Murray State University s9

MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY Faculty Senate Regular Meeting March 1, 2016

Present: President DeBella, Vice President Farmer, Senators Armstrong, Broughton, Brown, Coulter, Derting, Dodd, Donnelly, Ezumah, Gianforte, Greer, Hepworth, Hilton, Hoover, Gierhart, Leedy, Pharis, Loganathan, Regent Jacobs, Papajeski, Roach, Seib, Shemberger, Stambaugh, Umstead, Walsh, Worley, Wu, and Smith.

Absent: Senators Atkerson, Binfield, Byrd, Hassan, Hong, Singh, Sutrick, and Shoemaker. .

Guests and Proxies: Renee Fister, Office of the President; Laura Lohr and Jessica Evans, Staff Congress; Nahiomy Gallardo, Bailey Bohannan, Alicia Steele, and Allison Borthwick; MSU News; Keith Weber, Chief Information Officer; Paula Amols, Dining Services and Racer Hospitality; Peter Murphy and Taufiq Rashid, University Studies; Mike Martin, proxy for Senator Lavery; Ben Littlepage, proxy for Senator Wilson.

The meeting was called to order by President DeBella at 3:31 p.m. The minutes of February 2, 2016, were motioned to be approved by unanimous vote.

Invited Guests

Keith Weber, Chief Information Officer, presented to senators a new technology governance draft and accepted questions regarding the proposal.

Paula Amols, Director of Dining Services and Racer Hospitality, informed senators of various services Dining Services has to offer on campus. She also gave senators a brief summary of how Dining Services operates as an auxiliary service.

Peter Murphy and Taufiq Rashid then discussed issues regarding University Studies assessment and asked for advice from senators on how best to assess these interdisciplinary courses.

REPORTS

Board of Regents—Regent Jacobs then reported to senators the recent happenings of the last Board of Regents meeting on Friday, February 25, 2016, including the Board’s advocacy for Murray State. He then encouraged senators to be an advocate for Murray State and for their specific programs in any way possible. Finally, he reported to senators that he will not be seeking reelection as Faculty Regent.

Academic Policies—Senator Hilton presented to senators a resolution from the Academic Policies Committee regarding the decision-making processes regarding departmental curriculum and program changes. The resolution, after discussion, passed with a 25-0 vote. Senator Hilton then presented an information item regarding the reexamination and potential revision of the current student classification system. She then distributed the results of the office hours survey distributed to senators at the November regular meeting of the Faculty Senate.

Finance—Senator Roach summarized for senators a letter sent to President Davies during the last week of February regarding the findings after the review of the new tuition and scholarship model and COLA 2016.

Governmental Affairs—Senator Pharis reported to senators that an open letter has been sent to legislators and the governor showing hard evidence of the impact these potential budget cuts could have to Murray State, should they pass. He informed senators that the Governmental Affairs committee would be happy to provide a weekly update of the legislative happenings to anyone interested in the information.

Handbook and Personnel—Vice President Farmer, reporting for Handbook and Personnel, brought forth Motion 1.7.2.3 from the committee, which allots a 30-day time-frame for response to Faculty Senate motions from the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. After discussion, the motion passed with a 28-0 vote.

Rules, Elections, and Bylaws—Vice President Farmer reported to senators that a consideration was made to extend senate terms from two years to three years. She noted that at this time, the committee is unwilling to give the proposal any further consideration. She then informed senators of the upcoming University Governance and Faculty Regent Elections.

Executive—President DeBella presented a motion of support from the Executive Committee regarding the Dual-Career Spousal Accommodation Policy. After discussion, the motion passes 23-1.

Distinguished Guests—Renee Fister, Office of the President, updated senators briefly on the reduction of strategic plan initiatives from sixty-four original initiatives down to twenty-three.

Faculty and Staff Insurance and Benefits Committee—No Report

Old Business— No Report

New Business— No Report

Adjournment time: The meeting was adjourned at 5:04 p.m.