Meeting Minutes: February 9, 2017

Faculty Senate Minutes
Regular Meeting
February 9, 2017

The Faculty Senate was called to order by A.G. Rud, Chair on Thursday February 9, 2017, in FSHN T101 at 3:30 p.m. thirty-four (34) members were present with twenty (20) absent and eight (8) nonvoting members present.

Minutes of January 26, 2017 meeting were approved as circulated.

1. Announcements (Information items).
   1. Information Items.
      1. WSU Safe Travel Communication Plan
      2. Faculty Senate Officers met with the president on January 31, 2017
      3. Minor Change Bulletin #7 (Exhibit B)
      4. Nominations for chair-elect as follows:
         1. Jeanette Mageo, Bio CV
      5. Nominations for executive secretary as follows:
         1. Amy Nielsen, Bio CV
      6. International Travel Memo
2. Announcements (Reports).
   1. Remarks by AG Rud
      1. I now sit on a new committee for the College of Medicine Curriculum Committee along with the provost, the dean of the College of Medicine, Julia Pomerenk and Craig Parks. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful guidance and support Julia Pomerenk from the Office of the Registrar has been in guiding this committee on the curriculum.
   2. Remarks by Matt Skinner
      1. An update was provided on the need for modernization of our internal systems
3. Additions or Changes to the Agenda. None.
4. Agenda Items (Action Items)
   1. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve Undergraduate Major Change Bulletin #7 (Exhibits P P1 ) – G. Crouch
      1. Motion carried
   2. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve UCORE Bulletin #3 (Exhibit Q) – G. Crouch
      1. Motion carried
   3. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve UCORE Bulletin #4 (Exhibit R) – G. Crouch
      1. Motion carried
   4. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the Academic Calendar for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine (Exhibits S S1 S2) – G. Crouch
      1. Motion carried
   5. Recommendation from the Graduate Studies Committee to approve Graduate Major Change Bulletin #7 (Exhibit U ) – T. Chauvin/T. Salsbury
      1. Motion carried
   6. Recommendation from the Graduate Studies Committee to approve the proposal for the School of Engineering and Computer Science (Vancouver) revised plan for Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Exhibits W W1 ) – T. Chauvin/T. Salsbury
      1. Motion carried
5. Agenda Items (Discussion Items).
   1. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Curriculum Bulletin #1 (Exhibit C ) – G. Crouch
      1. No discussion
   2. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve Undergraduate Major Change Bulletin #8 (Exhibits Y Y1 ) – G. Crouch
      1. No discussion
   3. Recommendation from the Academic Affairs Committee to approve the proposal to Extend the BS in Agricultural and Food Systems, Organic Agriculture Systems to WSU North Puget Sound at Everett (Exhibits Z Z1 ) – G. Crouch
      1. Discussion: A question was raised having 3 instructions for 5 students per year the cost for the extra staff. It was noted proposals go through a thorough budget review prior to coming to the Faculty Senate and that committee did not raise any concerns.
   4. Recommendation from the Graduate Studies Committee to approve the Graduate School’s Updated Policies and Procedures Manual (Exhibits D D1 D2 ) – T. Chauvin/T. Salsbury
      1. Discussion: A question was raised regarding pass/fail grades in Capstone classes for graduate students.. It was clarified that the criteria for the pass/fail would need to be outlined in the syllabus.
   5. Recommendation from the Graduate Studies Committee to approve Graduate Major Change Bulletin #8 (Exhibit E ) – T. Chauvin/T. Salsbury
      1. No discussion
6. Constituents’ Concerns.
   1. The Executive Officers are currently following up on the concern voiced at the last meeting regarding the Graduate School’s inflexibility in handling minor clerical or program-of-study errors is preventing students from achieving the ABD status that they deserve, and also that the grant money saved by ABD can used by faculty to provide tuition support to other deserving graduate students, thereby helping us to increase our production of Ph.D. graduates. As a remedy, I suggested that the graduate school, in cases of a denied ABD application, allow the applicant one chance to fix whatever problem led to the denial, and then resubmit the amended application (and program of study if necessary), even after the nominal ABD deadline. The graduate student would
      still be responsible for paying his/her tuition on time, but if the amended ABD is approved by the graduate school, then the student and his advisor would be reimbursed for the tuition they paid. This solution still allows the graduate school to perform all the detailed checks (of the ABD application, the program of study, etc.) that they like to do, in order to ensure that the student has indeed finished all required courses and has passed the prelim exam.
   2. A concern was raised among several members regarding the parking situation and that buildings are being built on parking lots and that additional parking needs do not seem to be addressed. It was noted that the Executive Officers will follow up with John Shaheen, Director of Transportation Services and also contact Bobbi Ryder regarding the Master Campus Plan.
7. Adjournment.
   1. The meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
      1. Sheila Converse, Executive Secretary