Faculty Senate Meeting

Lamar University

May 3, 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, J.P. Nelson, Joseph Kruger, Ozge Gunaydin-Sen, Gina Hale,  Ted Mahavier, Ana Christenson, Michael Beard, Jennifer Daniel, Business: Seokyon Hwang, Tim McCoy, Karyn Neuhauser, Purnendu Mandal, Vivek Natarajan, James Slaydon, Education: Anna Nguyen, Ken Young, Belinda Lopez, Engineering: Nicholas Brake, John Gossage, Gleb Tcheslavski, Fine Arts and Communication: Nicki Michalski, Vinaya Manchaiah, Joel Grothe Library: Michael Saar, Sarah Tusa  College Readiness: Melissa Riley, Lamar State College Port Arthur: Mavis Triebel

New Senators elected for fall 2017-sum 2019:

Cherie Acosta and Dorothey Sisk

Absent: Arts and Sciences: Yasuko Sato, Randall Terry, Charles Popp, Martha Rinker, George Irwin, Carol Hammonds, Adrienne Blackwell,  Education: R.J. Davis, Vanessa Villate, Rick Carter, Janice Kimmons, Mamta Singh, Cristina Rios Engineering: Paul Corder, Xuejun Fan, Xinyu Liu, Communications and Fine Arts: Xenia Fedorchenko, Zanthia Smith, Bryan Proksch, , Sherry Freyermuth,  

Call to Order: 3:33 p.m.

 

Guest Speaker:  Dr. Brenda Nichols, Vice Provost

• The University has not trended data on the Admissions Tree since Banner was implemented which may be a problem with SACS accreditation
• The number of repeat courses are also a problem:
  • If students take a course for a third or more times, the F/D from previous course attempts when they go to other schools to get a better/passing grade will count in their GPA.
  • If a student takes a course a second time and gets a lower grade at Lamar, that grade will count as well in calculating the GPA.
  • If a student takes a course for the third time, they need to be charged out of state tuition to discourage multiple repeats.
  • It was suggested that course repeats should be limited to 2 repeats.
    • There is an appeal process in place, if students choose to appeal the two repeat limit.
  • Students cannot get financial aid for third attempts.
• Lamar is going to work on enforcing due dates for applications-effective in the fall 2018.
  • Students will need to apply between July 1 and August 1, 2018 for full fall admission. This does not include I will or other special students.
  • Need to start charging students for late admission after August 14, 2018. The fee will be $25.00.
  • I will and other special students will have until August 15, 2018 to apply.
    • Success rates and retention rates are low with these late admits.
    • Late/late admits will be assessed a fee of $100 if register after August 26, 2018
    • Will try this next year.
  • Students must maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher to graduate.
  • 2000 admits were processed this fall including TSI students.
    • 146 students scored low in Math, English, and reading.
    • If TSI restricted in all three areas, students do not have good success rates.
  • Nichols reported that in the TSUS system schools will have admitted all entering fall students by May 15, 2017.
  • In some schools if students withdraw after the 20^th class day, course grade becomes a failure. We currently do not do this here.
  • Retention rates were compared from the inception of the University in 1933 to now and the rates have not significantly changed. There is a 24% retention rate for four year graduates and less than 35% for students graduating in six years. With the six graduates their SAT scores were generally 800-1000. Will be looking at this again this fall.

 

Approval of Minutes: March 1, 2017

• In QEP paragraph with second bulleted item the spelling of the word pathways needs to be corrected
• Ravey moved to approve the minutes with the revision
• Valentin Andreev Seconded
• Unanimously approved with revision.

 

Faculty Senate President Report

• Sarah acknowledged and thanked all the committee chairs for all the the hard work they have done this year.
• Valentin Andreev was also acknowledged and thanked for his advice and counsel regarding his long standing knowledge of Faculty Senate activities over the years.
• Just a reminder we will be voting to elect the Faculty Senate Executive Board today for the positions of President, Vice President and Secretary. If your term on Faculty Senate is expiring you are not eligible to vote in the election. However, if you are a newly elected member to the senate for the term of fall 2017-2019, you are encouraged to vote.
• There is a QEP survey at the front of the room. Please fill it out as soon as possible and return to Sarah Tusa, Outgoing President.

 

• Faculty Senate Committee Chair Reports:
• Academic Issues-Melissa Riley
  • There will be a meeting of the committee on 5-10-17 at 1:00 pm. E-mail will be sent regarding the location as soon as one is secured.
• Budget and Compensation-Rick Carter
  • No report
• Distinguished Faculty Lecturer: Jennifer Ravey
  • The 2017-2018 Distinguished Faculty lecturer has been selected.
  • Speaker will be Sarah Hillin on Flashpoints of Flight: The Enduring Rhetorical Legacy of 20^th Century Women Aviators on October 3, 2017 at 6:00 pm at the University Theatre.
• Faculty Issues-Jennifer Daniel
  • It was reported that the committee has been working on an Exit Review Policy
• Research and Development: Faculty Developmental Leave (FDL): Cheng-Hsien Lin
  • Met with Dr. Marquart yesterday
  • Revised policy presented-Taking overloads before going on FDL was removed as an option for eligibility.
    • Cheng made a motion to approve
    • James Slaydon seconded
    • Approved with three abstentions
  • The committee wants to put the paperwork for applications on line in the future to expedite the process.
• 08 Task Force: Nicki Michalski
  • The proposed policy regarding the F2.08 was sent to the Deans of all of the colleges for their input.
  • Generally they liked the policy. The committee wanted the F2.08 to be more quantitative as opposed to subjective
  • However, the Deans did not like the point system to totally manage performance problems.
    • They want to be able to add other things to the F2.08 such as Meditate on your own performance impact in the discipline required by accrediting bodies in a non-evaluative manner.
    • It was suggested that perhaps rather than allowing Deans to add things, perhaps they should consider using survey monkey to get the data they may need for accrediting bodies without adding anything to the current F2.08.
  • There was a motion to decline the Deans request by
    • Dorothy Sisk seconded
    • Motion was approved.
  • Faculty Salary Equity: James Slaydon
    • The committee finally has the numbers for determining market value.
    • Two proposals have been prepared that will be shared and voted on next fall.
    • Salary information will be published on-line in the near future.
    • Valentin Andreev commended James Slaydon for all of his hard work as the chair of this committee.

 

Old Business:  None

New Business: None

Adjournment:

• Valentin Andreev motioned to adjourn the meeting at 4:34
• Vivek Natarajan, seconded
• Approved by acclamation.

Special Meeting called to order for Election of Faculty Senate Officers for the 2017-2018 school year:

• For the position of Secretary: Judy Smith was nominated for a second term.
  • Sarah Tusa made a motion to approve the nomination
  • James Slaydon seconded
  • There being no other nominations from the floor nominations were closed
  • Judy Smith elected by acclamation
• For the position of Vice president: No candidates were pre-slated for the office
  • James Slaydon was nominated by Vivek Natarajan
  • Seconded by Sarah Tusa
  • There being no other nominations from the floor nominations were closed
  • James Slaydon elected by acclamation
• For the position of President: Vivek Natarajan was nominated
  • James Slaydon made a motion to approve the nomination
  • Belinda Lopez seconded
  • There being no other nominations from the floor nominations were closed
  • Vivek Natarajan elected by acclamation.

Adjournment:

• There being no further business
  • Judy Smith motioned to adjourn
  • Valentin Andreev seconded
  • Meeting adjourned 4:50 pm.

 

 

• Respectfully Submitted:

Dr. Judy Smith

 

Attachment:

Faculty Development Leave Policy

The Texas legislature “finds that a sound program of faculty development leaves of absence designed to enable the faculty member to engage in study, research, writing, and similar projects for the purpose of adding to the knowledge available to himself/herself, his/her students, his/her institution, and society generally is a well-recognized means for improving a state's program of public higher education.” In line with the Texas legislature’s purpose, a Faculty Development Leave will serve to “improve further the higher education available to the youth at the state-supported colleges and universities.” Granting of the Faculty Developmental Leave shall be merit-based. The applications shall be received and peer-reviewed by Faculty Senate Research and Development Committee members who shall then make recommendations to the Provost.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT LEAVE INFORMATION

I. Eligibility

A faculty member is defined as “a person who is employed by an institution of higher

education on a full-time basis as a member of the faculty or staff and whose duties include teaching, research, administration, including professional librarians, or the performance of professional services. However, the term does not include a person employed in a position which is in the institution's classified personnel system or a person employed in a similar type of position if the institution does not have a classified personnel system,” per Texas Education Code, Sec. 51.101. At Lamar University, eligibility to apply is limited to:

1. Faculty having had continuous, full-time employment with the institution for at least two years with at least two years of consecutive years of service at the time of application per Texas Education Code, Sec. 51.104.

2. Faculty who have not had a Faculty Development Leave in the last three years of university service. (See Appendix A for application form and further information)

II. Evaluation Process

1. Interested faculty members should discuss their intent for applying for FDL with their Chair before the full application is submitted to the President of Faculty Senate (see Appendix A cover page). After the President of the Faculty Senate receives the FDL applications, he/she will forward them to the Chair of the Faculty Senate Research and Development Committee. The Research and Development Committee senate, in a closed meeting, will discuss the merits of each application. Every member of the Research and Development Committee will evaluate each application using the FDL Scoring Rubric (see Appendix B for details) to determine whether the application merits the Senate’s recommendation for approval.
2. The scores, rankings, and recipient recommendations shall then be forwarded to the President of the Faculty Senate and the Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs before the date described in Section III. The Provost will make the final decision.

3. In the event that a proposal is not recommended, the letter will include rubric scores to assist the applicant in understanding the reasons for the decision. Except as provided above, the Senate's discussion and rankings are confidential and will not be released to other parties.

4. A faculty member whose request for FDL is rejected by his or her chair/dean may appeal the decision in writing to the Provost. The decisions of the President (or the President’s designee) are final.

III. Research Supplemental Funding:

Pending the availability of funds, up to ten Supplemental Awards of $5,000/semester or $10,000/year are available to faculty who receive Faculty Development Leaves. Those applications not chosen to receive the supplemental award will still receive salary support. The supplemental research awards are provided to assist faculty in their research efforts, and can be used as follows:

1. Fund travel and lodging costs associated with the FDL
2. Purchase equipment or materials needed for research during the FDL. Equipment orders require prior written approval of the Provost.

IV. Limitations

1. Not more than six percent of the faculty members of any institution of higher education may be on faculty development leave at any one time. However, institutional funds for a given academic year may not be sufficient to guarantee this maximum number of leave requests.

2. Development leaves are not available to support completion of an advanced degree or a terminal degree.

3. If the current review committee plans to submit a FDL application, he/she should be

excused from the committee before his/her FDL submission.

4. A faculty member may NOT accept employment from any person, corporation, or

governmental agency, unless the request was approved by the Provost office.

5. If on FDL, a faculty member receives supplemental funding from external agencies to support his/her on leave salary, the sum of his/her received salary from Lamar University and the agencies should not exceed his/her current salary unless reported and approved by the University.

6. A faculty member shall sign an agreement to serve one full academic year after completion of the leave. Included in the agreement will be a clause requiring the faculty member to reimburse the University in the amount received as salary and fringe benefits from the State while on leave if he/she should refuse to fulfill the year of service after the leave. Death or permanent disability attested to by a medical doctor will constitute reason for exemption.

V. Rights of Faculty on Faculty Development Leave

1. A faculty member on FDL retains the same rights regarding benefits such as retirement, medical/life insurance, and other benefits available to full-time faculty members at Lamar University.

2. It is not required that faculty members obtain matching funds to be eligible for development leave; however, faculty members who are granted development leave are encouraged to seek additional funding from authorized and appropriate external sources.

3. A faculty member on FDL may accept a grant for study, research, or travel from any

institution of higher education, from a charitable, religious, or educational corporation or foundation, from any business enterprise, or from any federal, state, or local governmental agency. An accounting of all grants shall be made to the Faculty Senate Development Leave subcommittee. A faculty member on FDL may not accept employment from any other person, corporation, or government, unless the governing board determines that it would be in the public interest to do so and expressly approves the employment.

4. Should faculty members desire to extend their leaves without pay subsequent to the completion of a FDL, the faculty member may do so by agreement with the administration of Lamar University. In this event, the one-year of obligated service (see Section IV.6, above) will commence at the termination of the extended leave period. Death or permanent disability of the faculty member attested to by a medical doctor shall be the only exemptions from fulfilling this agreement.

5. A faculty member who applied for, but was not granted, a FDL application may resubmit it in the subsequent evaluation cycle to be considered for further leaves.

6. After a FDL has been granted, any change in the terms of the leave requires prior written approval to the Provost.

VI. Definition of Faculty Discretionary Leave

1. Faculty discretionary leave opportunities for professional development and/or program

   improvement often become available on short notice and fall outside the planning and

   decision-making time parameters required for the faculty development leave program.

   Examples of such opportunities may include multi-week staff and faculty training programs, short-term visiting research collaborations, and short-term international exchange opportunities. When such opportunities arise, a faculty discretionary leave can be proposed to the college Dean. In some cases, the dean may invite faculty to take advantage of such opportunities. A brief proposal that describes the purpose of the leave, as well as a detailed plan for covering assigned duties during the period of the leave, should be prepared in consultation with the department chair and dean. Any costs associated with the faculty discretionary leave will be borne by the Provost office and the college. If acceptable, the dean will then make a recommendation to the Provost who will make the final determination as to whether or not to award the requested leave.

2. Occasionally, faculty members receive appointments which require leaves from campus that are funded by entities outside of the University. These externally funded leaves include, but are not limited to, those associated with research grants, visiting appointments or other institutions, temporary appointments to government agencies, or participation in faculty exchange programs, etc. Such appointments are encouraged to be addressed separately from the FDL policy and do not alter the faculty member’s eligibility for FDL. Prior to accepting externally funded appointments, faculty must obtain approval from their department chair and dean. If a faculty member becomes aware of a possible sponsored leave opportunity in advance and submit a Faculty Development Leave for the leave opportunity and is awarded, he/she should provide the awarded external opportunity before his/her FDL taken place.