January 2024 Minutes

Present: Senators Wise, Valenzuela, Logan, Faucett, Lowther, Coppersmith, Djiguimde, White, Tucker, McLelland, Filburn, Greathouse, Karim, Nelson, Fanning, Samples

Ex-officio and guests: David Lanoue, Roger Giles, Sheryl Edwards, Donna Allen, Shawana Reed, Josh Kee, Robin Sronce, Kim Bloss, Jennifer Rowsam, Abdel Bachri, Connie Wilson, Marisa Grippo, Gerald Plumlee, Brian Logan, Karen Landry, Vilma Espinoza, Drew Glover

Call to order: 3:40 pm

Reading of Proxies: McLelland for Oden, Faucett for Pfannenstiel, Karim for Al-Shami

 

1. Approval of Minutes

A suggestion was made to adjust the November minutes to reflect that Mr. Roger Giles answered the questions for the administration. Minutes from November 16, 2023, were approved with this change (motion – White, second – Samples)

2. Special Orders of the Day

Dr. Lanoue announced that Dr. Kim Bloss will serve as the interim dean of the College of Education and Human Performance. Since we lost a week of instruction and don’t want to extend the semester, professors who teach face-to-face and hybrid will have a Saturday makeup due to HLC obligations. It can be a lecture or video, as long as it is a legitimate enrichment experience for students. Students are not required to come to the classroom.

Blackboard Ultra has a mechanism that uses ChatGPT to help set up courses. This will not be turned on until AI policies are determined, but it can help faculty, particularly adjunct faculty.

Drew Glover discussed Blackboard Ultra. He and John Gore have already copied everyone’s classes over to Ultra and archived the classic system. The system looks different but is arguably easier to use. One-on-one tutoring will be offered to everyone either face-to-face or online. The Blackboard Ultra app is still not great, but it shouldn’t be any worse.

 

3. Questions for the Administration

Dr. Lanoue answered questions for the administration.

1. What is the timeline for search committee selection, acceptance of applications, interview process, and selection of the next President and VPAA? Will faculty be included on the search committees?

• The timetable for the search for President begins with a plan to create a search committee and process by the end of January, then get it approved by the Board of Trustees. Applications will likely be accepted in March, eight to ten semi-finalists will be interviewed by Zoom before finalists are brought to campus, and finalist interviews should take place from late April to early May. The Board is undecided as to whether to use a search firm. No final decision has been made for the provost VPAA search, though someone will have to be in the office on July 1^st. If the President search is concluded by that time, the new President may be involved in making the final decision for hiring a VPAA.

2. Will administrative personnel be evaluated this academic year?

• Yes, deans and chairs will be evaluated this year. The handbook committee will look at possible reforms of the administrative evaluations.

3. What factors are considered when choosing certain dates for future academic calendars (e.g., start date, fall break, etc)? Are faculty consulted?

• The current academic calendar process is complete through the 24-25 year. The state sets our Spring Break, there must be a two-week window between all terms, and the university must observe HLC requirements. With those constraints, there are only a few decisions left to make, such as Fall Break vs Thanksgiving. Faculty can be surveyed on those decisions.

4. Were any plans made to have the Physical Plant make campus walkways safer for pedestrians after the ice storm of January 14^th 2024?

• It would have been prohibitively expensive to use a chemical treatment on the entire campus, so priority was given to building entrances and other high-traffic areas. The situation is being reviewed for future decisions.

5. Will the University Budget Committee meet this year to consider budget proposals from the various SAU constituencies?

• Dr. Rankin is working with Shawana Reed on the timing.

 

4. Reports of Committees

Report from the Faculty Senate Handbook Committee

Nothing to report.

Report from the Faculty Senate Budget Committee

Nothing to report.

Report from the Faculty Senate Parking, Building, and Grounds Committee

Nothing to report.

Report from the Ad-Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (Senator Filburn)

The committee is discussing draft syllabus language to recommend. It is also discussing SAU’s policy on AI, recommendations for faculty, and other responsibilities like data security and admissions.

 

5. Old Business

SAU faculty grant award webpage (Foundation, Research, Teaching Technology)

Josh Jenkins will form a web page to report on all the faculty grants from the Foundation, Research Committee, and Teaching with Technology Committee. The page will be maintained for transparency and to give people ideas of what is going on at SAU.

The second cycle for research is open now.

 

6. New Business

Referral of suggested changes to “Student Evaluation Procedures” section of Faculty Handbook

Possible language changes to the section of the SAU Faculty Handbook that addresses the student surveys will be referred to the handbook committee to match current practices. Senator White made a motion and Senator Nelson seconded.

A motion passed for the handbook committee to look into the policy for administration evaluations. (motion – White, second – Samples)

The Senate voted to acknowledge and thank Dr. Whitney Gass for her contributions to the Arkansas Board of Corrections. (motion – White, second – Nelson)

A suggestion was made to discuss the student evaluations at the next meeting. Particular points involve using a 4 or 5-point scale and whether it is appropriate to have the slider in the center.

 

7. Additional Comments

Adjournment at 4:48 PM. Senator White gave the motion, seconded by Senator Fanning.