College of Education Senate
University of Northern Iowa
November 10, 2008
Minutes #369
I. Call to Order
The meeting of the College of Education Senate was called to order by
Elana Joram, Chair, at 3:20 P.M. on Monday, November 10, 2008 in the
Dean‟s Conference Room in Schindler Education Center, Room 205.
Senators in attendance [in bold]
Elana Joram, Chair [EPF]
Rod Dieser [At large]
Dave Else [ELCPE]
Chris Kliewer [SPED]
Kim Knesting [At-large]
Robin Lund [At-large]
Rick Vanderwall [At large]
Bridgette Wagoner [TCHG]
Windee Weiss [HPELS]
Leigh Zeitz [C&I]
Alternates in attendance [in bold]
Susan Hudson
Jan Bartlett
Amy Staples
Suzanne Freedman
Kevin Finn
Shelley McCumber
Becky Hawbaker
Todd Evans
Ex-Officio Members in attendance
Guests
None
II. Approval of Minutes of October 13, 2008 [#368]
The minutes of the meeting of October 13, 2008 and the special Senate
meeting of October 24, 2008 were accepted as written.
III. Reports/Announcements
A. At the special meeting of the Senate on October 24th, Dr. Bev Kopper
attended the meeting to discuss UNI beginning its comprehensive
evaluation for continued accreditation by the Higher Learning
Commission (HLC). UNI has chosen to participate in a joint project
between the HLC and the Policy Center on the First Year of College.
The goal is to help a college or university “integrate specific
institutional commitments or projects directly into the processes for
gaining continuing accreditation” from the Commission. Joram
questioned how this information will be disseminated to COE faculty.
There was consensus that Senators should discuss this at one of their
department meetings.
B. After some conversation, it was decided to hold a Senate meeting on
December 8th.
C. Lund reported that he, Linda Fitzgerald, and Mary Herring have been
working on the grant process for undergraduate research. Money will
not be available right now, so the committee is on hold.
D. Joram asked if anyone had any information on the status of the
prioritization process. There has been no further information, it was
reported. [Weiss arrived at 3:30]
IV. Old Business
A. Faculty Survey: Hudson suggested that Dieser might be able to
assist. Joram also volunteered to help. Wagoner reported that the
Faculty Survey was distributed at a recent MPLS meeting.
V. New Business
A. Identify Alternates: It was reported that Shelley McCumber will serve
as the alternate for Rick Vanderwall. Zeitz still needs to identify an
alternate.
B. Faculty Representatives for Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
Award and Ross A. Nielsen Professional Service Award: The
following faculty members were suggested to serve as the faculty
representative on the above two committees: Michele [Yehieli] Devlin,
Penny Beed, and Rick Traw. After some discussion, it was decided that
Joram should invite Devlin.
C. Web site: Zeitz led a discussion on the current COE Senate web site
and what we want it to look like in the future. The Web site should be a
means of communication with the faculty, staff, and students in COE.
He demonstrated the use of blogs, a mass communication system, and
possible uses as a way to share thoughts and ideas. He stated that we
would have the ability to monitor/moderate it with full approval before
anything is “put up”. Else questioned how we market a blog. Zeitz
responded that we would want to make it a part of the „culture‟. Else
asked if there would be an expectation that faculty would react or is it
just an opportunity for faculty to converse. Knesting asked who would
have responsibility for keeping this up to date. Lund questioned if this
is a free service and Zeitz responded that there is no fee. Some of the
things that the COE could accomplish with a blog included: 1] Share
ideas; 2] Get feedback from others; 3] Discuss issues; and 4] Connect
to people around the world. [Else left at 3:56]. Zeitz stressed that
there are a lot of great ideas and they need to be shared with others.
Joram suggested that the Senate could have a monthly update on the
site as we are trying to have a more central role in the COE.
Joram stated that currently there is obsolete, redundant, and/or
missing information on the Senate Web site. It was suggested that the
Senate goals and approved minutes could be included on the new site.
A question was raised if we want Senate minutes available to the
general public. After some conversation it was moved by Hudson and
seconded by Wagoner to remove all Senate minutes except the past
three years and archive the rest on the Web site. All ayes. Motion
carried.
Hudson suggested that older faculty may not be as concerned with this
type of communication as younger faculty who are the future of the
college. Knesting also pointed out that faculty may have „time issues‟
with checking another communication system, such as blog. There was
consensus to try this for a year to see if there is any
interest/participation. Zeitz stressed that we need to be transparent
and this seems to be a great way to do it. It was suggested that the
Senate could take 10 minutes at their meetings to check the blog for
discussion items. Knesting cautioned making available information
that maybe shouldn‟t be. It was suggested that the Senate could send
out an e-mail to all COE faculty to advise them we will now be blogging.
It was moved by Zeitz and seconded by Weiss to begin a COE Senate
blog. All ayes. Motion carried.
A possible initial topic for the blog could be teaching effectiveness.
Also, it was suggested that there could be a conversation about faculty
teaching evaluations to be considered for merit pay. Are there contract
issues with this? Hudson stressed that the instruments we use must be
reliable or it could be grieveable. Considerable discussion took place
on the impact on faculty whose pay is dependent on this. Joram
questioned how much we need to check with the dean before moving
forward on this. Perhaps there could be a disclaimer that the Senate is
only advisory to the dean.
VI. Upcoming Meeting Dates
December 8, 2008
January __, 2009
February 9, 2009
March 9, 2009
April 13, 2009
VII. Other Dates to Remember
December 20, 2008
January 12, 2009
March 16-20, 2009
May 9, 2009
Commencement
Spring Term Begins
Spring Break
Commencement
VIII. Adjournment
The next meeting of the COE Senate will be held on Monday, December 8,
2008 at 3:15 P.M. in the Dean‟s Conference Room in Schindler Education
Center. The meeting was adjourned at 4:56 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary-Sue Bartlett
Secretary
:msb