Faculty Senate Minutes
Date: September 26, 2012
Location: Fulp 400
Time: 1:30 PM
Members Present: Amoena Norcross, Todd Crisp-Simons, Ashley Brady, Lisa Walton, Tony Logan, Chris McFarlin, Jason Poole, Cherlyn Brown, Marilyn Vickery
Members Absent: Corey Evans, Tom Lawrence, Steven Mathena, Tony Young, Penny Edwards, Marla Roberson
Guests: Galen Dehay, Tonia Faulling
Presider: Amoena Norcross
Approval of Minutes: A grammatical error was corrected under the Approval of Minutes section. With this change noted, Chris motioned that the May minutes be approved. Cherlyn seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
1. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Update on Provost Search
Galen shared that the Provost search is ongoing and that the search committee has adopted a rolling, immediate process for reviewing applicants. As new applications are submitted, they are reviewed and a decision on conducting a phone interview is made within days of receipt. There are many interested applicants, but the College desires a Provost with strong, visionary leadership.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
2. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Update on Curriculum Committee (CC)
Galen shared that curriculum changes are being processed by the CC as usual. A new process, however, is currently being developed. At present, WIDS to Web (a web-based version of WIDS) is slated to be used in the new curriculum approval process, and the CC Chair and others are working on identifying roles and responsibilities in this approval process. Once the new process has been finalized, it will be presented for review to Faculty Senate and to the Provost’s Council. The effective date for implementation of the new process is Spring 2013.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None
3. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Faculty Senate and Student Success
Galen shared that he had served on Faculty Senate for several years and that Faculty Senate is a good example of shared governance. He encouraged Faculty Senate to become a catalyst for improving student learning and success. He also challenged the Faculty Senate to consider risks it would be willing to take to positively impact student success, i.e., becoming pro-active rather than waiting on directives. Issues should be resolved/decided upon at the level where accountability lies, not sent upward.
Galen also mentioned that the Academic Delivery Group has been re-designed into the Provost’s Council to reflect the integration of Student Affairs into Academic Affairs. He encouraged the Senate to view the new committee charter for the Provost’s Council posted in eTC.
Galen also reminded the Senate of the student success newsletter which communicates efforts pertaining to student success initiatives. He also emphasized that change needs to occur 1) to help students learn more effectively and 2) to empower those who impact student learning.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
4. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Faculty Senate Constitution and By Laws: Clarification of Officers’ Duties (Article III, Section 5)
The Senate reviewed a draft of the duties of the Faculty Senate President, Vice President, and Secretary. Amoena stated that these were generally the duties of the officers from her experience serving on the Senate and having been President many years ago. However, the Constitution and By Laws does not explicitly state the duties of these officers. Penny had communicated via email that the Faculty Senate President should also communicate to the Faculty Senate concerns/issues that the administration seeks input on. The Senate agreed that this duty should be included. Amoena also noted that the Secretary should send minutes to Senate members within 7 business days following a Faculty Senate meeting rather than 7 calendar days. No other changes were recommended for the draft.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Since 2/3 of the Senate was not present, the inclusion of the officers’ duties into the Constitution and By Laws could not be voted on at the meeting. Amoena will incorporate changes into the draft and send the revised draft to the Senate for electronic voting.
5. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Election of Faculty Senate Vice President & Secretary
Amoena called for nominations for Faculty Senate Vice President. Todd was nominated, and with no other nominations, was elected by acclamation.
Amoena called for nominations for Faculty Senate Secretary. Marilyn was nominated, and with no other nominations, was elected by acclamation.
Todd will bring a pen recorder to meetings for Marilyn’s use in recording the minutes.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
6. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Professional Development Day
Amoena reported a concern regarding the timing of the Professional Development Day scheduled for Tues., Nov. 6 (Election Day). Senators voiced concern that a break this late in the semester may negatively impact student success since there is a 2-month span since Labor Day with no break. Furthermore, Thanksgiving follows this break quickly as does the end of the semester. It was noted that Clemson University has scheduled a brief fall break in addition to another one coinciding with Election Day.
Another concern with the date of the Nov. 6 Professional Development Day is that any pedagogical strategies learned would most likely not be implemented because the semester is nearing its end. Offering the Professional Development Day at the beginning of a fall semester would allow easier integration of learned strategies into the upcoming semester. The discussion concluded with Senators agreeing that they should serve as an example by attending the Professional Development Day and encouraging faculty in their areas to do the same.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
The scheduling of Professional Development Day will be revisited by the Senate after student deadlines have been posted for applying to the College for Fall 2013 and for registering for Fall 2013 classes.
7. Issue discussed and major points of discussion:
Multi-Campus Scheduling
Amoena reported a concern regarding class meeting patterns across all campuses. The Pendleton Campus (PC) and Easley Campus (EC) have the same class meeting patterns, but the Anderson Campus (AC) does not. Consequently, AC faculty members are unable to participate in meetings at other campuses via phone conferencing because AC classes are offered in the 1:15-2:30 pm time slot.
Chris shared that he has been serving on a group examining the meeting patterns and course offerings on the satellite campuses. His group discovered that the EC does not offer enough general education classes on different days and times. The AC offers too many classes in the same time slot and is not utilizing Fridays at all for teaching. There appears to be a disconnect between implementing student success strategies and effective utilization of resources (classroom space, unfilled seats, faculty, etc.)
Tony added that the Industrial Technology Center (ITC) is also working on class meeting patterns and course offerings and that Fridays may be free at the ITC as well.
Amoena shared that she is serving on the Board of the Scheduling Project Team and that this team is addressing the issues Chris and Tony mentioned as well as others pertaining to scheduling. Amoena asked Senators to encourage faculty input to Scheduling Project Team members: Scott Harvey, Tim Bowen, Stan Compton, Emily Danuser, Stephanie Evans, Janet Fuller, Robin McFall, Phil Smith, Brian Swords, Della Vanhuss, and Julie Vernon.
Action to be taken as a result of discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Amoena will report to the Senate Scheduling Project Team recommendations.
Announcements/Concerns:
Because of time constraints, the Attendance Policy and Nepotism in the Classroom agenda items will be addressed at the next Senate meeting.
Tonia announced that the deadline to donate items to the time capsule has been extended to October 3 and that not many items had been donated yet. It was suggested that a USB flash drive and a PC mouse be considered as possible items. Tonia also encouraged Senators to advertise the ceremony for burying the time capsule on October 24. The ceremony will be held during the activity hour outside of the Café.
Tony announced that a carpentry class is being offered in Spring 2013 as an elective. There is also a plumbing class being offered. A discussion followed that faculty are generally unaware of new course offerings because of communication issues. This unawareness has consequences on advising.
Next meeting date, time, and location: Thursday, October 25, 2:30 pm, FP-400
Name of recorder: Amoena B. Norcross
