Faculty Senate Minutes - 11/2/2000

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
November 2, 2000



Call to order


President Mikkelsen called the meeting to order at 4:12 p.m.


Senators present


Bargar, Caldwell, Fowler, Hamzaee, Klostermeyer, McLear, Mikkelsen,
Nelson, Noynaert, Radmacher, Roberts, Tapia, Williams


Senators absent


Aschermann, Cadden, Greiert


Ex-officio


James Roever, vice-president for academic affairs


Guests present


Olu Aregbe, David Bennett, Rick Gilmore, Mark Linder, Kathyrne Mueller,
Elizabeth Sawin


Minutes of the previous meeting


The minutes of the October 19, 2000 meeting were approved as presented
(Radmacher/Noynaert).


Meeting agenda


The agenda for today's meeting was approved by unanimous consent, with the
exception that the general studies report will occur before the report
from the ad hoc committee on outside employment.


Report from college interim president


There was no report from Dr. James McCarthy, college interim president,
who was on college business in Jefferson City.


Report from vice-president for academic affairs


There was no report from Dr. James Roever, vice-president for academic
affairs.


Report from the faculty senate general studies committee


David Bennett, chairperson of the general studies committee, reported that
the committee has been meeting in an effort to determine appropriate
procedures to meet the state guidelines for general studies in Missouri
state colleges and universities. The committee has been working with Dean
Johnson in order to meet the September, 2001 deadline for our final report
on a plan to meet these guidelines. The guidelines would go into effect
in September, 2002. According to Bennett, the committee is working on a
self-imposed deadline of February 1, 2001, for completing our report. The
report would most likely be in the form of a matrix which would list the
eight different areas of goals and competencies and our corresponding
courses meeting the specific goals and competencies. The committee will
need to indicate a plan of how to assess the competencies, as well as the
assignment of competencies to courses.


Discussion followed Bennett's report, principally centered around the
assessment issue, such as whether external assessment, as well as internal
assessment, would be required or appropriate. The question of whether a
standardized test instrument might be used was discussed. Furthermore,
the variance in meeting competencies due to different instructors'
teaching techniques or abilities (e.g, part-time faculty as compared to
full-time faculty) was forwarded as a concern.


Bennett concluded that we have a good general studies program at MWSC, and
that this underlying premise is dominating the discussion and
procedures/deliberations of the committee. The committee will meet at the
end of next week to collate information from various programs which will
go into the matrix, with a comprehensive report from the committee to be
forthcoming in the spring.


Report from the ad hoc committee on outside employment


Rick Gilmore, chairperson of the ad hoc committee on outside employment,
which was formed last spring by President Murphy, reported that the
committee had met and reviewed the policy on outside employment. The
committee recommends that the current policy be retained with the
following two modifications (see Attachment A):


(1) that the penultimate sentence in the final paragraph of the Missouri
Western State College Policy Guide 2000-2001, SECTION TWO: ACADEMIC AND
INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES; PART IV: INSTRUCTIONAL POLICIES; PART N: OUTSIDE
EMPLOYMENT, which currently reads, "Furthermore, professional consulting
work that requires the use of MWSC equipment and/or facilities must be
approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and suitable
overhead/facility charges assigned." be modifed to "Furthermore,
professional consulting work that requires the use of MWSC equipment
and/or facilities must be approved by the Vice President for Academic
Affairs and suitable overhead/EQUIPMENT AND/OR facility charges assigned."


(2) that the "REQUEST FOR OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT" form be modified so that,
just after the line "Does this activity include the use of MWSC equipment
and/or facilities?_____________ (Yes or No)" the following statement be
modified to "If yes, explain the [overhead/facility] equipment and/or
facility usage charges that will be used; be sure to provide a rationale
as to how these charges were developed."


Discussion followed involving the possible need to print the official
request form in the Policy Guide, the distinction between expenses
affecting the budgets of continuing education as opposed to departmental
budgets, the possibility of allowing some minimum limit of expenses before
an official request is required, as well as some other related
points. James Roever, vice president for academic affairs, mentioned that
persons using college facilities within these circumstances number, at
most, two or three per year.


President Mikkelsen expressed thanks for the work of the ad hoc committee,
which included Rick Gilmore, Robert Klostermeyer, Patrick McMurry,
Kathyrne Mueller, Keith Stutterheim, and Phil Wann.


Report from the faculty senate executive committee


President Mikkelsen reported that the announcement concerning campus
visits by presidential candidates will likely be made in the next two
weeks. Most campus visits will occur after the Thanksgiving break. He
proposed that the faculty senate executive committee and the other faculty
on the presidential search committee (consisting of four LAS members and
two PS members) constitute the sub-committee responsible for interviewing
candidates during their campus visits; the senate agreed to this
recommendation by consensus.


He announced that campus visits will mostly follow the procedures used in
the previous search, and will include a general faculty question and
answer session with each candidate. Resumes of each candidate will be
available in each department. Mikkelsen recommended that faculty
questions of the candidates center around strategic planning, enrollment
management, balancing academic excellence and open admissions, the role of
the academic vice president, and faculty salaries. If faculty have other
concerns or questions, Mikkelsen suggested forwarding them to members of
the search committee or the senate executive committee. He announced that
the entire interview process for all candidates is expected to be finished
by December 7.


Mikkelsen then reported that the Master Plan Committee had met on October
26 to discuss initial reports from the four focus areas of the Master
Plan: Academic Programs /Enrollment Management; Enrollment
Projections; Faculty Needs; and Information Technology. The committee
also reviewed materials from consulting groups who are being considered to
be brought into the master plan process. There was some discussion about
the possibility of adding a fifth focus area concerned with student
affairs. Faculty and senators are encouraged to examine the Master Plan,
as available on the college website at http://www2.mwsc.edu/masterplan.


Mikkelsen then stated that he has compiled a list of possible grievance
committee procedures and issues which possibly need discussion and
amendment. To that end, he suggested setting up an ad hoc committee to
review these issues.


Mikkelsen announced that the December 7 meeting would consist of reports
from the salary committee and the fringe benefits committee. He also
announced that meetings possibly scheduled for November 16 and/or November
30 may have to be changed to accommodate the scheduling of presidential
candidates' campus visits.


Barry Nelson, senate vice president, announced that Shiva Nandan has
withdrawn from the promotion and tenure committee (at his own request,
since his wife is applying for tenure this semester), and that Denise
Bartles (PS/Business and Economics) has agreed to serve in his place. It
is not yet determined whether this would be a temporary or a permanent
replacement. Senator Hamzaee moved to accept this change, and Senator
Radmacher seconded the motion. The Senate then agreed to the change by
unanimous consent.


Old business


SB00-01.01 (Bargar/Roberts): To change the wording of the MWSC 2000-2001
Policy Guide (ABSENCES AND MAKE-UP WORK FOR STUDENTS,
p. 45) from: "Regular
class attendance is considered an essential part of the
student'seducational experience and a requirement for an adequate
evaluation of
student academic progress. Each instructor will determine and make known
to
the class the requirement for attendance. When an announced examination
falls on the day a student is absent instructors are not required to
prepare or give a make-up test. Consideration will be given to students in
the case of genuine illness, emergency, or when acting as a representative
of MWSC. It shall be the responsibility of the student to notify the class
instructor prior to the absence and if possible, meet the instructor upon
the student's return to discuss the material missed." to:


"Regular class attendance is considered an essential part of the student's
educational experience and a requirement for an adequate evaluation of
student academic progress. It shall be the responsibility of the student
to get information missed in class because of any absence. When an
announced examination or significant graded assignment falls on the day a
student is absent instructors are not required to prepare a make-up test
or
to give an alternative assignment unless the student sufficiently
documents
an illness, an emergency, or a scheduled, formal event at which the
student is representing Missouri Western State College. A student
representing MWSC needs to notify the instructor before the event."


Elizabeth Sawin, chairperson of the Academic Regulations and Standards
Committee, reported that the committee considered and reported only on the
"consideration" clause, as charged by the faculty senate. The committee
had recommended the above motion, which essentially deletes the
"consideration" clause from the policy.


Mark Linder, NCAA Compliance / Athletic Academic Coordinator for MWSC,
spoke to the issue, explaining how the athletic department interprets the
absences policy of the college. He distributed an explanation sheet
entitled Athletic Related Absences and a copy of the Student-Athlete
Class Absence Notification" form (see Attachment B). Linder reassured the
senate that the intent of the policy and the form is to ensure the
academic progress of the athletic students involved.


Considerable discussion ensued, principally centered around the semantics
of the current and the proposed modified policy, especially
interpretations (or lack of interpretations) of the words
"consideration" and "sufficient documentation." Other matters discussed
related to whether absences due to "representing the college" should fall
under different rules for "emergency" absences. Numerous concerns were
shared over the need to be more specific in defining this policy.


Senator Bargar moved to table the motion (seconded by Klostermeyer). By
unanimous vote, the motion to table passed.


President Mikkelsen recommended that Senators Roberts and Tapia meet to
develop an alternative proposal.



SB00-01.02 (Roberts/Cadden): To change the wording of the MWSC 2000-2001
Policy Guide (MIDTERM DEFICIENCY GRADE REPORTS, p. 49) from: "Grades must
be turned in to the Records Office at midterm for all students. Refer to
the Academic Calendar published in this Policy Guide for the exact date
midterm grades are due. (July 1992)" to:


"Grades must be turned in to the Records Office at midterm as a warning
for
those students whose performance at that point in the semester is minimal
(D) or failing (F). Refer to the Academic Calendar published in this
Policy Guide for the exact date midterm grades are due."


Senator Noynaert (seconded by Hamzaee) moved to table this motion. By a
show of hands, the motion to table failed by a vote of 3 to 8. Senator
Bargar then called the question. The senate then agreed to the calling of
the question by unanimous vote. The main motion then passed by a vote of
11 to 1.


Discussion of proposed college food policy


President Mikkelsen distributed a handout entitled Classroom Food and
Drink Policy, dated August 30, 2000 and jointly authored by Deans Martin
Johnson and Jeanne Daffron, which actually included three different
versions of the proposed policy that would limit eating and drinking to
specific designated areas on campus, and a list of faculty concerns with
any proposed policy (see Attachment C). The first version (marked
C.1) was identified as Dean Johnson's preferred policy, whereas the second
version (marked C.2) was identified as an alternative policy which,
although not preferred, Johnson would be willing to accept. The third
version (marked C.3) was Johnson's original policy proposal which he had
subsequently withdrawn.


Discussion of the proposed policy ensued. Olu Aregbe, president of the
student senate, reported that the student senate had previously voted down
(nearly unanimously) the policy proposal outlined in version (C.3), giving
some rationale for the students' rejection. President Mikkelsen reported
that it is the desire of the faculty senate to work in concert with the
students on the proposed policy. Aregbe then announced that the student
senate would most likely not take up this issue again until early in the
spring semester.


Other discussion centered around various facets of the proposal, including
the uncertainty as to how the policy would be enforced and who would be
responsible for enforcing the policy, in addition to questions concerning
possible sanctions against violators. Other questions presented related
to the possibility of limiting food and drink to non-carpeted rooms/areas
only, areas or lack of areas in various buildings where eating or drinking
could be permitted, the assignment of cleanup charges for possible messes
due to infractions, and the possible necessity of food or drink intake by
students who may have several successive classes with no breaks.


The informal consensus of the faculty senate was that faculty should not
be the sole enforcers of such a policy. This means that, whereas faculty
wish to be the sole enforcers within the classroom, they want the
administration to take a role in promulgating and explaining the
policy. The senate will continue this discussion at a later meeting,
after receiving input and opinions from various interested parties.


Adjournment


The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m. (Nelson, Bargar).


Respectfully submitted


G. Barry Nelson
Senate vice president