Faculty Senate Minutes, February 8, 2019

February 8, 2019

PNW Faculty Senate Minutes

February 8, 2019

Location and time

10:00 A.M., Portage Meeting Facility Room 113

Voting members present:

L. Taylor, M. Connolly, C. DeLeon, G. Domke, A. Sindone, H. Zhao, D. Kozel, M. Mascha, S. Rezak, W. He, F. Colucci, C. Gillotti, L. Pelter, V. Quinn, P. Stompor, C. Fewer, K. Scipes, C. Morrow, G. Schultz, R. Cherry, R. Vega, J. Davis, M. Curia, J. Doman, R. Merkovsky, D. Gray, A. Mitra, W. Yu, J. Polman, S. Trekles, K. Kincaid, S. Smith, D. Detmer, A. Elmendorf, C. Chen, R. Kramer, R. Ocon, G. Stefanek, J. Tazbir, X. Wang, Y. Zheng, A. Alavizadeh, M. Zimmer

Senators absent:

R. Calix

Non-Voting members present:

R. Mueller, R. Rodriguez (SGA Representative), J. Colwell, L. Goodnight

Others in attendance:

D. Clark, J. Pula, C. Murphy, K. Falzone, K. Stachyra, D. Nalbone, C. Arroyo, J. Williams, M. Carden, N. Nemeth, R. Stankowski

Determination of Quorum: 10:00am
Call to Order
Approval of the Agenda
1. Approval moved by Elmendorf, seconded by Dorman; the motion carries.
Approval of Minutes of the January 11, 2019 meeting
1. Approval moved by Elmendorf, seconded by Sindone; the motion carries.
Remarks by the Senate Chair (D. Detmer)
1. S. Trekles has agreed to serve as Secretary in 2019-2020
2. In April, the vice-chair election will take place, so please consider if you wish to nominate yourself or someone else. February committee meetings should determine committee chairs for 2019-2020 – please report to Senate leadership before March 8.
3. The Nominations Committee has identified senators who are willing to rebalance terms by taking a 1-year team vs. a 3 year term, and the list includes: Cherry, Quinn, Dorman, Gillotti, Stefanek, Ocon, Kozel, Smith, Domke, Colucci, Ye, Polman. Departments will be notified in order to hold elections of senators for 2019-2020 before the semester ends. Any Senator serving a one-year term is eligible for re-election for a 3-year term.
4. Purdue Global report: Chair Detmer received a note in late January from Lea Rosenberry, head of the Purdue Global Senate, in response to questions about the nature of the Purdue Global Senate functions. Rosenberry has indicated that they are “preparing a response” since many others are asking similar questions. Detmer will continue to pursue this issue.
5. Student Government had expressed concerns about the student service fee and how it is allocated. Students, Senate leadership, and student athletics met with VCFA Turner on January 16. 15.5% of student service fees is discretionary, and SGA has a committee that allocates that percentage. J. Schooley, SGA President, has asked that the committee be formed through SGA rather than by appointment, and requested full control of that process for students. The conversation was positive and a committee representing all stakeholders, led by students, will be formed for the future.
6. The Administration Feedback Form has been distributed. Chair Detmer reminded Senators to please complete the form and encourage colleagues to do the same.
7. With regard to ImaginePNW, on April 12, the task force will release their report, and on April 19 the Senate has a special meeting to respond. The Executive Committee believes it may be appropriate to comprise an ad hoc committee to compose a written response with analysis and recommendations. It is also possible that the Executive Committee would take on this responsibility, but Detmer would like to hear the response of the full Senate on these issues.
Remarks by the Chancellor (T. Keon; R. Mueller representing)
1. Chancellor Keon is currently attending the Board of Trustees meeting.
2. Provost Mueller reported that the SRA Task Forces are busy at work now reviewing the templates. Of particular note, please save the date for February 27, as Larry Goldstein will be on campus for 2 open forums. Phase 2 of the ImaginePNW process will begin in the next academic year, and Goldstein will answer questions about SRA as well as introduce the Phase 2 strategic planning process. All are encouraged to attend.
3. Elmendorf asked about the recommendations of the committees for promotion and tenure, and how much we might anticipate the senior leadership accepting the recommendations. Provost Mueller responded that final decisions are not truly made until the Board of Trustees votes; however, the most weight will be made at the department level and the faculty committees, in adherence to college guidelines. It is important that when there are inconsistencies between the committees, that these cases get serious consideration. The Provost has not yet made any promotion and tenure decisions for this year or recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Provost has urged Deans to pass and ratify College-specific promotion and tenure guidelines, as this will be helpful to the committees, especially the university committee, and to Senior Leadership as well. Establishing a culture of ensuring those guidelines are taken into consideration at the university committee level is important for consistency in reviewing candidate documents. Overall, the promotion and tenure process this year has gone well, and committees were well-led given that this was our first time with the new guidelines.
4. Schultz asked a follow-up question noting that this is the first year of the university committee working without administrative input as per the guidelines. D. Nalbone responded that the biggest concern was that after a final decision was made, 10 calendar days were given to notify candidates, but it was possible and preferred to notify them all at once, even though not all decisions were made on the same day. Overall, the university committee worked well together and Nalbone felt the process went well.
5. Mueller noted that the letters from the committees need to be as detailed as possible to be able to inform the Provost of everything that was taken into consideration as per feedback on each promotion and tenure decision.

Remarks by Invited Guest (K. Falzone, Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communications)
1. Falzone, Marketing and Communications, and K. Stachyra, Undergraduate Admissions, discussed marketing and recruitment plans with an update on current efforts.
2. Highlights were shared in a brief presentation that included details on the university image billboard campaign PNW Proud; Illinois recruitment with new tuition rates; Illinois digital campaign through May 2019 with online and mobile advertisements targeted for local Illinois ZIP codes (over 28000 impressions so far; reveal ads over 20000); work with colleges to promote individual faculty (namely CES) on postcards, website called “The Stars Teach Here”; and College of Nursing online ad campaigns in MSN.
3. Recruiting efforts have included progressive print and email campaigns through SLATE management system, promoting PNW as a distinct brand, and targeted email recruiting through SAT/ACT completer lists (212000 prospective students). They are also actively contacting sophomores in local high schools as well as working on retention campaigns with current freshmen and “special occasion” campaigns contacting prospective students on birthdays to promote ongoing communication.
4. Marketing Presentation to Faculty Senate – PowerPoint for Download
5. Sindone commended the presentation, and asked about the cost to attract and bring in a new student. VCES J. Colwell responded that there is still a development process at work within SLATE and a specific cost cannot yet be determined.
6. Sindone also asked about recruiting in Southwest Michigan. There is a high school recruiter and a transfer recruiter at the community colleges in the region. Additional resources have also been used in marketing in Michigan, and Stachyra indicated that applications are up 94 from this point last year (159), and admits are up to 46, which is a good return on investment considering the smaller population.
7. Sindone finally asked whether students who apply and/or are admitted are asked where they heard about PNW. They are asked this as this is an important metric for further marketing focus work. The majority of what they see so far is from direct marketing through SLATE, but they are also asked about billboards, online, and newspapers.
8. Kincaid asked about the demographic of students who have stopped out or not finished, as there does not appear to be a focused campaign for non-traditional students. There are specific campaigns and a staff member dedicated to special populations, although Marketing and Admissions have seen more success with growing the traditional student population; therefore, the efforts have been focused that way; however individual programs and departments, including graduate programs, do focus on these populations.
9. Scipes added that there may be more opportunities out there to recruit nontraditional students by making efforts to communicate more clearly advantages such as taking classes in both campuses. Stachrya and Falzone replies that that we do intentionally advertise that there are two campuses and the advantages therein.
10. Gray noted that the video campaigns could be expanded upon to include different types of imagery to appeal to different audiences. More videos are planned and will be released soon.
Special Business: Strategic Resource Allocation Initiative: questions and discussion
1. Detmer asked the Senate to discuss the response opportunities the Senate has to SRA outcome in April.
2. Open discussion: Schultz felt that the Executive Committee could do this work given their designated role over the summer as the functional designated representatives of the full Faculty Senate.
3. Provost Mueller clarified that the report announcement will include a feedback period for two weeks from the whole university; after this period is closed, the SLT will begin to take into account all recommendations and feedback. Detmer noted that the Senate work would include its own analysis of the committee’s work.
4. Elmendorf asked Tazbir as the chair of the academic task force about the current progress of their work. Tazbir responded that they are doing well and on track to be completed on time.
5. Recommendation: Executive Committee should take on the work of analyzing the SRA reports over the summer.
New Business
1. Senate Documents For Discussion
  1. FSD 18-12: Creation of Ad Hoc Committee to study Facility Utilization and Programs on the Westville Campus (A. Sindone)
    1. Sindone presented the document developed to set up an ad hoc committee to examine utilization of Westville resources including faculty and programs. These issues have been a topic of ongoing discussion, but the reliance has been primarily on anecdotal evidence.
    2. The proposal indicates that firm data can and should be collected to examine the issues and present the findings to the full Senate and senior leadership in order to better utilize the facilities to provide a better education for all students.
    3. Fewer asked about the nature of the data that might be collected. Elmendorf responded that the chair and vice-chair discussed with the Chancellor that relevant data are available in different offices on campuses, and the committee should be able to act fairly quickly to collect this data for analysis, in addition to collecting more qualitative data through interviews and surveys. Provost Mueller further encouraged the committee to look at the Tableau database, with enrollment and retention data which is publicly available. Other sources include program websites including what programs are offered on what campus and the percentage of the programs can be completed on each campus. Increasingly we need to think about space utilization by thinking about using both campuses instead of duplicating efforts or classes in two places.
    4. Scipes pointed out that promises were made to students at the time of unification that degrees could be gotten on their home campuses. Westville students in particular are sensitive to this, and J. Schooley, SGA President, has been asked to speak to the Board of Trustees on this issue.
    5. Kramer noted that the ad hoc committee should also focus on the dependencies between the campuses, rather than just on Westville alone. Sindone responded that there are also facilities that need to be examined in Hammond for overutilization, and this would be part of the committee’s work.
    6. Schultz noted that the travel between campuses may not be seen as a positive marketing message by students. Connolly agreed that the practical indication is that many students may not wish to travel long distances to go to classes, and it may be that there are more students at Westville that do not wish to travel in this way versus students at Hammond.
    7. Gillotti and Associate Dean of CHESS R. Conroy are starting a listening tour with students in Westville on Tuesdays at 11:30am in the Westville cafeteria. These conversations have been intellectually engaging and allow for anecdotal data and opinions to be gathered from actual students. So far they are hearing that students do not want to have to drive to Hammond to finish or complete degrees. Prof. Gillotti urges the ad hoc committee to get real opinions from students’ perspectives for this analysis.
    8. Smith noted that the bus shuttle is now only running every two hours, and will not run in the summer because of cost ($350k a semester according to university policy). Smith invites the committee to be more strategic about how much of a program is offered in one campus or the other in consideration of the commute.
    9. Schultz indicated that Indiana University Northwest is marketing with the message that they have one university and one degree with no travel, a further indication that we have competition in the region and should act swiftly.
    10. Elmendorf proposed to move the document to action, Schultz seconds. No discussion, and the motion carries.
    11. Discussion for action: Mueller notes that the committee should look at both internal and external data.
    12. Elmendorf calls the question, and Sindone seconds. The motion carries and the document passes.
  2. FSD 18-13: Resolution Calling for Relief from Committee Meetings at the End of Each Semester
    1. Given the change in grade submission timeline, the document calls for meetings to be suspended during this time unless the meeting is truly necessary. The document calls on the Provost to remind deans and department heads that they refrain from meeting during finals week and following.
    2. Mascha asked if the resolution impacts the week before finals week, but it does not.
    3. Mueller noted that he continues to stand behind his offer to support the resolution, but would like to offer edits: Under “Be It Resolved”: “no administrative or committee work…” should be changed to “only necessary administrative or committee work, and only necessary (eliminate parentheses)…”
    4. Elmendorf replied that the edits may not make the document strong enough and suggests that continued discussion with Senior Leadership could be engaged in over the next month to wordsmith the resolution and present for action at the next Senate meeting.
  3. FSD 18-14: Resolution on Unconditional International Undergraduate Admissions Standards for Purdue University Northwest (K. Scipes)
    1. The Ed Policy committee indicated that George Kacenga has asked for clarification of standards for international and domestic admissions, and that there cannot be differences between the two beyond language test requirements.
    2. The resolution states that the domestic Indiana Core 40 admission standard needs to be explicitly a 2.0 GPA, and changes the international requirement to 2.0 also.
    3. Gray asked how many students are affected or gained by changing the international GPA policy from 2.5 to 2.0, and asked if we are prepared for the influx of those new students.
    4. Mueller noted that the current language in effect is against federal law, and needs to be rectified to ensure that the requirements are the same for both domestic and international students. Therefore, this must be changed to bring international students to the same level.
    5. Further discussion on SAT/ACT scoring and language tests was noted, but K. Stachyra indicated that the resolution intends to address the GPA issue only, and that other admissions standards do not have to change to retain equivalency for all students.
    6. Given the legal nature of the issue, Scipes motions to bring the document to action, and Sindone seconds. The motion carries.
    7. Merkovsky motions to adopt the document, and Scipes seconds. The motion carries.
2. Documents and Reports For Information
  1. FSD 18-10: Timeline for Rebuttal Letters in Promotion and Tenure Process and FSD 18-11: Deadline for Submission of Course Grades
    1. These two documents clarify and record the results of the votes taken in January on the issues stated in the titles.
    2. Elmendorf summarized the two documents for the Senate. Faculty Affairs is called upon to review the Promotion and Tenure document to ratify the rebuttal letter timeline as well.
    3. Detmer calls upon Senators to remind colleagues of these changes.
Remarks by the Representative of the Student Government (R. Rodriguez, SGA representative)
1. President J. Schooley is attending the Board of Trustees meeting, and R. Rodriguez filled in. He noted that SGA is spending time with outreach to student organizations, and has added a director of outreach and social media coordinator to organize events and maintain communications with constituents.
2. The recent Student Services funding meeting shifts focus from a administrative-led, student-supported committee to a student-led, administrative-supported committee to determine aforementioned 15.5% of student service fees. The chair of Student Affairs on Senate will also continue to be involved in this committee.
3. SGA is concerned about enrollment affecting course cancellations and thus impacting students’ ability to graduate or continue in programs. They are also working on updating the game room in Hammond for student use, and working with the administration and task forces on ImaginePNW efforts.
4. Morrow asked what the optimal timeframe for course cancelation would be as seen by students. Rodriguez noted that it should be at least two weeks before classes begin so that we don’t have situations where students are going into the first week of school having to find new courses to take at the last minute. Mueller agreed that this is a problem for faculty and administrators as well, and the more notification we can provide, the better. However, when we cancel classes too early, we also don’t allow students the opportunity to register late with the hope that the enrollment fills up in the course in time for classes to begin, thus potentially taking away a course that would have run otherwise.
5. Sindone notes that multi-semester scheduling may help with this problem and this was a major motivation behind that resolution.
6. Smith added that the number of students needed run a class seems to have changed and is different from one department to the next; if the faculty has a guideline for this, it allows us to better prepare for whether the class will run or not. Mueller agreed that there are differences between departments, but there are complications in that each faculty member has a certain number of credit hours needed to cover costs, which can happen across multiple courses for that person. Each college has a formula to determine what credit hours are to be generated by each faculty member, which the department heads keep and can answer further questions in their department.
Remarks by the University Senate/Intercampus Faculty Council Representatives (J. Pula/V. Quinn)
1. J. Pula reported that at the last University Senate meeting, President Daniels revealed that there seemed to be a low level of civics knowledge among college students, graduates, and Indiana citizens. He has proposed the adoption of a civics requirement for graduation from Purdue and wants to work with Senate leadership to come up with viable alternatives such as testing or a course.
2. Compensation and benefits were also discussed, with details included in the report.
3. Purdue Global was a large issue of discussion. The Higher Learning Commission has accredited Purdue Global and the 60-minute rule about press contact of faculty members has been clarified to be for official comments for the press only on behalf of the university. Forced arbitration also was noted as being illegal by HLC and has been removed from the Purdue Global contracts for students. Non-disclosure agreements for faculty has also been removed, although not from all staff as some have access to proprietary information. On the issue of transferability of courses, Purdue Global courses are to be treated as any other course and other colleges can either choose to approve or not approve.
4. Geofencing for online programs from other Purdue campuses indicates that the home campus will still be able to market within their geographic area, although this does not prevent Purdue Global from contacting individuals within those areas who happen to click on Purdue Global websites, or from banner advertisements to come up for individuals within the geofenced area. Moredich indicated that for the online Nursing programs, the effective date for the geofencing contract to take effect is July 1.
5. Detmer noted that given that we cannot confirm the presence of faculty governance at Purdue Global, he urges us to reject Purdue Global coursework in transfer.
6. Scipes commented that the Purdue Global intent does not appear to be satisfactory to the faculty of Purdue, and would like to see rigid commitments to them participating as a member of the Purdue system. There is concern as their practices do not seem to match their stated intentions.
7. D. Nalbone provided additional context as president of Indiana AAUP, and noted that off-record conversations with Purdue Global faculty indicate that curriculum has been written by outside agencies in the past, but now faculty are able to make changes to this curriculum. This curriculum also does not have to go through a Senate approval process.
Open Discussion (if time permits)
1. Elmendorf reminds the standing committees to elect their chairs for next year.
2. The Nominations Committee noted that Awards committees are currently meeting and will inform the campus of the nominees by February 22, with winners announced on Founder’s Day.
3. Schultz noted that spring 2019 data from institutional research has not been posted yet, and Stankowski indicated that this information will be available next week
Adjournment: 12:06pm

Committee Room Assignments

Nominations, Elections, and Awards – Foyer Room
Curriculum – PMF 104
Education Policy – PMF 113
Faculty Affairs – PMF 113
General Education – PMF 113
Student Affairs – PMF 113