M111714

Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting

Monday November 17, 2014

Members present: Adler, Ahmed, Baker, Barut, Bergman, Brooks, Bryant, Castro, Celestin, hang, Close, Decker, Dehner, Hanawalt, Horn, Houseman, Huckstadt, Hull, Hunsicker, Johnson, Klunder, Lu, Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Perry, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, Shaw, Taher, Walker, Yao, Yeager, Yildirim

Members absent: Ramanan, Thiessen, Trechek, Woods, Yu

Members excused:

Summary of Action:
1. See Committee Reports

I. Call to Order by President Mehmet Barut at 3:30 pm.

II. Campus Update – President Bardo
• It appears that many students living on campus in the new dorm do not want to move off campus. WSU is looking at constructing a new dormitory on the Golf Course (400-800 beds). This will be a privatized development run by WSU staff.
• We will likely have some debt in the future as we renovate academic buildings.
• Enrollment for the coming year is highly unpredictable. Models are not yielding a clear outcome yet.
• Number of seniors and graduate students declined this year, likely related to students seeking to reduce time in school and debt, improving job market encouraging students to complete degrees.
• Tuition and fees- State revenues are down. There is talk that they are trying to preserve education, but until the budget is finalized we don't know where we will stand. We are holding money back right now, but will release that once we know whether we will need it for contingency purposes.
• Hopeful that we will have 2% raises next year, although 3-4% would be preferred.
• Trying to keep tuition and fees increase below 5%.
• Asking for “program-based tuition” from KBOR for all of the Regents Universities.
• Seeking permission for “Marked based” tuition from KBOR based on the demand and ability to pay of various clients (teacher in-service, etc.). Trying to get this in place for the Fall 2015 semester.
• Distance education is going to be increasingly part of our work. Need to look at the fee attached to distance education – students do not pay for campus services if they are taking distance courses, but many are actually on campus, so we need to reassess this on some level.
* Online degree programs: There are enough Gen Ed credits available for Associate Degrees to be offered at this point if desired. Undergraduate: Dental Hygeine, Criminal Justice, Business Admin; Graduate: Criminal Justice, Masters, Curriculum Studies Masters, Asian Studies Masters.
RN to BSN already fully online.

Q; Who might teach the inservice courses?
• Might be regular faculty, might be part time faculty, our faculty would control the quality of the classes.
Q: Opportunity for continuing education classes for senior citizens? We don't charge tuition for senior citizens, so this would not necessarily generate income. But you can count them in the number of credit hours generated. Susan Norton, Mark Porcaro and Rick Muma can be contacted to discuss these opportunities further regarding Alternative Credentials.
Q: Failure of the sales tax impact on innovation campus? We were not counting on this, we will need to keep exploring funding options.

III. Approval of the minutes of the meeting October 27, 2014. Accepted as presented.

V. President's Report:
• Wade Robinson is on the agenda to provide an update on the 2013 sexual assault case for the next meeting.
• There is an open forum on safety issues on Nov 18, 11:30 in the CAC Theater with Wade Robinson and campus and city law enforcement.

IV. Committee Reports
A. Rules Committee Nominations - Peer Moore-Jansen, Chair, presented the following names to fill committee vacanies for acceptance:

Academic affairs:
LAS/Humanities - Jean Griffith (English)

Faculty Affairs:
Fine Arts - Selim Giray

Library Committee:
Education - Donna Sayman

Undergraduate Research Committee
Health Professions - Trisha Self

University Admissions and Exceptions:
LAS Humanities -- Stuart Lasine

Scholarship & Student Aid:
History - Ariel Loftus

All nominations approved.

Unfilled:
• vacant seat from the College of Business on the General Education Committee
• vacant seat from the College of LAS/Soc.Sci. on the General Education Committee
• vacant seat from the College of Fine Arts on the Library committee

V. New Business:
A. Alternative Credentials Panel discussion
Overview: Rick Muma, Associate Vice President
• Not everyone who attends classes at the university wants to get a degree, some simply want a certification or other training for employment. Can we establish plans for them to ‘stack' education components to complete these kinds of certifications, or cumulatively toward a degree.
• Nothing has been decided yet, we are just opening up the conversation about what we might do to offer alternative credentials.
• This goes beyond credit for life experience, although this might be part of the process.
• This might be segments of courses for one hour or part of a credit hour. So it would not necessarily be a traditional course. It might also not fit into the traditional academic calendar. They might be more ‘on demand'.

Current Practices: Susan Norton, Director of Adult Learning
* What is credit for prior learning (CPL)? On the job learning, corporate training, independent study (MOOCs), military service, volunteer service. CPL measures learning, not experience. Presented to the faculty for approval.
* Current options/ Credit by exam: ACT/SAT, AP exams, CLEP exam, Dept challenge exams, retroactive credit. The student must make the case that there is a clear connection between their experience and specific course content. We generate quite a few hours through these kinds of testing (much of it in language testing and AP credit).

National Trends - Mark Porcaro, Director Online Learning
• Drivers: workforce needs, scheduling needs for working adults, needs to assess competency, especially prior learning.
• nationally, institutions are seeking curricular innovations for the adult learner ‘badges', stackable credentials, competency-based education model, personalized learning, credit for prior learning.
• These are competency-based. The learning process is essentially atomized, broken into its constituent parts. When the parts are assembled, you get a certification or degree.
• Concrete goals and objectives that can be demonstrated at the end, but recognizes that the timing and pace of the delivery may vary from student to student. Provides greater flexibility.
• Bundled together as a path toward a degree.

Q: How will advising be handled for students? We need to clearly understand the process to effectively guide students
Q: What market analysis info do we have? We do not have strong data yet, but have had informal discussions. Planning a study this spring through a consulting firm.
Q: Can Registrar handle such a break down of credit hours? If they are clearly defined, yes.

Next step: Faculty needs to continue to discuss definitions. If the faculty Senate endorses alternative credentialing for WSU, colleges would be able to pursue it on a voluntary basis once university guidelines were established.


VII. As May Arise

VIII. Adjournment at 5:10