Minutes of the Faculty Senate
Regular meeting in Blanchard 204
February 15, 2024
Present: Senators Wise, Valenzuela, Logan, Faucett, Pfannenstiel, Oden, Lowther, Coppersmith, Djiguimde, Al-Shami, Tucker, McLelland, Filburn, Greathouse, Karim, Nelson, Fanning, Samples
Ex-officio and guests: David Lanoue, Sheryl Edwards, Donna Allen, Shawana Reed, Josh Kee, Kim Bloss, Jennifer Rowsam, Amy Womack, Brian Logan, Karen Landry
Call to order: 3:40 pm
- Approval of Minutes
Minutes from January 25, 2024, were approved (motion – White, second – Nelson)
- Special Orders of the Day
Update on Cybersecurity Task Force and Search for Chief Information Officer, Ms. Sheryl Edwards, Associate VP for Strategic Initiatives
On September 10th, someone’s credentials were stolen and used by a hacker to take top-level peoples’ usernames and passwords. A virus was planted in the system and servers were taken offline. SAU’s first steps were to help students and faculty access Blackboard, move to Office 365 for email, and reestablish Wi-Fi connection across campus.
SAU then began decrypting data and rebuilding servers with the help of a recovery team. Servers were moved to a secure VLAN, the firewall was reconfigured, and VPN security protocols were enhanced. The university then added restrictions to Wi-Fi and started updating the active directory by removing outdated accounts. Accounts will be deleted more frequently after faculty or students leave SAU. Blackboard was moved back to a single sign-on, training opportunities have been increased, and the university will get network access control.
The Cybersecurity Task Force has formalized a technology purchase policy. They also looked at around 20 applicants for the CISO position but did not get the expert they wanted, so Enduir Cyber has been hired to help assess the network and needs to do a thorough comprehensive review. The task force did find someone for a vacant system administrator job.
Update on Student Course Survey results, Dr. David Lanoue, Provost and VPAA
Based on responses to the overall effectiveness question, the course evaluation surveys saw an increase from 5,957 to 9,324 responses from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, which is a 66% increase. The average score on this question was 3.56, which is roughly equivalent to the Fall 2022 average of 4.42 on the old 5-point scale. No response means the question was skipped while no reply means the student clicked the question and moved it back to neutral.
There had been concerns about the conceptual differences on the scale and the lack of a neutral option. An ad-hoc committee will be put together to decide whether to keep the 4-point scale, go back to a 5-point scale, or do something else entirely.
Comments from Dr. David Lanoue, Provost and VPAA
There is discussion about restructuring the Ed.D. program and moving it to the Graduate School from the College of Education and Human Performance. A question is how to make it work with the handbook and restructure policies. Policies developed from this process may be used for future doctoral programs.
- Questions for the Administration
Dr. Lanoue answered questions for the administration.
- Is it possible to provide a notification when a student adds the course after the first class day?
- It might be possible, but it might be easier for instructors to continually check the rosters rather than adding new responsibilities to a staff member or the Registrar’s office. It might come with the new system. Admittedly, it might be easier to reach out to students in an online class with 40 or more students if there is a notification.
- Can faculty require that any student who requests to record a lecture sign a document similar to the Audio Recording Agreement that is currently used by Disability Services?
- Yes, the document would just have to be amended. If students violate the agreement, it would be a student conduct issue.
- Given the rapidly rising costs for supplies and equipment, will the administration consider raising lab fees, supplies and other course fees significantly in the 2024-25 budget?
- The administration will ensure that instructors have what they need for their courses. Instructors are recommended to use funds wisely when getting equipment. There is a hypercompetitive environment when it comes to recruiting students, which limits the amount of fees which can be charged to students.
- Is the university considering upgrading at least some of the library databases such as Jstor to include the most recent journal publications rather than having to submit an ILL request to read up to date research in our fields?
- The university is constantly looking for the best sources and databases. It should be noted that JSTOR is an archive that doesn’t include up to date information due to scheduled delays with journals.
- Reports of Committees
Report from the Faculty Senate Handbook Committee (Senator Logan)
The committee is discussing revisions which will be reported at the next meeting.
Report from the Faculty Senate Budget Committee (Senator Oden)
Funding for supplies and equipment might be considered at the next meeting, which will be held by the committee with Shawana Reed.
Report from the Faculty Senate Parking, Building, and Grounds Committee (Senator Nelson)
Nothing to report.
Report from the Ad-Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (Senator Oden)
The committee has looked at syllabus language and the committee will vote on the language before bringing it to the Faculty Senate.
- Old Business
Ad hoc committee to revise administrator surveys
The committee will be put off until next year. The plan will be to cut the survey in half.
- New Business
No new business to report.
- Additional Comments
Adjournment at 4:58 PM. Senator Nelson gave the motion, seconded by Senator Logan.
