Minutes of the Faculty Senate
DWR 205
August 22, 2019
Present: Senators Zia, Zhao, Logan, Huang, Oden, Testa, Boumtje, Lowther, S. Schroeder, T. Schroeder, Tucker, White, Wise, Stanford, Fanning, Wilson, Shirey, Hurdle
Ex-Officio: Leigh Labit, Jennifer Rowsam, Trey Berry, David Lanoue, Donna Allen, Roger Giles, Kim Bloss, Drew Glover, Amanda Anderson
Call to Order at 3:43
Proxies – none
I. Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from April 18, 2019 [motion –Testa, second – White]
II. Special Orders of the Day:
President T. Schroeder welcomed everyone and asked for each senator to introduce him/herself. There were no questions for the administration. Dr. Trey Berry addressed the senate. After welcoming everyone, he gave an update on various areas of the university. He discussed enrollment and housing explaining that he was pleased with both areas. He said that enrollment is not an exact science. Dr. Berry asked for the faculty to help in recruiting by sharing innovative ways to recruit from a smaller group of students. He explained that Dr. David Lanoue is going to be leading the charge on reaching out to non-traditional students. Senator White discussed that is important to “improve our processes”. President T. Schroeder asked for a 5 minute recess for the colleges to discuss committee appointments:
The committee representatives are:
Budget: Senators Zia, Testa, Lowther, White
Handbook: Senators Logan, Wilson, S. Schroeder, Fanning
Parking: Senators Zhao, Oden, Boumtje, Shirey
III. Unfinished Business:
Discussion about the type of access that department chairs have to on-line classes. President T. Schroeder asked for feedback about the process. Senator White discussed that chairs not having access to on-line classes rendered the chairs uninformed. Dr. Kim Bloss shared that with department chairs having access, they are able to monitor the courses to ensure quality instruction is taking place. Senator Testa asked about the approval process and if the chair could be anonymous. Mr. Drew Glover explained that there are hierarchies of the approval process. Mr. Glover explained that chairs can be enrolled to check and then unenrolled. Dr. Bloss compared chair enrollment in an on-line course the ability to “walk” into an on-line course similar to the way that he/she could walk into a face-to-face course. President T. Schroeder said that it is favorable to be in the course from the start and have access. Senator Lowther asked if there were any negatives to the chairs having course access. President T. Schroeder explained that some instructors may not want others being able to view their courses. Senator White explained that he was in favor of chairs having access to on-line course. Senator Testa remarked that some of the logistics would need to be addressed such as Blackboard e-mail notifications to the chairs. He also stated that it would be good if deans were more involved in the on-line course.
New Business:
Dr. Lanoue provided a handout with all of the faculty handbook issues for discussion. He recommended that the Faculty Handbook Committee examine each area. He also offered to meet with the committee to give further detail and clarification. The handout outlined 8 different areas for improvement. A 9th one was added. Dr. Lanoue discussed each one.
#1 Update to include newly revised Academic Integrity Policy.
Mr. Roger Giles stated that his office was taking care of #1.
#2 Change to policy that “[no] fewer than 80 percent of the teaching positions will be on a tenured track.”
Dr. Lanoue explained that this was an area of concern. The main reason is because there are programs that fluctuate enrollment and hiring tenure-tracked faculty could be problematic when the program enrollment dips.
#3 Include language passed by Faculty Senate on merit pay.
#4 Update faculty evaluation procedures to satisfy the requirement of Act 244, which “requires state colleges and universities to conduct an annual review of the performance of all full-time faculty, which shall include assessments by peers, students, and administrators.”
Dr. Lanoue discussed that SAU should update to be compliant with the law.
#5 Reconsideration of ranking candidates for tenure and promotion.
Dr. Lanoue was not sure of reasons that there was a ranking system in place.
#6 Dismissal review procedures and the role of the mediation committees.
Currently, there is no time frame. Also, the medication committee currently has evaluation duties–this could hinder the committee to effectively do their job.
#7 Inclusion of non-tenured faculty on search committees.
There should be a consideration non-tenured faculty on search committees.
#8 Number of finalists for interviews.
Flexibility should be provided on the number of candidates brought in for a face-to-face interview.
#9 Policy on faculty qualifications.
HLC requires that faculty members have 18 graduate hours in the field in which they are teaching. There are exceptions for exceptional experience and emergency hires.
Motion to refer to handbook committee [motion – S. Schroeder, second – White]
All voted – passed
Adjourn – [motion –Testa, second – Wilson] at 4:35 p.m.
