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Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes February 6, 2019

University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 6, 2019, Oliver Hall 112

At 4:00 pm, Chad Parker (CP) counted those present and asked Sheri Lazare (SL) how many were needed for quorum. SL responded at least 30. With less than half that, CP began with a few announcements before officially calling to order.

CP stated he spoke to the Provost last week about the issues addressed at the January meeting.

At 4:05 pm, CP officially called the meeting to order.

The first issue discussed related to scan-tron machines. A task force was established to look at the issue and they met yesterday. He was told that the Provost will buy more machines and currently trying to decide what ones to get. The money was already there for machines, just no one had purchased them yet.
A Senator asked to know how it is determined which departments will get the machines.
CP asked if anyone knew someone on the task force. Sonia Briggs in Nursing and Rick Swanson in Political Science were two names given. CP stated to contact them with any additional questions.

Another issue was about the lack or lower numbers in enrollment. CP stated we are only down about 650 undergrads, but are up with graduate enrollment. Only problem is that it costs the university to have grad students and make money on undergrads. For every 100 undergrad lost, UL loses $1 million; and to give faculty raises it costs a minimum of $1 million.

CP stated today is the cut off day for the census numbers for the state reporting, so we’ll see what official numbers are soon.

Third issue: hiring. CP stated there is not a hiring freeze.

At the University Council meeting, CP stated all discussion on raises and hiring a new Director of Admissions was very vague and cannot report anything about it.

Senator John Laudon (JL) asked if [the Council] really doesn’t know what’s going on or just acting like they don’t know?

The fourth issue addressed Professorship stipends. When CP spoke to the Provost, CP used his own Professorship stipend as an example, stating the stipend is 5% of his total current salary.
The Provost seemed surprised to hear this and stated he will think of some ways to account for this; maybe a way to get summer research pay.

The fifth issue addressed the issue of the last final exam scheduled on Friday evening of exam week. CP spoke to the registrar about any changes possible, and Mickey stated he will look into some options and maybe even move it to the Wednesday of exam week.
A Senator did express that the exam schedule overlaps with an evening class scheduled at the same time.
CP went on to say he didn’t really understand the point of the Wednesday of finals week not having any exams.
CP asked Senator Jim McDonald (JM) if he remembered the reason. JM said there was a schedule change many years ago, maybe 10 years ago, when finals used to start on Thursdays, the Wednesday of no exams was put into place then.

CP asked if the Wednesday was something that was pushed by Administration or students, and JM confirmed it was pushed more by Administration than by students.
CP stated then we will take a look at things again and see if it will be possible to change the week of final exams, since it wasn’t something the student’s supported. JM agreed it would be worth taking a look at again.

A Senator stated that the Fall semester also cuts short the number of instruction days in classes that are scheduled for late afternoon MW. Too many holidays effect MW classes.
CP stated he will talk to Mickey about this as well.

The last issue from the January meeting CP discussed with the Provost was the committee formed to review the SEIs. CP stated Deans are wanting to move away from SEIs in relation to merit scores.
Their next step is to talk to department heads about what they would want.

A Senator stated that the Fall 2018 SEI results were just received and there is a survey link included in the email where you can give your comments on the SEI.  CP encouraged Senators present to complete the survey and see if the results have any bearing.

CP announced the next University Council meeting is this coming Monday.

A Senator asked if there is any support for faculty who find themselves the target of public scrutiny – like what happened with Drag Queen Story Time.

Senator John Laudon says the official person would be the university’s Title 9 representative.

Another Senator stated that if the attacks come from outside the classroom environment, then Title 9 does not apply.
CP stated he will bring this up and get back with the information.
Senator still suggested to communicate with the Title 9 rep because they are extremely useful and resourceful.

At 4:30 pm, well after a quorum was met, CP asked for a motion to approve the minutes, in which a motion was made, seconded, and approved, with no objections or abstentions.

CP then asked if there were any committee chairman present with reports to deliver. There were none.
CP stated the changes to the handbook were up on Moodle for discussion and there was no discussion.
CP called for an official vote to approve the changes. Everyone approved, there were no objections, and no abstentions.

CP then stated there are 2 main actions to complete: 1. Get a nomination committee together for electing Senate President and Secretary for 2019-2021, and 2. Finalize members of the Committee on Committees.

For the nomination committee, Andrien C., David Squires, Cindy Watson, and possibly GH will serve as the nomination committee. CP gave them the scope of the committee’s duties.

Moving on to Committee on Committees, Dunga Poudel in Sciences will serve, Kari Smith in Arts, and Sandy Hymel from the Library have agreed to serve. Still needing one more At-Large member and a member from the remaining 5 colleges.

CP stated the Provost and the CFO should be present at the next meeting, Feb. 20th. CP could invite the President, but he can’t really provide any answers.

JL asked about the task force that was created at the end of Fall 2018.  CP turned to JM since he is the chair of the task force. JM stated not much has been done since last semester, but he will be setting up some meetings in the near future and will keep the Senate informed.
JL also stated that Jack Diminco is leaving the university so we may need another name from COLA for the task force.

CP asked if there was any other new business, with the reply being no.
At 4:46 pm, CP asked for a motion to adjourn, which was motioned, seconded, and supported by all.