Purdue University Northwest > Faculty Senate > News > Senate Meeting Minutes > Faculty Senate Minutes August 28, 2020

Faculty Senate Minutes August 28, 2020

August 31, 2020

August 28, 2020, via Zoom

Voting Senators Present: Ali Alavizadeh, Amlan Mitra, Anne Edwards, C. C. Chen, Cheryl Deleon, Colette Morrow, David Kozel, David Pratt, Diane Spoljoric, Geoff Schultz, Hairong Zhao, Jean Jiang, Joan Dorman, Julia Rogers, Kenny Kincaid, Khair Al Shamaileh, LaVada Taylor, Lee Artz, Magesh Chandramouli, Marianne Curia, Marisa Garcia-Verdugo, Maureen Mascha, Michael Connolly, Michael Mick, Michael Pelter, Michael Roller, Michael Zimmer, Mohammed Errihani, Neeti Parashar, Omer Farook, Oriana White, Pitparnee Stompor, Ralph Cherry, Rob Merkovsky, Robert Kramer, Sheila Rezak, Shengyong Zhang, Shoji Nakayama, Tony Elmendorf, Tony Sindone, Vanessa Quinn, Wei He

Voting Senators Absent: Dushan Nikolovski

Non Voting members present:  Thomas Keon, Chris Holford, Saul Lerner, Diana Underwood, Oriana White

 

Guests:  Alain Togbe, Bir Kafle, Catharine Olsen, Cathy Gillotti, Cheryl Arroyo, C. Murphy, Colin Fewer, David Nalbone, Donna Whitten, Emily Hixon, Feng-Song “Wang, Florian Vauleon, G Barrow, Gokarna Aryal, Heather Bowers, Harvey Abramowitz, Jane Thomas, Jen Williams, Jonathan Swarts, Joy Colwell, Lizhe Tan, Lori Feldman, Maria Watson, Megan Murphy, Michael Bourgeois, Neil Nemeth, Nicoleta Tarfulea, Pam Saylor, Paul Hecht, Raida Abuizam, Rebecca Stankowski, Richard Rupp, K. Tobin, W. T. Evert Ting

  1. Determination of quorum.
  2. Call to order.
  3. Approval of the agenda.
    • Elmendorf (NE&A) asked that FSD 20-05 be pulled from the agenda.
    • Agenda APPROVED as AMENDED
  4. Approval of the minutes from May 8, 2020.  APPROVED
  5. Report the results of the election of Vice-Chair (A. Mitra)
  6. Remarks by the Senate Chair (L. Pelter)
    • Pelter welcomed the new senators and reelected senators to the new year.
    • HLC visit will be in Spring 2021.  All senators should be mindful and have a complete story when they visit
    • She stated that the senate will be looking at General Education this year so that it is a better learning opportunity for our students.
    • Pelter would like all committees to make a commitment to examining issues of equity, diversity and inclusion.  She would like an analysis of the graduation and retention rates and also if/when faculty leave the university.
    • Pelter stated that faculty are sharing how excited they are with what they are doing this year.
    • She also stated the senate’s commitment to work collaboratively with senior administration.
  7. Remarks by the Chancellor (T. Keon)
    • Chancellor Keon welcomed everybody into a new challenging year.  He then yielded his time to Provost Holford.
    • Holford stated that almost ¼ of the faculty went through programs offered by the university and many others worked on their courses over the summer.  He thanked everybody for their additional efforts.
    • As of 7:30 this morning, 7,138 enrolled. PreCovid forecast was 7,383.  This is 3-3.5% below of PreCovid numbers.  New student admits. are 1,706, which is down 181 students. Retention was up 1.87%.   We are closest to the 5% decline scenario which is a good thing.  State appropriation is being reduced by 7%.  The impact of the decline in state appropriation will be far more impactful than the decline in enrollment.   The university will have a deficit, and leadership will look at measures to address this.  The total impact won’t be determined until after the September census.  Holford will be requesting a meeting with Senate and university budget committees for a meeting shortly after the September 14 census.  Early estimates indicate the need for a $3.3 million reduction.
    • Covid19 testing:  Phase 2 active positive tests:  0 Faculty. 0 Staff.  5 Students.  This information will be publicly available on the PNW website.  The Purdue System code of conduct protocols have changed, and therefore ours will also change. This will come out next week.
    • 29,000 in the Purdue system were on Zoom this week.
    • Holford stated that it is important than ever that we take on the issues of race. Glenn Ford is speaking next week.  Lee Artz will be the moderator.  Please encourage your departments to attend. It is important to take on these issues.
    • Schultz asked about the furloughs.  Holford said that there would not be information until after the census.
    • Artz asked about the requests from the Dean of Students about several students in his classes not being able to attend for 2 weeks.  How do we interpret these requests?  Holfold stated that the students probably are in quarantine.  Faculty have to make the decision to move online and asked that they notify their department heads if they are moving online.  There is also a threshold where you MUST move it, but faculty can move it before hitting that threshold.
    • Dean of Student C. Fewer, stated that Faculty will be notified if they have Covid positive students in online and face-to-face classes.  Online students may still need some considerations if they are impacted by COVID
    • Kozel asked if we could be informed if students have been exposed and is testing or exposed and knows that they are positive.
    • Fewer stated that nobody who is even questionable is in class and that Faculty cannot tell the other students in their classes if a classmate has been exposed.  Doing so is a FERPA violation.
    • Lerner stated that he has a student who informed him that she may have been exposed. Lerner asked that the student to inform the Dean of Students office.
    • Fewer stated that students should contact him directly at EXT#2244.  Fewer asked that Faculty call him directly or use File Locker and not use email if a student informs a faculty member about an exposure to COVID19.
  8. Memorial for David Raden presented by Prof. Ralph Cherry
  9. Memorial for Milan Dakich presented by Prof. Neil Nemeth
  10. New Business For Action:
    • FSD 20-02 Approval of the Membership of the Standing Committees of the Senate (A. Elmendorf)
    • Parashar brought up an issue regarding the faculty affairs committee.  She felt that the evaluation of the chancellor at the May meeting was disrespectful and stated that the FA committee as a whole had nothing to do with it.
    • Schultz asked that the Faculty budget committee from last year stay intact.  Mitra suggested that the Senate budget committee should come up with suggestions for the University budget committee.
    • FSD 20-02 was moved to action and then moved to approval. APPROVED.
    • FSD passed by executive committee over the summer for confirmation:
      • FSD 19-24 Student Evaluations (June 5).  It was determined that the original FSD-19-4 document posted was an earlier draft.  In the posted version, faculty do not appear to have the option to include their Spring 2020 evaluations in their yearly review.  The document was tabled and sent back to Student Affairs. TABLED
      • FSD 19-22 Electronic Communication Policy (June 5)
      • Cherry commented that there has been a strong need for faculty to join these forums and to be able to communicate with their colleagues.  Elmendorf stated the critical issue is, “Are the forums OPT IN or OPT OUT?”  He argued that the current OPT IN policy degrades the quality and participation in these forums.  APPROVED 30/2
      • FSD 19-26 Shared Governance
      • Scipes explained that this document was a clarification of the notion of shared governance.
      • Artz asked what was the practical application of this to the Faculty Senate?
      • Elmendorf stated that this puts us on the record for what should be expected in a system of shared governance.
      • Artz wanted to know if it something would occur if those expectations where not met.
      • Elmendorf said he would call it a statement of principle
      • Pelter stated that she would like to see the PNW senate develop its own document.  “If we create our own vision, then we can decide how it will be used”.    APPROVED 34/2
      • FSD 19-27 Increased Aid to Higher Education
      • Artz stated that is important for country to recognize the importance of Higher Education.  Artz asked that the document be shared with faculty senate councils around the state. He volunteered to work with a committee to that that it would get wider distribution and support.  APPROVED 34/0
      • FSD 19-28 COVID19 Syllabus Template  APPROVED 35/0
  11.   Discussion Items:
    • FSD 20-01 Bylaw change of Chair’s term. (L. Pelter)
    • Change so that the Senate Chair-Elect will become the Senate Chair at the start of the summer.  This is for information.  Elmendorf mentioned that the impetus was due to a change of policy over the summer of 2018-2019.   Abramowitz suggested that perhaps there needs to be more overlap.   Sindone recommended that the Outgoing Chair will still serve in an advisory role during the Summer.  Kozel suggested that the VC be elected a month earlier.
    • FSD 20-03 Emergency revisions to P&T process (O. Farook)
    • (The document was amended on the floor of the senate.  FSD 20-03 reflects the changes that were made on the senate floor.)  This document addresses the need for using electronic means for P&T meetings and voting.  Move to Action and Approved  29/0
    • Pelter moved the remaining item to the September meeting.
    • Scipes would like to meet with all units electronically get to know the faculty and requested each senator to reach out to their faculty

12.    For Information:

    • PNW Gen Ed Task Force (D. Pratt)  This year the task force will be trying to help others understand a different vision of Gen. Ed.  Pratt will share the information back to the Senate as it becomes available
    • Remarks by the SGA President (O. White)
        • SGA has hosted several virtual town hall meetings over the summer which always includes a panelist of experts to help students become acclimated to PNW in a COVID environment.
        • SGA is sponsoring a Voter registration week
        • Part of the Gen Ed task force.  SGA goal is to have a review of all the courses to promote diversity and inclusion.
        • Mitra asked about the student life meeting, and asked if the SGA would help with encouraging more student participation.

13.  Adjournment