September 2022 Minutes

Minutes of the Faculty Senate

Regular meeting held via Zoom

September 15, 2022

 Present: Senators Oden, Petty, Pfannenstiel, T. Schroeder, Tucker, White, Fanning, Paulson, Overholser, Nelson, Samples, Logan, Djiguimde, Valenzuela

Ex-officio and guests: David Lanoue, Donna Allen, Jennifer Rowsam, Gerald Plumlee, Karen Landry, Abdel Bachri, Connie Wilson, Vanda McLelland, Trey Berry, Marissa Grippo

Call to order: 3:40 pm

Reading of Proxies:  Petty proxy for Samples, Coppersmith for Schneiderwind, Logan for Almotairi, Fanning for Hudgens

1. Approval of Minutes

Minutes from August 19, 2022 were approved (motion – White, second – Logan).

2. Reports of Committees

Report from the Faculty Senate Handbook Committee (Senator White)

Senator White did not have a report for the committee.

Report from the Faculty Senate Budget Committee (Senator Tucker)

Senator Tucker stated the Committee met in August and is planning a budget forum with the administration in October (tentatively October 27 at 3:40pm) to answer questions and concerns regarding the university’s budget. Tucker requested that Senators reach out to their constituents to see if they have questions regarding the budget and to encourage their attendance.

Report from the Faculty Senate Parking, Facilities and Grounds Committee (Paulson)

Senator Hudgens has been elected chair of the committee.  There was no formal report though the committee will be working with UPD on parking issues on campus.

3. Old Business

Faculty Senator Liaison Appointments to University Committees

Senator Tucker shared that the Senate Liaisons have been chosen for the academic year as well as the process by which they were chosen for the positions.  Positions were allotted first voluntarily and then Senators were assigned to fill out the needed roles.  Senators then discussed the role of a Senate Liaison.  Liaisons who are not also elected member of a committee are non-voting members of university and academic committees who attend regular meetings and report findings of those meetings to the Faculty Senate.

Senator White, liaison to the Academic Affairs Committee, provided their meeting dates for the Fall semester; September 20, October 18, November 29.

4. New Business

• Jennifer Rowsam, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Planning, provided a brief overview of the Higher Learning Commission accreditation process. Please see attached presentation for an overview of the presentation.
• President Oden proposed to convene a new Faculty Senate ad hoc committee to reform the student evaluation process. Volunteers are requested from each college. Senate President Oden noted that evaluations need to be improved to increase the value of information collected and the number of surveys received.
  • Oden will send out a request for one member from each college to be a part of that committee.
  • Senator Schroeder requested the committee look into creating separate surveys; one for regular coursework and one for non-didactic courses.
• President Oden stated that she will be soliciting faculty questions for Dr. Deborah Wilson, Title IX Coordinator, to further understand the process for responding to students in need of services. Wilson will present an informational presentation on the Role of Title IX Policies on our campus at the next regular meeting of Faculty Senate.
• Senator White reported that one of his advisees earned a GPA of 0.00 in the Spring 2022 semester despite starting with 16 hours. The student earned 6 hours of “F” and the remaining 10 hours were graded as “NC”.  The student’s overall (cumulative) GPA remained above a 2.0 where the academic probation flag would have been placed on the student’s transcript in addition to other retention initiatives.  Senator White reported that the student was placed on financial aid suspension due to lack of progress from Spring 2022 back to Fall 2020.  There was a discussion among the senate and administrators that in addition to looking at an additional academic probation warning level, that the “NC” grade policy may be included as part of an overall Taskforce discussion regarding COVID policy.

4. Special orders of the day

Dr. Berry noted the following during session:

• Thanked members of the QEC committee for their hard work in preparing for the coming HLC visit.
• Provided a brief overview of the enrollment numbers for the Fall semester; frosh, graduate, international, and students living in campus are all up.
• As a result of these numbers, the 2.5% COLA increase will go into effect in the October pay-period.
• Recruitment efforts are expanding into Eastern Texas.
• Family day and Homecoming will occur over the next two weeks and large crowds are expected.
• University Hall will be renamed “Mallory Hall” in recognition of Dr. Kathleen Mallory
• There are 20 students and 2 staff members currently with COVID
• Several grant applications are out for review including applications for; Engineering, Nursing, Art, Education, an Athletic Academic Success Center, and needs-based scholarships.
  • Berry encouraged members to reach out to Joshua Kee, with the Development office, if they need grant writing assistance.
• Two requests for proposals (RFPs) have been sent out recently:
  • One is for fund managers for the SAU endowment; one manager is local (Farmers Bank) and the second is Bank of America
  • The second RFP is for a work order system for the physical plant. The system will allow for greater transparency and communication between the campus and physical plant.

Dr. Lanoue, Provost, briefly discussed the following:

• He also thanked the members of the QEC for their work on the HLC visit
• He also recognized the current Deans and that the searches for the Dean of Education and Human Performance will begin this semester and the Dean of Liberal and Performing Arts will begin in the Spring.

He then took questions for the Administration:

1. Can our healthcare coverage include all FDA-approved contraceptive options?

• Lanoue and Mr. Giles are working on this issue as SAU’s intention has been to cover FDA approved contraceptives. He will provide an update as the semester progresses.

2. Does the administration consistently apply a mandatory policy to all students wearing a SAU uniform (marching band, athletes, nursing, rodeo, etc.) that requires the uniformed student to obtain administrative permission prior to posting a photo and/or caption to social media? Does the administration support and enforce this policy equally among students in all departments and disciplines?

• There is no blanket policy regarding students, SAU gear, and posting on public accounts. Individual units on campus may have their own policy and there is a general policy for athletes regarding appropriate behavior while in uniform.

3. What is the administration’s and the Task Force’s plan to treat a COVID-19 infection as other viral infections (i.e. flu, common cold, maintain health care provider-patient confidentiality, etc) given the information we now know about COVID-19 and the current protocols in place (i.e. no social distancing, masks not required, no contact tracing, etc)?

• Lanoue and Senators discussed current COVID protocols and discussed the need for the Task Force to meet again to review CDC guidance and the best course of action for the campus community.

4. Does the administration and Task Force limit visitors on campus (i.e. guest speakers, non-SAU students attending inside events, etc) due to COVID-19?

• Units across campus have their own guidance, but there is no set policy for all of campus at this time.

5. What are the resources available at SAU for victims of sexual assault?

• Clery, Title IX Committee, the Counseling Center, and a triage committee for students hospitalized are the current services available for victims of gender-based violence. Provost Lanoue noted that the Title IX Committee is essentially a fact-finding committee for the university.
• Senator Nelson, a licensed Psychologist volunteered her services for those in need on campus.
• Senator Overholser shared that the local domestic violence shelter, Compassion’s Foundation, is not licensed and able to care for victims of sexual assault.

6. Student evaluations of courses at SAU are quite long and often don’t garner much useful feedback. Would it be possible to reform our student evaluation format and process so that they are more succinct and useful?

• Provost Lanoue agreed that a review of student evaluations is necessary and supports the Senate’s work on the issue.

Adjournment at 5:01pm, Senator Tucker gave the first motion, White seconded the motion.