Minutes of the Faculty Senate
DWR 205
October 18, 2018
3:40 p.m.
Present: Senators Warrick, Bond, Zia, Huang, Louden, Testa, Boumtje, Lowther, DiPier, Lyubartseva, White, Schroeder, Wise, Stanford, Parnell, Wilson, Shirey
Call to Order at 3:41 p.m.
Proxies: Jennifer Louden for Carla Bryant
I. Approval of Minutes
Minutes from September 20th, 2018 were approved (motion – Testa, second – Bond).
II. Special Orders of the Day
Dr. Lanoue addressed the question regarding the possibility of a student dress code. He stated that a department can establish a student dress code if it is tied to an objective. The senate made the determination that they would not like to get involved in the matter.
Dr. Lanoue addressed the question on of adjunct and overload pay. The cost to increate adjunct and overload pay by 200 dollars would equal approximately 100,000 dollars/year. A discussion would need to take place to determine where those funds should come from. Administration seeks advice on if this topic should be a priority, and, if so, they seek advice on ideas to make it feasible.
Motion to refer the question of adjunct and overload pay to the Budget Committee. Motion passed. The Budget Committee will target a report for the next meeting. Tim Schroeder will chair the Budget Committee.
Dr. Lanoue discussed the topic of faculty evaluation process. State law requires that all full time faculty be evaluated each year. He stated that he would like to be sure our process follows the mandated state law. He would also like to review the faculty evaluation process to ensure it is even across all units.
Dr. Rowsam gave an update on the possibility of a fall break. Dr. Rowsam stated that the fall break would land around mid-terms, and would fall so that 7 week courses do not miss any additional instructional days. In the proposed calendar, the fall break would be two days and there would be no final exams on Friday. She stated that a request had been made for final grads to be due on Saturday to allow for time to process grades. The senate raised a concern that grades being due on Saturday morning does not allow ample time for grading when there are Thursday finals scheduled. Senator Testa noted that Article 2 section 1 letter D of the handbook states that the senate has the responsibility to review the academic calendar. The senate raised a question about the number of instructional days included in the proposed calendar. Dr. Rowsam will review the number of class days and the issue of final grades being due on Saturday morning, and she will report at the next senate meeting.
III. Reports of the Committees
Handbook committee will schedule a meeting. There was no new information to report.
IV. Other Business
When hiring new faculty and staff, Dr. Giles would like search committees to be trained on questions that are and are not allowed to be asked during the interview process.
Blackboard Student Viewing Dates: Currently, the last day a student can access Blackboard is set to end on the last day of class. The senate discussed the possibility of extending the viewing date for students to enable them to view final grades.
Motion to request extension of student viewing of blackboard to the day after grades are due. Motion passed.
VI. Adjourn
Senator Schroeder motioned to adjourn at 4:36 pm (White second). Motion passed.
