FSCR 07003
ANNUAL REPORT: FACULTY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Date of First Reading:
___May 6, 2008__
_
Date of Acceptance:
May 6, 2008
Senate Sponsor:
Faculty Affairs Committee
Kevin Coulson, Chair
Purpose: As per Article IV, Section 13 of the Constitution and Bylaws of the
Faculty Senate and in accordance with the duties of the Faculty Affairs
committee, I hereby submit the 2007-2008 Annual Standing Committee Report
for the Faculty Senate’s Committee on Faculty Affairs.
___________________________________________________________
I.
FSCR 07003
Annual Report: Faculty Affairs Committee
The Faculty Affairs Committee performed the following actions:
Action on Faculty Senate Bills (FSB)
1.
FAC assisted in the development of FSB07001: Amendments to the Faculty
Senate Constitution.
2.
FAC brought forth FSB 07003: Specify Policy Regarding Criteria Used to
Evaluate Faculty for Purposes of Tenure and/or Promotion: Passed Nov. 20, 2007;
Presidential approval Feb. 4, 2008.
3.
FAC brought forth FSB 07004: Alteration of the Administrative Grievance Policy
Panel Selection Process: Passed Nov. 20, 2007; Presidential approval Dec. 4,
2007.
4.
FAC brought forth FSB 07005: Alteration of Grievance Policy Panel Selection
Process: Passed April 1, 2008; Presidential approval April 7, 2008.
Action on Faculty Senate Committee Reports (FSCR)
The Faculty Affairs Committee Chair prepared and submitted the FAC annual report for
2006-2007.
For the Good of the University
1.
In August, at the beginning of the academic year, university faculty members
were reminded of the Policy on Grievances.
2.
Ombudspersons and grievance panel pool members were selected to bring our
grievance procedures into compliance for the current academic year and again
later for the coming academic year.
3.
The Chair had two requests for grievance policy information. One led to an
activation of the Ombudsperson process, the other was not within the purview of
our policy. The confidential nature of the inquiries and privacy of all parties was
maintained.
4.
Several times throughout the year the committee discussed the issues of shared
governance and instructional technology (TCS) support. Of concern was the
independent nature of TCS and the failure to consult with faculty prior to
initiating and implementing changes that impact faculty. This included Banner,
directory access for non-FERPA student related inquiries, and single sign-on
security. This continues to be a concern.
5.
The committee spent considerable time following up on previous work
concerning the evaluation of teaching by students. KBOR policy, University
Policy, COFSP’s concerns, as well as the report of the previous committee on
evaluation initiated by Dr. Schwenn were examined and discussed. The entire
Senate was given opportunity to discuss the issue. No resolution was obtained.
6.
Following a Senate meeting with President Lane, the committee examined the
faculty concerns with regard to international student orientation. It was found that
there are multiple parties on campus who have responsibilities in this area and
that they apparently do not exchange information on a regular basis. Information
about faculty and student concerns was shared with those responsible for
international student orientation. Orientation length has been changed from two
days to one week. Student writing labs have insufficient resources to handle an
influx of international students. It is suggested that this be re-examined by FAC
next year to judge the effectiveness of these changes. Areas of concern included
plagiarism, English language fluency, and cultural adaptation.
7.
The University’s web calendar was examined and suggestions were made to make
its coverage span a longer time period.
Concerns for possible Senate action 2008-2009
1. We currently have no training for dealing with catastrophic events. Instead, we rely
on faculty to read our policies. The policies should be reviewed, training instituted,
disaster recovery procedures practiced and changes made as appropriate in light of
lessons learned from those training exercises.
2. Many Senators are inexpert in governance issues. This leads to confusion in day-today operations. Senate member training on the Faculty Constitution, and use of
Robert’s Rules of Order and the meaning/operation of our own version of the
representative form of government are appropriate.
3. Shared governance with regard to committees in general, and with regard to TCS in
particular has been and continues to be problematic. The Senate should consider
establishing its own advisory council for TCS and request that all committees under
Senate authority/guidance review their charter and adopt appropriate Bylaws.
4. The Senate has the authority to make grammatical changes to its Constitution and
Bylaws. Changes were passed in FSB 03014 as amended on the floor of the Senate
but were not implemented in the Policy Manual. A bill was initiated in FAC to make
those changes this year but did not make it to the floor after it was sent to COCG.
The Constitution and Bylaws should be re-examined and those errors corrected.
5. Growth in general and growth in the international environment in particular are areas
that should be monitored. Effective guidance for all students and the provision of
opportunities in other countries for our students and faculty should be addressed.
6. The evaluation of teaching by students is a continuing issue.
7. Faculty pay as well as faculty and administrative recruiting are continuing issues
which should be addressed.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Coulson
Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, 2007-2008
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Provide comments about this report to your department's senator or to President Harvey
Foyle at hfoyle@emporia.edu.