Meeting Minutes: November 6, 2014

Faculty Senate Minutes
Regular Meeting
November 6, 2014

The Faculty Senate was called to order by, Craig Parks, Chair on Thursday November 6, 2014, in FSHN T101 at 3:30p.m. Thirty-nine (39) members were present with thirteen (13) absent and five (5) nonvoting members present.

Minutes of October 23, 2014 meeting were approved as circulated.

1. Announcements (Information items).
   1. Information Items.
      1. Minor Change Bulletin #3 (Exhibit V)
2. Announcements (Reports).
   1. Remarks by the Chair.—C. Parks
      1. Proposed Intellectual Property changes for the Faculty Manual have been received and forwarded onto FAC to review. Associate Vice President, Anson Fatland will attend the Senate to answer questions when this becomes an agenda item.
      2. Executive Officers met with Matt Skinner and Theresa Elliot-Cheslek regarding software changes to replace the aging Legacy administrative systems. Matt Skinner will speak at the next meeting to provide a detailed overview of changes made within Zussis.
      3. Executive Officers met with Adam Jussel regarding Academic Integrity and will bring updates on the task force.
      4. Chair elect, R. Zack and Chair C. Parks met with administrators in Spokane to plan the curriculum for the new Medical School. They will develop for a streamlined approach for these courses to implement them efficiently while managing requests from the other colleges.
3. Additions or Changes to the Agenda. None
4. Agenda Items (Action Items).
   1. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve the Digital Humanities and Culture Certificate (Exhibits L L1) – K. Daratha
      1. Motion Carried
   2. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program Exhibits M M1) – K. Daratha
      1. Motion Carried
   3. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve Graduate Major Change Bulletin #2 (Exhibit Q) – K. Daratha
      1. Motion Carried
   4. Recommendation from Academic Affairs Committee on Undergraduate Major Change Bulletin #2 (Exhibits N N1) – D. Baker
      1. Motion Carried
   5. Recommendation from Academic Affairs Committee on UCORE Bulletin 2 Exhibit O) – D. Baker Motion Carried.
5. Agenda Items (Discussion Items)
   1. Recommendation from Research and Arts Committee to approve the amended Definitions for Defining Centers, Institutes and Laboratories (CILs) (Exhibit K) – L. Lavine/J. Savage
      1. DISCUSSION: A question arose on how this affects Service Centers and whether or not they fall under the purview of the recertification from R&A Committee? It was noted that These definitions do not expand the scope of the Research and Arts committee, so if a center was not previously certified by R & A, it would not now need to be.
   2. Recommendation from Research and Arts Committee to approve the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation (Exhibits U, U1, U2, U3, U4) L. Lavine/J. Savage
      1. DISCUSSION:. It was noted that the Library will be able to assist in funding a research assistant and operating space. Since it is a different budget line, it will not result in more journals being cancelled and in fact, may provide more open access journals.
   3. Recommendation from Faculty Affairs Committee on proposed changes to the Faculty Manual (Exhibit P) J. McDonald
      1. DISCUSSION; A question arose on the issue of bullying and how will it be addressed now that a revised exhibit was submitted. It was noted that the bullying issue will be reviewed by the Provost. A request to remove the last sentence “FAC would like to give the Senate Executive the opportunity to discuss the “Bullying” language in the BPPM with the Provost prior to recommending it as an action item” be removed from this exhibit.
   4. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve revisions to the major requirements for the Masters of Science in Mathematics (Exhibits R, R1)- K. Daratha
      1. NO DISCUSSION
   5. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve revisions to the major requirements for the Masters of Science in Mathematics Teaching Option (Exhibits S, S1) – K. Daratha
      1. NO DISCUSSION
   6. Recommendation from Graduate Studies Committee to approve Graduate Major Change Bulletin #3 (Exhibit T) – K. Daratha
      1. NO DISCUSISON. It was noted though that Senators were asked to please review this thoroughly as some of the courses are listed as conjoint classes.
   7. Recommendation from Academic Affairs Committee to approve UCORE Bulletin #3 (Exhibit W)- D. Baker
      1. NO DISCUSSION
   8. Recommendation from Academic Affairs Committee to approve Undergraduate Major Change Bulletin #3 (Exhibit X X1)- D. Baker
      1. DICUSSION: A question arose on 4 Japanese courses which appeared to be repeated. It was noted that this is meant to advise students that there will be a need to take these 4 classes.
6. Recommendation from Academic Affairs Committee to approve revisions to Rule 53 (Exhibit Y)- D. Baker
   1. NO DISCUSSION
7. Constituents’ Concerns.
   1. A concern was brought forth regarding parking on football weekends for faculty and students who need access to their labs every day. It was requested that the Senate Office please look into this.
   2. A second concern was raised regarding what seems to be a decreasing level of success among students. Professors who have taught the same class for several years and administered the same exams are finding the overall scores are dropping. Given that the university is committed to graduating students in four years without lowering standards and the fact that the Provost is tracking classes that have too many low grades, the faculty are concerned.
8. Adjournment.
   1. The meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
      1. Sheila Converse, Executive Secretary
9. Hard copies of exhibits are attached to hard cop of minutes.