Wichita State University Faculty Senate meeting Monday, October 23, 2006
MEMBERS PRESENT: Acker, Billings, Brooks, Byrum, Carruthers, Celestin, Craig-Morland, Decker, deSilva, Dooley, Elder, Forlaw, Hathaway, Hershfield, Jarnagin Lancaster, Liera-Schwichtenberg, C. Moore- Jansen, P. Moore-Jansen, Owens, Proctor, Riordan, Rokosz, Ross, Roussel, Schneegurt, Siginer, Spurgeon, Taher, Turk, Vanderburgh, Yeager
MEMBERS ABSENT: Campbell, Close, Hamdeh, Manske, Myers, Rogers, Shelly, Uhing, Weheba
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Coufal,
Markovich, Myose, Rillema
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS: AVPAAR Shawver
Summary of Action:
1. Accepted the proposed Chronic Low Performance Policy with a 17-11
vote
I. Call of the Meeting to Order:
President Roussel called the meeting to order at 3:30 P.M.
II. Informal Statements and Proposals:
a. Senator Owens noted a query from the History Department, regarding the trend in Administrative positions at Wichita State. Although the Executive Committee had heard a report regarding Faculty positions, (which indicated that Faculty positions had remained steady to up a little over the past eight years, even with a decline in enrollment) there had not been a similar report on Administrative positions. President Roussel will look into finding the response to the question.
b. There will be a reception given by the VPAAR for the Faculty Senate on November 13th.
c. President Elect Carruthers reported that there will be an AAUP meeting regarding tenure on November 3rd (This is the second AAUP meeting). President Elect Carruthers also reported that the Kansas Conference of the AAUP will be held at Emporia State on October 28th.
III. Approval of the Minutes -- Minutes of the meeting Monday, October 9, 2006, accepted as corrected
III. President's Report
a. President Roussel reported on the meeting of the October KBOR and the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents. Summarizing her comments:
i. Emporia State has a new President. They are revising their policy regarding evaluation of teaching. They are also concerned about the issue of faculty recruitment and retention.
ii. The University of Kansas is working to develop a “Guaranteed Tuition Program.” This would allow students to more effectively manage the cost of their tuition, by paying a higher amount for the first two years of undergraduate work, with a lower amount the second two years. This Program will be unique in Regent’s schools. There is also a concern by the new Provost that graduate students and even some undergraduates have voting positions on various committees at KU.
iii. Pittsburg State also faces problems related to faculty hiring. As with the other Regents' Schools, PSU is trying to deal with the issue of deferred maintenance on their campus.
iv. Fort Hays State is in the process of developing new classroom evaluation methods. There is some concern on the FHSU campus regarding enforcement of the "no fire arms on campus" policy given the "concealed weapon" law.
v. A major issue at Kansas State this fall is computer security.
vi. The University of Kansas School of Medicine is confronting the issue that there is no real form of faculty governance at the Medical School.
b. President Roussel indicated that there will be a meeting between the Board of Regents and the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents this winter.
c. The COFSP is gathering input regarding searches for faculty positions. President Roussel is doing a survey of search committee chairs to give an indication of the kind of hurdles search committees encounter when trying to hire new faculty. COFSP also suggested to survey newly hired faculty to find out what motivated them to accept their positions, and also to try and find out why candidates decided not to accept positions.
d. President Roussel mentioned that there is also a focus at the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents level regarding how health care benefits are negotiated.
e. President Roussel reported that the SGA is concerned regarding the low level of overall use of BlackBoard by the Faculty at WSU. They are developing a resolution regarding this, and will conduct a survey regarding whether this feeling is really widely shared among students.
IV. Committee Reports -- none
V. Old Business
a. Chronic Low Performance Proposed Policy: Since the document had been given a first reading at the Senate Meeting on October 9th, President Roussel summarized the minor changes that were made as a result of suggestions received by the Senate Executive Committee. She also reported on what policies other Board of Regents' schools have. Since the policy up for adoption lists nine specific examples of criteria for low performance, a discussion ensued regarding whether it was better to have specific criteria, or to leave the policy vague regarding what constitutes such low performance.
i. Senator Brooks called the question, Senator Carruthers seconded, and that motion passed 18 to 9.
ii. On the question regarding adoption of the proposed Chronic Low Performance policy, as modified, the motion passed 17 to 11. It will now need to be accepted by the General Faculty at the meeting November 14 and then, if accepted, it will be forwarded to the administration for acceptance and become University policy.
VI. New Business
a.
A brief discussion was held regarding the Tuition
Assistance Program. Other Board of Regents' schools have some sort of program,
but none completely satisfactory. Senators Brooks and Lancaster are researching
the issue, and will present a report on November 13th.
b. Senators are encouraged to send in their suggestions regarding
issues they feel the faculty senate ought to work on. They are asked to forward
them to executive committee member Senator Liera-Schwichtenberg.
VII. As May Arise -- none
The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 pm
Respectfully Submitted
Robert Ross, Secretary