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Faculty Senate Minutes, May 7, 2021

May 27, 2021

Purdue Northwest Faculty Senate

Minutes

May 7, 2021

Voting Senators Present: Ali Alavizadeh, Anne Edwards, Anthony Elmendorf, Anthony Sindone, Cheryl DeLeon, , Chien-Chung Chen, Colette Morrow, Dave Pratt, David Kozel, Diane Spoljoric, Geoff Schultz, Joan Dorman, Julia Rogers, Kenneth Kincaid, Khair Al Shamaileh, Kim Scipes, , Lee Artz, Libbie Pelter, Magesh Chandramouli, Marianne Curia, Maureen Mascha, Michael Connolly, Michael Mick, Michael Pelter, Michael Roller, Michael Zimmer, Mohammed Errihani, Neeti Parashar, Pitparnee Stompor, Ralph Cherry, Robert Kramer, Robert Merkovsky, Sheila Rezak, Shengyong Zhang, Shoji Nakayama, Thomas Roach, Vanessa Quinn, Wei He

 

Voting Senators Absent: LaVada Taylor, Maria Garcia-Verdugo, Shuhui Grace Yang

 

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

 

Guests: 

Alan McCafferty, Barbara Mania-Farnell, Catalina Rodriguez, Catherine Murphy, Cathy Gillotti, Catharine Olsen, Cheryl Arroyo, Colin Fewer, Donna Whitten, Emily Hixon, Feng-Song Wang, Geoff Barrow, George Kacenga, Gokarna Aryal, Harvey Abramowitz, Heather Bowers, Jan Gonzalez, Janusz Duzinkiewicz, Jennifer Williams, Jonathan Kuhn, Jonathan Swarts, Joy Colwell, Kathleen Tobin, Keyuan Jiang, Lin Zhao, Lisa Goodnight, Lori Feldman, Maria Watson, Megan Murphy, Meden Isaac-Lam, Michael Bourgeois, Michael Tu, Nicoleta Tarfulea, Raida Abuizam, Tim Winders, Youlunda Mosley, Yueqi Zhang

  1. Determination of quorum.
  2. Call to order.
  3. Approval of the agenda.
  4. Approval of the minutes from April 9, 2021.
  5. Remarks by the Senate Chair (L. Pelter)
    • Pelter began by thanking Underwood (outgoing senate secretary), Lerner (parliamentarian), Vice Chair Kim Scipes, and the Senate Executive committee for all of their hard work. She also welcomed Vice Chair elect Tom Roach to the Senate
    • Pelter stated that it was a year of challenges and successes. The faculty learned new ways to deliver instruction and interact.  We became more global in our thinking. We look at social issues with a different camera lens.
    • To fulfill our mission of transforming students’ lives, we have to have a true vision of shared governance. We need to listen more and come together to make innovative solutions.  Pelter challenged the senate to be a governing body that is strong enough to be collaborative.
    • Vice Chancellor Mosley is invited today to discuss how the Senate can be engaged in enhancing enrollment.

 

  1. Remarks by the Chancellor (T. Keon)
    • Keon thanked Pelter for her leadership, stating that she has been great to work with this year. Keon also stated that he looks forward to working with Scipes and Roach next year.  Keon then turned the floor over to Provost Holford
    • Holford began by thanking Pelter and the executive committee for their leadership over this past year, and is looking forward to working with Scipes, Roach, and the new committee chairs next year.
    • Holford began by thanking everybody for their participation in the HLC review. He noted that the phenomenal participation and feedback.  PNW will not get an official report from the HLC until mid or late June. The HLC’s draft report was very good.
    • More than 1,600 faculty, staff and students were vaccinated at the campus’s COVID19 vaccination clinic on the two campuses. Faculty are encouraged to complete the anonymous COVID vaccine survey that it came out from our safe return committee. With approximately 1500 respondents to date, 84% reported being fully or partially vaccinated.
    • Purdue Day of Giving event at the Purdue Northwest Campus raised over $800,000 from more than 850 individual donors. A special acknowledgement was given to the College of Nursing which raised over $300,000.
    • Vice Chancellor Winders communicated that we will centrally fund Zoom licenses for another academic year.
    • Grethe Hystad (math department) was recognized with the 2021 Felix Chase Prize for Excellence in Research. Chenn Zhou, Distinguished Professor of Engineering, was selected as a 2021 AIME Honorary Member for innovations in the field of advance visualization technology.  This is one of the highest recognitions given by the AIME and member institutions like AIST. Mark Mabrito was the recipient of the 2021 Online Excellence Award for course design in Teaching offered by the Purdue West Lafayette Provost Office.
      • Mick commented that the wording on the 3rd paragraph of the survey might lead to confusion.
      • Kozel asked if the vaccine survey was ongoing and if people were able to fill it out multiple times. Holford stated that the only way to guarantee anonymity would also mean that people might fill it out multiple times.
  1. Remarks by the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. (Y. Mosley)
    • Mosley stated that her unit will be doing a 21st century family registration day on both campuses that targets 8th PNW has a new virtual tour and encouraged faculty feedback on it.  A tour is one factor that help students determine if they can see themselves at PNW.  Mosley’s office is working with a consulting firm to better make sense of our market so that we increase our brand awareness and use technology to target those students who are college bound. MSA is also trying to encourage currently enrolled who dropped out the opportunity return back to campus.
    • PNW has increased the number of academic achievement scholarships that we are awarding to students.
    • Summer co-registration: This program allows students to take two gateway courses, ENG104, and COM114 to get an early start on their education, or students who had some challenges as a result of the pandemic can retake those classes and live in the residence halls. The goal is to build a sense of support and community for those students.  The goal is to have at least 50 students on campus participating in that effort.
    • There is an effort to reach those who stopped out to make sure that they’re aware of their opportunities to return to PNW
    • Phone Calls: There is a push to have phone calls from current students and faculty welcoming new students to campus and making sure that they’re aware of the resources that exist.
    • Campus Groups: A new platform that help student organizations build relationships. There will be an opportunity for student organizations their learn the platform. This tool will also help student organizations communicate with prospective students, manage their budgets, and conduct their elections
    • Welcome back to campus events: Welcome week will also target Fall 2020 students to make sure that there are opportunities for them to reengage and connect.
    • Concert: There will be a concert to let students know that we are still here. The bands playing are TBA
    • Faculty are encouraged to share the amazing opportunities and experiences at PNW. If any faculty would like to be more involved, they are encouraged to contact Mosley.
      • Elmendorf asked if there were plans for gateway courses in mathematics. Holford stated that if the gateway program was successful, it may be expanded to include mathematics.
  1. New Business:
    • Curriculum Documents Approval. Artz commented that he was impressed by all of the departments that were attempting to adjust to the needs of the students in their programs this year.  Documents were moved for approval and approved (33 yes/ 0 no)
  2. For Action:
    • FSD 20-22: Resolution on a Proposal for Assessment of Academic Reorganizational Changes (C. DeLeon).   (32 in favor / 1 opposed)
  3. Discussion Items:
    • FSD 20-25: University Calendar (C. DeLeon) Moved to action and approved (33 in favor/ 0 opposed)
    • FSD 20-26: General Education Course List Update (D. Pratt) Several questions were asked about items that senators felt should be included or omitted from the proposed list. In spite of the persistence of the chair of the Gen Ed committee, Pratt sometimes had difficulty getting responses from the chairs or heads of the units’ curriculum committees. Several senators were quick to agree that the fault was not with the Gen Ed committee or its chair.
  4. For Information:
    • New Student Orientation report from the FYE / NSO sub-committee (D. Pratt) If faculty are interested in participating with new student orientation this fall, they should contact Dawn Wojkovich
    • Gen Ed Pilot program planned for the Fall 2021 (D. Pratt) The CHESS general education Task Force has been working on a pilot study to revisit our general education. The Senate General Education and Assessment committee has been very involved in reviewing that process for the pilot study. This is a small study with only a couple of sections using a theme-oriented approach.  This is being led by Professors Quinn and Gillotti, who are also reporting to the senate’s general education and assessment committee. The Gen Ed and Assessment committee will be involved throughout the process and will be involved with the assessment of the pilot.
    • Senate schedule for 2021-2022 (K. Scipes) Senate meetings will be face to face next year.
      • Kozel asked if they could also be attended via Zoom if necessary. Zimmer questioned why we wouldn’t continue to have the senate meetings via Zoom.  Morrow questioned if insisting the senators meet face-to-face might be at odds with ADA requirements.

Fall ’21:

  • Executive 8/20
  • Senate 8/27 Hammond
  • Executive 9/3
  • Senate 9/10 Hammond
  • Executive 9/24
  • Senate 10/8 Westville
  • Executive 10/29
  • Senate 11/12 Westville
  • Executive 11/19
  • Senate 12/10 Hammond

Spring ’22:

  • Executive 12/30/21 (Thursday)
  • Senate 1/10 Westville
  • Executive 1/28
  • Senate 2/11 Hammond
  • Executive 2/25
  • Senate 3/11 Westville
  • Executive 3/25
  • Senate 4/8 Hammond
  • Executive 4/29(or 4/22)
  • Senate 5/6 Westville
  1. Standing committee chairs for 2021-2022 (A. Alavizadeh)
    • FA: Schultz
    • EdP: A. Edwards
    • GenEd: D. Pratt
    • N&A: Elmendorf
    • SA: K. Kincaid
  2. Report on developments and resources for faculty from the Testing Services Centers (George Kacenga and Jan Gonzalez)
    • Link to powerpoint
  3. Report from Senate Westville Committee (K. Scipes)
    • At the request of Pratt, Scipes developed a summary of the Westville Committee’s recommendations which distributed to everybody on the senate. Scipes thanked Provost Holford and senior leadership for taking the reports very seriously. One of the key things that the committee put forward is that we want to be able to tell students when they start if they can take all of their classes at Westville or if they are going to have to travel to Hammond.
    • Schultz asked if faculty would have to travel back and forth between campuses. Holford stated that most of the faculty who have traveled between campuses has been voluntary.  Holford stated that he hoped the department chairs are having open conversations with their faculty about staffing, and that if you are a faculty member at PNW, you’ll be teaching where you are needed.
    • Shultz asked if senior leadership was taking the Westville recommendations seriously. Holford stated that everybody was taking the reports seriously. Some things can be implemented in the Fall. Some implementations will take between 3-5 years to implement.
  4. Report from the West Lafayette Senate (V. Quinn/C. Morrow)
    • Quinn began by thanking Pelter and Underwood for their exceptional service this year. The West Lafayette Faculty Senate met in April and also had an extended meeting for business in May. The two items took up a majority of time. The first was an academic calendar revision to include election day as a Civic Day of Service. This was brought forward by the student government representatives. And it resulted in a significant and interesting discussion about the importance of voting and strategies to encourage voting among everybody in the community. Quinn sent this information forward to student government. Quinn has consulted with the Provost about the proposed civics course requirement being proposed at PWL.  The provost confirmed that this will not influence PNW graduation requirements.
    • The Interfaculty Campus Council met on April 20. Morrow reported that Quinn was elected to chair this committee for the coming year.  The committee discussed the possibility of money for “cluster hires” and more funds for undergraduate scholarships.  The details were not in place at the time of the meeting. There was some discussion of the differentially high impact of the COVID pandemic on students of Color and what the other campuses are doing to address issues having to do with equity. Purdue Fort Wayne has already amended their tenure and promotion documents so that those faculty who are working in these areas will be positively recognized for their efforts on that work. PFW has also hired a chief equity

 

  1. Remarks by the SGA President (O. White)
    • Animals were brought to both campuses for destressing faculty and students. Dean, Fewer has given tentative approval to have some exotic animals (such as goats) next year. For Earth Day, students cleaned up the Indiana Dunes. White is also on the West Lafayette Sustainability Committee. VC Mosley and White’s chief of staff are going to be meeting to talk about the Pride Index.  This is a benchmarking tool to help create a safer, more inclusive campus. SGA is moving forward on establishing a Farmer’s Market and a greenhouse. SGA is also supporting the Westville Committee members.  They are working to find a way to bring students to both campuses by having a rideshare.
  2. Open discussion (as time permits).
    • N&A chair Ali Alavizadeh stated that Dan Wilber was elected to serve on the Purdue West Lafayette undergraduate curriculum committee.
    • Kozel asked if PWL decides to require their students to be vaccinated, will PNW follow? Holford stated that as of now we are encouraging vaccinations and not mandating them.  This may change.
  3. Adjournment

Committee room assignments: As has been the practice of the PNW Faculty Senate, standing committees will meet directly following the conclusion of the PNW Faculty Senate meeting.  These meetings will be virtual as long as the senate meetings are virtual.