Meeting Minutes: December 5th, 2024

MINUTES

The Faculty Senate met on Thursday December 5,2024, in French Admin Graduate Studies Conference room 324F and via Zoom. Fifty‐four (54) senators were present, four (4) vacancies with thirty (30) absent, and fourteen (14) non‐voting members. The meeting was called to order by Tracy Klein, Faculty Senate Chair, at 3:59 pm.

Guest Presentation (30 minutes): Legislative Update – Glynda Becker Fenter, Vice President for External Affairs and Government RelationsT. Klein – How do you see Faculty Senate contributing?

A. Goodman – How do you envision us providing feedback and ideas?  

G. Becker Fenter – Suggest providing your concerns and ideas to Tracy/Ken. It would be a benefit to have a voice from the Faculty Senate viewpoint. Most important is to provide what the impact of the issues are on the work you are doing in your college, and your deans are also providing this.

G. Becker Fenter will provide documentation on the 4 primary WSU asks upon completion.

 

1. Call to Order: 3:59 pm
2. Approval of minutes from November 14, 2024 faculty senate meeting (PDF).
   1. Approved by consent
3. Additions or changes to the agenda
   1. None
4. Announcements
   1. Legislative affairs
      1. Washington Office of Financial Management announced hiring and travel freeze, does not apply to institutions of Higher Education.
      2. The Governor’s budget is forthcoming (12/16/24)
   2. Reports 
      1. Remarks by Faculty Senate Chair
         • December Blog forthcoming
      2. Remarks by Faculty Senate Executive Team
         • E. Shelden, Immediate Past Chair
           1. President search winding down.  150 applications received, narrowed it down to 5 great candidates that are being submitted to BoR.
         • K. Roberts, Chair Elect
           1. Committee openings and updates (COC)
              • Making progress on committee vacancies. International Affairs and Faculty Compensation
                committees getting off the ground. Workgroups working on developing a charge, committee structure, and membership.
              • K. Roberts has been added to the Provost Optimization program committee as Faculty Senate Representative.  
         • M. Hudelson, Executive Secretary
           1. Upcoming Faculty Senate Executive elections
              • The election announcement is forthcoming early in
                spring semester. Interested parties will need to
                submit a CV and letter of interest for consideration.
5. Information Items
   1. (Item #2024.11.21_461_AAC) Comments on Grade Inflation and Enrollment Based Budgeting (Exhibit 461A)
6. Agenda Items
   1. Action Items
      1. (Item #2024.11.14_457_Steering) We direct that the Senate Executives develop and present for signature a MOU with the President specifying conditions to mitigate the situation surrounding compliance with Academic Rule 60 with specific criteria developed in consultation with the Senate Steering Committee. (Exhibits 234A, 444A, 444B, 444C, 457A, 457B, 457C)
         • Dr. S. Henry, Director of Cougar Health – The EP43 committee is having monthly meetings; focus was on technical aspects of AR60 not as much on the implementation.
           
         • D. Grigar – Are there faculty on the EP43 committee?
           1. Dr. S. Henry – Does not believe there are any faculty on the committee currently but would be willing to add.  
         • Motion passed; Approved 44; 0 Reject
7. Discussion Items
   1. (Item #2024.12.5_460_AAC) Undergraduate Bulletin No. 4. Requirements (Exhibit 460A)
      1. No discussion
   2. (Item #2024.12.5_463_CRP) Graduate Major Change Bulletin No. 4, Courses (Exhibit 463A)
      1. No discussion
   3. (Item #2024.12.5_464_CRP) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 4, Courses (Exhibit 464A)
      1. May have slight revisions. Resolved the MATH 466/566 and CPT S 456/556 issue.  Removed CPTS 456/556 as a new course and added MATH 466/566 as a revised course seeking to add CPT S 456/556 as a cross list.
   4. (Item #2024.12.5_458_Steering) Proposed amendment to the Faculty Senate Constitution and Bylaws, Article III, Section 4C (Steering Committee), paragraphs 2 and 3. (Exhibit 458A)  
      1. J. Barber – each member of the steering committee will be afforded 1 vote. Is there verbiage that speaks to the campus representative votes?
         • M. Hudelson – will delineate the differences between the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee.
   5. (Item #2024.12.5_465_CoC) Recommended approval of the faculty senate committee appointments for vacancy on the Graduate Studies Committee (Exhibit 465A)
      1. No discussion
8. Constituent Concerns
   1. S. Se0 – Everett does not have medical services. Can we have medical support at the beginning of the semester?
      1. S. Henry – Would like to identify how Pullman can assist other
         campuses implement AR60 and report back to Faculty Senate.
   2. S. Seo – Would it be possible to have a “temporary clinic” available on the other campuses to assist with students needing vaccinations?
   3. J. Bonzo – Brought up that many constituents in his area wanted to echo the sentiments of the Faculty Forum post on 11/22 re: Service percentage.
   4. D. Grigar – Academic Affairs Program Optimization (AAPO) – There are no faculty on this committee, do we know why?   
      1. K. Roberts – Ken recently added to this committee. Does not know how the committee was formed from the applications received. He will incquire
   5. C. Leeb – Glynda’s presentation mentioned concerns for international students and faculty, can you explain?
      1. S. Bollens – This is a chief concern at the Federal level, not at the state level. Incoming administration has a different plan.
      2. K. Roberts will take this to the International Affairs Committee
9. Adjournment: 4:35 pm
   1. Matthew G. Hudelson
      1. Executive Secretary, WSU Faculty Senate
      2. Associate Professor, Mathematics
      3. Email: mhudelson@wsu.edu