Wichita State University Faculty Senate
September 22, 2014
Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting
Monday, September 22, 2014
Members Present: Adler, Ahmed, Barut, Bergman, Brooks, Bryant, Castro, Chang, Close, Decker,
Dehner, Horn, Houseman, Huckstadt, Hull, Hunsicker, Johnson, Klunder, Mason, Moore-Jansen, Mosack,
Perry, Ramanan, Rillema, Rokosz, Ross, Shaw, Trechek, Walker, Woods. Yeager, Yildirim
Members Absent: Hanawalt, Lu, Taher, Thiessen,
Members Excused: Baker, Celestin, Yao, Yu
I. Call to Order: Meeting called to order @ 3:30 pm by President Mehmet Barut.
II. Informal Statements and Proposals:
Senator Rillema noted that the phased retirement program that has been in place for many years may
have undergone some recent changes. He requested that the Executive Committee look into this and
report back to the Senate on the current status of phased retirement options.
Senator Castro inquired about the process for faculty to handle incompletes that extend past the one year
automatic extension in the grade submission system. Can faculty automatically extend these incompletes
or do they need to go through the exceptions process?
III. Approval of the Minutes:
a. Minutes of the meeting on May 12, 2014 - closing of the previous academic year were accepted as
presented.
b. Minutes of the Election Meeting on May 12, 2014 – elections were accepted as presented.
IV. Informatinve Information:
Jackie Wise - Campaign Chair for United Way - shared the importance of leadership giving, noting that
United Way supports 35 non-profits in the area, and that for every dollar given, $1.57 goes out into the
community based on grant support.
Janet Brandes - Provided an update on Shocker One Stop. The support office
went live on Aug 6 and has handled over 1900 inbound calls in the past four weeks.
They provide WSU student support across areas: admissions, financial aid, advising,
registration. The self help portal is open 24/7. They also handle outbound
communications - encouraging students to complete applications, get registered for next
semester, etc. Faculty and Advisor are encouraged to direct students to One Stop first
before specific offices on campus to handle routine questions.
V. President's Report
President Barut recently attended the September meeting of the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents
(COFSP) that meets concurrently with the KBOR. The COFSP regularly encourages
KBOR to proactively use faculty expertise in crafting education policies.
Three main issues were raised:
1. Credit for prior learning (CPL) - and compentency based learning. This helps meet nationwide
education goals as well as university enrollment goals. There is a link on the Faculty Senate Bb regarding
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Wichita State University Faculty Senate
September 22, 2014
workshops/webinars for faculty and staff - Sept 30 and Oct 30, Attendance is encouraged. Faculty need
to understand these issues well in order to provide strong feedback as the policy is developed
further. The Academic Affairs committee may be asked to review and recommend policy on the issue
eventually. This is a nationwide discussion. KBOR is working on a 'best practice' document (which will
be put up on Senate Bb page).
2. Implementation of the Social Media policy- each university is developing a procedure to follow based
on KBOR policy. WSU's is in process.
3. Performance based funding (at the University level). KBOR is putting together a work group
composed of select university presidents to work on creating a policy for performance based funding (to
be provided to universities above and beyond their fixed funding amounts). The group has been asked to
present a proposal to KBOR no later than Dec 2014. There was no discussion about expanding the
membership.
4. President Barut informed the Senators that Bb group has been created for the Senators and that new
information, proposed policies and discussions etc. will be available on that page.
5. Ombudsperson training session is scheduled for Oct 4. According to university policy, past
presidents, current president, and president elect can serve in this capacity and are invited to participate
in the training. It is coordinated by Francisco Gonzalez EEO, with funding by Provosts office. (Current
Ombudspersons (end of term): Will Klunder (2015), Bob Ross (2016), Victoria Mosack (2017)
6. University Admissions and Exceptions Committee: has completed process revision for Preapproval for qualified admissions - putting current practice into policy. The Exceptions committee will
provide a review in their annual report. This will help the Admissions office continue to make timely
admissions rather than waiting for exceptions committee.
VI. Committee Reports
a.Rules Committee – Peer Moore-Jansen, chair
1. Motion to accept the report from the Scholarship-Student Aid Committee. Approved.
2. Motion to accept the report from the Undergraduate Research Committee and forward it to Faculty
Affairs committee to deal with a funding issue. Approved.
3. Motion to approve Hyuck Kwon to fill the Engineering seat on the Rules committee. Approved.
4. Motion to approve Alicia Huckstadt (Nursing) as a new Senator. Approved.
VII. Old Business -- none
VIII. New Business:
a. President Barut welcomed the new and returning senators.
b. Procedure Manual for Online Education
Mark Pocaro, Media Resources, provided some background, noting that the HLC oversees distance
education. In 2007 a WSU task force formed to address concerns raised from last HLC visit. We now
have appropriate support, and a plan in place to support online learning. A new Online Procedure Manual
has been posted in the Bb Discussion Forum for comment. This was developed by Mark to serve as a
guideline for colleges to follow. It is not a policy document.
He is seeking faculty input on what might
be unclear or needs re-framing. Please share with colleagues.
IX. As may arise
X. Adjournment
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Wichita State University Faculty Senate
September 22, 2014
Respectfully Submitted
Carolyn Shaw, Secretary
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