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K-State Today

November 14, 2014

Highlights from the Nov. 11 Faculty Senate meeting

Submitted by Faculty Senate

Previous minutes are available on the Faculty Senate website as they are approved. Highlights from the Nov. 11 Faculty Senate meeting:

Guests:

Provost April Mason discussed recent changes regarding Summer School. She gave a brief explanation on why the administering of summer school has transferred to the Global Campus offices. For summer 2015 the only change will be having common start times across campus, rather than the multitude of start times used in previous summers. It is being requested that faculty work with Global Campus to address various specialized needs and issues for this summer. In the long run, it is expected this will help our students. The effect on undergraduate and graduate courses was discussed. The provost will be charging a task force related to this matter. Senators asked that compensation disparity for summer school instructors be discussed in the task force as well.  

Consent agenda:

President-Elect Guzek presented the consent agenda to senators which was approved. The August 2014 graduation list as submitted by the Registrar's office and two other graduation list corrections were approved.  Also approved were various course and curriculum changes including a new graduate certificate program in Leadership Dynamics for Adult Learners and a concurrent Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Accounting and Master of Accounting program.

 Standing committee and Student Senate reports: 

Student Senate: Senator Cody Kennedy reported on the Lifeline 911 policy. Student Senate had its first reading of a resolution and policy last week.  There was good discussion and a few edits will have been made prior to the vote on it this week. Pizza and Politics will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Alumni Center Ballroom. All are encouraged to attend.

Academic Affairs: Senator Andy Bennett presented to senators for a vote the resolution of the committee to allow the University Honors Program to have a program code in iSIS. He explained the background for having this come through Faculty Senate. Senate approved the resolution. 

  • Proposed revisions to the Honor and Integrity System constitution, increasing the size of the honor council, were presented and approved. 
  • An Academic Freedom statement was created this summer by a working group of faculty and students, and was made available as optional syllabus language that faculty could use.  After brief discussion, Faculty Senate voted to give their endorsement of this statement, which was also recently approved unanimously by Student Senate.   
  • The Open/Alternative Textbook proposal was presented for a first reading. FSCOT has given full support for this proposal.  Bennett described the purpose of this proposal. 

Faculty Affairs: Senator Betsy Cauble reported the committee worked on and has handbook language prepared regarding additional professional titles that can be used at Kansas State University. This language will be voted on by the committee as soon as the professional titles themselves are approved at the Board of Regents level. They also are beginning work on administrative reviews, for administrators in vice-provost and vice-president positions. Development of a university compensation philosophy also is on their docket and they will work with VP Cheryl Johnson on this.

  • Senator Cauble presented changes to University Handbook Section C132 regarding the promotional increase percentage for approval. This change is being made merely to reflect current practice. The proposed revisions were approved.
  • Senator Cauble presented changes to the University Handbook Section C192 regarding Ombudsperson appointments and term. This is to remove language that does not apply and has been problematic. The proposed revisions were approved.
  • Revisions to Appendix M of the University Handbook regarding the procedure for review of dismissal of a tenured faculty member, which are for clarification and administration purposes, were brought forward to Faculty Senate as a first reading. 
  • Senator Cauble presented the 2014 Report on the Status of Faculty Salaries at Kansas State University, which was received by Faculty Senate. She also directed attention to attachment 9 and President Rintoul spoke about the information presented there. 

Professional Staff Affairs (PSA): Senator Danielle Brown reported the committee is working with FAC on administrative reviews and retention raises as well. Their work on defining professional staff and Section C of the handbook is continuing as well. They met with Cheryl Johnson last month and were asked who they aspire to be like. They will be meeting again with her this month and look forward to continued discussions with her and her staff.

FSCOT: Senator Joe Lear reported on the committee's recent activities. They had several guests at their last meeting and discussed iSIS, Canvas, K-State Online, and Office 365. Senator Scott Finkeldei, who was one of their guests, also followed up with further detail regarding K-State Online Classic. It is the goal to have K-State Online Classic in read-only mode by 2016.

FSCOUP: Senator Joel DeRouchey reported FSCOUP had Loleta Sump as their guest at the last meeting.  Discussion surrounded classroom space utilization, which will continue to be a topic of conversation. A space management director has been hired and will begin in December. Senator DeRouchey also noted that initial meetings have started regarding the City/University Funds Project committee. Student Body President Reagan Kays presented members with a draft resolution and policy to institute a Lifeline 911 policy on campus. Once Student Senate passes this policy, FSCOUP will be able to vote on endorsement of the resolution and policy to be brought forward to Faculty Senate at the December meeting. 

 New Business

  • An honorary degree candidate was approved for the December 2014 commencement.

Announcements:

President Rintoul informed senators the ad hoc committee working on procedural language related to the KBOR Social Media policy submitted their recommended language to the appropriate bodies — Faculty Affairs, Professional Staff Affairs, and University Support Staff Senate.  Faculty Affairs and Professional Staff Affairs committees have voted in favor of it. President Rintoul is awaiting final response from the USS Senate and will then move this item forward to be on the December Faculty Senate agenda.

President Rintoul directed senators' attention to the attachment provided in response to a request made at the September Faculty Senate meeting regarding certain salary comparisons. Some of the information also will be available in the yearly salary report, which was on this meeting agenda. Senators briefly discussed the information. 

Discussion from Senators:

Senator Hsu invited senators to attend the Big Data conference being in Kansas City from Nov. 12-14. More information can be found on the website.

 

David A. Rintoul, Ph.D.
Associate Director/Graduate Program Director

Division of Biology
Faculty Senate President
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506