Faculty Senate Minutes
November 9, 2015 Clinton Hall 126 – 3:30PM-5:00PM
Senators Present Ahmed, Asaduzzaman, Barut, Bergman, Castro, Chand, Chopra, Close, Cramer, Decker, Dehner, Deibel, Ewing, Huckstadt, Hunsicker, Johnson, Lu, Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Muthiachareon, Myose, Palmer, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, Shaw, Shukaev, Walker, Woods, Yeager, Yildirim
Senators Absent: Adler, Birzer, Bryant, Chang, Hughes, Jin, Solomey, Yao
Senators Excused: Babnich, Brooks,. Celestin, Hull
Summary of Action:
1. Accepted appointment of Atul Rai as At-Large member to the Tenure and Promotion
Committee
I. Call to Order - Meeting called to order at 3:32PM by President Moore-Jansen
II. Informal Statements and Proposals – None
III. Approval of Minutes
a. Minutes of the October 26, 2015 meeting were accepted as presented
IV. Updates
a. WATC – President Moore-Jansen asked President Bardo to speak to the Faculty Senate regarding
WATC. President Bardo will address the senate in late January or early February.
V. President' Report
a. President Moore-Jansen met with Mark Porcaro (Unclassified Professionals –UP-
Senate) and Stacy Salters (University Support Staff - USS) to discuss the Weapons Safety Policy. Before the end of the semester the Kansas Board of Regents will provide a
framework. A survey will be sent to faculty and staff sometime in December.
b. President Moore-Jansen also met with Joseph Sheppard (President, Student Government
Association) to discuss the policy. Talks with Mark Porcaro, Stacy Salters and Joseph
Shepard regarding this issue will continue.
VI. Committee Reports
a. Rules Committee – Senator Bayram Yildirim submitted one nomination for acceptance for the At-Large
position on the Tenure and Promotion Committee. Atul Rai's nomination was accepted
for a two year term
b. Library Committee – Bill Hendry, Chair (see attachments to the meeting notice) provided an update from the library committee.
i. Committee meets at least once a semester
ii. There has been a 20% increase in attendance at the library since 2002
iii. Interlibrary loans, new publications and digitizing content are current strengths
iv. Challenge continues to be retention of library faculty and with the departure
of Don Gilstrap (Dean of University Libraries) the faculty needs to discuss how we
keep the next library dean and faculty role in the next search.
v. A question was raised regarding the possibility of an Innovation Campus library,
Provost and Senior Vice President Vizzini reported that he was not aware of any push
in that direction, the focus continues to be on supporting Ablah Library
c. Admissions and Exceptions Committee – Rachel Crane, Chair, presented a proposal for provisional admissions for applicants
who do not meet the admissions criteria. The proposal will be:
i. on a trial basis only, beginning in spring 2016 and continue for two semesters;
and
ii. the University Admissions and Exceptions Committee (UAEC) will oversee the process
and will collect data.
The committee made the following additional recommendations:
i. the exceptions application be included with the admissions application; and
ii. the criteria for exceptions not be expanded until additional faculty who specialize
in high risk students can be hired.
This is a temporary proposal and requires no action by the Faculty Senate. Should
the UAEC decide to change their current policy action will need to be taken. (A copy of the proposal is available in the Faculty Senate Office.)
VII. Old Business – none
VIII. New Business
a. Commencement and Final Exam Proposal – Gina Crabtree, Registrar, presented a draft of the revised examination schedule
for Spring 2016
b. Changes to the examination schedule were needed as an effort is being made to
hold spring commencement ceremonies on one day instead of over two days. If commencement
is held on Saturday, no final exams will be scheduled on Friday
c. The current policy of no more than 2 final exams for students on any given day
is still in place
d. Questions were raised regarding online courses, currently there are no set times
for final exams for online courses
e. The schedule is still a work in progress and input is being requested from the
Student Government Association
IX. As may rise
a. Kansas Board of Regents will be on campus on November 18th from 1:30-5:00 in the
Shirley Beggs Ballroom, faculty and staff are invited to attend
X. Adjournment - at 4:14PM