M32717

Faculty Senate Minutes

Monday, March 27, 2017

Clinton Hall 126, 3:30PM-5:00PM

Senators Present: Asaduzzaman, Bolin, Bryant, Castro, Close, Cramer, Decker, Dehner, Ewing, Hendry, Hull, Keene Woods, Johnson, Mahapatro, Mosack, Muthiachareon, Price, Rokosz, Ross, Shaw, Shukaev, Willlis, Yildirm

Senators Absent: Ahmed, Birzer, Bryant, Chand, Chopra, Deibel, eenglish, Koehn, Kreinath, Lancaster, Mooare-Jansen, Myose, Pulaski, Rife, Solomey, Taher, Wehebe

Senators Excused: Anderson, Babnich, Walker

Summary of Action:
Summary of Action:
1. Accepted appointment of LAS Humanities representative Rebeccah Bechtold to the Library Appeals Committee
2. Accepted appointment of University Libraries representative Mary Walker, LAS Social Sciences representative Jeff Jarman, and LAS Humanities representative Fran Connor to the Academic Affairs Committee
3. Accepted appointment of Health Professions representative Kim Darden and Education representative (alternate) Frank Rokosz to the Academic Appeals Committee
4. Accepted appointment of Health Professions representative Caleb Ediger, LAS Natural Sciences representative Daowei Ma, and Education representative SoonChun Lee to the Faculty Affairs Committee
5. Accepted appointment of University Libraries representative Meghann Kukhlmann, LAS Natural Sciences representative Paul Rillema, and Business representative Mehmet Barut to the Faculty Support Committee
6. Accepted appointment of Engineering representative Pingfeng Wang, Basic Skills representative Becky Nordyke, Business representative Chris Broberg, and LAS Social Sciences representative Shirlene Small to the General Education Committee
7. Accepted appointment of LAS Humanities representative Robert Feleppa, Education representative Michelle Adler, and Fine Arts representative Kelly St. Pierre to the Library Committee
8. Accepted appointment of Business representative Dotty Harpool, Universities Library representative Faye O'Reilly, Engineering representative Rajiv Bagai, Health Professions representative Trish Self, and LAS Social Science representative to the Rules Committee
9. Accepted appointment of University Libraries representative Lizzy Walker, Engineering representative Abu Asaduzzaman, and LAS Social Sciences representative Dan Close to the Scholarship and Student Aid Committee
10. Accepted appointment of Business representative Anthony May, Fine Arts representative Jennifer Ray, Health Professions representative Kelly Anderson, and LAS Humanities representative Susan Sterret to the Undergraduate Research Committee
11. Accepted appointment of Fine Arts representative Kirsten Johnson and LAS Humanities representative Brigitte Roussel to the Admissions/Exceptions Committee
12. Accepted – Revisions to the membership of the Faculty Support Committee

II. Call to Order – Meeting called to order at 3:30PM by President Yildirim

III. Informal Statements and Proposals – None

IV. Approval of Minutes
1. Minutes of the March 13, 2017 meeting were accepted as presented.

V. President's Report –
1. KBOR
i. The KU med school requested multi-year/multi institution contracts. It would provide them with flexibility. KBOR approved their proposal.
ii. WSU-WATC Affiliation – President Bardo highlighted for the board the opportunities as a result of better co-planning and coordination.
iii. AP Cut scores will be revisited after the1st year. Scores will then be revisited every three years, or as needed.
2. A diversity statement for ads on job searches was provided by Jean Griffith from the Tilford Commission. The statement is as follows: All employees of Wichita State University are expected to support to WSU Vision, Mission, and Values and to help foster an environment rich in diversity of culture, thought, and experience. Candidates for faculty positions should be able to demonstrate the ability to effective education and empower a diverse student population.
3. Dr. John Tomblin's YMCA presentation to the faculty senate will be April 10, 2017.
4. The proposed state budget may include a 2% across the board raise for state employees.

VI. Committee Reports
1. Rules Committee – President-Elect Carolyn Shaw, Chair of the Rules Committee (committee appointments – posted under documents) The senate approved the rules committee nominees for the 2017-2018 Faculty Senate standing committees.
2. President-Elect Shaw presented lecturer appointments across the institution. There were 267 adjuncts in fall 2016.
3. The Rules Committee proposed limiting membership on the Faculty Support Committee to exclude chairs and directors. The committee's responsibilities include reviewing grant awards (URCA and MURPA) as well as sabbaticals. Rationale for excluding chairs and directors: Chairs and directors already write letters of support for faculty for grants. Members of the committee who submit grants recuse themselves as do members who are submitting sabbatical requests. Faculty Senate approved limiting membership on the Faculty Support Committee to exclude chairs and directors

VII. Old Business - None

VIII. New Business
1. WSU/WATC Affiliation HLC Change of Control Application, 1st reading, Senior Associate VP Muma, Provost Vizzini, WATC President Sheree Utash
i. WATC President Utash addressed the senate. President Utash stated that this had been a 24-month project and from WATC's perspective the project was important. President Utash believes that higher education in Kansas needs to change and this is a model that can be replicated across the state. According to President Utash the affiliation is a good place for everyone, gives us all the things that are really good, but doesn't make it messy.
1. The new name for WATC would be the WSU Campus of Applied Science and Technology.
2. The current governing board is appointed by the county manager and currently includes 9 senior leaders from industry. There would be changes to the governance structure which would now come under KBOR.
3. WATC employees would become state employees.
4. For students, open access and 2 year technical degrees will remain; however, the affiliation allows opportunities for future degrees.
5. WSU-WATC is a microcosm of business and industry for the community – a flexible, nimble model.
As President Utash stated - for all of us the biggest changes are with faculty and staff (WATC). The WATC faculty and staff are exited and anxious, but believe it is the right thing to do for the future of higher education. Their day to day operations will remain the same – they will keep teaching. President Utash noted that she has tried to remain as transparent as possible, holding campus meetings and student meetings. She testified in front of the Education Committee and the affiliation proposal will go to the house floor next Wednesday.
ii. Question (Q) - With the change in governance, industry leaders to KBOR, how will you manage to stay current? Response (R) - The industry board will become an advisory board and will help inform us regarding technology. Both the Regents and the Advisory Board will be involved. Q. Are your programs approved by the Board of Regents? R. We have an internal process, and a 2-year process, programs are approved by the Technical Education Authority (TEA), goes to the subcommittee and then goes to the Board of Regents. We have more steps - the TEA will not change because this is where we get our funding. In the affiliation we maintain our federal ID number and can apply to the Department of Education and the Department of Labor for grants.
iii. Q. WATC offers general education courses, presuming that you need to maintain these in order to maintain accreditation, how would you envision better coordination? R. We currently have courses that are transferable to any Regents' institution, and have the Shocker Pathway. Our opportunities to collaborate is the same as what we are doing. We can take students through developmental courses and then general education courses. We meet all of the core outcomes and students are transferring to you today. Q. Looking at the infrastructure between the two institutions, how are we going to communicate? The chain of command is all across the top but not at the faculty level. R. We can put that in the document – bi-annual meetings of faculty. Faculty comment - It would that be helpful to include that in the organizational chart. R. It seems that there should be some coordination. Faculty comment - Faculty needs to maintain the control of the curriculum just like your senate does. Faculty comment - There should be something formal in there for coordination – some formal mechanism would be very good to achieve. Knowing what other people are doing. R. That is do able. We have lead faculty in different areas, they are the ones that do the scheduling. Faculty comment - One idea would be to have a time when lead faculty would meet with the LAS faculty.

R. The intent is to have cooperation.
iv. Senior Associate VP Muma – There is a prepared website with all the documentation pulled together. The first document Change of Control Application, almost a year ago we started planning for this, this document represents the work of those groups. The change of control is for WATC to now become WSU Campus of Applied Technology. Senior Associate VP asked for questions. Q. What is being presented to us, is this a document that requires Faculty Senate approval before it goes to HLC? Is there anything that we say that will change the document? Is this document being presented to the faculty senate to endorse the document? R. It is going to be submitted to HLC May 1st. Faculty have had input along the way, it is up to you how you handle it and whether you want to endorse it or not. Faculty comment – All we are looking at is a procedural looking at this do to assist the process to move it along. R. all of this information is required for this to become official. Faculty comment – Don't see where we play a significant role. R. Normally anything that happens at the university we get clarification to strengthen what is present. Faculty comment – It seems to me that we have passed the point on where to give feedback. R. We are at a point where everyone has. We began the merger and it became clear later in the process that WATC would not be able to apply for money, the needed to have their own accreditation to maintain those funding streams. Now we are asking for feedback on the document. It would be best if we have an endorsement, it would be stronger thing to do. Faculty comment – I'm confused because it was presented on the agenda a first reading. President Yildirim commented if the faculty senate would like to have an endorsement it can decide. Faculty comment –Senator Dehner shared 5.08 Statements on the Professional Rights and Responsibilities of the Faculty. Then commented: To me this is not an issue to give feedback on, this merger has never been brought to the Faculty Senate. We have a responsibility as a faculty to determine whether this is something we have a vote on or not. Faculty question directed to President Yildirim – Is this a the first reading and then we come back to vote? President Yildirim – I am hoping that faculty will endorse and make the document better. It is a first reading to endorse the affiliation. Faculty comment: We have been meeting on this affiliation over the past year with meetings to discuss many issues regarding this. I think a very good document has been developed and if it was brought to the entire faculty would they vote based on an opinion or rumor, would they know all the ins and outs, an endorsement from the Faculty Senate would be very appropriate. Faculty comment – We have challenges we were trying to think through blindly, conversations have included faculty, but not conversations on endorsement. This procedure should have happened last year. Comment from Senior Associate VP Muma – None of us have ever done an affiliation before, we would bring folks together then we had to change course. We struggled for a long period of time and didn't get input from the committees until December. Q – When was it submitted to the legislature? It went to the legislature in January, but it never came before us (Faculty Senate). R. A lot of stuff has to happen at the same time. It is messy, I agree. Faculty comment - as one of the stakeholders we should be first and it should have come much earlier in the process. R. We thought we were doing that. Faculty comment – We talked about one slice of the process and there were no faculty at the on whether it was an affiliation or a merger, looking at one slice is not the same as having faculty at the table. Senior Associate VP Muma is available if faculty have any questions.

2. Student Concerns on Transparency and Shared Governance
President Yildirim provided the following background - on March 16th the Executive Committee invited the president and vice-president of the Student Government Association to the Executive Committee meeting to express their concerns. The Executive Committee decided that the Ombudspersons could be used as facilitators. They met with the students and invited them to the Faculty Senate to share their questions/concerns. Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Teri Hall was also invited to the Faculty Senate. President Yildirim noted that the students care and are passionate about the university, they have concerns and want their voices to be heard.
i. Taben Azad and other students representing We the Students – shared a PowerPoint presentation with the Faculty Senate. As Mr. Azad noted that We the Students is a not a group of angry students, who protest for the sake of protests. Students are major stakeholders in the university. The demands outlined in the PowerPoint included an interfaith prayer space, innovation campus and transparency, culture of fear among staff, and safety for survivors of sexual assault.
1. Interfaith prayer space: Students are asking for wash stations, security cameras, lighting, lockers, institutional recognition (external signage and on the University webpage). Faculty comment there are some things that because we are a public institution cannot be done. Asked if students had been in touch with the Foundation. Mr. Azad stated that students have asked for meetings since February, there has been lack of support since October 2015. Mr. Azad stated that students are confused; there is confusion regarding funding and the university's position.
2. Innovation campus is getting precedence over the main campus. Shared governance should not be a simple checkmark, it is allowing representation of students in appropriate decision-making stages. Dr. Tomblin was quoted as telling SGA March 1st, if students don't want the YMCA, they will take it off the master plan. March 9th, Dr. Hall stated that the SGA vote is more of a recommendation. Faculty comment: I agree about transparency and the YMCA, since they want to use fees to pay, is there a way of getting money for a wash station.
3. Culture of fear: Mr. Azad noted the number of recent resignations among staff who were advocates for and supported students. Most recently – March 9th, Eric Maki and March 17th Christine Schneikart-Luebbe
4. Safety for Survivors of Sexual Assault: Students are calling for guidelines on the process of reporting. Mr. Azad stated that students would like to have an advocate on campus and that student safety should be top concern.

The broader idea the students wanted to communicate was the need for shared governance, transparency, and equal representation. Mr. Azad provided a handout for the member of the senate. Faculty question: Why don't student, faculty and staff senates convene? Care for the institution and the wish for dialog is very powerful. President Yildirim commented that there have been some preliminary discussions on creating a university assembly.

ii. Vice President for Student Affairs, Teri Hall addressed the Faculty Senate. She stated she never said that Muslim students should use the janitor's closet. It was offered as a short term solution during construction that has been wildly misquoted.

1. Dr. Hall noted that Mr. Azad had been notified of the progress being made in a series of e-mail messaged. Q. Do you have any timeframe for when these things are going to get done? R. In the RSC we should be able to get that in May; the lighting could be done soon. Q. We can't call it an interfaith prayer space? R. Grace Memorial Chapel open to all faiths – we can put that in the documents to promote it more broadly. Faculty comment – May be we should think about it as interfaith spaces. This is the opportunity to think about the whole campus. Faculty comment – I am concerned that students are this upset. What is your plan going forward to repair the unhealthy relationship? R. We reached out today to students in the President's office last week. We could argue that they are not usually this way. After the elections would like to build relationships with the new SGA representatives. Q. Are there plans for transparency and shared governance? R. We need to fix this relationship. Joseph (SGA President Shepard) and I have a meeting with the President this week. Q. The YMCA was sprung upon them, what will you do? R. We will have a student hearing fee to address this issue and to have a conversation. We to move it back and not hurry it through. The process wasn't followed. Q. Can you give us an answer on why Mr. Azad was removed as vice-president of SGA and chief election commissioner? R. I cannot have those conversations with you. I cannot speak about a conduct issue. Q. The election commission has a faculty observer, was there a reason why, if there is bias on the election commission, the faculty observer was not involved in the discussion? R. There are times when the university feels it must take measures in the investigation. Faculty comment – There was a faculty observer but his opinion on the matter was never solicited. Faculty comment – The issue is much larger and more systemic than shared governance, we need to understand the role of shared governance, a lot of conflict could be better channeled if we understood the role of SGA in the university. R. What is shared governance, who are the representatives, not very well spelled out right now.

iii. President Yildirim – The Faculty Senate and Executive Committee in particular will offer its help to be a bridge between students and administration.

IX. As May Arise None

X. Adjournment – at 5:18PM