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Minutes Faculty Senate Meeting February 5 2021 Submitted by Danny Collum, Secretary

Minutes approved without change.

President Clay reminded faculty that the University will be closed for Presidents' Day, February 15, and that midterm week in the spring semester calendar is March 6-11.

Information about Covid 19 vaccinations for higher education personnel can be found at kycovid19.ky.gov or 855-598-2246. Higher ed workers are category 1(c).

The Board-appointed committee on faculty salary compression is meeting at 2 p.m. today. He also noted that all inquiries about the provost search should be directed Candace Raglin.

Nancy Capriles was elected to the Appeals Committee and Danny Collum, Arthur Hayden and Gary Stratton were elected to Tenure and Promotion.

At its last meeting, the Senate Executive Committee discussed the need for the Faculty Recognition Committee, and the Distinguished Professor Award, to be reactivated. Perhaps this committee could also handle selection for the Dunn Award from COPLAC. Executive Committee also discussed the need for a clear process for editing the catalogue and Faculty Handbook to incorporate changes from the Faculty Senate.

Bruce Griffiths reminded all faculty to make sure that any advising materials for their programs have been updated to reflect the new general education core.

Dr. Dailey reported that all of the migration to the new Blackboard version went well, except for the disconnect between Blackboard and Banner, blame for which turned out to be on the Banner side. Implementing the Ultra virtual classroom experience will be next. We will experiment with that during the summer term.

A faculty member asked if it was possible to see more than four people at a time in the virtual classroom during tests. Dr. Dailey said that it is not, and it won’t be in the next version of Blackboard either. However, Microsoft Teams can show 20 at a time and is now integrated with Blackboard. He also mentioned that we could use Respondus for testing. Another faculty member asked about a student with no access to etexts. Dr. Dailey said to contact him, and he would follow up with the bookstore.

Career Fair is February 9, via Handshake. Faculty all have Handshake accounts. Students can have group and one-on-one meetings with different employers. Student Success Academy now has 85 students for its 135 slots. This program will focus on developing the “soft skills” that lead to successful employment. To recommend a student, email to Tonika East or Daryl Love. A faculty member noted that he has encountered students who did not have a resume. Mr. Love said that on the kysu.edu website there are sample resumes and a recording of a resume workshop. They are also doing resumes in KSU 118.

The legislature is in session and focusing on higher education this week, so we all should be paying attention to that.

John Gregory is now the contact for veteran and military benefits at KSU. Blazer Library is open, with limited space. It will expand hours during the midterm exams period. Dual credit is going well this semester. The Registrar is developing a larger staff, with more changes to come.

h. Dr. Yates- Provost Insights & Academic Update Not present, no report.

Senator Gyawali reported that APC met last Friday with Ms. Williams from Admissions for a discussion of the AP credit list that needs updating. The Committee also discussed problems with getting action items enacted in the catalogue and Handbook and communicated to the faculty and students. We’ve had resolutions, like Pass/Fail, he said, that didn’t get out in a timely fashion. The Faculty Senate used to have access to an administrative assistant and now we don’t President Clay has said he will ask the provost about that.

APC also got the data on the Fall 2020 pass/fail option. Only 46 students used it. APC wants to rule out any further extension of pass/fail this semester and get it announced early so that everyone is clear about what is happening. The committee will hear from SGA for the student view on the issue and bring a resolution to the next full Senate meeting.

APC also discussed problems with advising—i.e. students being in the wrong classes, or not knowing why they are in the class they are taking. APC will be meeting with Dr. Malone about this. Also, there is confusion about hybrid, synchronous classes and classes that are entirely asynchronous online. One senator reported having a class that was listed hybrid, synchronous and meeting on M-W, but had a time listed as TBA. This made it extremely difficult to schedule the virtual class meetings. An APC member reported a class that was supposed to meet online at regular class time, but the days and times never appeared on WIRED so students thought they were in an all online asynchronous class.

Senator Wang reported that FSCC had no submissions. Last semester the Faculty Senate passed 15 curriculum items. None have been implemented by the registrar. Senator Wang reported that he is trying to get that done. The committee is also working on updating its forms for curriculum action items. It is currently unclear who should be signing items at each level.

Also, Lauren Graves is working on a manual for faculty designing program changes.

Senator Valentine reported that PCC is looking again at Handbook policy on hiring of deans and evaluation of chairs. Questions that have arisen include: How are chairs reviewed? Do they use Interfolio? Does Human Resources have rules for chair reviews? PCC will also be considering and making recommendations about the use of “interim” and “acting” titles for academic administrators and the difference, if any, between “directors” and “chairs.” The committee has divided up these issues for information gathering and will look at them at its next meeting. Also at the next meeting, the PCC will discuss a faculty mentoring program.

Senator Novelo reported that the committee met January 29 and discussed three topics: (1) Ongoing evaluation of remote learning needs. Information from fall semester was very limited. What comes next? Dr. Dailey will join BASC to discuss this. (2) A survey of classroom resources to identify classroom needs, especially in the areas of technology, office equipment, and COVID-19 safety. Senator Ballard-Kang is working on that. (3) Policy for indirect costs from grants. The committee will investigate whether we need a revised business policy that will require deans to have a plan in place for use of indirect costs to support faculty research. One member of BASC also wanted to raise the question of whether KSU could implement “plus” and “minus” grades in our system.

Regent Moffett reported that the Board of Regents met last week for five hours. Informational items before the board: An audit has been done for the university. Audit is still needed for the KSU Foundation. The board looked at a fall D-F-W report. Freshman students had a 40 percent D-F-W rate. An administrator brought data to the board with D-F-W rates for individual classes that included faculty names. Fall-to-spring retention was 90 percent. Fall classes were 147 face to face, 154 hybrid and 296 online.

In an action item, the board approved President Brown's performance review done by the Association of Governing Boards.

Regarding D-F-W rate, a senator commented that we faculty need to look at what are the vulnerabilities in our student profile and how we can tie the needs of our students into our research.

A senator who teaches math noted that in College Algebra, one of the classes which often has a high D-F-W, students who attend 60 percent or more of the classes tend to pass. She wondered if there is any way to quantify that in the statistics that go to the board?

Regent Moffett noted that D-F-W is being reported annually to the board since the specific request of a former board member.

A guest asked if confusion around the P/F policy, which may have led to students with “D” grades getting “F” when they expected to get “P” may have added to the number of “F” grades in the fall semester.

a.. Dr. Reilly- Faculty Ombudsman was not present, and so no report.

No other business.

Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Senators Absent: Ibukun (Mike) Ogunade

Tierra Taylor David Shabazz Stashia L. Emanuel Jyotica Batra Michael D. Dailey, PhD Keturah Nix, PhD Frederick A. Williams Jr., Ph.D. James Obielodan Debbra Tate

Mary Barr Kirk Pomper Sheila Stuckey Deanna McGaughey-Summers Lauren Graves Joe Moffett Beverly Schneller Ken Andries Whitni Milton