MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY SENATE
April 4, 2000
The Faculty Senate of Murray State University met in regular session on Tuesday, April 4, 2000, in the Freed Curd Auditorium of the Martha Layne Collins Center for Technology. Twenty-seven senators were present. Felicia West was proxy for Jay Morgan, agriculture, and David Eaton for Mary Tripp Reed, economics and finance. Senators Broughton, hper, Cetin, geosciences, Jeanquart-Barone, management & marketing, Magee, graphic arts, Michael Morgan, English, Pilgrim, computer science, and Wall, journalism, were absent. President Call asked that Dr. Foreman serve as parliamentarian for the meeting in the absence of Dr. Jay Morgan. The minutes of March 7, 2000, were approved as written.
REPORTS
Intercollegiate Athletic Council—Dennis Johnson, Faculty Senate representative to the Council, updated the Senate on Council activities. The athletic department must file a NCAA report on student athletes. Faculty are sent forms. The department is experiencing a problem in compiling data; faculty are not sending in forms. Dr. Johnson has told them that faculty receive many different forms asking for the same data and suggested coordinating information into one unit. He asked for additional faculty input.
Board of Regents—Regent Rudolph reported that he, President Call, and Drs. Brockway and Price met with the SGA executive officers on March 29 & 30 to discuss the fall student evaluations as directed by the Faculty & Staff Affairs Committee of the Board. Ten questions were selected from the current Washington instruments; data from these questions will be provided to students. The committee is still evaluating other instruments as supplementary to the current one. Regent Rudolph stressed and will continue to stress that this information should not be used for personnel decisions. President Call and he were under the impression that five to six supplemental questions would be developed for release to students and that the data from the Washington instrument would remain a part of the personnel file. They object to the subsequent release of information and will continue to work on the improvement of this effort by students. Senators expressed concern that the university’s advising system is jeopardized by this limited source of information. The senate sees no compromise by the administration and students regarding this issue as directed of the President by the Board.
Academic Policies—Chair Janice Morgan presented the following proposal for university guidelines for online courses offered through the Kentucky Virtual University (KVU) which were unanimously approved by the senate and will be forwarded to the Academic Council for their review and discussion. It was noted that guidelines should be reviewed for other forms of instructional delivery.
The implementation of on-line courses within the framework of the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University (KVU) raises many issues related to academic quality, academic freedom, faculty courseload, student access, and intellectual property rights. Based on our consultation of policies at other Kentucky
universities and in the light of our commitment to quality education, the faculty of Murray State University recommend that the following guidelines be put into place:
Item 1: All courses taught on-line with KVU should be counted toward a faculty member’s courseload. Furthermore, all participation by MSU faculty should be voluntary.
Item 2: All KVU credit transfers should be clearly indicated as such, with the designation "KVU/ originating institution." Furthermore, each course should be evaluated by individual departments as to whether course criteria meet Murray State standards, in the same process used for other transfer credits and in consideration of our articulation agreements. This assessment at the departmental level is necessary to ensure that SACS accreditation standards will continue to apply.
Item 3: For students seeking a degree from MSU, KVU credit hours counted toward that degree not originating from Murray State, should be limited in the same way that any other transfer hours from another institution would be limited.
Item 4: To ensure student access, MSU faculty members should have the right to reserve spaces for their students in KVU courses they are offering, or to allow their students to pre-register for these courses.
Item 5: With regard to ownership and use of on-line course materials, we recommend that the university should apply to this new electronic medium the same precedents currently established concerning books, articles, and other published media by faculty. That is, faculty should retain copyright ownership of electronically published course materials, only parts of which may be used for educational purposes by others who should cite the author and source. No profit can or should be gained from this "fair use", as defined by Section 107 of U.S. Copyright Act.
Chair Morgan announced that the committee in conjunction with the Provost’s Office will sponsor a presentation on Curriculum Design Across the Disciplines by guest speaker, Margaret Downs from the University of North Carolina. Her presentation will be on April 20 at 3:30 p.m. in Faculty Hall 308.
President Call noted that Dr. Alexander and Dr. Brockway are interested in the establishment of some guidelines for KVU courses to ensure quality control in the online area.
Finance Committee—Chair Pervine reported that Dr. Bill Price from the Provost’s Office had met with the committee to share the budget process as affected by reorganization. Monies will follow faculty lines that are realigned. Overall, the process went smoothly through the collegiate discussions. Two-thirds of existing departments will remain unchanged. The Provost's Office will follow through next year as a transition year. Distribution of monies in Foundation accounts
remains to be addressed. Any extra saved money will remain in the Provost's Office and used for new deans and chairs, improved computer support, and fund recurring positions that haven't been funded out of recurring budget lines.
The committee was asked to look into what money would be used to build the proposed swimming pools.
Governmental Affairs—Chair Wattier reported that there is no agreement on a state budget. He noted that Dr. Brockway would present the report on MSU programs affected by the state program review to the CPE on May 22. COSFL met on March 11 and appointed a committee to look at a revised shared governance document. Dr. Wattier made a strong statement for endorsement. COSFL will meet again on April 15.
Dr. Wattier reported that Dr. Alexander and the other university presidents were successful in adding funding in the house version of a budget but it was deleted in the senate version. A conference committee will decide. It is assumed that the higher ed budget recommended by the CPE will be endorsed.
Handbook & Personnel—Chair Elwell presented a revised salary policy as directed by the Board. The old one was negated at the June 1999 Board meeting. As requested by the Board and administration, all references to percentages have been removed. The committee also added phrasing in order for faculty to bank merit. This will be forwarded establishing precedent in determining changes to the Handbook. The proposal was passed 22 for/0 against/with 2 abstentions.
Rules, Elections, & Bylaws—Vice Chair Powell presented results of the administrative assessment to senators. This data is to be shared within departments and is not intended for public release. Full data will be available for faculty review in the senate office. The committee opened the floor for nominations for the at-large senatorial positions. Nominations received are William L. Call, Dwayne Driskill, and Terry Strieter. No other nominations were made.
Insurance & Benefits—No report.
Academic Council—The senate confirmed the appointment of Dr. Strieter to the vacancy created by the resignation of Bill Schell, 28-for/0 against/with 1 abstention.
Undergraduate Studies Committee —Peggy Schrock, Chair, noted to the senate that the council has approved a new liberal arts degree for the fall 2000 and three new management degrees have been proposed for the TSM program. She also noted proposals for three new engineering degrees had been forwarded to the committee. Dr. Wattier added that the delaying of Western’s engineering program by the CPE precipitated this.
Graduate Studies Committee—Chair Muscio reported no new proposals of general university interest; but, did report that the Council has approved a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management.
Library & Academic Support Committee—No report.
Executive—President Call updated the senate on several items. The laptop campus committee has not met since January. The Provost’s Search Committee met on April 3 and has been asked to screen 58 applications for qualifications. Seventeen did not meet these, lacking broad-based experience in university level positions. Sixteen are being considered for further examination and the committee will meet again next week to identify from that group. Faculty Senate representatives on the committee again stressed that candidates be interviewed by May. There is no application deadline.
The proposal for a nine-month faculty contract has been delayed until next year. Dr. Alexander sees the merit in the proposal and has said he will revisit the issue next year. Dr. Brockway continues to attend executive committee meetings. The President’s Cabinet met on March 9 and today and discussed state budget issues and program productivity reviews.
Dr. Alexander has a goal to present revised student and faculty handbooks to the Board in May. Staff has a new handbook. Dr. Alexander agreed to consult the handbook & personnel committee in all decisions of revisions to the Faculty Handbook as requested by the Senate leadership. The senate’s online version is being used as the most up-to-date version and a limited number of bound copies will be printed for Board approval. Policies will be emphasized in some way and Dr. Alexander has pledged to bring that as a proposal to the committee.
New business—President Call announced the appointment of Janet Brewer, Terry Strieter, and Steve White, Chair, to a nominating committee for next year’s senate officers to be elected at the May senate meeting. It is their charge to contact all senators and bring a slate that the senate will support.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.