Purdue University Northwest > Faculty Senate > News > Senate Meeting Minutes > Faculty Senate Minutes – Friday, December 8, 2017

Faculty Senate Minutes – Friday, December 8, 2017

December 8, 2017

Portage Meeting Facility

Voting Members Present:

K. Al Shamaileh, A. Angriawan, C. Boiarsky, R. Brusca-Vega, R. Calix, C. Chandramouli, M. Connolly, N. Desai, D. Detmer, K. Donah, T. Dobrowski, J. Duzinkiewicz, A. Elmendorf, L. Garcia-Verdugo, R. Hallock, P. Hecht, J. Kuhn, Y. Lee, S. Mo, D. Nalbone, L. Pelter, J. Pula, V. Quinn, S. Rezak, C. Roper, G. Schultz, A. Schooley, K. Scipes, S. Smithson, J. Spores, P. Stompor, J. Thomas, S. Trekles, F. Wang, D. Whitten, D. Wilbur, L. Yang

Voting Members Absent:

A. Alavizadeh, M. Block, J. Garwood, M. Lantis, S. Nakayama, Y. Zhang

Non-voting Members Present:

T. Keon, S. Lerner, R. Mueller, C. Panlilio, S. Turner, M. Watson, D. Williams

Others present:

J. Colwell, L. Feldman, L. Goodnight, C. Holford, L. Hopp, B. Law, N. Nemeth, K. Parli, P. Riesmeyer, R. Rupp, R. Stankowski, S. Steele

  1. Determination of quorum

    A quorum was declared at 10:00 A.M.

  2. Call to Order

    The meeting was called to order by Chair G. Schultz.

  3. Approval of the Agenda

    G. Schultz moved to approve the agenda and it was seconded. D. Nalbone requested to amend the agenda adding the composition of the campus Promotion and Tenure committee. G. Schultz called to question; agenda approved by majority vote with 4 objections and 1 abstention.

  4. Approval of the Minutes of the November 10, 2017 meeting

    G. Schultz moved to approve the minutes and it was seconded. Minutes approved unanimously by voice vote.

  5. Remarks by the Chair

    G. Schultz briefly gave the history of the promotion and tenure discussion. The May 2017 resolution asked for equal representation from each college and an elected a senator. The resolution removed the deans from the university committee. An ad hoc group met over the summer and offered a compromise. Further discussion with the chancellor/provost added the deans without vote. This change was sent to FAC for approval. G. Schultz also mentioned that shared governance has led to agreement on Dual Credit and Athletics. According to the Constitution, Faculty Senate serves in an advisory role in promotion and tenure procedures. He asked that we accept the compromise offered by the chancellor/provost.

  6. Remarks by the Chancellor

    The Chancellor stated they are trying as best as we can to work with Senate. He is obligated to follow a process for Promotion and Tenure that has been approved by the Board of Trustees. The process always has had too many administrators involved. The compromise offered to the senate proposal is the deans serve with no vote, but on the committee. There is an immediacy to get this passed.

  7. Unfinished Business
    • None
  8. New Business
    • None.
    1. Curriculum Document Approval
      • CHESS 17-02
      • CHESS 17-04
      • CHESS 17-05
      • CON 17-01
      • CON 17-02
      • CON 17-03
      • CON 17-04

      D. Whitten moved to have the curriculum documents approved and it was seconded. The curriculum documents were approved by unanimous voice vote.

    2. Senate Documents For Action

      D. Nalbone had concerns with the current policy of staffing the promotion and tenure committees not being followed from the May 2017 resolution (FSD 16-30). Provost Mueller explained that the only policy that can be followed has been approved by the Board of Trustees that was passed by the PUC and PNC Senate when those bodies were separate. The 2016 unified document was never ratified nor approved by the Board of Trustees.

      The document from spring 2017 was not approved by the chancellor/provost therefore not sent to the Board of Trustees for ratification. The leadership has been compromising. D. Nalbone asked why these issues weren’t brought up at the spring meeting. T. Elmendorf viewed the provost’s remarks unilateral making him the one who will make changes and edits to the promotion document.

      G. Schultz asks why the document wasn’t ratified in 2016 (March) after both senates had approved. Chancellor Keon explained that it was an oversight with the transition of leadership in the provost office.

      D. Detmer asked about the legality of the document used last year. Provost Mueller responded the campus was advised by legal counsel to follow the procedure from the last year.

      • FSD 17-12 – Promotion and Tenure Document – (Faculty Affairs)J. Pula had a survey sent out asking for feedback. Two lists of changes were discussed;
        1. Suggestions for Clarifications and
        2. Substantive Changes.

        J. Pula motioned to accept Suggestions for Clarifications and it was seconded. J. Duzinkiewicz wanted the website address checked for suggestion number 1. The document for Suggestions and Clarifications was unanimously approved by voice vote.

        Motion to amend the Substantive Changes document was seconded. F. Wang added “in conjunction with the office of the PNW Provost”. Motion to approve was seconded.

        • Substantive Change Number 1 was approved unanimously by voice vote.
        • Change Number 2. Motion to accept the second change and it was seconded. F. Wang says the Vice Chair may not be equipped to handle complaints and the Provost should be added. C. Roper says you can’t bring this complaint to the Grievance Committee as it’s excluded. Chancellor Keon says that legal may take this out if the university has a procedure. Faculty would lose their right to sue. Clicker vote; the majority ruled to delete change number 2 with 24 Yes and 11 No.
        • Change Number 3. Motion to accept the third change and it was seconded. T. Elmendorf says this change will prevent faculty from serving on subsequent committees. The Chancellor says this is setting up opportunity for maximum faculty input. Call to question. Clicker vote; the majority ruled to approve change number 3 with 28 Yes and 7 No.
        • Change Number 4. Move to accept the fourth change and it was seconded. C. Roper wants the compromise from the summer with the Dean of the candidate being present and that’s all. Clicker vote; the majority ruled to approve change number 4 with 18 Yes , 13 No and 2 abstentions. F. Wang adds an additional verbiage change with the clicker vote amended; majority ruled with the additional verbiage change with 18 Yes and 17 No.
          Clicker vote for the Promotion and Tenure document as amended, December 8, 2017. Majority ruled with all the amendments with a vote of 29 Yes and 6 No.

        The provost says that within five (5) business days the document should go to the Provost for a response to the resolutions.

    3. Senate Documents for Discussion
      • FSD 17-13 University Learning Outcomes (Gen Ed/Assessment).P. Hecht motioned to move this document to action and it was seconded. The document passed with majority voice vote with 2 opposed.

        F. Wang offered a friendly amendment to change the order of degrees offered. P. Hecht moved to adopt the amendment and it was seconded. T. Elmendorf had concerns regarding blanket learning outcomes. Some outcomes are a good fit with some of the programs but not others. Motion was made to table this document and it was seconded. Clicker vote; majority ruled to table this document with a vote of 18 Yes and 17 No.

        B. Stankowski also stated that Taskstream program will have learning outcomes for the academic programs and Gen Ed will be included. HLC will be here in 2020-2021 and all programs will have identified learning outcomes by their next visit and we will have learning outcomes for the university. We need basic broad outcomes we want out students to leave with. Provost Mueller says if we don’t have university outcomes we will jeopardize our accreditation.

  9. Documents and Reports for Information
    • None
  10. Remarks by the Representative(s) of the Student Government(s)Mr. Williams wished everyone happy holidays. He will work on the election over the break and will be extending the voting.
  11. Remarks by the University Senate/Intercampus Faculty Council Representative(s)

    J. Pula did not attend the last meeting, but West Lafayette is establishing a committee regarding the Kaplan enterprise. J. Pula is a member of the committee regarding the Kaplan Enterprise.

  12. Open DiscussionDue to the Westville Commencement and time constraints, there was no open discussion.
  13. Adjournment

    G. Schultz motioned to adjourn and it was seconded. Meeting adjourned at time 12:14 P.M.