In Attendance (In-person):
College of Arts and Sciences:, Ian Lian, Pat Heintzelman, Matt Hoch, Jiangjiang (Jane) Liu, Mark Mengerink, Cengiz Sen, Amanda Allison, Jennifer Thedford, Raouth Kostandy, Sharon Joffe, Melissa Riley, Raymond Doe, Cheng-Hsien Lin, B. Garrick Harden
College of Education and Human Development: Daryl Ann Borel
College of Business: Gevorg Sargsyan, Vivek Natarajan, Kelly Weeks, Tim McCoy
College of Fine Arts and Communication: Paul Eric McCluskey, Stephan Malick, Millicent Musyoka, Brielle Frost
College of Engineering: Clayton Jeffryes, John Gossage, Gleb Tcheslavski
Library: Penny Clark
In Attendance (Online):
College of Arts & Sciences: Mark Broome, Tina M. Kibbe, Sujing Wang, Wen Liu, Perumalreddy Chandrasekaran, Jim Armacost
College of Education and Human Development: Shelly Allen, Kelly Brown, Eunjin Kwon, Mohamad (Khal) Hamza, Kathryn Washington, Cristina Rios
College of Business: Xiao “Jerry” Zhang
College of Fine Arts and Communication: Lilian Felipe, Chelsea Lyles, Xenia Fedorchenko,
College of Engineering:
Library: Poornima Gunasekaran
Absent:
College of Arts and Sciences: Jennifer Fowler, Elia Hatfield
College of Education and Human Development: Daniel R. Chilek
College of Business: Ashraf El-Houbi
College of Fine Arts and Communication: Andre Favors, Alan Brincks
College of Engineering: Chun-Wei Yao, Mien Jao, Maryam Hamidi
Library:
Call to order
3:32 p.m.
President Taylor’s Minute
- Introduced visitor from Marshall University, Dr. Dave Dampier – Dr. Dampier is Dean College of Engineering. Prior to joining Marshall, Dampier was the chair of the Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio and founding director of the Distributed Analytics and Security Institute at Mississippi State University. He has more than $65 million in external funding.
- SB17 – Dr. Taylor thanked everyone who worked to get the university in compliance, especially Dr. Freddie Titus who lead the project. The Board of Regents of the Texas State University System must signoff that all the schools in the system are in compliance. Dr. Taylor explained the process for Lamar to achieve compliance. One area will be oversight on changes to website before going live.
- Point of Pride – Baseball Team – Congratulations to the Lamar Baseball team. They are having a great season – just sweep University of Oklahoma (ranked in the top 25 and #1 in Big 12).
- College of Business Dean – The search is ongoing.
- Crime on Campus – University has a strong police department. Very good on backend, issue is frontend. Working on policies, more patrol in the region (South Park neighborhood) and installing additional cameras.
Approval of Minutes
Vivek Natarajan moved to approve the minutes of the February 7, 2024, general meeting. Matt Hoch seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Jennifer Thedford moved to approve the minutes of the March 6, 2024, general meeting. Raymond Doe seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Faculty Senate President’s Report (Dr. Cheng-Hsien Lin)
- MAPPS
- Office Hours –Please send comments regarding this draft MAPP as soon as possible. Dr. Lin will bring comments to Dr. Theodori.
- Instructor Equity Adjustment
- To be implemented effective 2024-25 year
- College New Hires
- All new hires, instructors/assistant professors should adhere to current salary structure.
- Grievance Policy
- Discussed with Hector Flores regarding need for a separate policy, accountability, and regular updates.
- Ombudsman Position
- This position is vacant due to retirement. Request status from Provost Brown regarding filling this position.
- Provost Faculty Meeting – April 4, 2024
- Issues to be discussed include:
- MAPPS for review – There are currently six MAPPs under review until April 18. Provide comments via link provided on campus announcement.
- Teaching overseas
- One Computer Policy
- Use of Personal Computer for Communication and Lamar Business is approved – there is no policy against using personal computers for university business.
Faculty Senate Election Report (Dr. Daryl Ann Borel, Secretary)
- University Committees/Councils – Faculty Senate office sent nomination ballots, due April 3, 2024, at 6pm
- Departmental Faculty Senate Open Seats – Nominations for open seats being solicited at the departmental level.
- College Personnel Committees – Faculty Senate office will send nomination ballots next week, due April 15, 2024.
- Faculty Senate Officers – Nominations to be requested after all open faculty seats are complete. Current and newly elected senators will vote on faculty senate officers.
Faculty Senate Committee Chair Reports
- Budget and Compensation – President Lin reported in Jennifer Fowler’s absence.
The entire committee met and discussed the following topics:
- Equity Adjustment for instructor equity.
- University merit policy
- Faculty Affairs – Sujing Wang
The committee met and prepared resolutions regarding chairs in blackboard shells (as charged last month) and grievance policy procedures.
- Drafted resolution 3 and 4 (see old business)
- Academic Issues – Melissa Riley
Committee met and discussed the following topics:
- Non-tenured faculty MAPP: Reviewing and making comments/recommendations on non-tenured faculty.
- Research & Creative Activity – John Gossage
Committee met asynchronously and discussed the following:
- MAPPs related to Research & Creative Activities, currently compiling comments.
- Faculty Evaluation –Millie Musyoka
- Faculty Climate Survey: Survey out, please participate. Due April 4, 5pm.
- Faculty Handbook – B. Garrick Harden
The committee received initial response from AAUP’s legal team on the faculty handbook MAPP, but not the full analysis to make sure it is aligned with Texas State Law and TSUS policy and procedures. The committee will continue to work collaboratively with AAUP. The committee is meeting Sunday.
Old Business
- Faculty Senate Bylaws
- John Gossage moved to pass the faculty senate bylaws. The motion failed due to lack of second.
- Pat Heintzelman moved to table the faculty senate bylaws. Penny Clark seconded the motion. Yea: 22 No: 6 Abstain: 0 Motion carried.
- Resolutions
- Resolution 03282024.1: Policies’ order
To ensure compliance, university policies contained in the Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures (MAPP) must be approved before similar college policies are created. Likewise, college policies must be approved before similar departmental policies are created.
- Eric McCluskey motioned resolution 03282024.1: Policies’ order
- Millicent Musyoka seconded the motion.
- Yea: 36 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Motion carried.
- Resolution 03282024.2: Request to observe others’ courses.
Online class: Any justifiable request for observation in one course from colleagues or supervisors shall be conducted for no more than three days through Learning Management System (LMS). The request to access LMS shall be made first through the faculty and then, once agreed upon, the request will then be forwarded to Digital Learning for student view.
Hybrid-class: Any justifiable request for observation in one course from colleagues or supervisors shall be conducted either face-to-face or on LMS, but not both. The review shall be conducted for no more than three days through LMS. The request to access LMS shall be made first through the faculty and then, once agreed upon, the request will then be forwarded to Digital Learning for student view.
Face-to-face class: Any justifiable request for observation in one course from colleagues or supervisors shall be conducted exclusively in person and without LMS access.
- Millicent Musyoka motioned resolution 03282024.2: Request to observe others’ courses.
- Vivek Natarajan seconded the motion.
- Yea: 25 No: 0 Abstain: 1 Motion carried
- Resolution 03252024.1:
Being concerned regarding academic freedom and potential FERPA issues and to further improve the quality of our academic programs, we recommend:
- A new policy shell be established that will regulate administrators' access to Blackboard shells within their academic units.
(1) A new and detailed policy shall be developed since there is no one right now. (2) Before the policy is developed, the administrators' access to the BB shall not be allowed. The access to all the face-to-face courses of the entire department – in the name of auditing teaching, will be biased and can only result in disturbance to the teaching/learning activities.
- Pat Heintzelman motioned resolution 03252024.1.
- Tim McCoy seconded the motion.
- Yea: 19 No: 0 Abstain: 3 Motion passed
- Resolution 03252024.2 as amended after discussion.
It is essential to maintain the integrity of the newly approved grievance policy and ensure that all grievances are investigated thoroughly and fairly, following established procedures. We recommend:
- The Faculty Senator, recognizing the importance of upholding the integrity of the university's grievance policy, recommends adherence to the procedures outlined in the grievance policy.
- An investigation, initiated to comprehensively examine the grievances raised by faculty members, shall begin no later than 24 hours upon receipt of the grievance. Ten business days following the initiation of the investigation the grievance must receive a response. Failure to comply on the part of the administration will result in immediate finding in the faculty’s favor.
- The investigation shall be conducted in strict accordance with the procedures delineated in the grievance policy, with a steadfast commitment to fairness, impartiality, and adherence to due process.
- Raymond Doe motioned resolution 03252024.2 as amended.
- Pat Heintzelman seconded the motion.
- Yea: 23 No: 1 Abstain: 1 Motion carried.
New Business
- No confidence against chair of mechanical engineering department and censure against dean of College of Engineering
- Pat Heintzelman motioned that the Lamar University Faculty senate determines to vote no confidence against Dr. Karkoub, the chair of mechanical engineering. It also appears the current grievance policy has been violated in terms of due process multiple times. Thus, we motion and move that all grievances from mechanical engineering be heard forthwith and investigated to determine possible removal of individuals from supervisory authority. The senate determines to vote a censure against Dean Craig.
- Ian Lian seconded the motion.
- XueJan Fain spoke to the motion.
- Yea: 23 No: 0 Abstain: 2 Motion carried.
- Faculty senator non-renewed
- A faculty senator addressed the senate requesting support from the faculty senate. Senator received an email from the Dean stating that due to academic needs, her contract would not be renewed for summer or 2024-25. Dr. Lin will discuss with administration and report back.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:48p.m.