Faculty Senate Minutes - 10/5/2000

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
October 5, 2000



Call to order


President Mikkelsen called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m.


Senators present


Aschermann, Bargar, Cadden, Caldwell, Greiert, Hamzaee, Klostermeyer,
McLear, Mikkelsen, Nelson, Noynaert, Radmacher, Roberts, Tapia, Williams


Senators absent


Fowler


Ex-officio


James McCarthy, interim president, Missouri Western State College
James Roever, vice president for academic affairs, Missouri Western State
College


Guests present


Robert Bergland, assistant professor of English
Jeanne Daffron, dean, division of professional studies
Martin Johnson, dean, division of liberal arts and sciences
Kathyrne Mueller, administrative associate of vice president for academic
affairs
John Rushin, professor and chairman, department of biology


Meeting agenda


The proposed agenda for today's meeting was approved with no alterations.


Minutes of the previous meeting


The minutes of the September 7 meeting were approved as written
(Nelson/Radmacher).


Report from the interim college president


MWSC interim President James McCarthy reported that he was rescinding his
recommendation regarding parking fees. He said that at this time more
information is necessary from various sources. McCarthy will be asking
Lonnie Johnson, director of maintenance at MWSC, to develop a three-year
plan that will be ready for submission to the new president of the
college. In response to questions raised at the previous faculty senate
meeting about emergency access to the new Janet Gorman Murphy Building,
McCarthy noted that he has also requested that Lonnie Johnson produce a
plan addressing that issue.


According to McCarthy, the Alumni Training and Development Center issue is
on hold. That involves a capital request for $1 million. If this matter
is not resolved by Spring semester, 2001, the capital proposal will be put
aside. This would also delay for at least one year the request pertaining
to the Fine Arts Building, because the Alumni Training and Development
Center is top priority and would remain so for next year.


Report from the vice president for academic affairs


James Roever, vice president for academic affairs, explained that at a
recent meeting the Dean's Council had discussed allocating budget for
capital requests from all academic divisions, including Professional
Studies, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Registrar, IMC, the Library, the
Honors Program, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching. Based on
recommendations from the respective department chairpersons, the Dean's
Council has determined a priority list to which it will adhere. Funds for
this year's first capital purchases have been allocated.


Roever stated that his office and the Academic Program/Enrollment
Management Group of the Master Plan Committee will review a report on
October 11, 2000. This body will make recommendations to the Master Plan
Committee. Focus groups are being formed. They include: Academic
Programs; Enrollment Projections; Facility Needs; and Information
Technology. Each focus group will need student, faculty, and staff input,
as well as, in some cases, advice from business leaders and public
officials in order to compile a report that it will forward to the
Planning Committee. The targeted date for these reports is March 2001.


Report from the faculty senate executive committee


President Mikkelsen reported again on the presidential search
process. The Presidential Screening Committee hopes to begin interviewing
candidates before Thanksgiving. Mikkelsen, along with David Bennett,
assistant professor of music and director of the honors program, as well
as Martin Johnson, dean of the division of liberal arts and sciences,
attended on September 21, 2000, a meeting in Warrensburg, Missouri, about
the General Studies Proposals form proposed for Missouri universities and
colleges. Faculty can look at the draft reporting form at the CBHE
website. Bennett will make a full report to the faculty senate at its
meeting on November 2, 2000. Meanwhile, he will be collecting reactions
from department chairs at MWSC. The deadline for each college or
university in the state to submit its form to the CBHE is October 1,
2001. Roever interjected that he wants to finish this form for MWSC by
February 2001. Mikkelsen mentioned that a few institutions within the
state will be chosen as "pilots" to see if the process will work. These
institutions will make presentations at the Conference on Transfer and
Articulation (COTA) in February at Tan-Tara. Mikkelsen and Roever
suggested that it might be a good idea for MWSC to be such a "pilot."


Mikkelsen said that McCarthy had recently invited him as president of the
faculty senate to join the Master Plan Committee. Mikkelsen sees this
committee as a genuine opportunity for each group on campus to be
represented in the process of strategic planning.


Mikkelsen reminded senators about the upcoming presidential convocation on
October 30, 2000. This year's guest speaker will be former Congresswoman
Patricia Schroeder of Colorado. Mikkelsen encouraged full participation
among the faculty in attending the convocation itself.


Mikkelsen then asked for deletion of charge #3 originally assigned to the
faculty senate curriculum committee. This charge reads: "Keep informed of
any issues under discussion by committee appointed by academic
vice-president to review catalog design during the fall 2000 term which
may be of significance to the curriculum committee." Dr. Roever notified
the faculty senate that the committee will not be formed this year. By
acclamation the faculty senate unanimously endorsed Mikkelsen's request
regarding the deletion of this charge for this year.


Mikkelsen suggested that corrections needed to be made in the 2000-2001
MWSC Policy Guide, pp. 50, 128, regarding the deadline for faculty
leave. He recommended that this issue be brought to the attention of the
CGAC for discussion. The faculty senate by acclamation supported his
recommendation.


Mikkelsen announced that a sufficient number of signatures for proposed
amendments to the 2000-2001 MWSC Policy Guide have been collected. At the
latest date, these amendments will likely be brought up at the Spring
elections for faculty senate.


Mikkelsen informed the faculty senate about a proposal put forth by the
academic deans regarding a policy on food and drink prohibition in
classrooms. This policy proposal will be distributed to faculty senators
and put on the agenda for the next faculty senate meeting.


Mikkelsen announced that Dr. Judy Grimes, director of student success
programs at MWSC,
has accepted an invitation to meet with the faculty senate executive
committee on Wednesday, October 11, 2000, to discuss issues on which the
faculty senate wants her to focus when she addresses the faculty senate
about the Access Plus program during our meeting on October 19, 2000.


Mikkelsen alerted the faculty senate that reports from the following
committees are expected at upcoming meetings: 1) faculty senate grievance
committee report/recommendations on October 19, 2000; 2) faculty senate
academic standards and regulations committee preliminary report on October
19, 2000; 3) ad hoc committee on outside employment report on November 2,
2000.


Vice-President Barry Nelson urged faculty senate liaisons to remind
committee chairpersons about the necessity of submitting regularly the
minutes and attendance at their respective committee meetings. He also
stated that committees should provide their reports on disks.


Mikkelsen noted that the website for the faculty senate has been
updated. Committee charges are now posted on the site. This will be a
source of long-term information on faculty senate business at MWSC.


Report from institutional environmental impact committee


Dr. John Rushin, professor of biology, chairperson of the Institutional
Environmental Impact Committee, discussed the role his committee had
played regarding the Faraon Street project and other issues. The Faraon
Street project was the top priority capital improvement project based on
the recommendation of a citizens' committee in St. Joseph. Another
proposal focused on extending the parkway cement trail system in the
city. City leaders wanted to connect that trail to another trail along
Faraon Street all the way to Riverside Road. A very diverse and large
Trail Subcommittee was formed. Its initial focus was to develop a
meandering, pedestrian asphalt trail
about five feet wide
along that street. The city proposed to take soil from the old college
farm and use it for landfill a new bridge across I-29, thus saving a
considerable amount of money. For this soil MWSC received $45,000, which
the maintenance department can use for landscaping purposes on
campus. Under consideration is a proposal linking the MWSC jogging trail
system with the Faraon Street trail and expanding the Faraon Street trail
down to Mitchell. The campus department of conservation asked a trail
specialist to recommend where such a linking road might be placed. The
department also suggested handicapped access to this trail system. Two
ponds needed to be drained, and the trail was re-routed. Total cost of
the project was $200,000.


Rushin also indicated that MWSC has submitted a grant proposal regarding
the campus ponds. He said that, whereas the trail project has been
somewhat successful, the pond project looks much better, especially
because he thinks that the college has a good chance of succeeding in
securing funds through its grant proposal. Describing the pond project as
a worthwhile endeavor, Rushin noted that, after consultation with Native
Americans from Kansas, all the ponds on campus have recently been given
Pottawatomie names as well as English names.


Rushin also shared with the faculty senate a document developed by the
Land Use Committee for future campus use. (See Attachment A)


Report from academic deans on their respective five-year plans


Dr. Martin Johnson, dean of the division of liberal arts and sciences, and
Dr. Jeanne Daffron, dean of the division of professional studies,
explained the processes through which their respective divisional
five-year plans had emerged. Johnson spoke first, emphasizing that with
the advent of a new president of the college it seemed timely to
coordinate new divisional plans with the new mission enhancement
program. He stated that both deans sought, and received, significant
input from the faculty through their respective chairpersons. Each
chairperson, in consultation with her/his respective departmental faculty
members, was responsible for developing a new five-year plan as a mission
statement for her/his department. Rough drafts had been submitted in LAS
to Johnson in January, 2000. Final drafts were completed and approved in
April, 2000. Goals were established, but they remained flexible
ones. (See Attachment B) He stated that the LAS goals receiving primary
attention during AY 2000-2001 were #2, #3, #5, and #6. During the Fall
semester, 2000, he was planning to speak with each department about its
respective goals. Johnson indicated that each of the deans will submit an
"executive summary" to the Master Plan Committee. These documents will
synthesize major issues which necessitate special immediate
focus. Daffron concurred with Johnson's explanation of the process and
noted that she also planned to meet with each department in her division
to review specific departmental goals. She identified the PS goals
receiving primary attention during AY 2000-2001 as #2, #3, #6, and
#7. (See Attachment C)


Discussion ensued with each dean for clarification purposes.


Old Business


None.


New Business


None.


Other


A report by Senator Evan Noynaert on a recent Missouri Association of
Faculty Senates (MAFS) meeting was postponed (with his approval) until the
next faculty senate meeting.


Adjournment


The meeting was adjourned at 5:46 p.m. (Bargar/Williams).



Respectfully submitted,



Steven Greiert
Secretary