WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES: Monday, September 27, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT: Anderson, Barut, Bennett, Bolin, Brooks, Carruthers, Celestin, Close, Decker, deSilva,
D'Souza, Gibson, Hemans, Henry, Hershfield, Horn, Jeffres, Klumder, Matveyeva, Miller,
Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, D. Russell, L. Russell, Skinner, Smith,
Smith-Campbell, Soles, Strattman, Yeager, Yildirim
MEMBERS ABSENT: Adler, Baker, Bryant, Taher, Thompson
MEMBERS EXCUSED: DiLollo
Ex-OFFICIO: Miller, Pickus
SUMMARY OF ACTION:
1. Accepted the following appointments:
Senator – Las Math/Natural Sciences, Thalia Jeffres
Planning & Budget --- Johnnie Thompson, Education (2012) Academic Affairs – Francis
D'Souza, LAS Math/Natural Sciences (2013)
Library -- Charles Yang, Enginnering (2013)
Amy Baker-Schwiethale, Fine Arts (2011)
I. Call the meeting to order: President Hemans called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.
II. Informal Statements and Proposals: none
III. Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of September 13, 2010, were accepted as presented.
IV. President's Report:
A. President Hemans announced that the “Foresight 2020” plan had been approved by
the Kansas Board of Regents, and that it was already under consideration by the Planning
and Budget Committee.
B. The minutes of Executive Committee meetings are going to be made available on
the Senate website.
C. President Hemans discussed some current activities in Senate committees. The Rules
Committee is developing a proposal to merge the Curriculum Committee into the Academic
Affairs Committee, and a proposal to merge the University Admissions Advisory Committee
into the Exceptions Committee. The Ad Hoc General Education Committee continues to
be active, and most recently considered data on CLA performance by WSU students. The
Planning and Budget Committee will begin meeting on Friday, October 1st and biweekly
thereafter; a major item on their agenda is to review the current process of Program
Review.
V. Committee Reports:
A. Rules – President-Elect Skinner, Chair, presented names for acceptance:
See Summary of Action. All were accepted.
VI. Old Business:
A. Proposed revisions to the Academic Calendar-- The senate discussed an amendment (which was agreed to be substantive rather than
friendly) to the proposal to alter the academic calendar. The amendment would provide
for eliminating the two-day fall break and adding two days to the Thanksgiving break.
After some discussion the question was called and seconded. A vote was taken and the
amendment was not approved.
B. The senate discussed a proposal to alter the academic calendar (second reading).The proposal would shorten the fall and spring semesters by two days each, and final exams would not extend past Spring commencement. After some discussion the question was called and seconded. A vote was taken and the proposal was approved.
VII. New Business:
A. Introduction of Victor Collins, Assistant to the Vice President forDiversity Initiatives and Director of the Office
of Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Collins introduced himself to the Senate and outlined
the role of his office and the work done so far. He discussed the past work of the
Tilford Group at WSU, which he intends to “re-launch,” in particular by creating a
grant fund to support efforts to increase diversity in the curriculum, as well as
expanding the Tilford Group to interact with off-campus communities. Dr. Collins reminded
the Senate of the upcoming Tilford Conference and the subsequent first meeting of
WSU's Tilford Group. He provided flyers with information about the Tilford Group and
its upcoming activities. Dr. Collins then took questions from the floor.
B. “Promoting Student Success and Degree Attainment”
Keith Pickus, Assoc. Provost, reviewed recent efforts to increase student retention,
namely the creation of the Office for Student Success; recommending increased advising
requirements for students; recommending reducing DWFI rates by decreasing student
enrollment in classes for which they are ineligible; and reviewing software for an
Early Alert System, which would be piloted in the spring term of 2011 and implemented
in the fall term of 2011. Dr. Pickus also recommended requiring students to complete
their Basic Skills coursework within their first 24 credit hours; creating prerequisites
for some introductory courses available for General Education credit; encouraging
faculty to implement a mandatory attendance policy; and requiring earlier declarations
of major.
Bill Vanderburgh, Executive Director, Office of Faculty Development & student Success
-- said that retention is important. He said that there are resources available to
faculty to help students succeed. He said that efforts are underway to create a Student
Success course. He said that he plans to increase the number of course sections to
which Supplemental Instruction is available.
Dr. Pickus and Dr. Vanderburgh took questions from the floor.
VIII. As May Arise – none
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm.
Respectfully Submitted
Dan Russell, Secretary