Minutes of the Salisbury University Faculty Senate
at Holloway Hall 119
--February 23, 2016
Senators Present: Charles Boster, Thomas Calo, Sean Cooper, Mark de Socio (Secretary), Jerome
DeRidder, Doug DeWitt, Stephen Ford (VP), Darrell Mullins (President), John Nieves, Brandye
Nobiling, David Parker, James Parrigin, David Rieck, Kathleen Shannon, Bart Talbert, Leslie
Yarmo, Brent Zaprowski (Webmaster)
Call to Order (Faculty Senate President): 3:30PM, quorum present
Reading of the Minutes
 Faculty Senate Meeting of February 9, 2015
 Minutes approved as amended
Opening Remarks from the Faculty Senate President
‘Great Colleges to Work For’ Survey Results
 Please review the survey results and highlight areas for questions for our next meeting
agenda
 The Survey is available under the ‘Relevant Documents’ section in the Minutes link for our
November 17, 2015 meeting
University System of Maryland (USM) Shared Governance Survey
 Senate Officers will complete the survey
 The survey was shared via email along with this meeting’s Agenda so that you can provide
feedback
Middle States Review
 Middle States Team Meeting for Faculty is Monday, Feb 29, 3:45 – 4:30PM, in the
Montgomery Room (Room 214), University Commons
 Meeting is open to all and you encouraged to attend
Upcoming Visit to the Faculty Senate by Interim VP for Administration and Finance
 Marvin Pyles, Interim VP for Administration and Finance, wants to come and present about
the university budget
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 If you have questions about the budget, be sure to bring them
Remarks from the Provost
‘Reimagining the First Year of College’ (RFY) Program
 Last summer, SU was invited to participate in the American Association of State Colleges
and Universities (AASCU) three-year RFY program
 At recent RFY conference, it was clear that SU has a good First Year Experience program
and was often pointed to as a model program; SU is a leader in retention, graduation rates,
and GPA
 RFY conference focused on how to provide a good first year experience in light of changing
student demographics and a changing world; how do we support students in getting through
a quality first year
 RFY presented four ‘buckets’ as part of its focus:
 Intentionality: Commitment of university to student success
 Faculty: How do we help faculty help students succeed?
 Curriculum: How does the curriculum reflect students’ efforts to be successful?
 What kinds of credit are offered?
 What can we do differently with the Freshman Reader?
 Freshman Reader program is very expensive; does it work?
 Students: Student support services
 Can we improve our student support services, or add new services?
 Advising: How do we provide students the assistance they need?
Higher Education Bills before the Maryland Legislature
 One bill proposes to allow the College of Southern Maryland (a 2-year community college)
the right to offer a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) degree
 The bill is to study the need for nurses in Maryland and if this is a way to address it
 USM supports the study so that it can be involved in the study and any decisions that
emerge from it
 A second bill proposes to include ‘cultural diversity’ as a for-credit core course
 USM opposed to the bill; USM wants to keep curriculum out of the legislature
Incremental Pay Raises for Promotion
 Following recently disclosed data showing that SU lags most other USM institutions in its
incremental pay raises for promotion, the Administration is increasing promotion to
Associate Professor and Professor by $1,000; the pay raises will now be:
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 A raise of $3,500 for promotion to Associate Professor
 A raise of $4,000 for promotion to Professor
Diversity on Campus
 Provost met with minority faculty to seek feedback on what makes SU attractive to minority
faculty, and challenges SU faces in attracting and retaining a diverse faculty
 Meetings were very informative
 Administration is developing a list of action items to make SU a better place to work and go
to school in terms of diversity
 Faculty cited that they were well-received, the people on campus are nice, and the campus is
supportive of them as positive attributes that makes SU attractive in terms of attracting and
retaining a diverse faculty
 Faculty also noted a need for a mentoring program for all new faculty
USM Policy on Criminal Background Checks for Faculty and Staff Employees (see documents)
 The USM policy on criminal background checks (see documents) is currently a draft and not
yet approved by the USM Board of Regents
 We expect the policy to be adopted by the Board of Regents by April
 We already do most of the practices outlined in the policy draft
 We will have to develop an SU policy to mirror the Board of Regents policy once it is
adopted
Associate Provost Search Update
 Search Committee has interviewed 12 candidates on Skype; from these interviews, the pool
of candidates was narrowed to five
 CVs of the candidates were circulated among the relevant academic departments to ensure
that the candidate(s) would be granted tenure by the department
 Final five candidates will be invited to campus for in-person interviews
Middle States Review
 Middle States Review Team will present their preliminary review to the campus on
Wednesday, March 2, at 11:30AM in the Great Hall in Holloway; please participate if your
schedule allows
Old Business
Revised Inclement Weather Policy from Academic Policies Committee (see documents)
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 Discussion
 Too late for implementation this semester; let’s make it effective in Fall 2016
 Motion to approve revised policy
 Motion passed (voice vote)
Presentation by SU Chief of Police, Edwin Lashley, on Active Shooter Scenario
Salisbury University Police Department (SUPD) Website (http://www.salisbury.edu/police/)
 Website contains lots of valuable information and informative videos
Presentation of Video, ‘Run, Hide, Fight: Surviving an Active Shooter Event’
 Video link available on the SUPD website: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/office-of-partnerengagement/active-shooter-incidents/run-hide-fight-video
Discussion
 Probability of an on-campus active shooter event is very low
 SUPD trains regularly to prepare for this and other emergencies
 Following active shooter events across the country, earlier ‘warning signs’ often discovered
after-the-fact
 Faculty should contact SUPD or University Counseling Center
(http://www.salisbury.edu/counseling/) when a student shows signs of mental or emotional
distress; SUPD is equipped to handle these situations without resorting to arrests or
detention
 SUPD is currently working on an app that incorporates GPS in order to be able to respond
to emergencies rapidly and more effectively; phone calls will incorporate locational data
New Business
Statement from Academic Policies Committee Regarding Meeting with Faculty When Charges from
Faculty Are Not Supported by the Committee (see documents)
 Discussion
 As a courtesy to a colleague, committee should meet with the faculty member and
explain their decision
 Nothing is face-to-face these days, making such decisions impersonal and limits
chances to be heard
 Out of time (5:00PM); put on agenda for next Senate meeting
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Adjourned 5:01PM
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