Minutes of the Faculty Senate
DWR 205
February 20, 2020
Present: Senators Zhao, Oden, Lowther, T. Schroeder, S. Schroeder, Tucker, White, Wise, Fanning, Wilson, Shirey, Hurdle, Testa
Ex-Officio: Jennifer Rowsam, Trey Berry, David Lanoue, Donna Allen, Roger Giles, Kim Bloss, Amanda Anderson, Robin Scronce, Karen Landry, Helmut Langerbein, Shawna Reed
Proxies:
Senator Stanford for Senators Hurdle and Huang
Senator Wright for Senator Logan
Senator S. Schroeder for Senator Boumtje
Call to Order at 3:42
I. Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from January 16, 2020 [motion – White, second – S. Schroeder]
II. Special Orders of the Day
Dr. Trey Berry shared the following information:
-Articles about UALR enrollment; ASU Mexico campus is not having enrollment success; Hardin-Simmons is eliminating academic programs
-200 SAU applications numbers down from last fall
-95 SAU students down in acceptances
-55 students down in freshman housing
-Budget process starts next week – we are going to budget at 97%
-New positions (new line item) since 2015
-7 new full time staff since 2015
-19 new faculty line items
-8 faculty positions unfilled
Questions for the administration:
Can administration look at the online sections and consider placing a cap on those?
Dr. Lanoue answered — There are caps on courses. However, attempts are made to accommodate students’ needs within reason. Beyond a couple of students, the faculty member is consulted.
President T. Schroeder suggested using a waiting list because that would be a good way to know how many students are needing the class and if a new section is needed.
Dr. Lanoue stated that he is open to suggestions.
Senator S. Schroeder reiterated the need for a waiting list because it would be more fair to students who need the class.
Dr. Lanoue wants to start a conversation and include advisors, Dr. Allen, and work out solutions.
Senator Tucker communicates with the Academic Advising Center frequently. He explained that he is not sure another moving part is going to make things simpler.
Dr. Lanoue referred to Dean Bloss. Dean Bloss said that, based on research, between 20 -30 is a good course cap. However, the course cap depends on the type of course.
Can the faculty and staff search committee training required by Human Resources be considered for moving to online format?
Dr. Lanoue referred to Mr. Giles and he said that Human Resources is moving to on-line.
Mr. Giles explained that he is interested in moving to more on-line training would meet with Human Resources staff.
Dr. Lanoue asked for the Faculty Senate’s help in finding solutions to help to decrease textbook costs.
Committee Reports:
Handbook committee – Handbook revisions
Senator S. Schroeder discussed the work of the handbook committee. The handbook committee has worked closely with Dr. Lanoue to make changes. Senator S. Schroeder explained that there are 3 levels of errors:
Level 1 changes are mechanical, grammatical, formatting, and consistency, including Faculty Assembly Constitution.
Level 2 changes are items that are include struck, revised, or added language from Dr. Lanoue, the Handbook Committee, or the Office of Human Resources, among others. These are content related; the Handbook Committee reviewed each recommendation and approved or modified the language. All changes are listed by location in the Handbook: Roman numeral, capital letter, number, and letter.
Level 3 The Handbook Committee deemed each of the Level 3 changes substantive enough to merit separate motions.
Senator S. Schroeder made a motion that the faculty handbook go web-based document.
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and then asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to make the faculty handbook web based passed unanimously.
Senator S. Schroeder made a motion that all Level 1 changes be accepted.
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Level 1 changes passed unanimously.
Senator S. Schroeder discussed the highlighted Level 2 changes in the Recommendations and Motions from 2019-2020 Faculty Senate Handbook Committee revision of Faculty Handbook, 13th Edition handout.
Senator S. Schroeder made a motion to accept Level 2 changes.
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Level 2 passed unanimously.
Senator S. Schroeder referred the committee to the aforementioned handout and began to discuss each motion.
Motion 1
II.C Under “Continuous Quality Improvement” Section, remove reference to AQIP, strike date of ratification, and replace with Leadership Team’s suggested language: “The Open Pathway model of accreditation is a quality-based, continuous improvement model of accreditation promoted by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 1 passed unanimously.
Motion 2
IV. Constitution (Article I, Section 1) Note: Voted on in FS, with the understanding that the Handbook Committee would revise the language. Modify to read “Section 1. Faculty members eligible to vote for Faculty Senators shall include those full-time employees of the University who hold the rank of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, or distinguished professor. Those eligible to serve as Faculty Senators must hold one of these ranks and also have tenure or tenure-track appointments. However, any faculty member may bring issues before the Faculty Senate.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 2 passed unanimously.
Motion 3
V.A.2 To change the name and purpose of a University committee. The Campus Sustainability Committee, formerly the Buildings and Grounds Committee, will have as its revised mission “to cultivate a culture of environmental responsibility in which the SAU community is aware of, engaged in, and committed to advancing environmental awareness and sustainable practices through education, research, operations, and campus community service activities. Further, the committee will identify and recommend to the University President specific actions and strategic plans the University community can pursue to move the University towards greater environmental sustainability in its operations, research, teaching, and service/outreach functions. Upon plan approval, the committee will collaborate with on-campus and off-campus groups to implement these actions and plans and sustain them over time.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 3 passed unanimously.
Motion 4
VII.B.3Add “Faculty are strongly encouraged to provide midterm grades in all undergraduate courses through Campus Connect, when prompted by the Office of the Registrar.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 4 passed unanimously.
Motion 5
VIII.C Strike “No fewer than 80 percent of the teaching positions will be on a tenured track.” The Handbook Committee moves we replace this language with “No fewer than 60 percent of the teaching positions will be on a tenure track.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion.
Discussion among Senator Tucker, Senator Testa, and Senator White who asked for clarification of what constitutes full-time faculty.
There were many nuances of full-time faculty discussed and questions posed.
Senator Testa asked about adjuncts who teach the equivalent of a full-time.
Senator S. Schroeder called for point of order because the discussion was off topic of the motion.
Senator S. Schroeder removed her motion and tabled it until the March meeting.
Motion 6
[Related to previous motion]. The Handbook says, “Only tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty members with a teaching load equal to or greater than 50 percent are eligible for election to University Committees. Only tenured and tenure-track faculty members with a teaching load equal to or greater than 50 percent are eligible for election to Academic Committees.” We move to change this language to say, “Tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty members with a teaching load equal to or greater than 50 percent are eligible for election to University and Academic Committees.”
Recommendation: IX.A The Handbook Committee recommends that the Faculty Senate Budget Committee review this section the policy provided by the administration regarding merit pay. No current policy appears in the Handbook; this also affects some University forms that may be out of date or inconsistent with policy.
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion.
Senator S. Schroeder asked President T. Schroeder to refer this motion to the budget committee.
Motion 7
Revise IX.B.2 title to read “General Procedures for Faculty Evaluation.” Formerly “Administrative Evaluation Procedures”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 7 passed unanimously.
Motion 8
Replace IX.B.3.c “Evaluation of Online Courses: Online classes will be similarly evaluated by peers based upon rubrics, standards, and procedures designed by the departments and colleges.” with “Tenured faculty members seeking a promotion must undergo a course observation, according to the rules above, during the semester prior to submitting their promotion portfolio.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
Vote: The motion to accept Motion 8 passed unanimously.
Motion 9
IX.E Revises “meeting each spring semester” to “meeting each academic year” for the Annual Faculty Performance Review monitoring
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
The motion to accept Motion 9 passed unanimously.
Motion 10
X.VI.A Strikes all language about ranking applicants for tenure/promotion from Handbook in this and future sections. E.g., “The chairperson will prepare (1) a ranked list of applicants whom the chair recommends for promotion and/or tenure and (2) a list of applicants whom the chair does not recommend. (The list of recommended applicants will be ranked according to the degree of support given each applicant.)”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
The motion to accept Motion 10 passed unanimously.
Motion 11
X.VI.A.4 Faculty Senate confirms language about the University Council, that is, that a majority opinion is 5 of 8—meaning that a 4-4 vote is a rejection.
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
The motion to accept Motion 11 passed unanimously.
Motion 12
“Level Eight: Notification of Candidate
Within ten (10) working days of the Board of Trustee’s decision about tenure and/or promotion, the President will write a letter directly to the candidate, informing them of the University’s final decision.”
President T. Schroeder asked for discussion and asked for a vote.
The motion to accept Motion 12 passed unanimously.
New Business:
No New business
III. Motion to adjourn
[motion – White, second – Testa]
Meeting adjourned at 5:01 p.m.
