Minutes of the Wichita State University Faculty Senate
Monday, October 8, 2012
CH 126 3:30 pm
Members Present: Alexander, Baker, Barut, Bergman, Brooks, Celestin, Close, Decker, DeSilva, Driessen,
Horn, Hull, Jacobs, Johnson, Kagdi, Klunder, Lewis, Matveyeva, Miller, Moore-Jansen,
Mosack, Oare, Rokosz, Ross, skinner, Smith, Solomey, Yildirim
Members Absent: Anderson, Hamdeh, Liu, Lu, Mukeerjee, Pulaski, Rillema, Yeager
Members Excused: Besthorn, Bryant, Kreinath, Markovich, Toops
Summary of Action:
1. Elected Senator Decker to represent the School of Business and Phyllis Jacobs
to represent the College of Health Professions on the Planning & Budget Committee.
2. Accepted Amy Baker Schwiethale as Senator representing the Performing Arts.
3. Accepted the following committee appointments: Dharam Chopra, LAS Math, University
Admissions and Kathleen Mason, Education, for Faculty Support.
I. Call to Order
President Bob Ross called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm
II. Informal Statements and Proposals
President Ross introduced Nancy Loosle, Director of Student Involvement Office, RSC,
and asked her to update the Senate about the composition and current activities of
her office. Loosle then introduced two other colleagues from her office: Nick Messing,
Coordinator of Leadership and Service Learning, and Lyston Skeritt, Coordinator of
Student Organizations and Civic Engagement. Information brochures summarizing the
primary elements of the Student Involvement Office were distributed and Loosle presented
an overview of the office. Essentially, the office was formed recently by merging
the Rhatigan Student Center Activities Office and the Center for Student Leadership.
The focus of the office is student development and involvement. They create and organize
co-curricular student activities which enhance student life and build a dynamic campus
culture. The major groups within the office are Civil Engagement, Greek Life, Leadership,
Service-Learning, Student Organizations, and the Student Activities Council. Loosle
called on Messing and Skeritt to describe their areas of responsibility.
III. Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the September 24, 2012, meeting of the Faculty Senate (https://wichita.edu/?u=facultysenate&p=/m92412 /) were approved with no corrections reported.
IV. President's Report
President Ross introduced Amy Baker as the proposed new senator representing Performing
Arts. He encouraged everyone to attend the inauguration of President Bardo on October
12 from 2pm to 4pm at the WSU Hughes Metropolitan Complex.
President Ross acknowledged the visiting mechanical engineering faculty and assured
them and the entire Senate that the Executive Committee's examination of the situation re-organization plans within the College of Engineering would be transparent. He asked the visiting ME
faculty if they had in questions or statements and all declined.at this time.
V. Committee Reports
Victoria Mosack, Chair of the Rules Committee, brought forward the following slate
of nominees from the Rules Committee to fill vacancies in the 2012-13 Senate and Senate
Standing Committees: Amy Baker Schwiethale for the vacant senate seat in Performing
Arts; Phyllis Jacobs (College of Health Professions) for Budget & Planning Committee;
Dharam Chopra LAS/ Math-Natural Sciences) for University Admissions Committee; Terry
Decker (College of Business) for the Planning & Budget Committee; and Katie Mason
(College of Education) for the Faculty Support Committee.
The Senate voted to accept all of the nomination from the Rules Committee.
Mosack informed the Senate that the Rules Committee was withdrawing its proposed change
of the Grievance Review Committee Selection Process. The Committee will revise the
proposal and bring it to the Senate at a future meeting.
VI. Old Business – none
VII. New Business
President Ross introduced Andy Schlapp, Executive Director of Government Relations, to update the Senate on “What is happening in Government Relations.” Schlapp informed
the Senate that his office has relations with the local government center around the
mil levy, the state government center around the University's budget, and the federal
government center around grants. President Ross asked him to speak to the impact of
the last legislative session on the University. Schlapp said that though there was
a 15% cut in the 2010 budget, there have been no further cuts in the budget and none
are anticipated in the future. In fact, KBOR universities have been spared from the
call for 10% cuts from the other government agencies. He also said that the governor
is not opposed to tuition increases. The situation looks grim for those other agencies
of the state government, including K-12 education which might see further cuts in
budget. Schlapp fears that the work of the legislature will continue to be marked
by internal strife and general lack of progress because of the lack of experience
in the Legislature. Recent re-districting has created a situation in which 42 of the
125 members are serving in their first term, 71 have less than two years of experience,
and 86 have less than four years of experience. President Ross thanked Schlapp for
taking his time to speak to the Senate.
VIII. As May Arise
President Ross previewed the following issues for Senate meetings this semester:
Rick Muma will present the University's response to the federal examination of “Employment
for Gainful Employment,” Faculty Senate's view on “Conflict of Interest,” and a report
on the Executive Committee's resolution of the College of Engineering re-organization
issue.
IX. Adjournment
The meeting of the Faculty Senate was adjourned at 4:25pm.
Submitted by Walter Horn
Secretary of the Faculty Senate