Present: Senators Pearson, Warrick, Zia, Dobbins, Testa, Loudens, S. Clanton, Lowther, DiPier, Moore, Lyubartseva, Schroeder, P. Clanton, Paulson, Shirey, Bryant, Wilson
Senators to be seated: Dr. Phillip Bond (Business), Dr. Jingyang Huang (Education), Dr. Martine Boumtje (Liberal and Performing Arts), Dr. Scott White (College of Science and Engineering, Dr. Angela Stanford (At Large), and Dr. Tim Wise (At Large)
Guests: Provost Lanoue, VPA Giles, VPSA Allen, Graduate Dean Bloss, Kathy Cole; Connie Rogers
Call to order at 3:41 p.m.
Proxies: Shirey for Parnell
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from March 15, 2018 were approved (motion – S. Clanton, second – Dobbins).
Special Orders of the Day
Provost Lanoue addressed the Senate regarding the ongoing discussion of the addition of a fall break to the academic calendar. By general acclamation, the Senate body encouraged the administration to go ahead and make the decision. Provost Lanoue reported that President Berry is strongly considering a proposal involving a one-day fall break Friday, October 12th for faculty, staff, and students with classes starting on Tuesday of what has been open registration to account for the needed class day. This would also likely result in student move in days on Saturday and Sunday with registration Sunday and Monday before classes start. This proposed change does result in MWF classes losing a class day while TTh classes gain one day.
Senator Wilson reported from the Ad Hoc Retention Committee about the various policies regarding the processing and posting of midterm grades from around the state colleges and universities. The report was accepted (motion – S. Clanton, second – Testa) and a motion was made (motion – Dobbins, second – Louden) to refer the information from the committee and its outcomes to next year’s Academic Affairs Committee for further action. Motion passed.
Kathy Cole presented additional information covering online course quality policy which had been introduced at a previous meeting (standardized templates for online courses). A pre-semester checklist has been developed to clear a course for the semester. This checklist includes items such as whether the course template was used, whether there is a course orientation for student users defining where to find course materials, whether there is a communication policy regarding office hours and response times for student inquiries and a grading policy, whether a list of all required technology is given (if additional technology beyond blackboard is required), whether learning objectives are clearly present, and whether there is a defined list of assessments and objectives for those assessments. Senator Moore expressed concerns about the approval timeline. Cole indicated that this list was meant to be a fairly quick check on the online courses with time allowed for any deficiencies found to be corrected. Provost Lanoue added that the checklist is something of a commonsense application of requirements to show accrediting our online standards. Senator Shirey indicated that she thought the checklist might comfort incoming faculty setting up their courses for the first time.
Senate President Paulson gave her outgoing comments. She thanked all for their hard work on the Senate in this and prior years. Transfer of the Presidency of the Senate was passed to Dr. Shane Warrick for the 2018-2019 year.
Senate officer elections for 2018-2019 were held. The following slate of officers was presented by President Warrick as nominations. No further nominations were made by the Senate body. The officers were elected by acclamation.
President – Dr. Shane Warrick (Business)
Vice President/President Elect – Dr. Tim Schroeder (Science and Engineering)
Secretary – Dr. Jennifer (Education)
Parliamentarian – Dr. Rhaelene Lowther (Liberal and Performing Arts)
President Warrick addressed the Senate thanking the officers and Senators for the past year. He is looking forward to the year ahead with an eye towards Online Education Committee work, the issue of merit pay increases, and any ad hoc requests that should come before the senate.
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn at 4:42 pm (Motion – Bryant, second – DiPier). Motion passed.
