Faculty Senate Minutes, August 20, 2021

Purdue Northwest Faculty Senate

MINUTES

August 20 2021, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

In Person: Gyte 103, Hammond Campus

Senators Present: Kim Scipes, Tom Roach, Anne Edwards, Anthony Elmendorf, Anthony Sindone, Kenneth Kincaid, Liberty Pelter, Vanessa Quinn, Colette Morrow, Michael Mick, Robert Merkovsky, Maureen Mascha, Dave Kozel, Rob Hallock, Ralph Cherry

Senators Absent: Lee Artz,

Others present: Colin Fewer, Thomas Keon, Chris Holford, Geoff Schultz, Sheila Rezak, Yueqi Zhang

1. Determination of quorum

A quorum was declared at ~10:05 a.m.

2. Call to order

The meeting was called to order by Chair K. Scipes

3. Approval of the agenda
4. Sindone moved and M. Mick seconded to accept the proposed agenda. Agenda amended to include populating the standing committees. (A. Elmendorf)
5. Approval of Minutes from Senate meeting of May 7, 2021. Minutes are found at  https://www.pnw.edu/faculty-senate/2021/05/27/faculty-senate-minutes-may-7-2021/.
   1. Approved
6. Special Business of the Day
   1. Remarks by the Chair

• The chair addressed taking over the Sente Chair position earlier than what is customary, concerns about COVID-19, and switching to the IBBM budgeting model. He encouraged maintaining a climate of mutual respect while discussing delicate issues and offered to assist with conflict resolution if necessary. He advised that we abstain from posting any discrepancies on social media. He encouraged female colleagues and colleagues of color to get involved in the Senate to enlarge the leadership pool drawn from for future senate leaders.
  1. Remarks by Chancellor
• The chancellor gave thanks for being flexible and innovative. He commended the IR team. The IR team predicted an 8% decrease in enrollment. The chancellor reported that enrollment decrease is going to be slightly larger than that, but it may not have tremendous budget implications at this point. He explained that all NWI universities are in decline. He said what we’re doing is working, but it’s not letting us grow. He asked everybody to think about ways in which we can start to stabilize enrollment. The chancellor stated that we’re probably not going to grow for years, but that we should at least be able to stabilize with the right set of majors.
  1. Remarks by the Provost
     • The provost recognized finishing our 5^th year as PNW and our 75^th year serving the region as two campuses, which will be celebrated through 45 different events as part of the 5-75 celebration. 5-75 will culminate in a gala at the end of the year. All event proceeds will go into the student scholarship pool.
     • He said a safe and productive semester is at the forefront of what we want to pull off. We will continue to follow the recommendations from our internal task force which makes at least bimonthly recommendations. He said we will continue to follow both CDC and state of Indiana guidelines including the face mask policy currently in place and that compliance is expected. He informed senators about a revised FAQ sheet which provides guidance about handling certain situations regarding policy compliance.

 

• The provost emphasized that student retention and success will be at the forefront of discussions this year. He explained that exploratory advising and academic success have been reorganized on both campuses. He reported that Gyte 102 has undergone a renovation and will be operating slightly differently than in the past. The same will go on in the Tech building on the Westville campus. Financial aid will be moved, exploratory advising will be a one-stop shop for student success initiatives.
• He reported that block scheduling was implemented at Westville and seems to be working so far. If it continues to work, opportunities will be sought out to implement block scheduling back on campus.
• He said that, because of changes in our testing policy, we have been operating under a blanket exemption where students do not have to submit ACT/SAT scores. A positive outcome of this is that we currently have our largest and most diverse honors college, and that honors college has been very successful. The provost explained that, because ACT/SAT testing was not widely available to students throughout the pandemic, we were able to put a moratorium on using test scores as an admission standard, that is, an admission standard that belongs to the faculty. We cannot maintain this indefinitely. He asked the faculty to consider this year what our status will be moving forward. Will we reinstate the standard? Modify it? He acknowledged that ACT/SAT standardized testing is rife with biases.
• The provost related that we will be highlighting 18 faculty who have made substantial contributions. The highlights will be displayed around campus and in some marketing materials throughout the year. Sponsored program activity is at a record high, up 200% from previous years.  We are on pace to break that in the next year.  Likewise, in other areas, we have faculty achieving various things. It’s difficult to name all of them (mentioned: J. Davis, J. Allen, M. Mabrito, N. Jackson, G.C. Ogbeide, M. Bauman).
• He addressed topics that will require ongoing conversations this year: happenings around Westville campus, the formation of a civics requirement implementation taskforce. Associate Registrar, J. Williams, is already on this taskforce to provide input on how to transcript the requirement appropriately. Testing Center Director for Hammond and Westville, J. Gonzalez, is also on this taskforce. The provost said that he spoke with T. Roach and K. Scipes about inviting two members of the faculty senate to liaise with the implementation committee.
• He expressed the desire to discuss, between administrators and faculty, the artificial barriers to students getting enrolled in the right classes. What can be done to make it easier for students to get enrolled in the classes they need.
• The provost expressed that he has not given up on the CES/COT merger and would like to form a taskforce containing faculty from both campuses to work together to explore models that might be a possibility moving forward.

1. Other Special Business

• Elmendorf shared that PUWL has an online dashboard that tracks vaccination rates for students and faculty. He asked if we have similar information for our campuses, or if there is any plan for doing so. He mentioned that the IU system has implemented a vaccine mandate and inquired about what the argument is for not doing so at PNW.
• The provost explained that the enforcement of a vaccine mandate is one of the biggest challenges. He stated that, in the state of Indiana, we cannot compel students to provide proof to us. Purdue as a system has instead decided to move forward by incentivizing vaccinations. He said that there will be several initiatives this year to encourage the campus population to get vaccinated. A survey conducted last spring received over 2,000 responses from students, faculty, and staff. The results showed that 87-88% of the campus population were vaccinated or intending to get vaccinated. It reported that 12% of the campus population said they were not going to get vaccinated, indicating a high compliance rate in the spring. He guessed that the percentage is currently probably lower than 80%. He added that another vaccination clinic will take place in the coming week which will be incentivized. Although there is no mandate yet, policies are being revised daily as information becomes clearer from the CDC and from the state. He closed with saying that the indoor mask policy was recently reinstated.
• The chair recognized the promotion of A. McCafferty who is taking over as Secretary of the Senate.
• The chair declared that S. Lerner stepped down from the position of parliamentarian and that L. Pelter has graciously agreed to take his place.

Unfinished Business:  Reports/updates on things in process

1. Formal accreditation by HLC received

• Preliminary approval was received last spring. 10-year accreditation was finalized over the summer with an interim study in between.

1. National search launched for Dean of CHESS
2. Meeting on July 19 on IPEDS data w/Steve Turner

• The chair explained that D. Nalbone sat with S. Turner to get better understanding of how our reporting goes to the federal government so that we can compare data with other campuses to determine if our amount of administration is disproportionate to other campuses

1. Geoff Schultz has resigned from Senate, and FAC will have an election to replace him

• The chair thanked G. Schultz for 12 years of service in the Senate. He reported that an election in the FAC will take place later in the day which will be headed by the Vice Chair.

1. Maureen Mascha resigned from the Budget Committee and has been replaced by Paul McGrath.

• The Chair thanked M. Mascha for her service to the Senate and acknowledged P. McGrath for accepting the position.

2022. Civics requirement—need to establish an ad hoc committee reporting to Curriculum Committee. Need to implement Fall 2022.  Coordinate with Lee Artz

• The Chair explained that BOT carried though with implementing the requirement despite discussions in which the PUWL Senate repeatedly turned it down. He added that we were initially told it would not apply to the regional campuses (PNW, FW) but was then imposed on us in the spring without prior consultation of the Senate. He shared his thoughts with the BOT about this being a violation of our institutional autonomy and was disregarded. He clarified that he’s a proponent of civics literacy, that the issue was not around teaching civics, and that the process has begun to create a system the faculty is happy with.
• He noted that this module of material required for graduation will be implemented Fall 2022 and that Curriculum Committee Chair, Lee Artz, is in the process of organizing a committee to help create a program that is valuable to students.

1. Westville: Update—Vanessa Quinn and/or Tony Sindone

• Sindone reported that hundreds of labor hours have been put in by the committee formed to make the Westville campus successful in dealing with unique issues such as budget, canceling of classes, declining enrollment, program development, and recruitment. A report was created by the Westville Committee and received by the chancellor and provost which resulted in two meetings between the provost, A. Sindone, and V. Quinn during which concerns were communicated. The result was culminated by the chancellor’s report to BOT. The report created by the chancellor and given to BOT elicited several questions, mostly dealing with allocation of resources.
• The Westville Committee still exists and will continue to act as a conduit of communication between members of the committee and the provost to make sure the Westville campus remains viable in serving students, the community surrounding both campuses, and the entire region.

Discussion:

1. IBBM budget model went into effect on July 1. We need to follow this carefully.  Budget Subcommittee update.

• McGrath introduced members of the Budget Subcommittee (M. Choudhury, N. Parashar, K. Scipes, A. Sindone, D. Spoljoric, F.-S. Wang). Paul said they are starting to get new data and that they look forward to working with SLT to monitor the progress of implementation and the accompanying decisions that are going to be made as a result. He explained an inquiry he made concerning background information on the numbers received regarding Westville. Specifically, he said that he sought to understand how finances are determined from one campus to another. He assured that S. Turner promptly replied with transparency. He said that the committee should play the role of a source of information for faculty and a channel of communication between faculty and senior leadership.
• Scipes said, as a sociologist on the committee, he’d like to look at questions not answered by numbers. He shared his desire to make the transition as easy as possible and stated that this new model should be very transparent.

1. COVID-19: where do things stand today?  We need clarification of details for heading into class on Monday. If we need protective gear—where do we go?  What will we tell our students when they walk into the classroom? Is PPE going to be distributed to both campuses?

• Provost C. Holford encouraged everyone to read the revised FAQ’s that were sent out. He said he departments are responsible for making sure reasonable PPE is available in classrooms. He said department chairs or deans should be consulted for those requests and they will make necessary arrangements. He reported that Facilities recently received 76 requests for plexiglass shields and that they are rapidly moving to build the appropriate plexiglass shields that are required or requested by faculty. He said he’s received requests for microphones from faculty that don’t feel they broadcast well while wearing a face mask. He said that microphones and face shields will be provided. He said some faculty have expressed concerns about students being able to see their lips as they’re talking in certain classes, in which case he said accommodations could be made.
• He said that he expects students to be compliant with mask requirements in class, that he hopes faculty won’t have to deal with too many difficult situations. The provost said he does not expect faculty to be the policemen in the room, that faculty should manage their classrooms as they see fit. Which means if a student is not compliant, respectfully request that they put a mask on and explain the rules if they resist. Once you have had a conversation about it, if they continue to resist putting on a mask, the only real recourse then is to excuse the entire class. He clarified that this is a significant offense because you’ve now just lost one of your lecturing periods, which should be reported to the dean of students office who will take it up with that student. He said it would be considered a significant violation of classroom etiquette and policy. He advised faculty members not to engage with or yell at students. Simply dismiss your class and let our Dean of Students Office deal with that situation. He discouraged faculty from calling police in such matters.
• Sindone asked about mask provisions for students who come to class unprepared.
• The provost encouraged faculty to visit their department office and grab a stack of masks before their classes begin. He said the masks are funded not out of department budgets, but out of a central account taken care of by VC Turner.
• Kozel about whether a location exists on campus for students or faculty to go if they feel symptomatic. A follow-up question was then asked: at what point will it be determined, or how do we determine, that we might have to return to a remote learning module?
• Holford explained testing will be available on the first floor of SULB on the Hammond campus and LSF in Westville. He said T. Winders (VCIS) has made arrangements for all faculty to get their full zoom licenses throughout the semester. If a problem is observed in an individual class, Holford asked the faculty work with their dean and department chair and we’ll find a way to manage the situation. He said Individual classes may have to move back online, we will continue to monitor what’s going on in the community. And if need be, we may have to pivot again. He said they are watching the Delta variant, making weekly decisions about what’s going on. He pleaded with faculty not to cancel class, to instead work with their deans and department chairs so that we can manage the university and we know what’s going on around the various areas.
• A question was asked about the type of testing available on campus. The provost speculated that it was a PCR test, not a rapid test, but could not provide a definite answer and said he would follow up when more information was known.
• Sindone reiterated A. Elmendorf’s inquiry on data for positive COVID cases within the campus communities. How many have been out because of contracting COVID?
• The provost said they were reporting that information regularly on the university website last year and that they are currently starting fresh, so the data is not currently available but he expects they will have something available on the website that provides an accurate update.
• Holford repeated the dates for COVID testing on both campuses after being asked to do so. He said community infection rates can be found on the in.gov website.
• Kozel suggested spacing out the days in which COVID tests are taking place between Hammond and Westvill; MW TT instead of MT WT. He also suggested specifying a date on which students should be vaccinated to be eligible for the raffle incentive.
  • Holford clarified the testing is done by a 3^rd party site which has control of the schedule.

Comments on this subject by representatives of Student Government

• White reported that students are excited to return to campus, but there are some who are concerned about the delta variant. She said students and others are not fans of change or of the unknown. So much is changing very quickly. There is always going to be a bit of fear, but students still prefer to be on campus. Throughout the 18 months of remote instruction, students reported feeling that they didn’t get the same quality of education as they would have with face-to-face instruction. She said students reported that they were failing their classes. She said, by her observation, students have been exceedingly compliant to the mask policy.
• Scipes thanked O. White and said students should be reassured that faculty are here to provide them with the best education they can, but that they want to do it safely. He said, in his experience with teaching remotely, he could provide the same material as he would have in a classroom. He said that what the students were really missing was the physical interaction with each other. He reiterated that socialization is seemingly what the students feel they’re missing out on. He said faculty would like to make students feel at home and that PNW has the resources to do so through various outlets on both campuses. He stressed that it is more than just completing classes, that faculty should care about the student population as entire individuals.

Old Business:

1. Last Friday, August 13, a message went out from R. Clapp-Smith, Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, with several items that were “suggested” to be in your syllabus—Senate had discussed this last Spring. She had asked K. Scipes if he approved of this information, claiming that faculty were seeking this information. K. Scipes said he approved as long as it stated AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE that these were RECOMMENDATIONS ONLY, and the information would soon be placed on a BrightSpace page:  they are NOT requirements for your syllabus (as settled by FSD 20-16, Faculty have control over each syllabus).  Somehow, the communication broke down, and his stipulation did not make it to the top of the page.  These are only recommendations and may be used/not used according to faculty’s own determination.  This material should be posted on BrightSpace in about three weeks, and it will have a set of “book marks” in the document with an index so students can go directly to the issue they seek information on, and not have to read through the whole document.

• Fewer explained that the Student Support Hub is a new way of getting all the support offices available on Brightspace since that’s what students interact with most. It is a non-academic course; all students and all faculty are enrolled in it. You can show your students how to get to the dean of students, how to get to advising, and more. It is currently in a “soft opening,” so feedback is encouraged on how it can be improved.
• Scipes thanked C. Fewer and those involved in developing the Student Support Hub.

1. Ratification of Summer Executive Committee decisions—Meetings on May 28 and June 18
2. Will create ad hoc committee under Curriculum Committee to develop Civics curriculum. Civics program becomes a graduation requirement for students entering Fall 2022 as per Board of Trustees’ decision.

• Curriculum Committee Chair, L. Artz, oversees creating the ad hoc committee for the Civics program requirement. Anyone interested in participating should consult with him.

2. Accepted Standing Committees and membership as proposed by Nominations and Awards Committee. (FSD 21-04)

• The standing committees are the place where most of the work of the Senate is done. Without populating these committees, none of that work will get done. The population of these standing committees is something that the nominating committee must do every year in compliance with the requirements of the bylaws. We took those into account, we considered the results of the survey that we sent out to the new senators, continuing senators remain on the standing committees to which they were previously assigned. In this document are the members that we are proposing for the standing committees and the requirements for membership from the bylaws
  • A question was raised asking why the Budget Committee is not a standing committee.
    • Elmendorf clarified that the Budget Committee is not a standing committee because it is not established as one in the bylaws or the Constitution. The standing committees must be populated from members of the Senate. subordinate committees, such as the Budget Committee, can have members from the faculty. And that gives the nominating committee more flexibility in choosing its members. There is a separate document that we’ll be looking at next, that gives the membership of the Budget Committee, which is a subordinate committee, not a standing committee.
  • It was addressed that some of those included on the list of committee members have since resigned.
    • Those people had continuing terms, but they have resigned. And that means that their places on those committees will be taken by their replacements, elected by their academic units.
  • It was clarified that N. Parashar is an at-large member and not from CES as the document states.
    • The Nominating Committee will have to conduct a new election from the entire Faculty Senate to replace her
    • That person will also replace her on the Faculty Affairs Committee
  • FSD 21-04 – Moved for Approval (A. Elmendorf)
    • Seconded by R. Merkovsky
    • APPROVED
      • None opposed

3. Approval of the document populating the Budget Committee. (FSD 21-01)
   • All members proposed in the document accepted membership.
   • Despite resigning from the Senate, N. Parashar has agreed to continue serving on the Budget Committee
   • Scipes to serve as liaison with between the Budget Committee and the Senate leadership.
   • FSD 21-01 – Moved for Approval (A. Elmendorf)
     • Seconded by R.??
     • APPROVED
       • None opposed

4. Accepted that Faculty Affairs Committee present a certificate or letter of thanks for faculty and staff leaving the university on good terms.
   • Cherry asked, do we know who is leaving? He also added that if we want to call this a community, then we should know who they are.
   • Retirement gatherings were once held for faculty members.
5. Decided that Faculty Affairs would resume surveying faculty regarding Administrators’ yearly performance. They have been asked to develop survey and process by which this can be done in a professional manner.  This will be initiated early in Spring semester.
6. Accepted Nominations and Awards intent to present resolution to Senate for by-laws changes, reducing size of Senate from 14% of faculty to 10%. (FSD 21-03)
   • Approved by Nominations Committee at the end of last year.
   • The Senate is mandated to have 14% of the voting faculty, we feel that this is too large a proportion and, as a result, there are too many seats going vacant.
   • Before unification, the Purdue Calumet Senate was mandated at 10% of the voting faculty, and that seems to work reasonably well. We are proposing an amendment to the Constitution, which is necessary to reduce the size of the Senate.
   • 10% number not etched in stone, can be discussed.
   • At large senators will be elected to meet the requirement to fill out whatever remains for the 10% after the proportional representation as established in the revision of the bylaws.
   • FSD 21-03 – For Discussion (A. Elmendorf)
   • Mascha stated that each senator has a term and our terms are staggered for good reason. She asked, do we wait until the current senators roll off their term before reducing? Or do we start dismissing people from the Senate?
     • The Senate passed a resolution two years ago stating that any reduction in size of the Senate would be by attrition only, so senators who are elected to a term fill out their term. Any reduction to any representation of any academic unit would only occur after the end of senator’s terms. d that unit is not actually entitled to any further representation. if they want to continue can always run for an at large. That unit’s representation will then be reduced by attrition.
   • ?? asked how many voting faculty we currently have at PNW
     • Currently 43 faculty
     • Before unification the senate at Westville was open to all senate faculty members. It wasn’t based on representation or election. It was theoretically 100% of the faculty. (J.??)

7. Accepted Nominations and Awards intent to present resolution refilling Committees for Founders’ Day if colleges don’t present representatives.
   (FSD 21-02) – For Information
8. Executive Committee agreed with Provost Holford that temporary ending of SAT/ACT should be made permanent for applicants.
   • Ending SAT/ACT should be made permanent for applicant. Committee agreed with this, Policy committee is working with IR to see how this will impact the campus.
   • Dave—besides grades, we look at SAT/ACT Different schools have different policies. Different people are taking the same tests.  A from one HS is not the same as an A from another HS.  How will admission.  Will this mean more students dropping out after the freshman year?
   • We will hold off any on any further action until Ed policy finishes their examination of this, and then we’ll bring that back.
   • Kozel said he has been on several scholarship and award committees and that part of the evaluations include SAT/ACT scores. He said he realizes the tests aren’t perfect but they have always been something to make decisions easier because different people are taking the same test. It gives you something to evaluate them on. An A from one high school is not an A from another high school. We may get a lot more students coming into the university, but then is that going to also then end up with a lot more students dropping out after the freshman year?
   • Edwards of Ed Policy said committee is working hard to look at all the possible variables that go into student success. There are some reports that are already available, which she will be getting. Then they are going to do more reports for me from this past academic year.

New Business

1. Course releases: We do not have the money in our budget to fund the course releases we want to fund in the Spring. We need to address this problem.

• Right now, we have five course releases, or, in case a program cannot release that faculty member there is compensation. It is basically budgeted ~ $5K a year to buy out a faculty member teaching for that year. The problem we have is that that will not cover the cost of replacing any of us with an adjunct for that time. We are going to have to have some discussion on how much is funded. But I want to assure everybody Before we go further, that these are not being given out frivolously. We are acting very judiciously. The people to get them right now, under FSD 20-12, where we discussed the priority is the chair – so I have I have one this semester. We have one for the Senate Secretary which requires a lot of extra work. We have one for the grade appeals, which is not a not a senate position to but we have to, as Kenny will tell you, there is tons of work in that. And it is essential that we have people that have the time to do that will also the head of the Curriculum Committee. Also, Gen Ed and Assessment Committees, get these releases or compensation. The problem we’ve got to work out, because this is getting into this new IBBM model, is we’ve got to come up with the money. The departments get compensated for replacing those who are doing this extra work.
• Right now, it looks like we’re going to have to figure out some way for all five colleges to kick in for these releases, as we’re doing work for the whole university, whether that holds or not remains to be seen.
• The provost disclosed that the Senate has a budget of $27,000 annually, and the Senate prioritizes their own the use of those funds. One of the challenges is, in our new IBBM model, the Senate has authorized more releases than they can afford. He said while other units around campus over the past three years have taken significant reductions in their budget, we have not reduced Senate’s budget, it has held constant and it is up to this body to decide how to prioritize the use of that funding. That is not something the administration steps into those are discretionary funds for this body to decide how to best use.

1. Because of underfunding, coffee and pastries will not be provided for Senate meetings.

Remarks by Representative of Student Government (other than COVID-19).

Remarks by University Senate/Intercampus Faculty Representative:  Vanessa Quinn.

• The last University Senate in West Lafayette meeting was in April. The minutes are a total of 171 pages. There were a lot of discussion about a lot of things. If you would like to see more, you can certainly go to the minutes.
• Document 20-19, the temporary continuation of PU’s test flexible approach to undergraduate admissions to the fall of 2022, was passed.
• Purdue West Lafayette – this is not Northwest, please don’t confuse this and think we’re doing this – Purdue West Lafayette Document 20-43, proposal to introduce a four-week January term to the academic calendar. There was a lot of discussion about this. This discussion has been going on for several meetings. The Senate voted to support the continued studying of the J term so nothing for sure has happened to the calendar.
• Document 20-56; equity, diversity, and inclusion; would be a distinct item and promotion. In the in the promotion document, which is up for discussion only, would add into form 36 a specific space to put in items that faculty have for promotion and tenure regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. This is for discussion.
• Document 20-57, Election Day is a Civic Day of services, brought to the Senate by student government. There’s considerable discussion about this. During this discussion was ended and recalled to order on May 3 at 2:30. About two weeks later, we continued the meeting. After significant discussion, the document was continued to the following September.
• Senate document 20-16, the civics literacy requirement. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about what happened at the West Lafayette meeting. I wanted to be a little clearer than the vague report I gave at our last meeting. If you would like to know more about this, you can certainly go to the Senate website. Specifically, pages 27 to 32 are the minutes of the discussion. And you can find the doc the senate document itself on pages 68 to 71. At the time of the discussion in May, we were only talking about West Lafayette adopting the civics requirements, we didn’t know about PNW.
• Document 19-17 was passed on March 23, 2020, which proposed that a degree requirement for civic literacy would be instated that required a civics literacy course or other process for undergraduates. This motion failed in the Senate. If you’re interested in those specific minutes, you can find those. Another motion was made to suspend the rules and vote on senate document 20-60, which is a separate document that proposes that the provost of West Lafayette address the board of trustees to bring revised proposals for the civics literacy graduate requirement. They wanted the provost of West Lafayette, not PNW, to go to the Board of Trustees and ask for a different proposal. The motion was made to suspend the rules to vote on the document in the May meeting, because it was up for discussion and not up for decision. To suspend the rules that requires a two thirds majority. And this did not pass and the document will go to action at the next senate meeting. The reason why it didn’t vote is because they could not suspend the rules because you need a two thirds majority.
• The last thing to discuss is the shared governance restructuring in West Lafayette. The shared Governance Task Force is composed of faculty, staff, and students from West Lafayette and is currently working on a proposal to restructure PUWL Senate. This is a Purdue initiative. The taskforce will distribute a brief proposal outlining the rationale and justification for restructuring by the end of April of 2022. They’re holding listening sessions and engaging in other activities to solicit feedback and answer questions from campus constituencies. The proposal will be distributed in the early in fall of early 2021. If you are interested in a listening session, there’s one on September 29, from three to 4pm. I will send information to the Secretary if you would like to sign up you have to register for that listening session. As I learn more about this, I’m happy to report on it.
• Document 20-57. This is a great discussion because it was really spurred on by the Student Government Association and the student government president brought it to the floor. There’s a lot of positive discussion towards having a Call to Reading Day. On a voting day, there will be no structured classes.
• A question was asked about whether the Shared Governance Taskforce was appointed by the Senate or where did it come from, if not from the Senate? It may be that the chair of that task force is the former chair of the Faculty Senate. A second question was about the dysfunction of the West Lafayette Senate and if there has been any bullying. You can see minutes from previous meetings where this is addressed. It’s addressed in the April meeting. There have been some concerns about decorum in Faculty Senate in West Lafayette. The meetings have all been in zoom. The Chair of Faculty Senate in West Lafayette from last year handled all those issues. I felt professionally. But issues did come up.

Kim:  Do we really have shared governance?  No—BOT runs this place.

• P&T committees—does everybody have to be present face-to-face? Yes. Everybody on a P&T Committee has to be present to vote. What happens if somebody is immunocompromised and doesn’t feel safe coming in? That’s going to get kicked to Faculty Affairs, and they’re going to have to decide what needs to be done.

Open Discussion, time permitting.

• Vanessa- Sustainability Committee needs to be populated—one faculty and one student. Does not have to be a Senator.
• Kim – Standing Committee meeting begin at noon and there will be no break so that everyone has time to join the chancellor at the convocation. All rooms have broadcast abilities so those attending remotely can join.

Adjournment and Standing Committee meetings.