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Faculty Senate
Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting February 20, 2008
The regular meeting of the 2007-2008 Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by President LouAnn Simpson. The following senators were present for all or part of the meeting. Allen, Bohorquez, Conley, DeLaet, Dore, Esposito, Houle, Keefer, Nelson, Parsa, Reincke, Sanders, Saylor, Simpson, Torry, Vandegrift, Walker, Younger
Absent: Harvey, Swilky, Vitha
The January 2008 minutes were accepted as amended.
(add to those attending the January meeting: Vitha, Parsa)
Report from President Maxwell – no report – off campus on University business
Report from Provost Troyer
- He stated that his weekly announcements are being posted only in blueView and no longer sent via a mass email submission.
- He shared with the group that currently in Congress is the Higher Education Reauthorization Act version which contains many regulatory changes. The legislation contains over 170 new reporting requirements including announcing to new students what their expected costs will be for four years and a possible mandate of including book lists in course schedules. He stated that compliance with the present version of the bill would present interesting challenges.
Senator questions included:
a) whether these requirements would be for both public and private institutions?
The answer was yes.
b) does Drake currently have the personnel for these compliance requirements?
The answer was that it would take one to three full time staff persons to fully comply with existing suggested regulations.
c) Whether there is a way to ‘push back’ on the proposed requirements.
The answer was that this is not fully known.
Provost Troyer stated that there were more December graduates this fall than last fall. The graduation rate is still quite strong and there will be an examination to see if these students are graduating in less-than-four-years more than in the past.
The Student Senate report was a brief summary of their last meeting which included a debate on raising the student activity fees. Also, Christina Motilall, Student Senator and D.E.A.L. (Drake Environmental Action League) member and Robb Krehbiel presented the Senate with copies of a petition. They requested faculty/staff support noting that this is consistent with Drake’s mission statement and the Climate Challenge signed by President Maxwell. The students requested the petition be shared with the senator’s constituents and the signed forms returned to the Student Government office in Olmsted.
The petition’s goal is to demonstrate interest in recycling. It has been reported that additional staff would be needed to take care of a full campus recycling program.
The text of the presented petition:
To the Drake Family,
With the age of globalization upon us, significant alterations must be made in all of our lives if we wish to keep up with the array of worldwide changes that are quickly approaching. A part of Drake’s mission statement is to promote“responsible global citizenship,” a concept that is of increasing importance in many fields of interest, but in particular, environmentalism. The populaces of our city, state, country, and world have started to realize that the problems of pollution, habitat destruction, over-consumption and global warming are problems that affect all of us. As concerned global citizens, our University has signed on with the Climate Commitment Challenge to curb our carbon footprint, yet there is still more that needs to be done.
Americans are the largest trash-producers worldwide with an average of 1,690 pounds of trash generated annually per capita. A majority of this trash is recyclable, yet many Americans don’t recycle because opportunities are not made available to them. Drake University is no exception to this. Comprehensive recycling can only be found in residence halls on campus, many of which just started this year. Our University needs to place a stronger emphasis on recycling and the responsibility we all bear to protect our environment and its dwindling resources.
We are confident the Drake campus community would recycle if it could. The month of November was devoted entirely to a recycling competition between the University’s residence halls. Various models and methods were employed during the course of this challenge; all had an end result in an increase of recycling in the residence halls. Promoting recycling hinges on making it convenient and accessible.
We have the ability to do this at Drake University, but no one group, no matter how devoted, can do it alone. Environmental destruction is a problem that we all must face. We urge all members of the Drake family to examine their effect on our planet and make tangible steps towards reconciliation. Recycling is an important starting point. Please, pledge your support for recycling efforts across our campus by signing this petition. Together, we can utilize our energy to create a better University that fosters responsible global citizenship and environmental stewardship. Thank you.
Signed _______________________________ Date _______________________
Print Name __________________________________Student / Faculty / Staff (please circle one)
Organization ________________________________
The Campus Council update was presented by Senator Walker. The Council learned of the Student Senate election process recently.
The draft of Drake’s Strategic Plan 2008-2012 was presented for discussion by Provost Troyer and Associate Provost John Burney. Provost Troyer’s opening remarks described the current Planning Cycle timeline. He stated that the draft document is a product of all the input from the Planning Council’s Subcommittees and a desire to get reactions from the Campus Community. It is not intended to be a final document. He offered that his major role today was to listen and welcomed whatever the Senators had to say.
Senator Reincke asked if there is another document which looks at the past goals, objectives and tasks which are completed or have not been addressed. Provost Troyer indicated that since the previous document followed much more of an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink approach, there is not such a laundry list of completed items, in his opinion. What he has done each year with the Deans is to set a few specific goals taken from the full listing and follow through with those items.
Senator Parsa noted that he did not see much of the global citizenship as stated in the mission statement in the document. Provost Troyer reminded the group that at this point there are not details but offered Section III, Goal One as a reference point. Senator Sanders, a member of the Planning Council, stated that they did have some specific examples of several of the goals in an earlier draft but chose to take those out; so as to keep the discussion on all items general at this stage.
Senator Esposito noted there are some specific numbers in the finance which are quite high. He asked if the committee tested whether or not these are ‘reachable goals’. The reply was that Vice President Payseur had been asked that same question within the committee and she believed they are reachable.
Senator Walker asked when will there be specific dates and objectives placed into the plan. Provost Troyer stated that during the task and prioritization process, there will be dates, responsible parties and resources estimated and allocated. The process now is still in the dreaming stage.
Senator Allen indicated that she was pleased to see a culture of wellness included. This is not something which she has seen previously and hopes it can be a clear reality. Senator Torry wondered how Drake will be able to reduce the discount rate and meet all the other goals. He did not like how it is worded but did not have other words to suggest. The reply, from the Provost, was there is a shift from need based to merit based aid as the higher education industry is under attack to provide access to those who can not pay. Vice President Tom Delahunt has done work on what endowment monies would be needed to bridge the gap.
Senator Conley asked what major changes are prevalent from the previous planning documents to this one. Provost Troyer indicated that previous documents were escape documents or listings of survival measures. The Planning Council’s conversation this time was not about survival but of dreams. It was the attitude behind the discussions of what good things can we do, rather than what Drake had to do. He cited the creation of the Institute for Creative Learning and Teaching as the biggest single change for him from previous documents. Senator Sanders agreed with the Provost stating the previous tone was how to do more with less and now it is a conversation of how to do things right.
Senator Allen allowed that it would take time to work through any changes but asked if there will be a conversation of fundamental restructuring of roles and responsibilities of faculty and staff. Provost Troyer allowed that it will to need happen as more is being required now than ten years ago and yet not much has been taken out of the profession or institutional duties.
Senator DeLaet asked if amongst all the big aspirations were there some ideas which were rejected. The reply was that over 100 ideas were reviewed and many overlapped in their content and these were easily kept by the Council. Senator Sanders noted that the Council did not vote on any idea and that any idea with some support was kept.
Senator Allen expressed her support for the diverse hiring initiatives. She noted overall the growth has been slow in achieving a diverse faculty and that faculty partnerships with foreign institutions could be the role model for such exchanges with domestic institutions.
Senator Nelson asked what happens next. The reply was that a draft will go to the upcoming April Board of Trustees meeting and the intent is to have the Board approve the plan in June 2008. Faculty Senate will have those documents made available to them also. Provost Troyer continued that previously there had been three versions of the final document: one short one containing only the major talking points, one with the tasks listed and one version containing the detailed task listings including all resources.
The draft Strategic Plan will be the focus of a campus wide town hall meeting to be held next week, Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. in Bulldog Theatre. Senators were encouraged to invite their colleagues to attend this important event.
President Simpson asked for nominations for Senate Vice President. Senator DeLaet indicated that she was willing to do the task for the Fall 08 semester. No nominations were received from the body. Senator Reincke volunteered to solicit name(s) to be presented at the March meeting.
The discussion of the proposed Student Handbook began with a reminder that the intent is to take the topic to the Board of Trustees in April 2008. Dean of Students Sentwali Bakari thanked the Senate for their time and hoped that he had responded to the Senate’s comments.
Senators DeLaet moved and Keefer seconded motion 08-02:
Motion to endorse changes to the Student Handbook
Senator DeLaet expressed her concern regarding the separation of the academic conduct policies from the Student Code of Conduct. She has read the emailed response from the legal counsel and still has reservations. Mr. Bakari indicated that if the Senate wanted the academic conduct policies in the handbook, then he would put them in there.
President Simpson noted that the final product will not be a paper copy of document. It is a matter of effectively communicating the rules at Drake and the student searching and finding those rules. Senator DeLaet restated that she desired the any link or web heading called Student Code of Conduct clearly contain the academic and non-academic links. Several Senators spoke in favor of such a grouping. Senator Saylor stated the two worlds (academic and non-academic) collide when infractions exist in one world which includes penalties in the other. Several Senators agreed. Senator Esposito also wanted the University to be vigilant that all the documents have valid links and are up to date. Senator Houle noted that in today’s world all documents are all just links and searchable.
Associate Provost Sue Wright reminded the body that Academic Integrity policies exist in each college and school so several links would need to be presented with the Student Code of Conduct. She continued that with the current web administrative software the issue of multiple versions of the same document is greatly reduced and, yes, all web postings need maintenance. She volunteered to present to Senate a mockup of a proposed Student Handbook web page.
Senators DeLaet and Keefer withdrew the motion.
No other issues were brought up during Senate concerning the Student Handbook revisions.
Faculty Senate adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Nancy Geiger, Secretary
