NORTHEASTERN
STATE UNIVERSITY
Minutes
of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, September 11, 2009
A. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by
President Denise Deason-Toyne at 3:00 p.m. in
SH204. There was ITV access at Muskogee (SYNR141), Broken Arrow (B226)
and Tahlequah.
Council Members in attendance: Ernst
Bekkering (Business & Technology), Ron Cambiano (Education), Kristopher Copeland (Liberal Arts),
Carolyn Cox (Liberal Arts), John Diamontopoulos
(Science & Health Professions), Isaac DiIanni
(Business & Technology), Jennifer Edwards (Liberal Arts), Harriett Hobbs,
(substitute for Sarah Brick Archer-Library), Brandon Oberg (Library), Thomas
Salmon (Optometry), Dan Savage (VP), Lallie Scott (Liberal
Arts), Dan Sisk (Science & Health Professions).
Council Members in attendance in
Broken Arrow: Paul Cooper (Education), Anita Ede (Education), Sandy Edwards
(Muskogee Council Member-Business & Technology), Pamela Louderback
(Secretary/Treasurer), Elizabeth Rabe (for P.J. Gorden-Business & Technology).
Council Members in attendance in
Muskogee: none
Council Officers in
attendance: Denise Deason-Toyne (President),
Dan Savage (Vice President), Pamela Louderback
(Secretary/Treasurer).
Guests: Tahlequah: Martha Albin, James Brittain, Bridget Cowlishaw, Darryl Linde, Kat Shahan, Martin Venneman, Rui Zhang, Chuck Ziehr, Michael
[(?) (Natural Sciences)]; Broken Arrow: Kirby Cundiff,
Julia Kwok
Invited Presentations
[Council will set aside time at the
first of each meeting to visit with Administrative Officers should they be able
to attend.]
Martha Albin
briefly addressed the new health insurance option. There were concerns raised about the
additional “out of pocket” monies employees would have to provide for
unforeseen medical emergencies. Albin announced the opportunity for further discussion
would be made available through meetings that will be schedule in the next
couple of weeks.
A. Committees and Standing Reports
1. Review/Approval of Minutes of the 06/06/09 meeting
Minutes of the May meeting was reviewed. No corrections were made. Scott
moved to approve the minutes, it was seconded by J.
Edwards. The motion passed.
2. Financial Report
The only expenditure so far has been for the recurring telephone fee.
Faculty Council does not possess a telephone.
President Deason-Toyne will look into
resolving this error.
B . Old Business
1. Inclement Weather Policy Task
Force
A campus specific policy is necessary. Buster Hall is currently a member of the Task
Force. President Deason-Toyne
requested additional members to serve on the task force. Julie Kwok (BA), Sandy Edwards (MUS), and Ed Savge (TAH) volunteered.
The task force was charges by President Deason-Toyne
with the following two tasks: to create suggestions for improving the policy by
addressing the unique needs of all campuses, and to provide consistency in
procedures (i.e., public announcements made by a certain time). Task force charges will be addressed at the
next Faculty Council meeting.
2. Enrollment in online classes
Concerns over the high number of
students still persist. Discussion on
whether a current cap exists for hybrid courses followed. Brittain responded
that space is allotted based on the room assigned to the class. Further discussion on the pilot experiment of
unlimited class size followed. Concern
persisted where upper division courses were of unlimited class size. One member offered that a faculty in his
college with a 74 student upper division course refused to repeat the
test. Graduate assistants can do little
beyond assisting with entering grades due to the lack of required knowledge in
the subject area(s). Brittain
never received any feedback on these experimental classes. Cambiano raised
concerns of blended courses and the lack of consistent policies.
President Deason-Toyne
brought up the additional $40 per credit hour fee placed on these courses. No feedback has been received. Deason-Toyne will
pursue with Administration what the policy is and clarify whether it should be
limited to lower division Gen. Ed. Classes.
Venneman offered that GA’s were indispensable in lower division
courses; adjunct instructors were hired to assist with upper division
courses. S. Edwards cautioned we are
faced with a challenge with Administration whose mission is to secure as many
students as possible. We as faculty must
focus on how to obtain assistance to achieve the greatest impact. Brittain offered
statistics of an overall student increase of 3% as well as a 40% increase in
online courses. We must consider this as
an operation capital issue as well. Venneman offered we rely on the upcoming Oracle system,
slated to be implemented October 1, as a “prescreening” of student
enrollment.
Ziehr offered another model be considered - if adjuncts are not
able to be secured, the credit hour load is increased from 3 to 6 when the
class size reaches a certain number. Deason-Toyne invited further discussion. Bekkering offered
the University reevaluate the numbers and revisit the topic. Brittain will
generate the date and send it on the Academic Council.
3. Study Days vs. Dead Week Task Force
Ziehr inquired about whether a task force had been created. President Deason-Toyne
responded that no task force has been formed yet. Discussion followed related to problems
arising where major projects are a crucial part of certain classes (COE and
Computer Science) and whether restrictions could be limited to exams only. Scott put forward that according to the
Student Council, students do not require the two study days. DiIanni put forward
that faculty often carries out “dead days” on their own and questioned whether
a mandatory policy was necessary.
DiIanni moved to leave things as they are; it was seconded by Bekkering. Cambiano
cautioned we need to reconsider such actions.
The motion did not carry; the Faculty Council will reconsider after
further discussion.
4. Instructor –Course Evaluation for Online/blended classes (Bekkering)
Bekkering inquired whether this procedure is currently being
performed. Brittain
responded that in the past, students were evaluating the process of online
instruction, not the instructor. Last
fall a trial was performed using EvaluationKit.com with excellent results that
provided a secure process. Results were
only made available to Deans or Department Chairs, the VPAA, and the faculty
member. An attempt to carry out evaluations
in the spring was unsuccessful.
C & T is prepared to carry out
evaluations this fall. Deans and
Department Chairs will be notified of your online classes; the same guidelines
hold for blended and distance education (DE) courses. User authentication issues from past attempts
have been resolved with this new software program.
5.
Concern about Post Tenure Review Process (different review processes in
different college)
No discussion.
6. Student Evaluations of Tenured Faculty versus
non-Tenured Faculty
The faculty handbook is explicit and
evaluations are performed at the Deans level.
7. Concern about mechanism for
creating/scheduling courses – (summer/weekend courses)
Discussion over whether a defined
process is present followed. Ziehr pointed out that an over abundance of the number of
classes offered results in none taking given that student head count is
diminished. Providing fewer offerings of
the same course would allow classes to ‘make’.
President Deason-Toyne
offered the necessity of a policy that specifies a final date where the
university would deem the course “cancelable”.
Kwok pointed out that this is a faculty as well as a student issue where
last minute cancelations create last minute changes in course load – full time faculty replace adjuncts and often have 24 hours in which to
prepare for instruction.
8. Monitoring -- Selection of Department Chairs
Colleges are to follow what is
discussed in the Faculty Handbook.
President Deason-Toyne suggested we treat this
topic as a ‘non-issue’ unless it arises again.
9. Office Hour Proposal for Faculty Handbook
(per Dr. Bahr’s email)
The proposal has been newly adopted
and revised to provide some days off for office hours. Please consult Dr. Bahr’s email.
C. New Business
1.
Use of Gender Specific references in
position descriptions, etc.
President Deason-Toyne
pointed out that it is essential the university use gender neutral language in
position announcements. Deason-Toyne suggested that Faculty Council present a
policy to Administration. Cowlishaw offered to email a gender neutral document to Deason-Toyne.
2.
Criteria/policies/procedures for
dealing with students with disabilities
The current policy states that it is
the student’s responsibility to notify faculty after the first class period and
to advise of need for reasonable accommodations. The actual practice is that Student Affairs
contacts faculty the day of the first examination asking for a copy of the
exam. Discussion followed in regard to
policies and possible consistent positive implementation. Further discussion followed in regard to
policies for online classes. President Deason-Toyne suggested Donna Agee be invited to address the
Council on the policy and proper procedure.
Council members agreed that a visit with Agee would be beneficial to all
concerned.
D. Other Business
1. Monetary gift from the Faculty Council to honor
President Betz inauguration.
Hobbs updated the Council on the
purchase of thirty-seven (37) books.
Many books have begun to arrive; books will be added to the collection
in the coming weeks. A book plate will
be placed in each book.
E. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:33 p.m.
Submitted by Pamela Louderback, Secretary-Treasurer
09/15/09
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