The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday,
April 1, 2002 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Schlomann
called the seventh meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.
Jill Allgier,
Registrar; Gary Cordner, Justice and Safety; Rita Davis, Student Affairs;
David D. Gale, Health Sciences; Mona Guckes, ITDS - Banner; Karen Janssen,
Special Education; Ken Johnson, Finance; Jim Keith, ITDS; Jennifer Rogers,
The Eastern Progress; Chip Smith, Athletics; Vern Snyder, University
Advancement; Aaron Thompson, Academic Affairs; Elizabeth Wachtel, Academic
Affairs; Doug Whitlock, Administrative Affairs; and Mark Wasicsko, College
of Education. The following students were also in attendance: Michael Alley,
Horricia Barton, Jacinda Bertie, Doris M. Bowman, Taryn Brandenburg, Tabetha
Brummett, Miranda Bullock, Nenna Castle, LaKesha Churn, Abigail Conant,
Lynn Cooper, Matt Decker, Susan Dye, Martin Dye, Erin Enyart, Bethany Fackler,
Kristy Frolo, Megan Gampher, Earnest Gilliland, Jada Gilmore, Shayla Handley,
Bre Harris, Allison M. Henley, Toni Holder, Jennifer Hoover, April Irvin,
Heather LaRue, Jason Lee, Lindsay Martin, Emily Montgomery, Kim Morton,
Nathan Polsgrove, Brittany Ricks, Matt Schular, Crystal Scott, Lisa Scott,
Regina Settle, Hayden Shawler, Monica Shotzbarger, Lisa Spicer, Rebecca
D. Sparks, James Storm, Trevor Taylor, Vicky Trimble, Jennifer Wallace,
Chuck Whatley, Jennifer White, Timyata R. Williams, Jennifer Wolford and
Karmen York.
APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES:
The March 4, 2002 minutes were approved as written.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Senator Schlomann announced that President Glasser is at an out-of-town
meeting and has been unavoidably detained. Therefore, there will not be
a President's report today.
REPORT
FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR: Senator Schlomann
Senator Schlomann announced that the Executive Committee met on March 11
at 3:30 p.m. The meeting was relatively brief with the focus on a variety
of housekeeping issues such as developing the agenda. In addition, the Committee
discussed modifying the Senate rules to include a process to review the
President on a regular basis. A motion related to this will be coming later
in this meeting.
FACULTY
REGENT: Senator Thompson
The Board has met twice by teleconference since the Senate last convened.
The following three items were approved by the Board:
- Helen
Thomas, the senior member of the White House Press Core, will be the
May commencement speaker;
- EKU's
health insurance package for 2002-2003. (The family plan increased approximately
15 percent.) The Board discussed the need to plan for a needed cushion
in the Health Insurance budget in the future.
- The changes
in the Bylaws and structure of the Student Government Association.
Senator
Thompson mentioned that COSFL has had several discussions this year about
the qualifications of Board members appointed by the Governor and has developed
a list of criteria for those individuals interested in serving.
Senator Thompson announced that the Governor has established a training
institute to be held during the summer for trustees and regents around the
state.
REPORT
FROM THE PROVOST: Senator Marsden
Senator Marsden mentioned that the fall 2002 semester marks the full completion
of the pre-college curriculum state-wide and that the institution needs
to respond specifically in the areas of the sciences, social sciences and
visual and performing arts. Interdisciplinary teams are working to develop
remediated coursework in those areas. English and Math were handled in this
process earlier.
Senator Marsden reminded the Senate that there is an honorary degree committee
which is chaired by Dr. Onda Bennett; anyone wishing to nominate someone
for an honorary degree should contact this committee. Our honorary degree
recipient and commencement speaker this spring will be Helen Thomas.
On April 11 the Office of the Provost and the Department of Athletics will
be co-sponsoring a presentation by Dr. Rogers Redding at 4:00 p.m. in Walnut
Hall.
Spring commencement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on May 11.
The reason for the time change is to accommodate those families and friends
who have to travel some distance to attend. College receptions will occur
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Graduation line-up will begin around 12:30
p.m.
REPORT
FROM STUDENT SENATE: Nick Bertram
Mr. Bertram reported on a number of items.
- SGA was
approved to continue plans to broadcast the student radio station, WXII,
live on campus.
- The shared
governance proposal was approved at all levels of the University.
- SGA approved
75% of the annual organizational funding allocation, using funds from
the student technology fee and organizational funding.
- The reforestation
project with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government is this Saturday.
E-mail Mr. Bertram to have your name added to the list of volunteers
who will be participating.
- Distinguished
Leadership applications are now available and are ready to be approved
for this semester. Those selected will be honored at SGA's annual banquet.
- The annual
student government banquet will be on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m.
in the Stratton building.
- Mr. Bertram
thanked the Senators for considering the plus/minus issue brought forth
by the students.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
Elections Committee. Senator C. Everett announced that last Tuesday
and Wednesday two faculty regent forums were held. Ballots will be available
to faculty today; please return them by this Friday.
Ad
Hoc Committee on Compensation & Benefits. Senator Johnson announced
that the committee continues to meet and work on merit and salary equity
issues. Senator Johnson addressed some misunderstandings about the recently
approved merit proposal. He indicated that it was the intent of the motion
to only deal with how to allocate funds for the across the board merit raises
for the upcoming two years. As it has been done in the past, it is up to
the deans based upon the recommendations from the chairs to determine if
someone is not meeting the minimum standard as to how that should be handled.
The motion was NOT meant to alter the process of annual faculty evaluations
for post tenure review in any way.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Council on Academic Affairs. (Items postponed from March 4, 2002.)
Senator Collins moved approval of the proposal for a Master of Science in
Correctional/Juvenile Justice, seconded by Senator Marsden. This motion
was approved by the Senate.
Senator
Marsden moved approval of the proposal for a program revision in the Associate
Science degree Technical Agriculture, seconded by Senator Siegel. This motion
was approved by the Senate.
Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to create a new B.S. in Military
and Applied Leadership, seconded by Senator Dunston. This motion was approved
by the Senate.
Plus/Minus
Grading. At the February Senate meeting Senator Falkenberg moved to
approve the following proposal, seconded by Senator Flanagan. Further discussion
was postponed until today's meeting.
Whereas:
There continues to be controversy over the issue of plus/minus grading,
and
Whereas: The student government perceives that it had insufficient
input into the establishment of the plus/minus grading proposal, and
Whereas: The full impact of the plus/minus grading system on the
University s current recruitment and retention efforts is unknown, and
Whereas: The full impact of the plus/minus grading system on the
University s scholarship programs is unknown, and
We Move: That, a temporary moratorium beginning Fall 2002 be placed
on the continuation of the plus/minus grading scale and the University
return to the previous four point grading scale by assigning the grades
of A and A- four points, the grades of B+, B, and B- three points, the
grades of C+, C, and C- two points, the grades of D+, D, and D- one point
and the grade of F zero points,
And:That, the University continue to collect plus/minus grades with
the above grading scale for the purposes of research and expanded information
for students concerning class performance,
And: That, a special ad hoc committee be appointed by the Executive
Committee of the Faculty Senate in consultation with the Student Government
to study the impact of the plus/minus grading scale and report the results
of that study to the Faculty and Student Senates in the Fall of 2003.
Senator Marsden
announced that he would abstain from voting on the issue. The motion passed
with a vote of 32 for and 19 against.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Nominations for Senate Chair: Senator Johnson and Senator Flanagan
were nominated for the chair's position. They will each give a short speech
at the organizational meeting on May 6.
Periodic
Review of the President: Senator Flanagan moved approval of the proposed
procedure for the review of the President and the recommended change in
the rules, seconded by Senator Johnson. The proposed procedure is listed
below.
Whereas:
The President is appointed by the Board of Regents and serves the University
at the pleasure of the Board of Regents, and
Whereas: The primary responsibility for the evaluation of the President
lies with the Board of Regents, and
Whereas: The major thrust of the review of academic administrators
is to improve the effectiveness of Eastern Kentucky University's academic
administration, and
Whereas: To accomplish this the review process requires the active
support and appraisal from all persons in a position to express valid
viewpoints in the performance of individual administrators, and
Whereas: The full-time faculty of the University can provide a
unique perspective on the state of the University and the performance
of the president which can lead to valuable insights to improve administrative
performance and accountability, and
Whereas: The Faculty Senate is the delegate assembly of the University
faculty through which the faculty normally exercises its responsibilities
as a group;
We Move: That, the Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University,
through the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, conduct a systematic
review of the President during the second and fourth year of service and
every four years thereafter by all full-time faculty to be transmitted
to the President and to the Board of Regents.
Supporting
Materials for Motion for Faculty Review of The President
I.A new section V to be added to the Faculty Handbook under "Evaluation
of Academic Administrators" [Faculty Handbook, page 42] with following
sections V and VI appropriately renumbered VI and VII.
V. Administrative Review of the President by the Faculty
- The
President shall be reviewed by the faculty during the second and fourth
year of service and every four years thereafter. The Board or the
President may request more frequent reviews.
- All
faculty who are members of the Faculty-at-Large as designated in the
"Organization of the Faculty of Eastern Kentucky University" [Faculty
Handbook, page 101] shall be given the opportunity to complete the
questionnaire as approved by the Executive Committee of the Faculty
Senate. The completed questionnaires shall be transmitted to the Executive
Committee of the Faculty Senate.
- Members
of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate will be responsible
for the tabulation of the responses and the transcription of all comments.
A summary will be transmitted to the President and to the Board of
Regents. The individual review forms will be confidential and will
be destroyed.
- The
questionnaire used to review the President shall solicit responses
in the areas of leadership, management, communication, personal relations,
fairness and an overall evaluation. Opportunity should be given to
provide open-ended comments as well as more quantitative review. Signature
on the actual questionnaire should be optional, however, signature
on response envelopes may be necessary to ensure faculty status of
respondents. Procedures for the distribution of questionnaires and
verification of respondents should be the same as those used for the
election of the Faculty Regent.
Senator
Schlomann indicated that as this is a substantive issue, action should be
delayed until the May 6 meeting.
Academic
Affairs Curriculum Items. Senator Marsden moved approval for the departmental
name change from Art to Art and Design, seconded by Senator O'Connor. This
motion was passed by the Senate.
Senator
Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the B.A. in Chemistry,
seconded by Senator Yoder. This motion was approved by the Senate.
Senator Marsden, seconded by Senator Thompson, moved approval of the proposal
to revise the M.A. in Education, LBD P-12. This motion was approved by the
Senate.
Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the MA in Teaching:
Middle Grade, seconded by Senator Hubbard. This motion was approved by the
Senate.
Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the BA in English
to delete the writing option and add creative writing and technical writing
options, seconded by Senator Milde. This motion was approved by the Senate.
Senator Marsden moved approval of the proposal to revise the title of the
BS in Assets Protection to Assets Protection and Security, seconded by Senator
Reed. This motion was approved by the Senate.
Senator Marsden moved approval, seconded by Senator Fenton,
of the program revision in the BS in Fire Safety Engineering Technology
to drop the Occupational Safety and Health Engineering Technology option
and add the Safety and Industrial Relations option. This motion was approved
by the Senate.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Marsden moved to adjourn at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Meetings