Faculty Senate Minutes

November 9, 2015 Clinton Hall 126 鈥� 3:30PM-5:00PM

Senators Present Ahmed, Asaduzzaman, Barut, Bergman, Castro, Chand, Chopra, Close, Cramer, Decker, Dehner, Deibel, Ewing, Huckstadt, Hunsicker, Johnson, Lu, Moore-Jansen, Mosack, Muthiachareon, Myose, Palmer, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, Shaw, Shukaev, Walker, Woods, Yeager, Yildirim

Senators Absent: Adler, Birzer, Bryant, Chang, Hughes, Jin, Solomey, Yao

Senators Excused: Babnich, Brooks,. Celestin, Hull

Summary of Action:
1. Accepted appointment of Atul Rai as At-Large member to the Tenure and Promotion Committee

I. Call to Order - Meeting called to order at 3:32PM by President Moore-Jansen

II. Informal Statements and Proposals 鈥� None

III. Approval of Minutes
a. Minutes of the October 26, 2015 meeting were accepted as presented

IV. Updates
a. WATC 鈥� President Moore-Jansen asked President Bardo to speak to the Faculty Senate regarding WATC. President Bardo will address the senate in late January or early February.

V. President' Report
a. President Moore-Jansen met with Mark Porcaro (Unclassified Professionals 鈥揢P- Senate) and Stacy Salters (University Support Staff - USS) to discuss the Weapons Safety Policy. Before the end of the semester the Kansas Board of Regents will provide a framework. A survey will be sent to faculty and staff sometime in December.
b. President Moore-Jansen also met with Joseph Sheppard (President, Student Government Association) to discuss the policy. Talks with Mark Porcaro, Stacy Salters and Joseph Shepard regarding this issue will continue.

VI. Committee Reports
a. Rules Committee 鈥� Senator Bayram Yildirim submitted one nomination for acceptance for the At-Large position on the Tenure and Promotion Committee. Atul Rai's nomination was accepted for a two year term

b. Library Committee 鈥� Bill Hendry, Chair (see attachments to the meeting notice) provided an update from the library committee.
i. Committee meets at least once a semester
ii. There has been a 20% increase in attendance at the library since 2002
iii. Interlibrary loans, new publications and digitizing content are current strengths
iv. Challenge continues to be retention of library faculty and with the departure of Don Gilstrap (Dean of University Libraries) the faculty needs to discuss how we keep the next library dean and faculty role in the next search.
v. A question was raised regarding the possibility of an Innovation Campus library, Provost and Senior Vice President Vizzini reported that he was not aware of any push in that direction, the focus continues to be on supporting Ablah Library

c. Admissions and Exceptions Committee 鈥� Rachel Crane, Chair, presented a proposal for provisional admissions for applicants who do not meet the admissions criteria. The proposal will be:
i. on a trial basis only, beginning in spring 2016 and continue for two semesters; and
ii. the University Admissions and Exceptions Committee (UAEC) will oversee the process and will collect data.
The committee made the following additional recommendations:
i. the exceptions application be included with the admissions application; and
ii. the criteria for exceptions not be expanded until additional faculty who specialize in high risk students can be hired.
This is a temporary proposal and requires no action by the Faculty Senate. Should the UAEC decide to change their current policy action will need to be taken. (A copy of the proposal is available in the Faculty Senate Office.)

VII. Old Business 鈥� none

VIII. New Business
a. Commencement and Final Exam Proposal 鈥� Gina Crabtree, Registrar, presented a draft of the revised examination schedule for Spring 2016
b. Changes to the examination schedule were needed as an effort is being made to hold spring commencement ceremonies on one day instead of over two days. If commencement is held on Saturday, no final exams will be scheduled on Friday
c. The current policy of no more than 2 final exams for students on any given day is still in place
d. Questions were raised regarding online courses, currently there are no set times for final exams for online courses
e. The schedule is still a work in progress and input is being requested from the Student Government Association

IX. As may rise
a. Kansas Board of Regents will be on campus on November 18th from 1:30-5:00 in the Shirley Beggs Ballroom, faculty and staff are invited to attend

X. Adjournment - at 4:14PM