WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES of the meeting Monday September 13, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT: Anderson, Baker, Barut, Bolin, Brooks, Carruthers, Celestin, Close, Decker, deSilva,
DiLollo, D'Souza, Gibson, Hemans, Henry, Hershfield, Horn, Klunder, Miller, Moore-Jansen,
Mosack, Rillema, Rokosz, D. Russell, L.Russell, Skinner, Smith, Smith-Campbell, Soles,
Strattmann, Thompson, Yildirim
MEMBERS ABSENT: Adler, Kreinath, Matveyeva, Taher, Yeager
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Bennett, Bryant, Lewis-Moss
ExOfficio: Miller, Pickus
SUMMARY OF ACTION:
1. 1st reading of the proposed revisions to the Academic Calendar
2. Accepted the nomination of Silvia Carruthers to be Fine Arts representative on
the Planning & Budget committee
3. Accepted the nomination of Jeff Hershfield to be LAS Humanities representative
on the General Education committee
I. Call the meeting to order: President Hemans called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm. He introduced the new members of the senate – Senators Adler, Barut, DiLollo, d'Souza and Matveyeva.
II. Informal Statements and Proposals:
Senator Hershfield informed the Senate of the recent death of Craig Miner, Distinguished
Professor of Business and History. Senator Klunder informed the Senate of the recent
death of Diane Huntley, Associate Professor, Dental Hygiene . Senator Moore-Jansen
informed the Senate of the death of Lowell Holmes, founder of the WSU Anthropology
Department. Information about memorials was not yet available.
III. Approval of the Minutes:
The minutes of the 2009-10 senate meetings May 10 and May 17, 2010, were accepted.
The minutes of the election meeting for the 2010-11 Senate were accepted.
IV. President's Report:
A. President Hemans acknowledged Bobbi Dreiling's work on the new Senate website
and indicated that announcements of upcoming committee meetings and activities would
be posted on the website.
B. President Hemans gave an update on committee activities: He and Associate Provost
Pickus have been working together over the summer on upcoming issues for the year.
The Exceptions Committee has also been active over the summer. The General Education
Committee is currently underway.
The Ad Hoc General Education Committee has begun work. Information about the committee's agenda
and activities is available on the Senate web under “Current Topics”. President Hemans
offered a brief summary of the committee's charge over the next two years.
The Planning and Budget Committee will have its first meeting soon and will begin
reviewing the process of Program Review.
C. President Hemans made some general announcements.
1. Due to the delays involved in mass e-mails in an emergency, it is advisable to
receive text notifications by mobile phone under the Emergency Operations Plan.
2. A search for a dean of the Library is underway, and is being conducted by a search
committee with faculty representation.
V. Committee Reports:
A. Rules -- Chair Skinner presented the names of Silvia Carruthers as the Fine Arts representative
on the Planning & Budget committee and Jeff Hershfield as the LAS Humanities representative
on the General Education committee. Both were accepted.
VI. Old Business: none
VII. New Business:
A. Update from the Provost's Office: Provost Miller made a presentation on reshaping efforts for 2010-11. The Kansas
Board of Regents is expected to accept a document called “Foresight 2020” that would
set six specific goals for 2020 for Regents institutions and would probably tie funding
to progress on those goals. Provost Miller summarized upcoming efforts by the Planning
and Budget Committee and the Council of Deans to prepare for Foresight 2020 in alignment
with the university's mission.
B. Information on charitable giving: Richard Muma, Department of Public Health Sciences, provided information on donations to Community Health Charities.
C. Request for Senate endorsement of a proposal to alter the academic calendar (1st reading): Bill Wynne, the Registrar, summarized some problems caused by the current academic calendar and sought the Senate's approval of a proposal to the Kansas Board of Regents to reduce the fall and spring semesters by two days each. There was discussion of this proposal, including discussion of a friendly amendment to increase Thanksgiving Recess by two days in lieu of Fall Break.
VIII. As may arise:
The meeting was adjourned.
Daniel Russell, Secretary