Faculty Senate Minutes - 3/21/2002

Missouri Western State College
Faculty Senate Minutes
March 21, 2002



Call to order:

The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m. by Robert Klostermeyer,
Faculty
Senate President.

Senators present:

Larry Andrews, Brenda Blessing, Ben Caldwell, Bill Church, Steven Greiert,
Marilyn Hunt, Robert Klostermeyer, Mark Mikkelsen, Barry Nelson, Evan
Noynaert, Sally Radmacher, Mike Smith, John Tapia, Kelly Williams, Carolyn
Windsor

Senators absent:

Mike Cadden, Keith Rhodes

Ex-officio members present:

James Scanlon, Missouri Western State College President
James Roever, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Guests present:

Joachim Kibirige, Patricia Scott

Approval of minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting of February 21, 2002 were approved as
submitted (Blessing).

Approval of agenda:

The agenda for today's meeting was approved as presented (Radmacher).






Report from college president:

President Scanlon reported that he has recently been in Jefferson City
dealing with matters related to the college budget and the possible change
of name from Missouri Western State College to Missouri Western State
University. The name change has been approved by the Missouri House of
Representatives by a vote of 97 to 30. Scanlon was optimistic that the
Missouri Senate will approve the legislation. He then expressed his
pleasure that the name change seems imminent, as the change complements our
institutional mission and would significantly add to the stature or value
of
the college.

With regard to the funding equity issue, Scanlon reported that, in spite of
the previous ups and downs due to various political maneuvers, the issue is
now alive again. The Appropriations Committee and the House Budget
Committee have both passed on it, so the matter now goes to the House
floor.
There is some question whether it will survive on the floor.

Scanlon then indicated that there has been some progress on gaining
additional federal funding for continuation of the renovation of the
Science, Math and Physics building, in addition to technology funding.

Regarding the operations budget for fiscal 2003, President Scanlon is
recommending to the Board of Regents a budget reflecting a 10 percent core
cut which would be financed with a $2 million spending cut and some revenue
enhancement (including a tuition increase). He will be asking for $350,000
budgeting for our strategic planning initiative. Although the proposed
budget will be presented to the Board at their March meeting, the final
budget will not be approved until May or June.

Finally, Scanlon reported that there is an initiative to greatly cut the
state appropriations for the operation of the Coordinating Board of Higher
Education (CBHE). He and other state college/university presidents
responded with strong support for continual funding of the CBHE in order to
ensure adequate and effective operations.

Report from Vice President for Academic Affairs:

James Roever, Vice President for Academic Affairs, reported that he has
been
working on faculty self evaluations. In other matters, he indicated that
the Executive Director of the Missouri Western State College Foundation
announced that non-scholarship proposals are due by April 5 (with the note
that Foundation money is down about 30 percent from last year).





Report from Faculty Senate executive committee:

President Klostermeyer reported that, according to communications he
received from faculty members, the faculty overwhelmingly supported Dr.
David Arnold, who has accepted the position of Vice President for Academic
and Student Affairs. He expressed thanks to the hard work for all faculty
members who worked on the search committee, which included David Ashley,
Nancy Edwards, Diane Gorcyca, Steven Greiert, Stanley Hays, Susan Hennessy,
and Carolyn Windsor.

Klostermeyer then reported that, according to his discussion with Cynthia
Heider, chairperson of the general studies committee, we are in compliance
with the statewide general studies guidelines by posting our general
studies
plan on the internet.

In addition, Klostermeyer reported that at the March 7 meeting of the CGAC,
the following proposals were approved: (1) the 2003-2004 college calendar
(with winter commencement on Saturday, December 14); (2) changing the names
of Liberal Arts and Sciences Division and Professional Studies Division,
respectively, to School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of
Professional Studies; (3) launching of the new Associate of Arts degree in
Paramedic Technology, to be housed in the Department of Nursing; and (4)
fall regular registration to be one day only, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
on Thursday, August 15.

Senate Vice President Greiert announced that the School of Liberal Arts and
Sciences met on Tuesday, March 19 for nomination for faculty senators for
the coming year, while the School of Professional Studies will meet Friday,
March 22 for the same. Ten nominations were received from Liberal Arts and
Sciences, while six nominations will be accepted from Professional Studies.
Ballots for election of senators will be distributed to academic
departments
on Monday, March 25, and will be collected on Friday, March 29.
Nominations
for senate officers will be received at the April 4 meeting, while election
of senate officers will be held at a special senate meeting on April 11.
He
further announced that next year's committee appointments will be approved
at the April 18 meeting.

Academic regulations & standards committee report:

Joachim Kibirige, chairperson, distributed the Academic Standards and
Regulations Committee Report for AY 2001-2002 dated 3/21/02 (Attachment A),
which detailed the charges, deliberations and some concerns of the
committee, and an excerpt from the Missouri Western State College Policy
Guide detailing the procedure for resolving grade appeals beyond the
department level (Attachment B). In addition, Kibirige addressed other
concerns not listed in the report, including the suggestion that the
membership of the committee should probably be for two years rather than
one, and the question of whether minutes of proceedings need to be kept by
the committee. After some discussion, Senator Blessing commended the
chairperson and the committee for their outstanding work.

Evaluation of faculty committee report:

Chairperson Patricia Scott presented a short oral report, in which she read
the charges to the committee and then proceeded to indicate their progress.
They have received various evaluation instrument samples from other similar
colleges and universities and are continuing to receive additional ones,
with the anticipation that one or more of these can be adapted to our needs
at Missouri Western. They intend to poll the faculty concerning these
various evaluation instruments. She further recommended, on behalf of the
committee, that the current committee members be held over for continued
membership for the coming academic year (all current members have agreed to
continue their service next year).
Finally, she noted that it may be best not to make any evaluation changes
or
proposals until we have had an opportunity to discuss these matters with
the
new vice president for academic and student affairs.

New business:

MOTION SR 01-02.01: that the Faculty Senate endorse the proclamation
generated by the Missouri Association of Faculty Senates (Attachment C)
which resolves that the Missouri General Assembly and Governor Holden
recognize the vital connection of higher education to Missouri's economic
development, and that cuts to the higher education budget are harmful to
the
state of Missouri, and that Missouri recommit itself to providing its
students, citizens, and businesses with a nationally competitive,
affordable
higher education system (Noynaert).

A motion was made to suspend the rules so that this resolution could be
voted upon immediately (Mikkelsen). The motion to suspend the rules passed
unanimously, whereupon the resolution passed unanimously.

MOTION SR 01-02.02: that the Faculty Senate endorse Missouri House Bill
number 1986 which would provide for faculty representation on Missouri
state
college/university governing boards (Mikkelsen).

A motion was made to suspend the rules so that this resolution could be
voted upon immediately (Mikkelsen). The motion to suspend the rules passed
unanimously, whereupon the resolution passed unanimously.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m. (Hunt)


G. Barry Nelson
Faculty Senate Secretary