Faculty Senate Minutes - 2/6/2003
Missouri Western State College
Faculty Senate Minutes
February 6, 2003
Call to order:
The meeting was called to order by President Greiert at 4:00 p.m.
Senators present:
Larry Andrews, Brenda Blessing, Bill Church, Richard Cluff, Steven Greiert, Susan Hennessy, Marilyn Hunt, Michael Ottinger, Mark Mikkelsen, Barry Nelson, Keith Rhodes, John Tapia, Randye Williams, Carolyn Windsor
Senators absent:
Ben Caldwell, Mike Smith
Ex-officio members present:
President James Scanlon
Guests present:
Christa Adam
Approval of minutes:
Minutes of the January 30, 2003 meeting were approved (Ottinger/Church).
Approval of the agenda:
The agenda for the February 6, 2003 meeting was approved (Andrews/Mikkelsen).
Report from college president:
President Scanlon updated senators on a number of current events, which he had described in an email to all employees on 02/07/03. He indicated he had testified before the Missouri House of Representatives Appropriations Committee for Education regarding the FY2004 budget for Western and that it was well received by the committee. He also commented on Governor Bob Holden’s visit to Western on 02/05/03 and described the governor as supportive and knowledgeable of Western. The status of the “university” bill was addressed by Scanlon and commendations given to Dave Arnold, Beth Wheeler and student regent Kevin Callaway for the testimony they provided to the Missouri Senate committee assigned to consider the bill. Scanlon indicated the bill would be now sent on to the full Senate and the full House of Representatives.
Report from vice-president for academic and student affairs:
Vice President Arnold was not present to make a report.
Report from faculty senate executive committee:
Senator Nelson reported on the results of the special election which was held to fill a vacant faculty senate seat. Election results were finalized on February 3, 2003. Dr. Sharon Wagner, Business Department, will be assuming the Faculty Senate position vacated by Robert Klostermeyer, and will serve a term until July 2004.
Senator Greiert presented a synopsis of information given to the Missouri Association of Faculty Senates (MAFS) by Robert Stein, liaison from the CBHE. The most important topics emphasized by Greiert were Stein’s comments about the Results Improvement Initiatives (RII) and Stein’s strong statements about the likelihood of program cuts in AY2003-2004. Mr. Stein indicated to MAFS that CBHE in the future will not look favorably on “across-the-board cuts”. Therefore, Stein expects “serious cuts to occur at each campus”. Greiert listed a number of issues addressed at the February 3-4 meeting of MAFS, including: tobacco securitization; CBHE program review; proprietary certification; unionization; and MSU benefits. Greiert indicated he would like to discuss these issues in Faculty Senate, but could not do so today because of the full agenda. He stated he hopes to include these in the agenda for future meetings.
Report from officers of the student government association:
Vice President Steve Allee reported on the Collegiate Readership Program and the opportunities the program will provide to Western students. The program is being held at Western as a four-week pilot program, and Allee indicated students have responded positively on student surveys. The cost of the program will be $3-$5/student/semester and will make available three newspapers to the students: USA Today, Kansas City Star, and the St. Joseph News-Press. Students will vote
on the program March 19 and 20. Senator Andrews complimented the SGA on the program and indicated it was an asset to Western.
Allee also reported on the Student Association of Missouri and indicated that the SGA would like to see Western belong to the association. The cost for a provisional membership would be $1/student/semester.
President Ryan Sevcik discussed the issue of the cost of textbooks to students and the possibility of a Book Rental Program which a number of colleges have adopted. The program would allow students the opportunity to pay less for books and to have the expenditure included in their tuition. He indicated the SGA would like to have a forum later this spring with students, faculty and bookstore representatives present to discuss the issue of textbook cost.
Sevcik asked senators whether parking is still an issue and stated there have been fewer student concerns this semester. Senators responded that parking does not seem to be an issue at the current time.
Old Business:
SR02.03 (Rhodes/Williams): “Charge the faculty senate academic regulations and standards committee to review the Academic Honesty Policy and consider ways to enhance the penalties for proven cases of cheating.” There was no discussion. Vote taken and resolution passed unanimously.
SR03.03 (Caldwell/Williams): “Charge the faculty senate curriculum committee [for AY2003-2004] with developing a policy in the MWSC Policy Guide regarding whether courses that are not offered on a regular basis should be deleted or removed (retired) from the MWSC Catalog with possible reinstatement at a later date.” Discussion among senators ensued. Senator Blessing raised a question regarding the definition of “regular basis” and how courses would be reinstated once removed. Senator Hennessy asked whether the policy would allow departmental discretion in the deletion or removal of courses. Senator Tapia suggested the policy should delineate the time limit for reinstatement of courses. Christa Adam, Chair of the Curriculum Committee, responded to senators’ comments and proposed that courses could be removed after 3-5 years and that the process for reinstatement is yet to be determined. Senator Nelson paraphrased the motion, emphasizing the intent of the motion as a charge to the curriculum committee to develop a policy which reflected senators’ comments. Nelson called the question. Vote taken and resolution passed unanimously.
SB01.03 (Church/Rhodes): “Amend the MWSC Policy Guide in three places:
1. Pages 80-81, VIII. FACULTY PROMOTION
A. PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
2. Promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor
a. Requirements for promotion consideration:
from: “A minimum of five years of full-time college teaching
experience at the rank of assistant professor at MWSC is required
for promotion to this rank.”
to: “A minimum of five years of full-time college service at the rank of
assistant professor at MWSC is required for promotion to this rank.”
2. Page 80, VIII. FACULTY PROMOTION
A. PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
1. Promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor
a. Requirements for promotion consideration:
from: “A minimum of three years of full-time college teaching experience
at MWSC will be required for promotion to this rank.”
to: “A minimum of three years of full-time service at the rank of
instructor at MWSC will be required for promotion to this rank.”
3. Pages 81-82, VIII. FACULTY PROMOTION
A. PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
1. Promotion from Associate Professor to Professor
a. Requirements for promotion consideration:
from: “A minimum of five years of full-time teaching experience at
MWSC is required for promotion to this rank.”
to: “A minimum of five years of full-time service at the rank of
associate professor at MWSC is required for promotion to this
rank.”
4. Page 84, VIII. FACULTY PROMOTION
A. PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
[Footnotes]
from: “Neither sabbatical leave nor leave of absence without pay
constitutes full-time teaching experience. Two years of half-
time college teaching experience will be considered as one year
of full-time teaching experience.”
to: “Leave without pay does not constitute full-time service.
Two years of half-time college teaching experience will be
considered as one year of full-time service.”
Faculty discussion ensued. Senators raised concerns about: the clarity of the current language; the brevity of the word “service”; and the impact of the proposed language on the eligibility of faculty for promotion. Senator Tapia moved to amend the original motion by adding the phrase “with at least two and one-half years of full- time teaching” after the word “service” in each of the proposed statements, numbers 1-3 in the motion. Seconded by Senator Andrews. Senator Rhodes called the question. Vote taken and the amendment to the original motion passed unanimously. Senator Nelson called the question on the motion as amended. Vote taken and the amended motion passed unanimously.
SB02.03 (Mikkelsen/Caldwell): “Add the semester designation of Departmental Discretion (DD) to certain courses in the MWSC Catalog in the following instances:
1. Page 57:
from: Semester Designation
The following abbreviations following the title of the course and the
credit(shown in parentheses) indicate the semesters in which the course is
normally offered, however course availability is subject to staffing changes
and student enrollment.
F? the course is offered in the fall semester
Sp- The course is offered in the spring semester
Su- The course is offered in the summer session
to: Semester Designation
These abbreviations following the title of the course and credit
(shown in parentheses) indicate the semesters in which the course is
normally offered. However, course availability is subject to staffing
changes and student enrollment.
F? The course is offered in the fall semester
Sp- The course is offered in the spring semester
Su- The course is offered in the summer session
DD- The course is offered at departmental discretion
2. Pages 79, 93, 95, 107, 112, 123, 127, 130, 141, 150, 153, 161, 165, 174, 175, 187, 191, 198, 208, 211, 221, 225, 229, 242, 243, 245, 246, 248, 250, 261, 263, 264, 271, 272, 274, 274, 280, 283, 284, 286, 291:
add: F- The course is offered in the fall semester
Sp- The course is offered in the spring semester
Su- The course is offered in the summer session
DD- The course is offered at departmental discretion.
3. Course descriptions throughout the MWSC Catalog:
replace: (on demand) with DD
replace: no semester designation with DD
There was no discussion among senators on the motion. Rhodes called the question. Vote taken. Motion passed unanimously.
SB03.03 (Hunt/Mikkelsen): “Information requested by the faculty senate executive committee regarding individual department standards for promotion and tenure be directed to the faculty senate promotion and tenure committee with the following charge: ‘After reviewing said information, in conjunction with consultation with the vice president of academic and student affairs and the dean of the school of liberal arts and sciences and the dean of the school of professional studies, the committee recommend to the faculty senate minimum standards for promotion and tenure to replace and/or supplement those currently identified in the MWSC
Policy Guide.’”
Discussion among senators focused on the rationale for the motion and the routing of the report from the faculty senate to the promotion and tenure committee. Senator Greiert called the question. Vote taken. Motion passed unanimously with one abstention.
SB04.03 (Hunt/Church): “The faculty senate recommend to the college president and to the board of regents that no curriculum be approved that will result in any additional operating costs until the Fall of 2004.”
Discussion among senators focused on the rationale for the motion, with Senator Mikkelsen questioning the language and the intent of the motion. Senators Andrews and Blessing noted that the motion calls only for a recommendation from faculty senate. Mikkelsen suggested the motion be brought forward as a senate resolution rather than a senate bill. Senator Tapia withdrew the motion.
SB05.03 (Nelson/Windsor): “Amend the MWSC Policy Guide in four places:
1. Page 62, SECTION TWO: ACADEMIC AND INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES.
VI. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. B. Curricular Constraints (Form C).
2. Baccalaureate degree programs [second bulleted statement]:
from: “Major degree programs will require no fewer than 30 and no more than
66 credit hours.”
to: “Major degree programs will require no fewer than 30 and no more than
72 credit hours.”
2. Page 62, SECTION TWO: ACADEMIC AND INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES.
VI. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. B. Curricular Constraints (Form C).
2. Baccalaureate degree programs [part b]:
from: “Credit hours earned for the following courses will all count toward the
maximum of 66 credit hours for major degree programs”.
to: “Credit hours earned for the following courses will all count toward the
maximum of 72 credit hours for major degree programs.”
3. Page 63, SECTION TWO: ACADEMIC AND INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES.
VI. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. B. Curricular Constraints (Form C).
2. Baccalaureate degree programs [part d]:
from: “Major degree programs may exceed the 66 credit hour maximum only if
a convincing case has been made for exceeding this limit.”
to: “ Major degree programs may exceed the 72 credit hour maximum only if
a convincing case has been made for exceeding this limit.”
4. Page 63, SECTION TWO: ACADEMIC AND INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES.
VI. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. B. Curricular Constraints (Form C).
2. Baccalaureate degree programs [part d- second bulleted statement]:
from: “Baccalaureate degree programs will require no more than 124 credit hours.”
to: “Baccalaureate degree programs will require no more than 128 credit hours.”
Discussion among senators ensued with questions raised about credit hour requirements in other colleges across the state and nationwide. Senator Nelson indicated that the credit hour requirements delineated in the motion were compatible with a number of other colleges. Nelson also noted that additional information could be collected and that it would take time to do so.
Nelson moved to table the motion, seconded by Senator Mikkelsen. No further discussion among senators. Vote taken. Motion to table passed unanimously with no abstentions.
New Business:
Senator Greiert requested nominees for the following committees: Ad hoc Scholarship Committee; Ad hoc Policy Review Committee; Calendar Committee; and the Promotion and Tenure Committee. He requested senators to email him with the names of individuals who would be willing to serve on these committees.
Senator Hennessy indicated she will be making a motion at the next faculty senate meeting to amend the number of credit hours in the foreign language requirement for baccalaureate degree programs, as listed in the MWSC Policy Guide, pp. 62-63.
Adjournment:
Meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. (Ottinger/Hunt)
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Windsor
Faculty Senate Secretary
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