NSU Faculty Council - Minutes Janaury 13, 2012

NORTHEASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Minutes of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, January 13, 2012

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by President Deason-Toyne SCL 129. There was ITV access at Muskogee, Broken Arrow and Tahlequah.

Council Members in attendance in Tahlequah: Jeb Briley (Business & Technology), Ron Cambiano (Education), Shari Clevenger (Liberal Arts), John Diamantopoulos (Science & Health Professions), Isaac DiIanni (Business & Technology), Spencer Johnson (Optometry), Chris Miller (Liberal Arts),Spence Pilcher (Science & Health Professions), Cheryl Van Den Handel (Liberal Arts), Susan Woitte (Library)

Council Members in attendance in Broken Arrow: Tia Bennett (Education), Kelly Dunbar (Education), Buster Hall (Broken Arrow)

Council Members in attendance in Muskogee: Lori Murray for Joyce VanNostrand (Muskogee)

Council Officers in attendance: Denise Deason-Toyne (President), Pamela Louderback (Vice President), Linda West (Secretary/Treasurer).

Guests: Mark Paulissen (Science & Health Professions) - Tahlequah. Tom Rink (Library), Kevin Wang (Science & Health Professions) - Broken Arrow

No administrators were present for the meeting. Dr. Turner is in Indianapolis for a meeting of presidents. He does want to visit in the future. Dr. Jackson will visit in February or March.

A. Call to Order

1. Review/Approval of minutes of the December 2011 meeting (http://arapaho.nsuok.edu/~faculty_council/minutesdec2011.html)

Minutes were accepted with a few corrections. As a follow-up, President Deason-Toyne checked on the Academic calendar. This spring will be the last split finals week. August classes will start on a Wednesday. Dr. Turner would like to see a calendar committee formed.

2. Budget Report

The remaining budget is about $4,000. We have allocated $500 for Undergraduate Research Day. We need ideas for ways to spend the remaining funds. There were several ideas for incentives. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

B . Committees/Standing Reports

    1. Need volunteers to serve on and chair the following:

            Nominating Committee- President Deason-Toyne will start calling people to serve. We will have elections next fall. Everyone needs to talk to people in your college about becoming delegates.
          Circle of Excellence - There were some volunteers. President Deason-Toyne will send out the nomination email soon. There is a calendar coming out that will put our ceremony at a better time with less conflicts this year.

C. Old Business/Pending Issues

    1.   Review/Restatement on Policy regarding sale of Textbook samples.
            There was a general understanding by the lawyers present that gifts to professors that involved no state funds could be sold by the professor. President Deason-Toyne will contact University counsel again on the matter.

    2. Number of course preps - particularly for new faculty and with online courses.

             This was presented at the Chairs Council. It is generally practiced that new faculty get a one course teaching reduction when possible. Department chairs are aware that this is a concern and will look at it especially for new faculty.

     3. Advising responsibilities –equitable assignment of advisees

         The Faculty Handbook spells out these duties. Chairs should take this into account during annual reviews.

    4. Status of Shared Governance Outline for NSU

             President Deason-Toyne talked to Dr. Turner about the document that had been vetted earlier. He stated that it had some problems and violates RUSO policies. He was asked about a timetable for changes to the document. He will meet with Dr. Tadlock to look at it. The State Faculty Advisory Committee members have discussed the importance of shared governance and that it is a factor in HLC reviews.

D. New Business

    1.   Undergraduate Research Day

          Mark Paulissen talked with the Council about the event. It is Wednesday, April 25th on the Tahlequah Campus. The selections are made by colleges. A good forum for the Faculty Council idea of viewing a regional issue through multiple lenses would be to use the panel discussion format. There is an application form for panels. It was suggested that we present some ideas early in the year for students to work on for next year. Many different ideas about panel configurations and a Faculty Council challenge were discussed. Individuals volunteered to be on a committee to provide some suggestions: Ron Cambiano, Pamela Louderback, Chris Miller and Denise Deason-Toyne. They will have some ideas by the end of the semester.

    2. Faculty space on BlackBoard and the Content Server

           Some individual faculty have run into limits on BlackBoard and the Content Server. They would like Faculty Council support in asking to increase the space allotted. The discussion included thoughts that maybe individuals should ask for increased space, that only a small number would need additional space and that ITS might look at improved customer service and empowering employees to help. President Deason-Toyne will talk to Dr. Tadlock to see who to talk to to address this problem. Faculty could also send their needs to Academic Affairs.

    3. Faculty collegiality

             There was some discussion about sharing our experiences. The Broken Arrow learning community was suggested as a model. Perhaps we need a faculty research day or a way to showcase faculty activities. The Celebrating Research, Scholarship, & Creative Achievement (CRSCA) event from last March was mentioned.

    4. Next meeting

        The next meeting will be February 3rd.. Locations will be the same.

Announcements:

        Professional Development Day will be March 6th. There will be a call for presenters from CTL. The presentations should support the Core Values and there will be tracks for people to attend.

E. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
Next meeting: February 3rd

Submitted by Linda West, Secretary-Treasurer
1/31/12