Faculty Senate
Meeting of April 18, 2013 – 3:30 p.m.
Robert C. Voight Faculty Senate Chambers – 325 Graff Main Hall
Vol. 47, No. 12
Present: Abler. Allen Barnes, Beyer, Bryan, Caya, Galbraith, Hollenback, Jessee, Klein,
Kraemer, Leahy, Maas, McKelley, D. Riley, K. Rosacker, Rott, Senger, Shanks, Slough
Excused: Blumentritt, L. Dickmeyer, Leonard
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
Meeting called to order: 3:35 pm
The minutes of the 3/14/13 meeting were approved as distributed.
Chancellor’s Report: Chancellor Gow reported on the gun incident on campus this
morning. The chancellor reminded members of the importance of immediately
contacting the police when odd behaviors are noticed in the classroom. On another issue,
NCUR was successful, as was the Board of Regents meeting held on campus a week
earlier. Current issues involving state budget concerns were also presented.
Second Reading – Senate Policy Action: Previously Approved Statement on Online
Course Offering Format
M/S/P [unanimous]
Second Reading - Senate Policy Action: Institutes, Centers and Laboratories
M/S/P [unanimous]
Second Reading - Senate Policy Action: Salary Equity Policy
M/S/P [unanimous]
Recommendation on Faculty Athletics Representatives
Athletic Director, Josh Whitman explained the importance for the NCAA and our athletic
WIAC conference of having faculty athletic representatives. The NCAA requires one
representative; the WIAC requires two. The current UW-L faculty athletic
representatives, Jearold Holland and Jodie Rindt, are stepping down after years of
valuable service and they need to be replaced. There is currently no policy in place for
appointing replacements and such a policy is needed. A policy had been circulated to the
Faculty Senate for its consideration.
M/S/P to approve/endorse the circulated policy
Update on HLC and Firm Footing Proposal
Sandra Grunwald presented the current state of the HLC proposal, Firm Footing, which
has been approved by HLC. Work on the project has been ongoing, considerable data
has been gathered, there is a Firm Footing Website on the UW-L website, and surveys of
students have been conducted (second semester sophomores). Three workgroups
contemplated: 1) Early Alert Workgroup [working on developing a system for dealing
with students in 3rd/4th week, notifying at-risk and achieving students and their advisers
early on]; 2) Advising Workgroup [gathering information to determine what should be
involved in advising overall, and 3) Coordination of Resources Workgroup [to figure out
how better to utilize the numerous resources currently devoted to advising on campus].
Three big messages reported: 1) It is very important for UW-L to do the HLC project; 2)
Faculty are important for notifying students about how they are doing; and 3) It is useful
for students to find out early on how they are doing in the class.
IX.
CBA Minor in Sustainable Business
Tom Hench presented the Minor in Sustainable Business that is being proposed by CBA.
Concerns were expressed about if there was a need for such a minor, whether students
would be better served by other environmental programs that already exist, the programs’
lack of current science and sufficient interdisciplinary courses, and the absence of any
discussion with those involved in related programs during the construction of the
proposed minor. Hench spoke of the special focus of the Sustainable Business minor as
being based on business, not on the environment. Hollenback noted that the program
seemed to provide a different credential from the existing programs.
M/S/P
X.
Academic Technology Committee Recommendations regarding Online SEIs
ATC Chair, Anne Galbraith, presented three recommendations from ATC regarding online SEIs. Two of the recommendations required action.
M/S/P to approve the data retention recommendation: “All data from the previous
summer-fall-spring be deleted by ITS on December 1. Separate departments can request
that their data be deleted earlier than that if desired.”
M/S/P to try the opt-out process recommendation for the current spring 2013 term: “IT
will send out an email to all those students who did not do their online SEIs, asking them
if they consciously chose to opt out (yes or no) and then provide a space for their
reason(s). This would be done one time only to gather data regarding the reasons for nonresponse.”
XI.
XII.
Two Final Announcements:
a. The Faculty Senate addressed current efforts to revise the UW-L website. There will
be two sessions next week asking for faculty input.
b. The results of the Faculty Senate election have been previously circulated. The next
Faculty Senate will elect officers on May 2, 2013.
The meeting adjourned at 5 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Eric Kraemer, Secretary