Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019
Senate Meeting called to order at 4:05 PM
Presiding: Donna Gauthier; Secretary: Clai Rice
    1) Approval of Minutes:  Motion to approve unchanged passes with one abstention.
    2) President’s Report:
        a) We need to improve communication with University Council.
        b) Everyone should utilize ULink daily. It provides daily announcements and
            i) Faculty Development opportunities, including VPAA travel grants.
        c) New Web Master is Jeff Lush, still working to get the site up and running.
        d) We will participate in the Louisiana Association of Faculty Senates this year.
    3) University Committee Reports
        a) QEP report – Randy Gonzales
            i) Topic selected this year is student research. New initiatives will be integrated into existing structures (such as SRE) to enhance undergraduate student research opportunities.
        b) A campus-wide Free Speech policy has already passed; the text is available online from the VP of Student Affairs page. We are reminded to document everything.
    4) Old Business
        a) Reviewing Faculty Handbook. FS President should get release time for the position. She can use this for reviewing the faculty handbook. It was observed that the AAUP publishes a sample Faculty Handbook, that we can use as a guide for revision or updating.
        b) Student Evaluation of Instruction –
            i) report by Nancy Autin, chair of SEI Committee for the University
                (1) The Committee examined research on survey design and distribution, and the benefits of SEI for students.
                (2) SEI should be used to improve the quality of instruction.
                (3) SEI in Distance Education is its own research area now, with some topics recurring.
                (4) College of Sciences met to see how to improve response rates. Some actions created small improvements.
            ii) General discussion of the topic, especially on how it is used in faculty evaluations. This will be examined in the Handbook review. McDonald pointed out that as the Faculty Senate, we could have a say in how SEI is used. Autin raised a point of order in regard to offensive language. Perhaps next meeting a motion regarding SEI will be proposed.
    5) New Business
        a) We need to nominate and elect
            i) two members for one year terms on the Committee of Committees.
            ii) One member of the Engineering faculty for 2 year service on the Ways and Means Committee (only ENGR can vote).
            iii) One member from the school of Arts.
        b) University Committee Membership is up on the VPAA site.
        c) Please send us any input for the policy on joint appointments–the draft document is up on our Moodle page.
    6) Motion to Adjourn: 5:20 p.m.

Submitted October 9, 2019
Clai Rice
Secretary