator said that we should consider this issue long term, and not just think about the pressure we might face to help these 65 students to graduate.
• o0 A voice-vote was taken on the friendly amendment to apply to the 7-day session: majority “yay” with one “nay.”
• o0 A Senator asked if APC had developed a mock calendar for these sessions. For example, he asked, would 8-week term grades need to be submitted before the 2nd 8-week session begins? The Vice Provost responded that the short terms are scheduled according to contact hours, and the final exam is during the last three contact hours.
• oA Senator asked if there is a definitive list of the students who would need these short-term classes to graduate. Moffett said that all he had heard is 65 students overall.

Ten more minutes were added to the discussion.

• oA Senator asked, what happens next if we approve this Action Item? Moffett responded that the Senate will be mandating that the faculty have the authority to say yes or no to offering these courses.
• o0 A member of APC pointed out that if you teach two 8-week terms at the same time, you would have more time for research in the second 8 weeks. The benefit for the students is that a student can drop a course he is failing and take it in the second 8-week term.
• o0 A Senator asked if we vote yes, will we have an opportunity to look at some details before these terms go into effect? Moffett said it was unknown.

The Faculty Senate voted to approve this Action Item: 14 aye's, 3 no's, 1 abstention.

• APC member Jason Keeler reported on an Item related to changing the dates of the Rising Junior Assessment, making it twice over a week's period both semesters. The proposed weeks for RJA testing for AY 2018-2019 are November 5-9, 2018 and April 1-5, 2019.
• oLauren Graves, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, stated that getting students to take this exam is important for institutional effectiveness, for CPE, for SACS, and for our assessment of the General Education program.
• oA Senator asked what exam is used for the RJA. Graves responded that we use the Proficiency Profile by ETS; we used to use the CAP Assessment, but it expired, so we went with a comparable assessment.

The Faculty Senate voted to approve this Action Item: unanimous yes voice vote.

6. 6. Curriculum Committee - Leigh Whittinghill: Chair Whittinghill reported on the following issues:
7. FSCC 18-19-05: School of Business and Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate: The School of Business and Technology has developed a new 15-credit-hour Entrepreneur Certificate Program. The program will rely on existing courses.
8. oBusiness Chair Obielodan noted that the program will lasso business owners and students together. Moffett pointed out that these kinds of programs are very popular right now. Obielodan concurred, saying that such programs are what the governor has been urging.

The Faculty Senate voted to approve Action Item FSCC 18-19-05: unanimous yes voice vote.

• FSCC 18-19-06: Recommendation for Changes to Syllabus Template: The syllabus template has not been updated in some time. Although this issue is the purview of APC, the Curriculum Committee has been asked to work on it. The changes include updating links, putting the University and Program Mission Statements on the syllabus, linking SLO's and program outcomes, adding assessment measurements, adding a statement about how we use Blackboard at KSU, adding information about where to find Blackboard help, and adding the most recent University Attendance Policy.
• The committee is also reviewing emendations to the Course Change Policy.
• oA senator asked where to find the syllabus template. Whittinghill responded that this issue is another that needs to be addressed: the availability of template. Moffett said that it could go on the Senate Webpage.
• oObielodan said that the template was created in 2003/04. Moffett said that it was most recently updated in 2010. Moffett asked that CC finish their revisions and then take the revised template to APC for review before bringing it to Senate.
• o0 Moffett asked if the deadline has passed for spring implementation of course changes or new courses. Whittinghill said technically yes, but she hasn't received any communication about deadlines from Academic Affairs.
• Budget and Academic Support Committee – Phillip Clay: Phillip Clay was excused. Committee member Bruce Griffiths gave the report:
• The committee is still waiting to receive information about the Instructional Budget from the Administration. They discussed prioritizing issues once they get access to the budget documents. Hoping for answers, Clay has resubmitted the committee's questions about the Instructional Budget to Vice President for Finance and Administration, Douglas Allen.
• At the committee meeting, Bill Welch showed a draft of a Classroom Inventory Survey which will enable members to review classrooms and develop a Master List for the university. We can then see if we need to propose changes or improvements in classroom facilities.
• The committee returned to the discussion of e-texts vs physical texts, the continuing issues with Blackboard and e-texts, and the problem of Bb implementation in dual credit classes. Clay has spoken to VP Allen about the Pearson contract.
• Clay has spoken to Deputy Provost Derrick Gilmore, asking him to come to a future committee meeting to discuss grants.
• Clay has spoken to Safety and Compliance Officer Eric Robinson, asking him to come to a future committee meeting to discuss facilities.
• Professional Concerns Committee – Caroline Gibson: Chair Gibson reported that there was no quorum, so PCC did not meet last week. She said that committee member Mara Merlino has developed a survey for Area Coordinators, which they will discuss next Monday. Another committee member noted that they are still waiting to hear from the Administration about Indirect Cost Recovery Distributions. Moffett responded that the Ombudsman would discuss that issue in his report.

9. 9. Faculty Ombudsman Report: Ombudsman Wilfred Reilly reported on the following issues:
10. Reilly met with University President Christopher Brown last Thursday to discuss:
11. In the University Forum meetings, faculty are being strongly encouraged to apply for Title III funds. (Moffett noted that the University Forum is a gathering of faculty and administrators in charge of various areas; they report on issues in those areas at the meetings.) Title III funds did arrive October 1. $120,000 has been set aside for faculty travel to conferences and events.
12. Reilly stated that the Indirect Cost Recovery (IECR) first distribution is due late October or early November for costs incurred July 1 – Sept 30. He said that this is a process that has just begun to have results. No payouts have yet occurred but will soon begin.

10. Other Business:

• A senator asked about the status of prior Action Items – whether they have been passed up from the Provost's office. Moffett said he didn't know, but would inquire.
• 11. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 4:35pm.
• oThe mold issue on campus: Brown told Reilly that this issue is nearing resolution. KSU is the one major university in the state that did not declare independence from the Kentucky Division of Engineering and Contract Administration (DECA). This is a highly bureaucratic state agency which colleges had the option of either splitting from or continuing to partner with roughly a decade ago. For the university to undertake any action about building or repairs, we have to make a request to the state, which does the work for us. Brown has made that request. The Request For Proposal is concluded; we’ve negotiated with a solution provider for mold abatement. The issue now is getting a signed contract in hand and establishing a set of dates when they will remove the mold. This may take a few months, but we are on the last steps of the process.
• oThe ACE Tutoring Center: this issue is tied to the mold issue, as ACE was closed because of mold. President Brown says it will be open by spring semester. The tutors haven't been fired. They are over in University College, either full time or on a retainer basis. Brown said that all of our tutors are on campus; we just don't have the tutoring center. The expectation is that we will have a one-stop tutoring center by spring.
• oThe $1800 disbursement is confirmed for October 31.
• o0 Moffett pointed out that the word hasn't gotten out sufficiently to faculty yet about the available funds. Reilly said that he just found out today that we have a new Title III Coordinator who is excited to discuss faculty requests: Christina Jones X6147. Major conference travel should be reimbursable until that $120K dries up.
• oA Senator asked about the process to apply for T3 funds. Reilly said that he, himself, has applied for reimbursement in the past through the T3 Coordinator. He said that there may be a new process now that there is a new Coordinator. Moffett suggested that we invite the T3 Coordinator to our next meeting.
• o0 A Senator asked if there is T3 money for other things besides travel, like supplies.
• o0 A Senator stated that the IECR money should go to Professional Development accounts in the departments, as it is not personal income to faculty. The distribution should go through Accounting. Land grant has such a Professional Development Account, but some other departments do not.

Respectfully Submitted by Helen Smith, Faculty Senate Secretary