WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT: Bennett, Bolin, Brooks, Carruthers, Celestin, Craft, Decker, deSilva, Hemans, Henry, Hershfield, Horn, Jarnagin, Klunder, Koehn, Lewis-Moss, K. Miller, Monroe, C. Moore-Jansen, P. Moore-Jansen, Myers, Myose, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, Russell, Schneegurt, Soles, Spurgeon, Taher, Thompson, Yeager, Yildirim

Summary of Action:  
1. Accepted the appointment of Michael McGlynn to replace Gary Toops, Spring '09, on the General Education Committee

I. Call of the Meeting to Order: President Spurgeon called the meeting to order at 3:32 pm.

Senator Cathy Moore-Jansen encouraged the senators and their colleagues to fill out the survey prepared by the Library Committee.

Senator Schneegurt expressed concern that action taken by the senate is voted upon by faculty at general faculty meetings who are uninformed, and that there should be ways to improve the level of knowledge. He suggested using Video Podcasts, posted periodically, to provide information about matters involving faculty governance.

III. Approval of the Minutes: The approval of the minutes February 9, 2009, meeting were accepted as presented.

A. ICAA Academic Information -- Gretchen Torline, Director, Academic Services. Ms. Torline reported on several of the services her office provides. Her office monitors academic performance and class attendance, also provides tutoring to student-athletes, but does not do academic advising. Twice a semester her office sends student progress questionnaires to faculty members and provides follow up with the students. Students missing class are fined.

Senator Peer Moore-Jansen commended Ms. Torline and her staff for improving academic performance. Senator Soles asked what should be done when the student athlete is not able to meet with a faculty member because of practice times. Ms. Torline responded that the coaches and athletic director are very supportive of requiring the student athletes to do what needs to be done in meeting with their teachers.

B. President Spurgeon said that the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents is discussing a faculty morale survey. This was done at least once in the past and distributed to all faculty members in the regents’ system. He welcomed Johnnie Thompson, new senator from Education. Finally, he briefly reported on the likely timeline for the state budget.

1. Michael McGlynn to replace Gary Toops, who is on sabbatical leave, on the General Education Committee as a representative from Humanities. The nomination was approved unanimously.

A. Proposed revisions to 5.06/ Resolution of Internal Disputes --- 1st. reading

President Spurgeon summarized the background of the proposed revision to the grievance policy. He said that he and Senator Carruthers, while she was president of the senate, worked on revising and updating the grievance policy because the timelines were almost impossible to meet and to address some of the other problems that had been encountered in previous grievance cases. They met last year with General Counsel Ted Ayres and Provost Miller to discuss the possibility of adding mediation and an ombudsperson program to the policy. A revised draft was prepared and discussed with the Rules Committee, and although no final version was voted on at that time by that committee, there was consensus for the direction of the policy. He said there were three main goals in revising the policy: (1) To make the document more readable; (2) Adding an ombudsperson program and mediation; and (3) Simplifying the deadlines. He said that the Rules Committee had taken the proposal from last year and had updated it and made some changes. He then asked Senator Soles, Chair of the Rules Committee, to discuss the committee’s proposal.

Senator Soles then provided an overview of the proposal. She explained the role of the ombudsperson and the role of mediation. The current grievance process can easily turn into an adversarial process. WSU often would be better served by informal mediation, whereby individuals could work toward settling differences. She emphasized that informal mediation should not be confused with binding arbitration. The proposed policy gives mediation a recognized and formal role in the process. An Ombudsperson would be there for consultation for faculty. People who are asked to be the Ombudspersons will be people who have been at WSU and are established and knowledgeable. An Ombudsperson might serve as a mediator but not in the same case as where they had provided consultation.

There were a number of questions and comments from the senators. Senator Carruthers wanted to make sure the deadlines were met in the new time line. Everything needs to be wrapped up by the May deadline. Senator Soles pointed out that the 45 day deadline in the proposal, from the date the Rules Committee makes a determination that the grievance should proceed, to the date of the hearing, is roughly equivalent to the current 25 “class days” when weekends are added in. It was also suggested that in section F 1. "calendar" days be added for clarification.

Senator Klunder said the current policy is designed to keep the process moving. Senator Soles responded that the process moves when people are around. Senator Hershfield said the proposal is an addition to increase flexibility. Senator Klunder asked for clarification between the ombudsman and the mediator. Senator Soles said the ombudsperson is the person who can help guide the aggrieved person through the process. The. President Spurgeon said the ombudsperson is to act as a guide through institutional policies and procedures. Mediation is a process that is agreed on by both parties. Senator Brooks suggested the ombudsperson be an experienced person who states the rules and helps to navigate the process. Senator Carruthers said she is concerned that if we separate the roles of ombudspersons and mediation that we might be spread too thin with those who are experienced enough to perform the role. It was suggested that wording be inserted section III saying that a mediator may also serve as a convener but not while serving as a mediator in a case. Senator Lewis-Moss sees the ombudsperson as a safe haven.