Minutes of the Wichita State University Faculty Senate
Monday, January 23, 2012
CH 126 3:30 pm
Members Present: Adler, Barut, Besthorn, Bolin, Bryant, Carruthers, Close, Decker, DeSilva, Driessen,
Gibson, Hemans, Horn, Hull, Jacobs, Johnson, Klunder, Kumar, Lewis, Matveyeva, Miller,
Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Rillema, Ross, Russell, Skinner, M. Smith, Solomey, Yeager
Members Absent: DiLollo, Mandt, Mukeerjee, Pulaski, P. Smith, Thompson, Yuldirim
Members Excused: Celestin, Henry, Rokosz, Toops
Summary of Action:
1. Accepted the nomination of Thalia Jeffres to represent LAS Math/Natural Sciences
as Senator and Jodie Beeson to represent LAS Social Sciences as Senator. Both terms
end June 1, 2012.
2. Accepted the following Committee appointments:
Scholarship & Student Aid—Dan Close, LAS Social Sciences
Academic Affairs – Jodi Beeson, LAS Social Sciences
3. Returned the Proposed Incomplete grade definition and policies to Academic Affairs
for further study.
I. Call to Order: President Steven Skinner called the meeting to order at 3:30pm
II. Informal Statements and Proposals:
President Skinner introduced Brianna Kitchings, SGA Sub-academic Chair, who informed
the senate of a few of the current activities of the Student Government Association.
Two of the activities identified were that a large number of the SGA senators plan
to participate in activities with the Kansas Legislature in Topeka on February 5 and
the SGA is developing a resolution encouraging a broader ban of guns on the campus.
III. Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the November 28, 2011, meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved
with no dissent.
IV. President's Report
President Skinner welcomed everyone back to the campus and thanked all committee
members for their service during the fall semester and especially those that were
involved in committee activities during the break.
He reminded the senate of upcoming meetings with the Presidential Search Committee
(11:45am-12:45pm, 1/25/12 in 203 RSC), Graduate Faculty meeting (10am, 1/31/12, RSC
theater), and the Faculty Awards Ceremony and General Faculty meeting (5/4/12, tentatively
at the Marcus Welcome Center).
President Skinner reported that the KBOR Transfer and Articulation Committee had
identified 55 hours of existing courses that can be transferred seamlessly between
the Regents' institutions. The next goal is to develop learner outcomes for these
courses and address quality assurance measures for these courses.
V. Committee Reports
Senator Ross, chair of the Rules Committee, announced that Thalia Jeffers had been
nominated by the committee for senator for Math and Natural Sciences and Jodi Beeson
had been nominated for senator for Social and Behavior Sciences. Both were elected
with no dissent. Senator Dan Close was nominated and seconded from the floor for the
Scholarship and Student Aid Committee. He was elected with no dissent.
Senator Ross asked for assistance from the members of the senate in filling the remaining
vacancies in the senate standing committees. The following vacancies exist:
Academic Affairs - LAS Humanities
University Admissions & Exceptions - Education, Engineering, Health and LAS Social
Sciences
Faculty Affairs - Education
Faculty Support - LAS Math/Natural Sciences
Rules – LAS Social Sciences
Interim Provost Pickus pleaded with the senate to make the work of the University
Admissions & Exceptions a high priority in the name of “shared governess.” If the
faculty wants to have the authority of making decisions regarding admissions and exceptions,
then the faculty must meet those responsibilities.
VI. Old Business none
VII. New Business
a. Talking Points for the Faculty Senate meeting with R. William Funk and Associates, Wednesday, January 25: President Skinner
distributed a document containing talking points prepared by the Senate Executive
Committee for distribution at the meeting with Bill Funk and Steve Clark, and asked
the senators to examine the document and provide comment (document attached). Senator
Martha Smith raised the question of the preferred candidate attribute “2a. PhD in
a traditional discipline.” She asked if the senate was united in its insistence on
a “Ph.D” or if the majority of senators would be comfortable with changing the “PhD”
to “earned doctorate.” After considerable discussion, Senator Horn moved (Close-2nd)
to change the wording to “earned doctorate.” The motion passed 18 -9. A discussion
followed as to the meaning of “traditional discipline.” There was no definitive conclusion
reached, but the term remained unchanged. President Skinner asked all senators to
study the document and email him with any further suggestions.
b. Proposed Incomplete grade definition and policies: 1st reading
The Senate Academic Affairs committee presented a recommendation regarding a revised
clarification of the Incomplete Grade Policy. The committee had considered the matter
at the recommendation of the Registrar, Bill Wynne, who was in attendance in case
he should be needed to clarify the issue. A great deal of discussion followed regarding
the details of the recommendation. Bill Wynne stated that the catalog says "An incomplete
is temporarily recorded as a grade when the faculty member grants a student an extension
of time, not to exceed one calendar year from the end of the original semester, to
complete the work"
The senate sent the recommendation back to the committee with a suggestion to consider
an addition to the policy of the following form, suggested by Senator Close "An incomplete
grade must be satisfactorily completed by a date set by the instructor, such date
not to exceed one year from the end of the course. If the requirements are not completed
in this time, the incomplete automatically becomes an F."
In addition, the committee was asked to work with the Registrar to explore the possibility
of a grade of IP (in progress) being assigned to graduate courses such as thesis and
dissertation. This would allow a common “Incomplete” policy for undergraduate and
graduate students.
Finally, when the recommendation is brought back to the senate, the senate would
like to see the recommended version of the entire catalog copy relative to an incomplete
grade.
c. Policies and Procedures – Sections 9.10 through 9.12 proposed revisions - 1st reading
Senator Peer Moore-Jansen reported that he and two other faculty members (Cathy Moore-Jansen
and Nan Myers) examined the proposed revision of the University's Intellectual Property
Policy (proposed by the ad hoc Intellectual Property Committee) to determine if it
contained anything that the faculty should be concerned about. At the conclusion of
their examination, they had no issues with the revisions of the document, and in fact
felt that the proposed changes strengthened and clarified the document.
VIII. As May Arise
Senator Ross, member of the presidential search committee, urged all senators to
attend and participate in the meetings with the committee this week.
IX. Adjournment
The meeting of the Faculty Senate was adjourned at 4:40 pm.
Submitted by Walter Horn
Secretary of the Faculty Senate