Minutes of the Wichita State University Faculty Senate
Monday, March 24, 2014
CH 107 3:30 pm
Members Present: Anderson, Barut, Bergman, Brooks, Bryant, Castro, Decker, Hanawalt, Horn, Houseman,
Hull, Kagdi, Klunder, Kreinath, Lewis, Matveyeva, Miller, Mosack, Perry, RIllema,
Rokosaz, Ross, Taher, Thiessen, Trechak, Yeager, Yildirim, Yu
Members Absent: Driessen, Hamdeh, Liu, Lu, Moore-Jansen, Oare, Pile
Members Excused:Baker, Celestin, Close, Johnson
Summary of Action
I. Call to Order
President Victoria Mosack called the meeting to order at 3:30pm.
II. Informal Statements and Proposals
Senator Houseman proposed Senate discussion of the possibility of increased compensation
for those faculty that teach classes at night.
III. Approval of the Minutes - The minutes of the March 3, 2014, meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved as
written.
IV. President's Report
President Mosack reported on the following items of interest to the Senate:
A. The Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team is to be congratulated for their representation of the University during their
run in the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (March Madness), as well as for winning
the MVC regular season championship and the MVC Tournament. The WSU women's basketball is to be congratulated as well for their play this year and advancement to the 2014
NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
B. Social Media Work Group – President Mosack reminded the Senate that the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) Social
Media Work Group seeks faculty and staff input on the revision of the existing KBOR
social media policy. A draft of the recommended changes to the policy adopted by KBOR
in December, is now available for review and comment. Feedback will be received until
Friday, March 28. The work group's draft recommendations and the feedback form are
available at: https://www.wichita.edu/j/?2783 . An open forum has been scheduled for Thursday, March 27, 1:30-2:30 p.m., in 238
RSC (Meeker Room) to discuss the draft proposal. She also informed the senate of an
upcoming panel discussion on a very similar theme- Data and Democracy: What is Free Speech in the Age of Social Media? It will take place Tuesday, March 25 at 7pm, at The Commons at KU. A live video stream
access will be available at - www.thecommons.ku.edu/FreeSpeech/ . The invited panelists include the following:
Frank LoMonte — Executive Director, Student Press Law Center, Arlington, VA
Amy Gajda — Associate Professor of Law, Tulane University Law School
Stephen R. McAllister — E.S. & Tom W. Hampton Distinguished Professor of Law, University
of Kansas School of Law
Deanell Reece Tacha (moderator) — Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of the School of Law,
Pepperdine University
C. RSC Faculty Appreciation Day - The Rhatigan Student Center will host a Faculty Appreciation Day, Tuesday, March
25, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Harvest Room, 142 RSC. All faculty are invited
to come and mix and mingle with the RSC staff and the other faculty members on campus.
Light refreshments, entertainment and tours will be provided. Please RSVP to rsc.marketing@wichita.edu.
V. Committee Reports.
Senator Mehmet Barut, Chair of the Rules Committee, urged all senators to volunteer for 2014-15 Senate Standing committee assignments
and to encourage their colleagues to serve as well. He announced that the Rules Committee
was reorganizing the Faculty Handbook, and that it should be available for broader
review by the end of the semester.
VI. Old Business - none
VII. New Business
A. Service Learning Fellows – Rick Muma, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, announced the solicitation
for nominations for two Service Learning Fellows. Evidence indicates that service
learning provides a high-level positive impact on student learning. Each of the selected
Fellows will receive a $4,000 stipend to work together to develop the University's
process to provide a service learning experience to students. Nominations should be
directed to Muma and the final selection will be made by a group with representatives
from Academic Affairs and Student Involvement.
B. Strategic Planning Process - College Updates- Tony Vizzini, Vice President for Academic Affairs and College Deans, Cindy Claycomb
(Business), Shirley Lefever (Education), Ron Matson (LAS), Keith Pickus (Health Professions),
and Associate Dean Kathy Downs (Library) presented the current status of the Strategic
Planning process in their colleges and the library. The processes in each of the colleges
had the following features in common:
• A college strategic planning steering committee was formed in the fall of 2013
• The steering committee spent the fall gathering information
• New vision, mission, goals, and values were developed (or are nearing completion)
to align with the new University vision, mission, goals, and values
• The faculty of each department is developing departmental strategic plans that
are aligned with the plans developed by the college steering committee
The Business College has their strategic plans posted at: https://wichita.edu/?u=bsbstrategy&p=/index/ , the College of Education plan is available to Education faculty on BlackBoard, and the other Colleges will post
theirs when the process is further along.
The following timeline was adapted from that provided by the College of Health Professions
and appears to be consistent with that of the other colleges:
August: Presentation of the planning process to college faculty and staff
September: Dean discussed the planning process with college units (departments or
schools)
October-November: Units create draft plans focused on alignment with the university
plan.
December-January: College steering committee reviewed the units' materials and provided
feedback.
February-March: Units will finalize their plans and the college steering committee
will draft a college plan.
April: College plan to be reviewed by the college faculty and staff, and the college
steering committee will revise it as necessary.
May: College faculty and staff will vote on final college plan
The University Library will review all college strategic plans to determine if actions need to be taken
to ensure that library support is provided to support these plans.
Questions from the senate arose over the need for each college to address the plans
suggested for “changing the culture of the campus” in order to eliminate the “silo”
organization of most university campuses. Each dean agreed that progress in “de-siloing”
would require a conscious effort and a carefully developed process. The common thought
seemed to be that this would be provided in the final versions of this round of college-level
strategic planning.
Vice President Vizzini indicated that these college-level strategic plans would be
used by his office to develop the strategic plan for the Office of Academic Affairs
and that when these plans are approved, they would be used to develop and distribute
the budget for Academic Affairs.
VIII. As May Arise - none
IX. Adjournment - President Mosack adjourned the meeting at 4:10pm.
Submitted by Walter Horn
Secretary of the Faculty Senate