Mgenfac5517

General Faculty Meeting

RSC - Shirley Beggs Ballroom

Friday, May 5, 2017, 3:30-5:00PM

Summary of Actions:
1. Accepted -Reaffirmation of Academic Freedom as a core value
2. Accepted - Endorsement of the WSU/WATC Affiliation

I. Call to Order –Vice President Pulaski called the meeting to order at 3:47PM, Senator Ewing was appointed secretary and Senator Dehner was appointed parliamentarian.

II. Moment of Silence for Deceased Faculty – the following faculty were recognized:

a. Dharma deSilva, Professor of International Business
b. Gerald McDougall, Professor of Economics
c. Daniel Francis Merriam, Professor of Geology
d. Maurice Jay (Maury) Penner, Professor of Sociology

III. Approval of Minutes – The minutes of the January 27, 2017 meeting were accepted as presented.

IV. President John Bardo – State of the University. President Bardo addressed the faculty, congratulated the awardees, thanked faculty for their efforts, and shared the following comments and updates:

a. At this time there is no budget for next year and the legislature may stay in session until one is finished.
b. The move to the American Athletic Conference (AAC) is less about athletics than about the position of the institution. The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) is made up of very fine schools, but our missions are quite different. The institutions in the AAC are similar to WSU, many of them are in cities, some are in areas where we are trying to recruit, and our missions are similar. We could have looked at other conferences but their institutions are not quite as similar. The deciding factor was the quality of our academics.
c. Regarding enrollment of the fall our big concerns are international students and graduate students. Everyone should look at their graduate programs and make sure they are doing what we need them to do. The political climate is impacting international students and we are trying to work with our delegation to work on impact. Freshman and residential students seem to be doing well. We haven't had a chance to fully market but our residence hall is full with a waiting list.
d. Retention and graduation rates are an important part of the Regents’ plan and our plan. There are things we can do and need to do to enhance the willingness of students to stay at the university. We are creating a student affairs retention plan and we have reached a stage in our strategic plan where we are focusing on retention. You will hear more about it as we move forward. We are still seeing a fair number of students at the junior and senior level walking away and we are looking at remaking some of our scholarships.

V. Provost and Senior Vice President Tony Vizzini – State of Academic Affairs. Provost Vizzini congratulated the honorees and shared the following college and program updates:
a. The PA and PT programs will be moving to their new location in Old Town.
b. The College of Education is putting forward a program this summer. The TAP program in western Kansas will provide a program at a market prices for those currently in education.
c. The LAS (Eliot School) and College of Fine Arts are working together to offer a degree in applied learning and applied research.
d. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is currently having a dialog regarding a cluster hire.
e. The College of Engineering is putting forward new programs.
f. The College of Business is moving forward with a Masters in Global Supply Chain Management.
g. The President’s Diversity Council is implementing best practices in searching for a diverse faculty pool. It would be great if we had more lines to hire.
h. The Honors College has 100% placement of their honors baccalaureate degree recipients.
i. Kathy Downes who served as interim dean has been named the Dean of University Libraries.
j. Most of the Graduate School faculty are working on their GEMs.
k. The Institute for Interdisciplinary Creativity is bringing in students who have interesting and unique backgrounds.

Provost Vizzini closed by thanking the faculty for moving the university forward. He stated he was looking forward to the next academic year and advancing the university even further.

VI. Faculty Senate President Bayram Yildirim – State of the Faculty Senate. President Yildirim thanked faculty for attending the general meeting. He provided the following update of the Faculty Senate’s work during the 2016-2017 academic year:
a. A shared governance statement was approved by the senate and supported by the Administration.
b. The faculty extended the membership of the faculty senate to all employees who have teaching/library responsibilities of 50% or more.
c. By spring 2018 the faculty senate archives will be digitized and we should have access to 60 years of faculty senate history.
d. The faculty senate approved a new standing committee - the Council for Former Senate Presidents
e. Other issues discussed by the senate included: potential budget cuts, weapons policy, and the evaluation of teaching effectiveness SPTEs
f. We had a successful HLC accreditation visit
g. The Innovation Campus and WSU/WATC Affiliation were discussed.

h. The senate stressed the importance of transparency and communication at WSU, and a venue for faculty to ask questions, voice concerns and provide feedback was provided on the Faculty Senate homepage.
i. President Yildirim thanked President Bardo and Provost Vizzini for having an open door policy. He mentioned that all senates have a joint monthly meeting with the President’s Executive Team and that the open budget meetings held this year have been very important, empowering employees to share stories, engage with ideas and further the mission and strategic goals of the university.
j. President Yildirim listed several unfinished issues: the FAR alignment with the Uniscope Model, the advancement of teaching faculty, SPTEs, an academic honesty policy for students and the discussion of department chair/department head.

VII. New Business
a. Endorsement of WSU/WATC Affiliation - President Bardo made the following comments regarding the WSU/WATC Affiliation and then President Bardo, President Utash and Provost Vizzini responded to questions.
i. Presidents Bardo stated that we are seeing major changes in higher education. This affiliation agreement would allow WSU to have the opportunity to address what comes down the road. There are new expectations which are crucial to our survival and these were at the root of the affiliation agreement, it is a long term development managing in a very difficult environment. Volatility is one word that describes the future and we need to make sure that we have the resources to manage volatility.
ii. Question: Is there one transcript or two transcripts? Response: There are two transcripts. Think of this as a branch campus and the transcripts are separate.
iii. Question: What are the benefits to WSU? Response: If you look at how students enter college, a lot of first generation and minority students are coming in through technical schools and/or community colleges. This will become part of who we are. Our students will have access to things we don't currently have access to - for example sculpture student will get access to good welding equipment. It will make transferring easier. There are going to be some degree structures that are going to be quite different, I am thinking of possibilities such as hospitality - a part of which is culinary, which is not part of a research institution, but at technical branch it would be part of what you could teach. We would plan together and approve together. Provost Vizzini commented: We understand the full spectrum and we are seen as a university of the 21st century, allowing students to approach us without intimidation, they can be a Shocker, remediate and earn a pathway that exists and one they can benefit from.
iv. Question: Will courses be treated as transfer courses? Response: They will have a separate transcript, if the student comes over they will be treated the way transfers currently are.
v. Comment and question: Concerned about courses we both teach, for example, textbooks, are there plans in the works for us to work together” Response: The intent is the faculty should meet regularly, there is not a difference what they teach today. What is the quality of the student’s experience, it is better if we work together. HLC requires teaching faculty hold a master’s degree.
vi. Comment: I am curious about the cost. Response: Our side doesn't change at all, but there will be changes on their side. President Utash commented: The cost has been estimated into the budget for next year. Remember in the beginning of all of this we could not lose any funding or this could not happen.
vii. Question: Is there any extra cost to the library or personnel? Response: No.
viii. Question: Will you talk about benefits to WSU and WATC? President Utash’s Response: We need to think what is the best thing for students and businesses in the community. The benefits for our students: we don't have residential living, applied learning will be enhanced, and there will be greater engagement with business and industry. It will be a beginning career path and is important for the community, students, and business and industry. Our faculty and staff are feeling pretty good about where we are at and where we are headed. We will work with you to create a university that is important and viable, and move our community to a higher level. We as an institution are very excited about the opportunity. We can all be very proud that we are making a model for the higher education in the state of Kansas.
ix. Question: Will WATC student become part of our head count, and services we have? Response: Their head count does count as part of the overall WSU numbers. The access to services will depend on whether they choose to pay the fees for the services. They do have the opportunity to live in the residence halls (out of state, out of country), and will pay full fees.
x. Question: Will our students have WATC access? Response: It would be paid fee for the course or the use of the technology.
xi. Question: What if WATC falls on hard times? Response: Nothing, they would have to manage it with the budget of the branch. There is no obligation for WSU to take on responsibility for the branch.
xii. Question: Does this impact our HLC Accreditation? Response: They have a different HLC accreditation.

xiii. Comment: Our graduate students teach a lot of college algebra. Response: This doesn't change. It could have an impact, but it is still a different entity.
xiv. Question: What happens on the advising end? Response: If students are being advised to go there it is not an advantage to the student or institution. What we are trying to work through is how to enhance the student experience. If advisors are doing that we need to know so that we can intervene. President Utash commented: We will have open access as we have today. President Bardo noted that there few of the WATC faculty have doctorates and there is a chance their faculty could possibly enter our programs. If a student becomes qualified and takes courses on the main campus they can take courses from you and from their campus as well. It opens up a lot of opportunities. We have a tradition of having people on this university campus who did not come from the traditional route. To me this is about the opportunity for people who now have a chance to be something they never thought they could. t is about being able to access people who would never think about us. It gives them an opportunity to think bigger than they might have. Does it negatively hurt us? No. Does it provide opportunities? Yes.

b. Chair of Philosophy, Dr. Jeff Hershfield made the following motion: The faculty reaffirms the paramount importance of academic freedom as a core value of Wichita State University and it affiliated institution. Motion accepted. ??

c. Faculty voted on the Endorsement of the WSU/WATC Affiliation. Motion accepted, 64 Yes, 31 No. ??

VIII. As May Arise – None

IX. Adjournment – at 5:00PM