Minutes of the Meeting of the Faculty Senate

Monday, November 23, 2015

Senators Present: Ahmed, Asaduzzaman, Barut, Bergman, Brooks, Bryant, Castro, Celestin, Chang, Close, Cramer, Decker, Dehner, Deibel, Ewing, Huckstadt, Hull, Hunsicker, Jin, Johnson, Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Myose, Palmer, Rokosz, Ross, Shukaev, Walker, Yildirim

Senators Absent: Adler, Babnich, Birzer, Chand, Chopra, Hughes, Lu, Muthiachareon, Solomey, Woods, Yao

Senators Excused: Rillema, Shaw, Yeager

Summary of Action:
1. Accepted appointment of Senator Bill Hendry as Senator At-Large


I. Call to order: Meeting called to order 3:30 PM by President Moore-Jansen

II. Informal Statements and Proposal - None

III. Approval of Minutes:
a. Minutes of the November 9, 2015 meeting were accepted as presented

IV. Updates -- none

V. President's Report
a. KBOR COFSP 鈥� President Moore-Jansen said that COFSP discussed the Weapons Safety Policy survey which will be distributed in early December. The survey will be distributed to faculty, unclassified professionals and university support staff and should be open through December 30th or 31st. The survey has been forwarded to WSU counsel and IRB for input.

VI. Committee Reports
a. Rules Committee 鈥� Senator Yildirim, Chair submitted the nomination Bill Hendry for acceptance for Senator-At-Large. Nomination accepted

b. Proposed Admissions Exceptions Trial 鈥� Rachel Crane, chair of UAEC, submitted an amendment to the Proposed Admissions Exceptions Trial proposal which was presented at the November 9, 2015 meeting. All students admitted as Provision or Qualified Admissions in this trial鈥ne class of which must be WSU 101 or LASI 101 Amendment accepted. Proposed Trail accepted.

VII. Old Business 鈥� None

VIII. New Business

a. Eric Sexton, Vice-President of Student Affairs- Thanked the senators and their colleagues for creating a great student experience on campus. VP Sexton shared his vision for connections between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, including learning communities, co-curricular activities, and academic experiences. VP Sexton noted that retention is higher among students who attended learning communities in Shocker Hall and Student Affairs is looking for ways to strengthen ties to academic disciplines. A handout was provided which outlined the purpose and function of the University Behavior Intervention Team (UBIT). Questions related to UBIT included: Will someone from UBIT follow up with faculty? If a faculty member witnesses something what are they obliged to do? VP Sexton stated that every institution is required to identify those who are obliged to report Title 9 infractions, What protections exist for faculty? VP Sexton reminded the senators that UBIT is about support and help.

b. General Education, Natalie Grant 鈥� Chair 鈥� Proposed First Year Seminar (1st reading) 鈥� Chair Grant shared the following highlights of the proposal: more academic focus than WSU 101, a means of connecting faculty with students and engaging students in the university, all first year students would be required to take the seminar, and the seminar would meet one of the general education Tier 2 requirements. Results of an online survey showed faculty interest in teaching a first year seminar. Questions related to the Proposed First Year Seminar included: What support would students have? Where is the funding coming from? When would it start? Will faculty and/or the department get credit for the course? How many credit hours is the course? How many students/sections? Who has monitoring oversight of the program? Can students take WSU 101 or First Year Seminar? Should First Year Seminar be optional rather than required? Are we moving too fast, should we pilot it first? How does this impact the policy related to the department chair's role regarding teaching assignments? A meeting was schedule for December 7, 2015 from 3:00PM -4:00PM for a second reading. The proposal will be posted on Blackboard to enable faculty to discuss, ask questions and comment.

c. Plans for Open Forum Weapons and Campus Security 鈥� President Moore-Jansen announced an Open Forum scheduled for December 4th (time and location TBA) to discuss Weapons Safety.

IX. As May Arise
a. On December7th from 4:00PM-6:00PM the Faculty Senate Executive Committee will host a party at the Fox and Hound. Invitations have been distributed, please RSVP to Bobbi Dreiling

X. Adjournment 鈥� The meeting was adjourned at t 5:10PM

Respectfully submitted
Janice Ewing, Secretary