Minutes of the Faculty Senate
Virtual Meeting
August 20, 2020
Present: Senators Zhao, Oden, T. Schroeder, S. Schroeder, Tucker, Fanning, Wilson, Wise, Overholser, Logan, Djiguiimde, Huang, Stanford, Paulson, Almotairi, Petty, Schneiderwind
Ex-Officio/guests: Jennifer Rowsam, Trey Berry, David Lanoue, Donna Allen, Sheryl Edwards, Amanda Anderson, Robin Sronce, and Shawna Reed.
Proxies: Copie Moore for Scott White
Call to Order at 3:43
- Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from April 23, 2020 [motion – T. Schroeder, second – S. Schroeder]
- Special Orders of the Day
Updates from Dr. Berry:
He discussed the death of Carrington Jackson, an SAU student, who passed away of what is presumed at this time to be of natural causes. An autopsy is being conducted. There is a memorial service being organized by students. Carrington’s family is coming to the memorial service.
The judge has put a “gag order” on the details of the crime that occurred on campus. So, Dr. Berry is not able to discuss. However, he praised the work of the police department in this incident. During every step of the incident, he worked with law enforcement to make decisions and keep the campus safe.
Budget update: There have been reductions in the budget. We are working with the budget committee making the decisions. The state returned the 2.4 million that we lost from last fiscal year. The plans for the 2.4 million will be put in reserves because this year is very unpredictable. He will keep us posted on all updates the budget. The GAC conference has postponed fall sports. There has been discussion that fall sports would be played in the spring.
Enrollment update—students were deregistered last night. He complimented the student accounts office on working with students. There were 156 students who went through the deregistration process. He is being cautious on his statement, but, at this time, enrollment numbers are very encouraging. We are down in undergraduate enrollment. However, graduate enrollment has increased. Wednesday is the 11th class day. He will have firm numbers then. Despite the global pandemic, it is remarkable that our enrollment is where it is.
Covid-19 updated—He complimented the Task Force on their workover the past several months. The rapid testing machines have been a great resource for the campus. SAU has been able to respond quickly and isolate and quarantine, as needed. Currently, we have 8 students in isolation. Isolation means they have tested positive. Quarantine means they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. We currently have 3 active cases of the staff. As of this morning, we have no faculty active cases. We have been here 10 days and have had many students from many different geographic locations. We have had some issues with student behavior, which have been address quickly. Overall, he praised the students for their behavior on campus and in class. However, he has been concerned with the behavior of students off campus because of students gathering in large numbers without masks.
Dr. Lanoue complimented the faculty on working with students during this difficult time. The technology has held up remarkably well. The faculty, Brian Lee, and Drew Gover have been outstanding. He said that we are off to an amazing start. He asks that we talk to our colleagues and department chairs to discuss ways to ensure that virtual students are staying engaged while the lesson is being conducted. Since we are offering classes via Zoom, we need to ensure that students are actually participating. We want to ensure that students are paying attention. There was one student who refused to wear a mask. The student was then reported to the dean of students. The dean met with the student and conferenced with him, and he received warning. The system is working properly. The final thing to mention is that HLC has approved our quality initiative. There is a student success and student retention component. We will begin to start implementing retention strategies to help us with HLC and the new accreditation pathway. Dr. Lanoue praised Dr. Rowsam and her team on the report.
Senator Schneiderwind asked if football players could practice even though there was a suspension of the football season. Dr. Berry explained that SAU is abiding by the NCAA guidelines for practice.
Sheryl Edwards provided additional information about the work of the task force and gave updates on policies and procedures. Ms. Mandy Hanson has been approved to contact tracing through the Arkansas Department of Health. This really helps us move quickly. We are very fortunate and appreciate of her and her staff.
Committee Reports:
- Schroeder, 2019-20 Handbook Committee chair: The level 1 changes have been made. The level 2 and 3 changes are with Mr. Giles. We hope to have the handbook updated very soon.
New Business:
Budget: Stanford, T. Schroder, Logan, Boumtje
Parking: Zhoa, Wang, Paulson, and Tucker
Handbook: Oden, Wise, Fanning, S. Schroder
Move to adjourn 4:43 [motion – T. Schroeder, second – S. Schroeder]
