Faculty Senate Minutes
Date: 18 September 2013
Location: Fulp 400
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Members Present: Todd
Crisp-Simons, Bobby Watt, Kate Williams, Ron Brown, Jeff Christmas, Stacey
Frank, Doug Allen, Buffy York, Marla Roberson, Chris McFarlin, Tom Lawrence,
Kevin Bell, and Mary Geren
Members Absent: Cheryln Brown and Stan Compton
Others Present: Emily Danuser
Presider: Todd Crisp-Simons
Approval of Minutes: With several editing corrections, it was
motioned that both the March and the April 2013 minutes be approved. The motion
was seconded. The minutes, with changes,
were approved unanimously.
New Business:
1. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Election
of Officers
The
description of officer positions were discussed, nominations were made, and an
election process will be finalized at our October meeting because some
nominated members were either absent or in transition.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
2. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Library
Updates
Marla
Roberson discussed new programs and services that have been added to the
library. She provided information on creating webpages that are discipline
specific, as well as course (instructor) specific. Marla provided additional
information on workshops that the library staff offer, distributed library handouts
and supplemental materials, and explained all of the services offered. Finally, she requested that all Faculty
Senate members disseminate the information to his or her respective
constituents.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
3. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Academic
Affairs Concerns I
South
Carolina’s policy requires that all post-secondary institutions meet a minimum
time amount for classes held. The
revision to the policy no longer mandates a final exam period if an
institution’s normal class time meets the minimum requisite. Therefore, the Senate discussed soliciting
information about calendar requirements because this issue will affect other
committees (i.e. The Calendar Committee).
Through much discussion, the Senate recognized the importance of a final
exam period. Many departments’
curriculum are dependent on this time frame.
It was questioned too as to whether a change is necessary, and, if so,
would it be per division or school-wide?
In addition, how would such a change affect our adjuncts—extra days mean
additional pay. The calendar committee has suggested going to a 15- week
semester. The Senate will wait for more information before taking action or
making any decisions.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
4. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Academic
Affairs Concerns II
There
is a concern on the applicability of the attendance policy. Not all divisions
and programs are interpreting and using the attendance policy in the same
manner; therefore, the institution faces an issue in the continuity of the
policy. The question that the Senate faces is how the college’s attendance relates
to both assessment and student success. At this time, we will wait for more
information before taking action or making any decisions, as we need more input
from the Deans and from Administration.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
None.
5. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Academic
Affairs Concerns III
The
Senate will be charged with analyzing our college’s National Benchmark results.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Todd
will forward copies of the National Benchmarks to each Senate member, and this
issue will be revisited at a later Senate meeting.
6. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Learning
Management Software Issue
Currently,
many departments use 3rd party supplemental material, ones such as
online labs provided by their respective publishers. Although these labs prove to be successful to
many departments’ endeavors, our students face issues when it comes to engaging
the software. Therefore, IT has asked
that all faculty who use these platforms to place a link within their
Blackboard course shells, ones that work as a Launchpad, taking the students
directly to the 3rd party’s log-in page. In addition, students who add and drop
courses face course conflict issues on Blackboard. For instance, students who move from one
section to another still have both sections reflecting on his or her
Blackboard, and this creates material/instruction issues. Suggestions were made to resolve this issue.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Faculty
Senate members will disseminate the discussed information to his or her
respective constituents, encouraging everyone to embed a link into his or her
Blackboard shell. In regards to the
double section issues, faculty members need to place their last name within
each course section’s homepage.
7. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Graduation
Fee
Currently,
students are charged a graduation fee at the end of their program. This can
place a financial strain on the student and many are not interested in
participating in the ceremony. It is questioned as to what the graduation fee
funds and whether it is possible to add this fee in at the beginning, in
addition to the application fees, so that this fee is not a deterrent for
graduation. The argument is that there are many fees that students are
responsible during the course of their program, and when our students graduate,
they lack the financial support that they previously received, and now these
students must pay, on top of a graduation fee, for professional costs: welding
supplies, nursing licensure testing, certification exams, boards, etc. The college faces an important question. Will moving this fee from back end to the
front end improve the matriculation process? Will it encourage our students to
start off more successfully?
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Some
Senate members will meet with Scott Harvey and other administrative officials,
seeking input on the graduation application process, the fee, etc. Afterwards, the Senate will revisit this
issue at our next meeting.
8. Issue discussed and major points of
discussion:
Talent
Management
The
college considers moving from the traditional personnel system to a talent
management system of human resources. For this, the Senate must identify three
or four key core-competencies that reflect faculty as a whole. The competencies
being sought and determined are ones of a macro level. There will be two town
hall meetings facilitated by Todd Crisp-Simons, Kate Williams, and Harriette
Dudley, September 25th and 27th. Once the list is
compiled, senators will be able to vote on the three or four that best
represents the faculty.
Action to be taken as a result of
discussion, person(s) responsible, and timeline:
Town
hall meetings will be held, opinions will be solicited by e-mail as well,
core-competencies will be collected and compiled, constituents will provide
feedback to Senate Representatives, and the Senate will both discuss and vote
on the final three or four macro core-competencies.
Old Business:
None.
Comments/Concerns:
None.
Next meeting: 16 October 2013 (Fulp 400)
Adjournment
at 6:03 p.m.
Name of Recorder: Stacey Frank
