Meeting Minutes: September 24, 2020

Faculty Senate Minutes

Regular Meeting

September 24, 2020

1. Prior to the call to order, WSU President Kirk Schulz and Provost Elizabeth Chilton offered remarks and answered questions.
   1. The Faculty Senate was called to order by D. Turnbull, Chair on Thursday September 24, 2020, in Lighty 401 and via Zoom at 4:07 p.m.  Forty-seven (47) members were present with twenty (20) absent and sixteen (16) nonvoting members present.
2. Minutes of April 9, 2020 meeting were approved as circulated.
3. Announcements
   1. Information Items
      1. Faculty Senate Officers met with the president and provost on August 25 and September 15, 2020
      2. Minor Change Bulletin #1 (Exhibit B)
      3. Summer Items passed by Steering Committee
         1. NOI for a new Department in Viticulture and Enology (Exhibits D D1)
         2. NOI for Degree Name Change – Master in Applied Economics (Exhibits E  E1  E2)
         3. Proposal to Discontinue Master’s in Public Affairs (Exhibits F F1)
         4. Edits to Graduate School P&P – Submitting Final Thesis or dissertation to Graduate School (Exhibits G  G1)
         5. NOI ESFCOM – New Unit Behavioral Health (Exhibit H)
         6. 2 Year Moratorium – Department of Communication and Society (Exhibits I  I1)
      4. Notice of Dissolution of the MOU for the Bi-State School of Food Science (Exhibit J)
      5. Faculty Manual amendment to reflect the updated Federal Title IX Policy (Exhibit K)
      6. Notice of Degree Proposal: Suspend BA in Asia Studies (Exhibit L)
   2. Reports
      1. Remarks by the Chair – Dave Turnbull:
         1. On September 18, the Chair attended the Board of Regents meeting and highlights from that report were provided.
         2. It was noted that Past Chair, Greg Crouch attends the Board of Regents meetings as a faculty non-voting representative.
4. Additions or Changes to the Agenda – none
5. Agenda Items
   1. Discussion Items
      1. (Item # 2020.09.24_1_Steering) Recommendation from the Steering Committee to approve the Faculty Senate Committees (Exhibit 1A)
         No Discussion
      2. (Item # 2020.09.24_2_AAC) Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the Revision to Rule 15, Credit by Examinations (Exhibit 2A) –D. Handy
         No Discussion
      3. (Item # 2020.09.24_3_AAC) Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the UCORE Bulletin #1 (Exhibit 3A) –D. Handy
         No Discussion
      4. (Item # 2020.09.24_4_Provost) Recommendation from the Office of the Provost to change the Spring Academic Calendar for Spring 2021 (Exhibit 4A)
         Discussion: Several concerns were raised that this recommendation was only a Pullman campus change and that it would negatively affect other campuses that were on the regular academic calendar.  Items of concern included:  Many campuses have shared classes and that this would wreak havoc in those classes, that many students utilize spring break for research or doing field work and collect data, and that students on the Spokane campus have medical rotations during this time.  These concerns will be communicated to Provost Chilton. 
6. Constituents’ Concerns
   1. A memo regarding increased work demand on faculty during COVID 19 was sent to WSU leadership to outline concerns and propose changes to be instituted in some policies.  The memo is on the Faculty Senate website blog post page.
   2. A concern was raised that football injuries identified as traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) does not align with higher education goals to enhance cognitive ability of our students and that this injury can be a lifelong disability.  Four requests were made: 1) Put all employees associated with the intercollegiate football program on indefinite furlough. 2) Start the process of removing WSU intercollegiate football from the WSU athletic program. 3) Continue to pay scholarships to the football players promised such until they graduate, but not initiate any new football scholarships. 4) Request the WSU Faculty Senate develop position statements related to the incompatibilities of football with any institution of higher education.  The full statement is on the Faculty Senate Blog page. 
   3. The proposed Executive Policy 2 defines distribution on how Facilities and Administration (F&A) funding from grants and contracts is distributed at WSU. Faculty were urged to read and provide input, either on the blog post or email D. Turnbull directly.
   4. A request was made to G. Crouch to keep faculty senate informed on important matters particularly when they consider budgets.   It was noted that the meetings are recorded and are available via YouTube, but that a summary of important items could be provided and posted on the Senate Blog post page.
   5. Senators were urged to read all the posted items and to provide their comments and concerns and/or email comments to D. Turnbull.  The comments will be collected and shared with administration.
7. Adjournment                                                

The meeting adjourned at 4:37 p.m.

                                              Matt Hudelson, Executive Secretary