April 2017

Faculty Senate Meeting

Lamar University

April 5, 2017

8^th floor Mary and John Gray Library

Presiding: Sara Tusa

Attending:  Arts and Sciences: Christian Bahrim, Tom Sowers,  Valentin Andreev, Judy Smith, Cheng-Hsien Lin, Jennifer Ravey, Kami Makki, Stacey Knight, Michael Beard, Yasuko Sato, J.P. Nelson, Joseph Kruger, Ozge Gunaydin-Sen, Gina Hale,  Ted Mahavier, Business: Purnendu Mandal, Vivek Natarajan, James Slaydon, Education: R.J. Davis, Anna Nguyen, Belinda Lopez, Vanessa Villate, Engineering: Paul Corder, Nicholas Brake, Xinyu Liu, Fine Arts and Communication: Nicki Michalski, Xenia Fedorchenko, Zanthia Smith, Sherry Freyermuth, Library: Michael Saar, Sarah Tusa  College Readiness: Melissa Riley, Lamar State College Port Arthur: Mavis Triebel

Absent: Arts and Sciences: Randall Terry, Ana Christenson, Michael Beard, Charles Popp, Martha Rinker, George Irwin, Jennifer Daniel, Carol Hammonds, Adrienne Blackwell,  Business:  Seokyon Hwang, Tim McCoy, Karyn Neuhauser, Education: Rick Carter, Ken Young, Janice Kimmons, Mamta Singh, Cristina Rios Engineering: Xuejun Fan, John Gossage, Gleb Tcheslavski, Communications and Fine Arts: Vinaya Manchaiah, Bryan Proksch, , Joel Grothe

Call to Order: 3:33 p.m.

A moment of silence was observed in memory of Howell Lynch who passed away last week. Howell was active in Faculty Senate for a number of years.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Judith Mann, QEP Director

• The QEP committee has been focusing on reviewing Institutional data on retention
• Three QEP proposals were submitted
  • Cardinal Communities-focused on expanding learning communities and the big program for all incoming freshman students.
  • Faculty Resource or RISE be open to all students who are in need of a variety of services beyond simple lecture formats. Part of the proposal was to aid in the development of video lectures as one option
  • Mainstreaming Pathways-proposal to mainstream college readiness courses with the required core courses to expedite matriculation towards graduation in four years. This would enable students to complete core courses more expeditiously. Proposal was also to look at how different pathways would help expedite the process (Example: art majors may not be required to complete Math 1314 Algebra but would take alternative hours to equate 120 hours for graduation.)
• The QEP committee overwhelmingly voted to approve moving forward with Option 3 Mainstreaming Pathways proposal.
  • The committee has shared the proposal with the Administration and the SACS committee who have also approved moving forward with the proposal
  • It has been suggested though that some of the points outlined in the Option 2 the RISE proposal should be pulled into the final QEP plan to augment the Mainstreaming Pathways. Research has shown that Mainstreaming Pathways is being used in other colleges and universities in the country and has demonstrated an increase in retention and an improvement in graduation rates. If anyone would like more information on the Mainstreaming Pathways lit review, please contact Judi at judith.mann@lamar.edu

Approval of Minutes: March 1, 2017

• R.J. Davis moved to approve the minutes
• Valentin Andreev Seconded
• Unanimously Approved as written

Faculty Senate President’s Report:

• Nominations and elections for Senate Membership are underway in all of the Colleges
• Need to have a nominations committee consisting of one representative from each college to put together a slate of officers for the executive board of Faculty Senate. Positions to be filled include the President, Vice President, and Secretary.
  • The slate of officers will need to be compiled and ready for distribution to the full Faculty Senate membership one week before the next meeting on May 3, 2017 in order to hold the election during the meeting.
  • One senator from each college is to notify Judy Smith, Secretary after the meeting is concluded.
• Just a reminder about Staff Appreciation Day which is scheduled for Friday April 28, 2017 at the Montagne Center. Lunch will include brisket, chicken, mac and cheese, beans, salad, rolls, etc. Donations from all faculty members help to purchase door prizes to be given out to the staff during the event. Checks should be made out to Staff Appreciation Day and may be mailed to the attention of Staff Appreciation Day at PO Box 10021-Cash may also be sent to the Attention of Staff Appreciation Day PO Box 10021 or to Sarah Tusa. We do need volunteers from the Faculty Senate to assist with registration, door prizes, serving, etc. at the event. $25.00 is the suggested donation to help with these expenses.

• Faculty Senate Committee Chair Reports:
• Academic Issues-Melissa Riley
  • No report
• Budget and Compensation-Rick Carter
  • No report
• Distinguished Faculty Lecturer: Jennifer Ravey
  • Committee will meet next week at 3:30 in room 717 of the Library.
• Faculty Issues-Jennifer Daniel
  • No report
• Research and Development: Faculty Developmental Leave (FDL): Cheng-Hsien Lin
  • Met with Dr. Marquart ten days ago
  • Marquart wants a three page policy/application
    • He does not want to give extra stipends for research conducted during Faculty Development Leave (FDL).
    • He wants to be sure that all FDL proposals are shared with the respective Department Chairs before submitting the application to the committee in order to garner support early in the process.
  • There will be a committee meeting today immediately following the Senate meeting.
  • The committee is still working on the policy and hope to have it ready for the fall.
• F2.08 Task Force: Nicki Michalski
  • Received good feedback on the proposal that was passed out last month
  • Had hoped to be able to vote on the proposal this month but have received another charge from Dr. Marquart for the committee to get more information all of the Dean’s to possibly integrate their ideas into the F2.08 policy.
  • Nicki will be sending an e-mail to the Dean’s to get their feedback and will then get the committee together again to evaluate their responses.
• Faculty Salary Equity: James Slaydon
  • The committee will meet next week in the Galloway building. E-mail to follow with specific details.
  • A hold has been placed on adding a policy regarding Advancement and Equity in the Faculty Handbook.
  • Has finally received the data from other Universities but is currently having trouble with getting a copy of the current salary structure for faculty from the finance department in order to compare our salaries with the other schools. He is missing the codes for each of the classifications that exist within the system. Hopes to present a proposal at the May, 2017 meeting.

Old Business:  

• Concerns were discussed regarding safety after an unknown intruder stood up and spoke at the end of the last meeting.
  • If anything like this happens again, faculty are encouraged to text a message to the University Police at 409-241-8002 to get immediate assistance.
  • Gina Hale and a male Faculty Senate member were able to talk with the person in a manner to keep him calm until the police met them outside of the library. The person was taken to the Behavioral Health Center at Baptist Hospital and was admitted under a 72 hour hold.
  • There is also the My PD app available for assistance as well.

New Business: None

Adjournment:

• Valentin Andreev motioned to adjourn the meeting at 4:25
• Vivek Natarajan, seconded
• Approved by acclamation.

• Respectfully Submitted:

Dr. Judy Smith

Addendum Faculty Association Meeting April 5, 2017

The following people have agreed to serve on the Nominations Committee for electing Senate Executive Board Officers of President, Vice President and Secretary:

• Library: Mike Saar
• Business: Purnendu Mandal
• Arts and Science: Tome Sowers
• College Readiness: Melissa Riley
• Engineering: Nicolas Brake
• Fine Arts and Communications: Sherry Freyermuth
• College of Education: R.J. Davis

If you are interested in serving in one of these Board positions, please contact members of the Nominations Committee by April 21, 2017 in order for the slate of officers to be compiled and distributed to the membership a minimum of one week prior to the May 3, 2017 meeting for your review.