Wichita State University Faculty Senate meeting  Monday, February 25, 2008

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Bolin, Brooks, Campbell, Carruthers, Celestin, Close, Decker, deSilva, Gordon, Hager, Hamdeh, Hemans, Hershfield, Ho, Jarnagin, Klunder, Lancaster, Miller, C.Moore-Jansen, P. Moore-Jansen, Myers, Myose, Rillema, Riordan, Ross, Roussel, Russell, Smith-Campbell, Spurgeon, Thibeault, Turk, Vanderburgh, Yeager, Yildirim

MEMBERS ABSENT:  Byrum, Duncan, Forlaw, Hathaway, Ravi,

MEMBERS EXCUSED:   Coufal, Craig-Morland, Liera-Schwichtenberg, Rokosz, Scherz, Schneegurt, Uning

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS:  Assoc. Provost Shawver

Summary of Action:   
   1.  Motion: The WSU Faculty Senate continues to encourage the development and implementation of an effective emergency warning system for the WSU community.  passed unanimously.

 2.     Motion: After Executive Committee hears again from Provost Miller about the X/F policy it will be referred to Academic Affairs Committee.  (See in particular AAUP red book page 114 on faculty prerogative in assigning grades; what is the argument for legal liability protection.)  Passed.

3.     Motion: Endorse administration’s changes to cell phone policy.  Passed.
   
    

I.       Call of the Meeting to Order:  The meeting was called to order by President Carruthers at 3:30 pm

II.      Informal Statements and Proposals:                

            Senator Klunder asked Senate to join him in a moment of silence deploring the deaths and injuries at NIU last week.   He noted that the quick action of the NIU campus police probably saved lives. Therefore:    Motion: The WSU Faculty Senate continues to encourage the development and implementation of an effective emergency warning system for the WSU community. (Moved: Klunder; seconded, Lancaster; passed unanimously.)

III.  Approval of the Minutes:         

                January 28, 2008 --  http://webs.wichita.edu/senate/M1-28-08.htm  Approved as submitted

                February 11, 2008  --  http://webs.wichita.edu/senate/M2-11-08.htm  Approved as submitted

IV.  President's Report:      

            A.  KBOR: Nuanced discussion of tuition increases.  Aware of need to raise funds, versus pressure it puts on students/families.  Tuition caps are difficult for colleges because the playing field has not been level in the past: KU has had much bigger increases than, say, WSU, so a cap in the future would hamper WSU’s ability to keep up.  Right now it looks like “HEPI plus a little”.  (Federal budget for education looks horrendous!) 

            B.  Regents coming to campus April 15; Executive Committee will meet with Regents; Senators urged to email questions/comments to President Carruthers to bring to the Regents. 

            C.  KBOR’s five principal questions:

            1)      K-12 alignment: BOR refused to count high school “Physical Science” as an acceptable course for admission to two-year colleges. (Physical Science is a watered-down science class to satisfy No Child Left Behind; it does not meet needs of college level science classes.)

            2)     Do tuition increases hurt participation rates?  Enrollment declined as tuition increased over the past decade, but it is difficult to say the latter caused the former because the issues are complex.  Also, what can faculty, regents, do to increase participation rates?  What recruitment, other exposure that we can provide students.

            3)      What can we do to increase persistence rates?  President Carruthers would rather talk about how WSU meets our urban community’s needs, which don’t always require graduation.

            4)     Alignment with work force demands.  See COFSP statement; education is more than job training; emphasize value of liberal education.  The Regents are receptive of this way of thinking.

            5)      Are we documenting learner outcomes?  Voluntary System of Accountability is a start, but likely won’t be enough.  Assoc. Provost Shawver said CLA and NSSE assessments will be conducted here soon.

        D. What can we do to help?  How can we advance these issues?

        E.  Nominations sought by March 3 for President’s Distinguished Service Award.

        F.  Solution soon to the conflation of academic and behavioral issues with regard to plagiarism; a way to make the XF policy work.  Provost Miller will present details at a future meeting.  Senator Gordon moved (Lancaster-2nd) that after Executive Committee hears again from Provost Miller about, policy will be referred to Academic Affairs Committee.  (See in particular AAUP red book page 114 on faculty prerogative in assigning grades; what is the argument for legal liability protection.)  Motion passed. 

       V.  Committee Report:
            A.  Rules:  Larry Spurgeon, chair, reported that electronic nominations have were sent and deadline is Thursday, 2/28/08.  He also reported that the committee will soon bring the proposed revisions to the Grievance Policy to the senate for discussion.  He then reported on attending the meeting of the Emergency Response Task Force.  Monitors are being installed; text messaging system is still in development; 1700 people have signed up; President Beggs has decided to change the university cell phone policy in light of this.  Input from Senate to Spurgeon for the Emergency Response Task Force.  Senator Lancaster moved (Gordon-2nd) that the Senate unanimously endorse the new Cell Phone Policy.  Motion passed.

VI.  Old Business:        

A.  Continued discussion of the Motion on +/- grading from the Executive Committee:  Information about a survey that will be coming out:  The Senate Executive will be circulating an electronic survey that will solicit faculty opinion on various aspects of the +/- grading proposal that is before the Senate. 

    Comments from Twambi Kalinga, SGA Academics Chair:  She stated that SGA is not in favor of the proposal (though the SGA claims that a majority of students are against the idea without having surveyed the entire student body—a majority of respondents from one of Ron Matson’s classes from two years ago said “no”, senators ).  SGA sent a statement describing their reasons for being against the +/- grading system.  President Carruthers wants to visit SGA meeting to explain the system more fully.  Senator Gordon pointed out that the trend on this campus is to reject anything new. 

    Executive plans to send a survey to all faculty asking for feedback on the proposal before the Senate.  

    President Carruthers reported that the Graduate Council is generally in favor of the proposal, but raised many of the same questions raised in Senate, and will await the survey results before making a final decision.

VII.  New Business:   none    

VIII:   As May Arise:  none
               

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm

Respectfully Submitted,
William Vanderburgh, Secretary