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Senators

Ibukun Amusan (Math & Sci)

Ken Andries (AFE)

Nancy Capriles (BSS) A

Rene Desborde (Business) A

Gary Elliott (WYS) E

Maheteme Gebremedhin (AFE)

Caroline Gibson (FIAR)

Cindy Glass (BSS)

William Graham (EDU) A

Robert Griffin (FIAR)

Buddhi 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)

Rita Sharma (Math & Sci) A

Kimberly Sipes (at large) Peter Smith (LLP) A Stephen Ulrich (PUA, CJ, SW) A Changzheng Wang (at large)

EX OFFICIAL Members and Guests

Chandee Felder (Senate Admin)

Elgie McFayden (Faculty Regent)

James Obielodan (Grad Director)

Donavan Ramon (WYS)

Cynthia Shelton (WYS)

Mara Merlino (BSS)

Fariba Bigdeli-Jahed (MASC)

Abdul Turay (Business)

David Shabazz (LPP)

Hettie Oldham (Program Assistant/Coordinator of Grad Studies)

Joanne Bankston (CAFSSS)

Andrew Ray (AQU)

John Sedlacek (AFE)

Shelia Stuckey (Library)

Karen Heavin (MASC)

The meeting was called to order at 3:11 pm. Fifteen senators were present.

The agenda was approved unanimously.

The Minutes for the 11/28/2016 meeting were unanimously approved as distributed.

President Sipes reported that she is still involved in the etext initiative and reminded everyone to get requests in this week. Non-Pearson books will again be distributed through the campus bookstore. A senator observed that his books are not on Blackboard yet. President Sipes responded that when Blackboard is upgraded over the break the books will be uploaded.

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Regarding progress of the Nominations Committee, Chair Andries shared that there have been some discrepancies found in the Committee Book. His committee therefore needed to take more time to be sure that everything is in order before proceeding with voting. Some are serving on committees, for example, that are not listed in the Committee Book, such as that having to do with animal welfare. President Sipes added that elections will be completed first thing in January.

President Sipes discussed the University’s 2017-2021 Management Plan, which has been approved by CPE and the Governor's budget office and forwarded from President Thompson. This document includes other reports we have seen in the past (the enrollment management plan, for instance). President Sipes noted that there might be items in it relevant to each senate committee. Chair Rye expressed concern that the plan is not specific enough; we have heard language before about increasing student enrollment and wonder how it will be done.

Finally, President Sipes discussed the recent Presidential Search Committee meeting, notes of which were taken by Dr. Mara Merlino and included in the meeting materials. Dr. Merlino asked Faculty Regent McFayden if there had been any discussion among the committee about the petition signed by some faculty asking for President Thompson to be interviewed for the permanent position. Regent McFayden replied that since the item was not taken through Senate, he did not believe he should bring it up in the meeting. Dr. Merlino repeated her question and Regent McFayden confirmed that it had not. Dr. Merlino asked if nominations could be made for the position, and Regent McFayden responded that the committee would welcome nominations.

Chair Rye observed that since there was a response from the University’s General Counsel, the Board must have seen the petition. Regent McFayden noted that in the past the University legal counsel would address issues on campus. Chair Rye asked if anyone has responded to the General Counsel’s statement. Chair Glass answered no, but she observed that the jobs ads were not posted on the 18th as his statement argues. Chair Rye said that usually General Counsel relies on research and supplies a legal opinion, but his response relies on a single citation on shared governance. The citation is for a general web article that chronicled a casual conversation over dinner among administrators, not a scholarly source.

Dr. Merlino pointed out that Mac Stewart did address the ad issue. Some of the sites where the job was posted were lesser known. She reported that the committee discussed the timeline moving forward. The consultants did not want to close the search early since the most qualified applicants often send in applications last since they tailor their application to the position and institution.

Time was extended for two minutes by a unanimous vote.

Chair Rye noted that when the Senate Executive Committee met with Academic Search, Mac Stewart made it clear they had feelers out and through headhunting they are able to find strong candidates. They said it would be a true search but also that their job is to find the right person. She noted that this group is connected with the Registry.

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Chair Andries shared that there was no information yet on the items from Math that were tabled at the last Senate meeting. The Nursing courses being considered had been vetted by the Graduate Council. Dr. Obielodan concurred. These were courses that the program intended to create as a second effort, and so these courses would complete the program's offerings. They will be mostly taught by adjunct faculty who are already teaching in the program. All will be offered online. Chair Glass asked about the academic qualifications of these adjunct faculty since these are doctoral-level courses. Chair Andries replied that the faculty he had reviewed have doctorates.

CC 16-17.23 New Nursing Courses

NUR 800 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care I NUR 801 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care I Practicum NUR 804 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care II NUR 805 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care II Practicum NUR 806 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care III NUR 807 Advanced Adult / Gerontological Primary Care III Practicum NUR 808 Research Design and Methodologies NUR 900 Advanced Practice Leadership and Management NUR 901 Advanced Practice Leadership and Management Practicum NUR 902 Clinical Residency NUR 903 Health Care Policy NUR 905 Clinical Residency II NUR 906 DNP Project Focused Course NUR 907 DNP Project

The item passed unanimously.

APC 16-17.04 Updates to Graduate Catalogue and Policies

Chair Moffett indicated that since he was at the SACSCOC conference during APC’s last meeting, Vice-Chair Kumar ran the meeting. Dr. Kumar explained that by recommendation of the Graduate Council, Dr. Obielodan presented some changes of policy for the graduate program, as well as a draft of a freestanding graduate catalogue. These changes include lowering the admissions GPA to 2.5 in order to put KSU in line with other public universities in the state. Dr. Obielodan completed a comparison study of public universities in Kentucky and found that KSU was asking more of its applicants and therefore was losing students to other schools. The catalogue eliminates references to deans; application fees and admissions tests were also reconsidered.

President Sipes clarified that the new graduate catalogue will contain three parts: policies, procedures, and course descriptions. President Sipes asked if anyone had written a separate proposal to remove the graduate materials from the current university catalogue. Dr. Obielodan

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replied that no one had, but the Graduate Council had concluded that what is in the current catalogue is incomplete and inaccurate. This way we can be sure to have the policies we need. VPAA Dr. Jackson added that it will not be a problem to separate the undergraduate and graduate programs into separate catalogues.

Chair Rye asked if this separation is standard at other schools, to which Dr. Obielodan replied it is. Dr. Kumar asked if this would start in fall 2017. Dr. Obielodan indicated that his desire is to enact the proposal right away, in spring 2017, so the catalogue will be up to date. Chair Andries observed that most of the admissions process should have already occurred for spring 2017. He also noted that the university has been discussing the restoration of deans. Dr. Obielodan responded that if deans return, we can update the catalogue. The reason for removing them now has to do with forms that need to be completed.

President Sipes asked Dr. Obielodan if he was ok with changing the start date to summer 2017. He was. President Sipes also noted that this action item includes revising not only admissions requirements, but also policies for academic bankruptcy and repeating courses.

Dr. Kumar added that individual programs can set higher admissions standards if they wish.

Chair Rye confirmed with Dr. Obielodan that several individuals have proofread and edited the document. He replied that the Graduate Council had reviewed all the materials.

The item passed unanimously.

Dr. Kumar reported that APC worked further on an action item to update the attendance policy. Based on feedback the committee received at the last Senate meeting, APC went back to the 2010-11 catalogue and added a couple paragraphs from that policy. President Sipes asked if adding in these paragraphs were the only differences from the item brought to the last Senate meeting. Dr. Kumar answered yes and pointed out that this addition gives control to instructors if they want to implement more stringent policies. A senator asked if it has been the university’s practice to fail students after three unexcused absences. A guest pointed out that APC’s addition says the instructor “may” fail the student, not “shall” fail the student. Chair Andries pointed out the policy is for unexcused absences, so students missing for issues such as sports would not be affected by this addition.

A motion to extend time for five minutes passed unanimously.

A guest argued that part of the purpose of an attendance policy is to encourage students to come to class and not have too many unexcused absences. If they have too many absences they are likely failing anyway. She argued that the policy needs to avoid being punitive and should be crafted to help increase student success rates.

Chair Andries asked if the proposed policy offers a procedure for students to seek official excuses. Dr. Kumar responded that he believed this information would be in the Student Handbook. President Sipes added that the Handbook does address the issue but it doesn’t tell students where to go. Chair Andries argued that this information needed to be added to the

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proposal. Dr. Jackson observed that it is under faculty purview to decide which absences are excused.

Time was extended for five minutes by unanimous vote.

Chair Rye suggested faculty need to put the official attendance policy on their syllabi. President Sipes asked if we need to add language to the proposal indicating that should be done. Based on the feedback, Dr. Kumar decided to take the item back to the committee.

PCC met in Chair Glass' absence and continued to work on the tenure / promotion portion of the Faculty Handbook. The committee plans to have its work done by spring. It also discussed concerns about the presidential search process.

Chair Andries asked if items that were passed last year for the Handbook had been uncovered. President Sipes replied that we need dates for the items so we can go back to Senate minutes to see what was approved. Chair Andries will check his records.

BASC continued to look at university salaries so that it could come up with a budget proposal early next semester. It has been trying to schedule a meeting with President Thompson to share what it has and to get his input on the data. The Committee is interested in how much money is invested in administrative positions under Academic Affairs. The Registrar is now listed under that office, which is typical at universities, but it used to be part of the President’s budget.

President Sipes asked Regent McFayden if there were any additional issues he wanted to address. He replied that there wasn’t. Chair Rye noted that some administrators have received sizable raises this year. Regent McFayden responded that some of those salaries may have increased due to picking up additional responsibilities and that this is a strategy the university could use with faculty as well rather than creating new lines. He pointed out that rather than use Title III funds on new hires, we should use it for building or improving facilities.

Chair Rye shared that in one case a director’s salary went from 100k to 125k. Perhaps the individual took on more work; we don’t know. BASC is looking into the issue. The General Counsel’s salary went up dramatically but his administrative assistant’s did not. Chair Rye pointed out that many staff members are doing a good deal of work but are not being paid extra. It has been years since faculty have seen a cost of living increase.

Regent McFayden agreed that the lack of increases is unacceptable. He would also like to see an alumni scholarship be implemented to recruit out-of-state students. Regent McFayden said that the President has agreed it would be a good idea, although Regent McFayden also acknowledged that it might not receive support from those in state government. He went on to say that alumni

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chapter presidents are waiting on a program like this, and he believes it would dramatically increase the incoming 2017-18 class. President Sipes suggested BASC could look at this idea. Chair Rye agreed.

A guest asked Regent McFayden why those working in state government might not like his proposed plan. He answered it may be perceived as giving out-of-state students tuition breaks equal to the tuition rates for in-state students and that our job should be focusing on Kentuckyians. The guest pointed out that when we bring in students from other states, they contribute to the local economy, among other benefits.

Chair Rye noted that Donovan Scholars must be given grades; there is no option for pass / fail or to audit, as UK has. President Sipes noted that a change would need to come through a Senate committee, but Chair Rye responded that this is an immediate issue since there are some Donovan Scholars on campus currently. President Sipes agreed to speak to the Registrar about the issue.

President Sipes discussed an issue that has been problematic for the group working on revising the Faculty Handbook: in a 2014 resolution, the Board gave all power to President Burse for policy making, overturning a 2003 Board action item which delineated tasks to be undertaken by faculty and administrators, as SACSCOC requires. This issue needs to be clarified at the next Board meeting in January, but there will not be another Senate meeting in the interim to vet a resolution on the matter. Accordingly, President Sipes asked for an acclamation so that the Executive Committee could work on a resolution in time for it to be included in Board packets. The acclamation was unanimous. Chair Andries inquired as to whether or not the 2014 resolution was still operational since it very specifically names Raymond Burse, but President Sipes noted that Dr. Jackson had run the issue past the General Counsel who argued that it is still valid.

A motion to adjourn passed unanimously at 4:33pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Moffett, Faculty Senate Secretary

[Approved by Senate, as distributed, on 1/30/2017]