Abstract of Feb. 7, 2011, Faculty Senate meeting

Western Today staff

February 9, 2011

Scott Pearce, Faculty Senate president, called the 2010-2011 Faculty Senate to order at 4:01 p.m. Senators accepted senate minutes of Jan. 24, 2011, and standing committee minutes, with the exception of Appendix D in the minutes of the Academic Coordinating Commission's Jan. 18 meeting, which after editing will be sent out for approval this week.

Pearce announced:

  • A new Spring Senate Award Ceremony scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. May 23 in the Western Gallery to present teaching, research and several other new faculty awards.
  • Chuck Lambert announced a Survey Monkey survey to go out to faculty in the next several weeks as a preliminary to the evaluation of Provost Catherine Riordan.
  • Faculty can request an e-mail copy from the senate office of:
    • John Krieg’s report on electronic course evaluations
    • preliminary outline of academic affairs objectives
    • conflict avoidance registration for athletes
    • a proposal for modification of faculty awards

President Bruce Shepard suggested we must constantly remind legislators of the need for adequate funding of baccalaureate education in the state and asked for patience in developing a future budget that protects Western’s core mission despite cuts totaling more than 9 percent in the current biennium.

Provost Riordan also emphasized the need to contact legislators who seldom hear from constituents about higher education in comparison to the many constituents who lobby on social issues.

Marsha Riddle-Buly reported using this week as an opportunity to present legislators with narratives provided from faculty on what they do in a day, how connections are made to the community as well as students. Riddle-Buly reported that new legislators are unfamiliar with higher education issues and want to learn more.

Ramon Rinonos-Diaz, Associated Students vice president for academic affairs, requested:

  • nominations for potential student trustees by Feb. 23
  • applications for the “Elect Her” program, which encourages women to run for office. The “Elect Her” day is this Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • applications for Green Energy Fee grants are now open
  • comments on Student Technology Fee 2010-2011 proposals, which are available for viewing at http://www.wwu.edu/stf

Steven VanderStaay, vice provost for undergraduate education, discussed electronic course evaluations and outside vendors such as the Idea Center, which offers norming against other faculty in the same field as well as a link to resources and strategies. Another option, Gradebook, withholds a student’s grade until the survey is completed. The advantage of online evaluations is the savings from assembling the results packages currently mailed to faculty. The ultimate question is the value of the information provided. VanderStaay offered to assist a subgroup in piloting an option with a vendor.

Carmen Werder, director of the Teching-Learning Academy/Writing Instruction Support, presented the work of the TLA and the current state of Writing Instruction Support for faculty. Michael Karlberg (Communication), Marli Williams and Colin Moy described the benefits of working with the TLA and the space it creates for a dialog among faculty, staff and students. Werder hopes to build closer ties with the senate.

Faculty Handbook Revisions approved. Senators moved to approve the following, and will vote a second time after publication to the faculty:

  • (1) Executive Council Motion: Bylaw 7.2, Faculty Legislative Representative clarifies the role of the faculty legislative and deputy legislative representative.
  • (2) Bylaw 7.7 Senate Library Committee. A revised charge brought by the co-chairs of the Senate Library Committee clarifies the role of committee as advisor to the Dean of Libraries and the committee’s relationship to the library and the wider campus community.

Senators continued discussion on Faculty Handbook: Article V, Elimination and Merger, as well as a document titled "Guidelines on Faculty Governance in Colleges."  The senate will consider a vote on Article V at the next meeting.

Senators adjourned at 5:55 pm.

Appointments and Elections: Chuck Lambert, Officer

Senators appointed Sarah Campbell (Anthropology) to the Academic Technology Committee, replacing Derrick Mears.