Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
April 19, 2007

Senators: Tim Hatten, Ellie Baldwin, Jane Arledge, Bill Tiernan, Barbara Borst, Steve Werman, Judy Goodhart, Joshua Butler, Dan Flenniken (for Reenie Neal)

Guests: Joe Richards, Holly Teal, Craig Dodson

Minutes Secretary: Jessica Cowden

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The motion was made, seconded, and passed to receive the Curriculum Committee minutes from March 8, 2007. (Tiernan/Arledge)

The motion was made, seconded, and passed to receive the Curriculum Committee minutes from March 22, 2007. (Tiernan/Arledge)

The motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the Faculty Senate minutes from March 22, 2007 as amended. (Baldwin/Arledge)
Discussion: Werman suggested decreasing the number of allowed Kinesiology electives courses to four, rather than six. The minutes were corrected to reflect that.

The motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the Faculty Senate minutes from April 5, 2007. (Goodhart/Werman)

II. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT (Casey)

" The Administration is concerned that the Curriculum Committee has decided not to select officers for the next academic year. Joe Richards reported that all of the current officers are refusing to sign on for next year, citing an extraordinarily heavy workload. Arledge inquired as to whether or not there was something that the Senate could do to lessen the workload and encourage faculty to serve on the Curriculum Committee. Werman suggested granting the officers release time. Casey volunteered to clarify the situation with the Administration.

" There was also some discussion about the recent acceptance of the Kinesiology elective proposal. The Vice President of Academic Affairs reported that she has received several complaints and indicated that she may not institute the changes as laid forth in the proposal. Arledge stated her discomfort with the prospect of the Administration going against the wishes of the faculty and the Senate, even though she voted against the proposal.

" President Foster explained that his goal with shared governance is to find common characteristics amongst definitions utilized by other institutions in order to formulate one for MSC. He also reported that his perception of the Board's attitude towards shared governance is that they are not in favor of instituting a system whereby the faculty are allowed to single-handedly make or change policy, but that they do want and value input from the faculty throughout the decision making process.

" The grade appeals policy was also discussed. Craig Dodson reported to the Faculty Senate that the Academic Policy Committee unanimously voted to approve the current draft of the policy. Hatten suggested that the Senate discuss and receive the approved policy and then vote upon it at the next meeting.

The policy suggests that disgruntled students go first to the instructor, then to the Department Head who will act as a mediator, but does not have the authority to change the grade. The next step is to take the grievance to the Grade Appeal Committee that will consist of the VPAA, the Academic Policies Chair, Faculty Senate VP, the Registrar, the Department Head involved, and two additional faculty members, all of whom have voting rights. The student has a deadline of six weeks following the end of the semester to file a grievance with the committee.

Arledge questioned the decision to make the Registrar a voting member of the committee. Dodson reported that Academic Policies was also torn on that issue and had considered and were open to the possibility of having some ex-officio positions on the committee.

There was some discussion concerning whether or not this policy will be accepted as the sole manner for changing grades or if the Administration will choose to reserve the right to circumvent the proposed system, which led back to further discussion of the value and applicability of shared governance.

The senators were encouraged to circulate this policy around their departments to solicit feedback.

Tiernan asked what the current grade change policy is for assigning a "Withdrawal" after the fact. Dodson reported that the Registrar's policy is inform the instructor, via e-mail, prior to making any changes in order to allow them a chance to respond and offer feedback. He also added that this policy refers only to changing letter grades rather than "W" or "I." Academic Policies felt that these were two separate issues. Arledge suggested adding the assignment of and "Incomplete" back into this policy. Werman argued that an "I" grade may not apply to this policy because, unlike a letter grade, it will eventually be changed to a letter grade.

Werman asked Dodson if there are any caveats allowing for the possibility that the student may or may not be able to locate the instructor or the Department Head in the case of summer vacation or if the instructor has relocated. He suggested extending the six week deadline following the end of the semester to a deadline of four weeks after the start of the next semester. This deadline would exclude the summer term.

The motion was made, seconded, and passed to receive the policy. (Arledge/Tiernan)

III. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE FROM EAS

Arledge asked for clarification as to what the grievances may include. It is EAS's responsibility to assess the appropriate accommodations needed for the student and the student can file a grievance concerning those accommodations, but it is unclear as to whether or not they could file a grievance about being eligible for accommodations and/or if they feel that their needs were not assessed correctly.

Casey suggested seeking clarification and then voting on the proposal at the next meeting.

IV. OFFICER NOMINATIONS/ELECTIONS

Elections are scheduled for the next Senate meeting. The by-laws call for a nomination committee, which will be led by President Hatten.

Tiernan volunteered to continue to serve in some capacity on the Executive Committee.

Casey pointed out that new members, of which there will be two, should be excluded from consideration and that potential President nominees should be tenured faculty.

Hatten will continue to serve in the role of past President on the Executive Committee.

V. DISTANCE LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY STANDING COMMITTEE

Stemming from a Curriculum Committee memo submitted last year, the Senate had formed but never appointed a standing committee to look at distance learning and online course offerings.

There was some discussion concerning committee membership. Casey agreed to add the Director of the Montrose Campus as an ex-officio member. He also explained the need to form a standing committee vs. an ad-hoc committee as a more permanent solution, considering that online course offerings are only going to expand.

The motion was made and seconded to receive the proposal for the standing committee. (Arledge/Baldwin)

The motion will be voted upon at the next meeting.

V. DEGREE DISTINCTION COURSES

Joe Richards reported on a recent Curriculum Committee discussion concerning options for Degree Distinctions in light of a variety of recent curriculum changes that have impacted the available offerings.

Butler stated that his department is discussing the possibility of identifying a select number of SBS courses that could be offered as distinctions that would best compliment an education in the arts.

Arledge suggested forming an ad-hoc committee to discuss the matter further. She also volunteered to serve. Butler, Goodhart and Werman agreed as well. Hatten suggested that those four proceed and recruit additional members as they see fit.

Arledge asked the Executive Committee if they had ever been asked for their opinions on putting locks and/or keyed entries on the classrooms. The concern was brought to Arledge to present to the Senate. It appears to be an emerging issue that instructors would like the ability to lock their doors from the inside, especially since the Virginia Tech shootings.

Baldwin also brought up the issues of lack of communications.

Arledge nominated Ed Bonan-Hamada to assist with the formation of the Emergency Plan.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 pm

Respectfully submitted,
Jessica Cowden
Minutes Secretary