Faculty Senate Minutes – Friday, September 9, 2016

September 9, 2016

Alumni Hall, Hammond Campus
Amended

Voting Members Present:

A. Angriawan, M. Block, C. Boiarsky, R. Brusca-Vega, C.V. Chandramouli, B. Chen, D. Detmer, J. Duzinkiewicz, T. Elmendorf, M. Fathizadeh, J. Garwood, J. Hack, P. Hecht, E. James, G. Jin, A. Kokalov, J. Kuhn, Y. Lee, S. Mo, N. Nemeth, L. Pelter, J. Pula, S. Rezak, C. Roper, P. Rose, G. Schultz, K. Scipes, J. Spores, L. Tan, J. Thomas, S. Trekles, F. Wang, E. Weber, D. Whitten, D. Wilbur, N. Zeytinoglu.

Voting Members Absent:

T. Dobrowski, S. Nakayama, N. Patel, V. Quinn, R. Rupp, S. Smithson.

Non-voting Members Present:

R. Biddings-Muro, T. Keon, R. Mueller, C. Panlilio, S. Turner, T. Winders.

Others present:

C. Arroyo, C. Buchmeier, J. Colwell, M. S. Diaz, K. Falzone, L. Goodnight, E. Hixon, B. Law, A. Lopez, W. Lukoshus, S. Lerner, S. Steele, R. Stankowski, Z. Jakubowski.

1. Determination of quorum
  A quorum was declared at 10:04 A.M.
2. Call to Order
  D. Wilbur called the meeting to order.
3. Approval of the Minutes of the 26 August 2016 Meeting
  C. Boiarsky moved and G. Schultz seconded to approve the minutes. J. Duzinkiewicz requested that a separate heading be created to reflect the decision to amend the agenda for comments from the provost. Amended minutes approved unanimously by voice vote.
4. Acceptance of the Agenda: Vice Chair of the PNW Faculty Senate, Geoff Schultz
  G. Schultz moved to accept the agenda. P. Rose asked that more specific information be provided about the location of future meetings, since Senate members may not be familiar with the layout of both campuses. She also asked about the composition about the standing committees. The composition of the committees was appended to the minutes at her request. Agenda approved unanimously by voice vote.
5. Remarks by the Chair of the PNW Faculty Senate, Dan Wilbur
  The chair reviewed the recent actions relevant to the Senate: Board of Trustees’ approval of the PNW Senate constitution and the Senate’s approval of its amended bylaws on August 26. He reviewed the challenges associated with unification of the two campuses and wished for another term to describe the process. He suggested that improved communication could help avert many difficulties and misunderstandings. He listed the issues that occupy a prominent place on the university’s agenda: concurrent enrollment, intercollegiate athletics, salary equity and the impact of unification on students. He said the Senate and the university have a lot of work remaining to complete the unification process and pledged to operate the Senate in a transparent manner.
6. Remarks by the Chancellor of PNW, Tom KeonThe chancellor apologized for missing the August 26 meeting, but was pleased to report that the Board of Trustees approved the PNW Faculty Senate constitution on the same day. The chancellor discussed the enrollment decline among first-time college students and freshmen. He suggested that the Senate needed to participate in a discussion of what PNW is and hopes to be. Other factors contributing to the enrollment decline include the change in admission standards and the decision to stop offering associate’s degrees. He said the university needed to increase its ability to get a higher percentage of high school graduates applying for admission to PNW, citing the desire to increase the 25 percent application rate from Valparaiso High School. The chancellor also cited the reality that the decline in credit-hour production means that the university is spending beyond its current means.
  The chancellor expressed disappointment at the decision by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to reject PNW’s application for admission to Division II. The reason was the novelty of PNW’s application as a new university created by a merger. He said the university is appealing the decision. Despite the decision, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference remains interested in having PNW join its ranks and is willing to allow PNW to compete next year. The chancellor stressed that current athletes as a group perform better academically than the student population and that the bulk of the financial support for athletes comes from their academic success.
  
  The chancellor said the process of salary equity proceeded more slowly than it should have during the summer. He blamed analysts in West Lafayette for some of the delay. He said he would allow the Academic Affairs office to handle any questions and the release of the information about the decisions.
  
  The chancellor said that the provost and the Faculty Senate would need to work with Jeff Shires, the new executive director for concurrent enrollment, in administering the program. Shires’s late appointment in July and his recent illness made it impossible to have significant impact on the program for fall semester. He reminded the senators that the program’s credits are granted from PNW and acknowledged that faculty members care deeply about the integrity of the academic program.
  
  The chancellor presented a gavel to D. Wilbur, PNW Senate chair, on behalf of S. Lerner, who served as parliamentarian of the PUC Senate for many years.
7. Remarks by Invited Guests
  1. Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, Ralph Mueller
    The provost emphasized the three themes that plans to pursue: excellence, success and effectiveness. He plans to create advisory councils on the subjects of programmatic excellence, academic impact, and institutional effectiveness. Senate members will be asked to serve on these councils.
  2. Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Carmen Panlilio
    The vice chancellor shared operational reports because final statistics for fall semester enrollment are not complete. She reported that the number of credit hours for PNW declined 9 percent as compared to fall 2015. She attributed a third of the decline to new undergraduate students and two-thirds of the decline came from continuing students who did not return. She said that spring and summer enrollment offers the opportunity to make up the decline.
    
    She said a single Banner system had been achieved for PNW in August, which she said will eliminate the challenge of about 500 students applying at both PUC and PNC. She said increased emphasis will be placed on increasing “market penetration” in four counties in Illinois (Cook, DuPage, Will and Lake) and one in Michigan (Berrien). She pledged to provide more detailed information on the university’s enrollment data.
    
    K. Scipes reminded senators of the cultural differences between the Hammond and Westville campuses. The vice chancellor said that student ambassadors had been trained recently to emphasize that PNW offers different choices for students. A shuttle service is being added to make it possible to show students both campuses. Recruiting will be expanded to include areas as far east as Elkhart. That said, the vice chancellor said that it will be necessary to increase the number of applications by 25 percent if the aim is to increase enrollment by 5 percent.
  3. Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, Steve Turner
    The vice chancellor presented ceremonial gavels for Harvey Abramowitz, the final chair of the PUC Senate, and Jeff Shires, the final chair of the PNC Senate.
    
    He announced plans to form advisory groups for parking, space allocation and utilization, and building and grounds. Sign-up period begins in October for benefits during 2017. Health insurance costs will increase by 4 percent. Intercampus staff equity analysis will begin for salaries to ensure similar positions are paid comparably on both campuses. He also reported on the completion of 14 capital projects during the summer.
    
    He expressed the hope that funding will be secured from the State Legislature for the construction of the Bioscience Innovation building, formerly called the Emerging Technologies building. The project would be the first new building constructed on the Hammond campus in 20 years. He reported that the marriage and family therapy, and the high school counseling programs will be relocated to new buildings on Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond. The buildings that formerly housed the Valparaiso campus will be sold.
    
    The vice chancellor said he will need input and participation to plan for dealing with the revenue shortfall stemming from the decline in enrollment.
    
    He reported that negotiations have yet to produce an agreement with the city of Portage for additional space for cross-campus meetings, but hopes to have a decision either way in the next two weeks. He estimated that it would take between 60 and 75 days to adapt the space to PNW’s needs, if an agreement is made.
    
    In response to a question, the vice chancellor said that travel policies are in place regarding compensation for mileage accumulated in attending university events. He said decisions on the reimbursement should be made at the department level. D. Wilbur said that the provost’s office is working with Senate officers regarding a policy for Senate travel.
  4. Vice Chancellor for Information Services, Tim Winders
    The vice chancellor updated senators on a variety of information-service projects, including the expansion of wireless networking, the merger of connections under the PNW domain, the development of wireless printing and the use of Unitime scheduling for room events. Administrative rights regarding computer control have been moved to closed from open in the past. The deployment of the new telephone system is nearly complete. Technical support now has a unified customer service center. G. Schultz said that the center’s personnel do not always know the location of where service is needed. T. Winders said the calls are not routed by location but by available individual in the call center. He said center personnel will need to understand where the buildings are located.
8. Remarks by representatives of the Student Governments, Melissa Sida Diaz (Hammond) and Zachary Jakubowski (Westville)
  M.S. Diaz informed the Senate about the SGA’s priorities, including development of a rating system of professors based on learning styles, acquisition of funds for attendance at conferences, and creation of assigned parking spaces for pregnant students. Student government will also be involved in developing the shuttle bus service between the campuses, Constitution Day activities and attending the conference for the American Student Government Association.
  
  Z. Jakubowski reported that he is trying to get an explanation for the recent increase in the price of food in the cafeteria in Westville. He also expressed concern about the decision to discontinue the pinning ceremony in the nursing division.
9. Remarks by the University Senate/Intercampus Faculty Council Representatives, Vanessa Quinn & Feng-Song Wang
  F. Wang reported on the schedule of upcoming meetings of the University Senate and the functions of the Intercampus Faculty Council. He reported on the Faculty Affairs Committee’s consideration of revised course evaluations that address perceived bias against faculty members who are female and/or members of minority groups. Changes in performance review standards are under consideration. A limit of 20 percent may be placed on the number of clinical/professional faculty. The Educational Policy Committee is reviewing the policy on assignment of points for A+ grades. The Equity & Diversity Committee is considering ending the benefits for domestic partners given the legalization same-sex marriage.
10. Open Discussion
  Discussion ensued about having lunch served on the days of Senate meetings in the future, given the commitment of senators to spending most of the work day tending to university business. D. Wilbur said he is working with the provost to develop a budget for the Senate. J. Duzinkiewicz urged a greater commitment to open communication and a reduced tendency to “do it our way.” He said that top administrators should live up to their public commitments to spend at least two days each week on the Westville campus. T. Keon emphasized that PNW is one university with two campuses and that employees sometimes use historical practices that are not suitable for the new university. He said he has been interviewing candidates for the faculty/staff advocate, which will offer faculty and staff the opportunity to bring their concerns to someone who is impartial.
  
  The chair announced the appointment of N. Nemeth as secretary and that the afternoon would be spent in committee meetings where it was hoped the appointment of chairs could be completed.
11. Adjournment: 12:37 P.M.

PNW Standing Committees

Assessment Steering Committee (SULB-214)

1. - Arifin Angriawan
  - Bin Chen
  - Janet Garwood
  - Ge Jin
  - Shoji Nakayama

Curriculum Committee (SULB-262)

1. - Yoonill Lee
  - Songtao Mo
  - Neil Nemeth
  - Chandramouli Viswanathan Chandramouli (co-chair)
  - Carolyn Roper
  - Elsa Weber
  - Donna Whitten (co-chair)

Educational Policy Committee (SULB-307)

1. - David Detmer
  - Janusz Duzinkiewicz
  - Judy Hack
  - Assen Kokalov (co-chair)
  - Nipul Patel
  - Peggy Rose
  - Feng-Song Wang (co-chair)

Faculty Affairs Committee (SULB-317)

1. - Michelle Block (Chair, 2016-2017)
  - Rita Brusca-Vega
  - Carolyn Boiarsky
  - Jim Pula (Chair, 2017-2018)
  - Vanessa Quinn
  - Staci Trekles
  - Nuri Zeytinoglu

General Education Committee (SULB-327)

1. - Paul Hecht (Chair)
  - Libbie Pelter
  - Richard Rupp (Vice Chair)
  - Kim Scipes
  - Jessica Thomas

Student Affairs Committee (GYTE-113)

- Thomas Dobrowski
- Anthony Elmendorf (Chair)
- Masoud Fathizadeh
- Ed James
- Jonathan Kuhn
- Sheila Rezak
- John Spores
- Li Tan