Final Copy Approved by Senate 11-8-05

FACULTY SENATE MEETING MINUTES

October 25, 2005

OFFICERS: Judy Kilborn, Annette Schoenberger, JoAnn Gasparino, Robert Johnson

IFO BOARD: Jayantha Herath, Andrew Larkin, Annette Schoenberger; Negotiator: Bill Langen

BUSINESS: (Unit Representative) P.N. SubbaNarasimha; (ACCT) vacant; (BCIS) Susantha Herath, Ray Tsai; (FIRE) William Hudson; (MGMT) Larry Roth, vacant; (MKGB) Rajesh Gulati, James C. Johnson

EDUCATION: (Unit Representative) Stephen Hornstein; (CFS) Fati Zarghami; (CEEP) Nona Wilson, Robert Murphy; (HRESS) Mark Moore, Caryl Martin; (HURL) Michael Tripp; (LDR) John Rapp, Frances Kayona; (IM) John Theis; (SPED) John Hoover, Dory Beutel; (TDEV) David Heine, Geoffrey Tabakin, Ramon Serrano

FINE ARTS & HUMANITIES: (Unit Representative) Frances Condon; (ART) Nancy Weston; (CDSI) Margery Whites; (CMST) Scott Wells, Dan Wildeson, David Warne; (ENGL) Judith Dorn, vacant, Jim Robinson, vacant; (FORL) Gloria Melgarejo, Bill Langen; (COMM) vacant, vacant; (MUSIC) Marion Judish, Mark Springer; (PHIL) Yiwei Zheng, Carla Johnson; (THFD) Debra Leigh

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING: (Unit Representative) Balsy Kasi; (AVIA) Steve Anderson; (BIOL) Oladele Gazal, Heiko Schoenfuss, Matt Julius; (CHEM) Mahin Sadrai, Becky Krystyniak; (CSCI) Andrew Anda; (EAS) Tony Hansen; (EE) Ling Hou; (ETS) Tony Akubue; (ME) Steve Covey; (MATH) Dale Buske, vacant, William Branson; (NURS) Joyce Simones; (PHYS) Kevin Haglin; (STAT) Leonard Onyiah, John Gammell

SOCIAL SCIENCES: (Unit Representative) Mary Clifford; (CMTY) Rona Karasik; (CJUS) vacant, vacant; (ECON) Ming Chien Lo; Orn Bodvarsson; (ES) Dia Cha; (GEOG) Ken Wong; (HIST) Mark Jaede; Robert Galler; (POL) Steve Frank; (PSYC) Leslie Valdes; (SW) Sandra Chesborough; (SAN) Tracy Ore, John Alessio; (WS) Elizabeth Berila

SPECIAL SERVICES: (Unit Representative) Susan Motin; (OAA) vacant; (COUN) vacant; (LR&TS) Chris Inkster, Sandra Q. Williams, Tom Hergert; (MEN’S ATHL) vacant; (WOMEN’S ATHL) Jenifer Odette

1. Call to order at 3:22 p.m.

2. Approval of Minutes

a. Faculty Senate Minutes of October 11, 2005 (FS 102505 2.a)

Motion to approve FS Minutes of October 11, 2005, with changes indicated: item 7.a first motion change “withdrawn” to “separated,” and for the last motion, change “table” to “postpone” —(Larkin/ Hergert). Passed

b. Executive Committee Minutes of October 4, 2005 (FS 102505 2.b)

Motion to approve EC Minutes of October 4, 2005—(Clifford/Larkin). Passed

c. General Education Minutes of September 19, 2005 (FS 102505 2.c.1) – for filing; General Education Minutes of October 3, 2005 (FS 102505 2.c.2) – for filing; General Education Minutes of October 10, 2005 (FS 102505 2.c.3); General Education Minutes of October 17, 2005 (FS 102505 2.c.4)—Filed. Kilborn made a comment that the committee has requested that faculty check out the website, the mission statement, and the listserv to get involved in the discussion.

d. Division of General Studies (DGS) Advisory Committee Minutes of September 27, 2005 (FS 102505 2.d)—Filed.

e. Budget Review Committee Minutes of September 28, 2005 (FS 102505 2.e)—Filed.

f. International Studies Committee Minutes of September 30, 2005 (FS 102505 2.f)—Filed. It was noted that the handwritten notes from October 7 were misplaced. A handout was passed out of the list of projects that the committee approved for study abroad.

Motion for FS to approve the list of projects approved by the International Studies Committee—(Hergert/Serrano). Passed

There was discussion about the other programs submitted for approval that were sent back for more information. It was noted that this is not the final list, and that there are approximately twelve that were sent back for more information, returned to the committee, and approved last Friday. These will come forward to Senate in the committee minutes. The list distributed is for 2006.

g. University Curriculum Committee Minutes of September 29, 2005 (FS 102505 2.g)—

Motion to approve UCC minutes of September 29, 2005—(Schoenberger/Larkin). Passed

3. Treasurer’s Report—To be given at first meeting of the month

4. Consent Agenda—Ballots were handed out, and members voted. The results will be placed on the Consent Agenda for approval later in the meeting. Note: Tom Hergert withdrew his name from the list of nominations for D2L. Those elected by FS are underlined below.

CETL Advisory Board (1 from each college)

COB: Vacant

COE: Nona Wilson

COSE: Bill Branson (Mathematics), Rebecca Krystyniak (Chemistry), James A. Nicholson (Environmental and Technological Studies)

COSS: Mumbi Mwangi

D2L Advisory Committee (1 from SCSU)

Pat Bodelson (Political Science); Sandra Chesborough (Social Work); Tom Hergert (InforMedia Services); Rich Josephson (LR&TS); Kay Thamvichai (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Designed for Learning CTL Advisory Committee (1 from SCSU)

Hari Luitel (Economics); David Warne (Communication Studies)

Motion to approve consent agenda with election results above—(Akubue/Schoenberger). Passed

5. Call for new agenda items—none.

6. Announcements

a. Negotiations Report—Langen said that the IFO negotiating team met last Thursday, and then met with the MnSCU negotiating team Friday morning. The IFO negotiating team was surprised that the MnSCU negotiating team was flexible by taking a completely new approach of offering two options. One offer had more money, but lots of language proposals from MnSCU. NOTE: in negotiating exchanges, language is used very carefully. Thus as the IFO team tried to probe MnSCU’s willingness to compromise on their language proposals we became convinced that at best MnSCU was only prepared to make minor if any adjustments. The IFO team decided MnSCU negotiating team’s demands were unacceptable, and they were not likely to budge. So the IFO negotiating team accepted the first offer, and they will be meeting with the IFO Board Friday. The Board will decide whether or not to recommend the tentative settlement. On Monday faculty will see the settlement that the IFO negotiating team accepted. There will be contract meetings with Rod Henry, on November 10, 9-10 AM and 1-2 PM. Faculty will cast their votes on Wednesday, November 16.

Kilborn added that she was an ex officio member, and if she would have had a vote she would have voted for the offer the IFO negotiating team accepted. She noted that the IFO negotiating team took their roles and membership concerns very seriously. Neither Kilborn nor Langen could give out much more information at this time.

There was discussion about the negotiations and the process. Langen was asked how much was compromised away, and he replied virtually none; he explained that the IFO negotiating team was unwilling to risk other benefits. Langen answered some questions about negotiations and explained that the MnSCU’s language proposals were not acceptable. He said that they did leave money on the table; more money would have been available with “not just strings attached, but ropes attached.” Langen said that the package SCSU will be voting on is competitive with all other MnSCU groups.

Senate discussed that there appeared to be money available, but the MnSCU Team was not willing to give the money without the language changes.

b. Proposed Mission for General Education (http://www.stcloudstate.edu/generaleducation)-- Kilborn pointed out the website above.

c. University Council Meeting—Kilborn said this meeting covers mostly announcements. She discussed two items that were announced:

1. Centers of Excellence: none of the three from SCSU were accepted by the Board. This was also announced in Meet and Confer.

2. There was a MnSCU audit of the computer security and it was determined that there was good network security at SCSU, which is also one of the best wireless campuses nationally.

d. Policy for E-mail as Official Communication to Students (FS 102505 6.d)—Kilborn said that the handout in packet had “draft” on it, but a draft of the policy was approved in Senate (the concept) about two years ago. Changes were pointed out: the last sentence in third paragraph was added, and information about how the state policy is being applied was also added. Kilborn said that the changes in this document were pretty much asked for Senate and students. Kilborn will send out electronic copies.

Motion for the FS to support this document, and to thank TLTR for their hard work—(Hergert/Schoenberger). Passed

There was discussion about the document and sending email to students versus their home address. The results for the committee elections were ready, and FS made a motion to approve the consent agenda above.

e. Rights and Responsibilities Under the Grade Appeal Policy (FS 102505 6.e.1; FS 102505 6.e.2)—Kilborn pointed out the handouts for this item. A representative from the committee pointed out some changes from the current policy.

Motion to add Rights and Responsibilities Under the Grade Appeal Policy to agenda—(Inkster/Onyiah). Passed

There was discussion about this item and what faculty need to bring back to their departments to discuss.

7. Unfinished Business

a. Academic Freedom Committee Report (Condon)—Not discussed.

b. Motion from Teacher Development (FS 092705 8.a.1; FS 092705 8.a.2; FS 092705 8.a.3; FS 092705 8.a.4; FS 101105 6.b.1; FS 101105 6.b.2; FS 101105 6.b.2)—Not discussed.

c. Attendance Policy (FS 092705 8.b)—The motion on the floor from last time had been postponed. The following two motions from FS 10/11/05 were reread into the record:

Motion for the Meet and Confer Team to go to the next Meet and Confer and inform Administration that Senate disapproves of the Attendance Policy insofar as it increases faculty workload—(Langen/Jaede). Separated

Motion to amend Motion by removing the very last sentence of the Statement for Catalog Attendance Policy: “Members of the faculty are encouraged to report the name of any student whose repeated absence is impairing her/his work.”—(Larkin/Langen).

After these previous motions from the last FS were reread, there was discussion about the policy, and the need for students to take more responsibility for attendance. There was discussion about taking the statement about reporting out of the statement for students because it doesn’t say who to report to and what the implications are. Other problems with motion were discussed.

Motion to close debate on amendment—(Schoenberger/Gammell). Passed

Motion to amend motion by replacing the word “requires” with “expects” in the sentence “St. Cloud State University requires all students to attend classes in which they are enrolled.”—(Johnson/Hergert). Passed

Motion to substitute the motion that was divided with the following motion:

In response to the Administration’s proposed policies regarding mandatory attendance-taking and reporting, the Faculty Senate resolves as follows:

1. We recognize the critical importance of class attendance to our students’ success. We acknowledge the value of monitoring attendance and providing appropriate warnings and services to students who chronically miss classes. We are eager to work with the Administration to craft appropriate policies and guidelines that will improve our students’ rates of attendance.

2. Notwithstanding the above, we cannot accept the unilateral imposition of a requirement that all faculty members take attendance and report absences to the Administration. We believe that this constitutes an increase in workload which is both unfair and contrary to the terms of our contract. We also have reservations about its potential infringement on academic freedom. The decision to take attendance is a pedagogical as well as an administrative decision.

3. We therefore request that the Administration enter into good faith negotiations with the FA to craft a new policy that will encourage student attendance and facilitate the identification of students who need help, but will not infringe on academic freedom and will not impose new duties on faculty without some appropriate offsetting benefit to faculty. —(Jaede/Hergert).

8. New Business

a. Recruitment and Retention—Not discussed.

b. Uniform Start Date (FS 092705 8.d)—Not discussed.

c. Summer Session (FS 092705 8.e.1; FS 092705 8.e.2)—Not discussed.

d. Space Assignment Policy (FS 092705 8.f)—Not discussed.

e. Early Notification System for Students (a.k.a. Early Warning Notice) (FS 102505 8.e)—Not discussed.

f. Division of General Studies (DGS) Advisory Committee Minutes of September 13, 2005 (FS 101105 2.d)—Not discussed.

g. Meeting Rooms for Senate (Williams)—Not discussed.

h. Template on Teaching Schedule/Office Hours (FS 102505 8.h)—Not discussed.

i. Time Definite: 4:00 p.m. -- CARE Motion for Faculty Senate (FS 102505 8.i)—

Motion to support the Motion: The Community Anti-Racism Education Initiative (CARE) makes a motion to require all in-coming full and part time employees and those currently in leadership positions including supervisory positions, managers, administrative staff, and faculty department chairs/program directors to attend the CARE Orientation Workshop, Understanding Racism and Anti-Racist Organizing—(Schoenberger/Leigh).

There was discussion in favor and against the motion. This training would be in addition to Anti-Semitism training through the Zamora Agreement. Senate discussed that adjuncts would be required to take the training too, but it was noted that this is not the issue for this motion.

Motion to amend motion by adding: “provided, however, that no part-time employee shall be required to take the training more than once.”—(Karasik/Gasparino). Passed

There was discussion in favor of the motion amended, it was noted that this training will in the long run save time for faculty. The CARE Initiative was discussed, along with the need for a package or proposal for the program. It was noted that this committee was commissioned by this body to investigate this program, the training has already been offered at SCSU for two years, and faculty have had the opportunity to test it for themselves. A member of the committee commented that the training is not about indoctrination, and that those who have attended the training have not always been in agreement, but they have been left with an opportunity to discuss their concerns. It was noted that the IFO and IFO Board were required to take this training. It was noted that Senate, as a bargaining unit, needs to be mindful of how they decide to inform faculty now, and in the future, and what the implications might be.

A CARE guest member spoke, and he suggested that Senate attend the training as a group. He spoke about the implication of mandating the training, and he said this cannot be the first time for the Senate to mandate something (even though he stated that this is his first Senate meeting).

Language of the motion was discussed. It was discussed how at the second-to-last Meet and Confer, it was evident that some training may be mandated by Administration, and it was noted that if Senate could suggest a training, it would be best.

Motion to amend as follows: “The FS supports the recommendation by the CARE Team that the University requires all in-coming full and part time employees and those currently in leadership positions including supervisory positions, managers, administrative staff, and faculty department chairs/program directors to attend the CARE Orientation Workshop, Understanding Racism and Anti-Racist Organizing.”—(Jaede/Ore).

Motion to substitute the amended motion: “That FS supports high quality training, such as the CARE training, for all incoming full- and part-time employees, provided they have not already attended a training session—(Johnson/no second).

Motion to postpone this item until next Senate, with time definite of 4:00 PM—(Roth/Anderson). 23 votes in favor and 18 opposed. Passed

There was discussion about what information was expected to be provided for those who wanted to table the original motion. It was noted that more outcome data was needed.

j. Student Pictures on Roster (FS 102505 8.j)—Not discussed.

k. Rights and Responsibilities Under the Grade Appeal Policy (Inkster)—Not discussed.

9. Recess at 5:20 p.m.

FACULTY SENATE MEETING MINUTES

November 1, 2005

OFFICERS: Judy Kilborn, Annette Schoenberger, JoAnn Gasparino, Robert Johnson

IFO BOARD: Jayantha Herath, Andrew Larkin, Annette Schoenberger; Negotiator: Bill Langen

BUSINESS: (Unit Representative) P.N. SubbaNarasimha; (ACCT) vacant; (BCIS) Susantha Herath, Ray Tsai; (FIRE) William Hudson; (MGMT) Larry Roth, vacant; (MKGB) Rajesh Gulati, James C. Johnson

SPECIAL SERVICES: (Unit Representative) Susan Motin; (OAA) vacant; (COUN) vacant; (LR&TS) Chris Inkster, Sandra Q. Williams, Tom Hergert; (MEN’S ATHL) vacant; (WOMEN’S ATHL) Jenifer Odette

1. Reconvene at 3:25 p.m.

6. Announcements

a. Kilborn introduced Jeff Ringer, who is an expert at Robert’s Rules. He has been invited today to consult with her on parliamentary procedure.

b. This Senate session is a continuation of last week’s meeting. Next week will be a new Senate session.

c. Kilborn noted that yesterday the FA office hand delivered the contract information. Next Thursday, November 10, there will be two contract sessions with Bill Langen and Rod Henry at 9:00-10:00 a.m. and 1:00-2:00 p.m. Kilborn asked Senate to please attend and become informed. The deadline for the contract ballots will be Tuesday, November 15. The results need to be in at the IFO on November 16^th. If any nonmembers would like to vote, they need to come to the FA office for a membership card and ballot.

d. Equity training with Pat Arseneault will be held on November 10 at 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon in Glacier North and 1:00-3:30 p.m. in Cascade. Please RSVP to the FA office if you plan to attend a session.

e. Reminder: Delegate Assembly is scheduled for March 24^th and 25, 2006, this coming year, so please mark your calendars. Permission letters for Senators to attend will go to the Provost’s office.

f. Retirement Investments: At the last IFO Board, the Board voted to keep TIAA-CREF and SBI, however the Board is not the decision-makers. MnSCU bids those out. Kilborn will forward to Russ Stanton all the email she received on this topic for him to bring to a DCR meeting he has this week. If you haven’t sent something in yet, please do so to Russ Stanton directly. Kilborn explained that David Warne was asked by Annette Schoenberger to draft a retirement letter, and he discussed the draft, which the FA office will distribute electronically. Kilborn stated that the IFO negotiating team has nothing to do with health benefits. Health benefits are bargained with DOER, and the Health Bargaining Coalition is based on proportionate representation, which makes AFSCME (the largest bargaining unit) the decision maker.

g. NOTE to EC members: The next Meet and Confer has been switched from November 10^th to November 17^th.

3. Treasurer’s Report (FS 110105 3)—The FA spent $432.50, there were no deposits, and the next payment from the IFO is scheduled for November 15, 2005, according to IFO memo from last month.

7. Unfinished Business

Gordian Knot—Kilborn pointed out the pink handout “Ranking Motions,” and she discussed the “Gordian Knot.” Jeff Ringer explained that when there are a lot of motions that cause confusion during the meetings, the Gordian Knot is one option to suspend the rules by removing everything from the table and starting over. He explained that the prior motions can be reintroduced, and usually the second time around, the motions will be better prepared and the meeting will run smoother. Kilborn pointed out that, for discussion purposes, the motions were available on handouts for the Attendance Policy and for CARE.

There was discussion about the Gordian knot.

c. Attendance Policy (FS 092705 8.b)

Motion to cut the Gordian Knot for the motions for the Attendance Policy—(Tabakin/Schoenberger). Passed

Motion: In response to the Administration’s proposed policies regarding mandatory attendance-taking and reporting, the Faculty Senate resolves as follows:

There was discussion in favor of the motion. It was noted that if the motion passes, there would need to be more feedback on the draft policy. Other channels to get the word out to students that attendance is important were discussed. The importance for Senate to ask Administration to get a group of faculty and Administrators together to figure out the policy was discussed.

When asked what other universities do as far as policies, Kilborn stated that she hasn’t done a systemic study, but she is aware that there are many variations.

Motion to have the Provost write a letter in the student Chronicle, informing students of the importance of attendance—(Akubue/no second).

The motion was discussed. Previous motions, before the Gordian Knot, were discussed. It was noted that those motions were recorded in the minutes, and that Administration would have access to them if they were interested in acting on them.

It was noted that this motion was out of order and needed to be reworded because of the motion to cut the Gordian knot.

Motion to recommend to Administration that they change the language of their draft policy to read “St. Cloud State University expects all students to attend classes in which they are enrolled” (Johnson/Tripp). Passed: in favor: 31; opposed: 10; abstentions: 6

There was discussion about the first motion, and Kilborn explained the Gordian Knot procedure. There was discussion for and against the motion: against because of academic freedom issues, and because Administration will ask for volunteers to form a committee if they agree with the motion; in favor because it is fully consistent with the first motion. Faculty discussed that they have brought this issue back to their departments and they felt it was important that they not be expected to report attendance.

i. Time Definite: 4:00 p.m. -- CARE Motion for Faculty Senate (FS 102505 8.i)—Kilborn pointed out the motions from last time and read them into record:

Motion to amend motion by adding: “provided, however, that no part-time employee shall be required to take the training more than once.”—(Karasik/Gasparino). Passed

Motion to postpone this item until next Senate, with time definite of 4:00 PM—(Roth/Anderson). 23 votes in favor and 18 opposed. Passed.

There was discussion about the motions. Kilborn clarified where Senate left off. There was discussion about who would be required to take the training. There was discussion in favor of the motion. A member of the CARE Team discussed the orientation and the results and stated that all of the testimonies have been positive.

Motion to close debate—(Schoenberger/Ore). Passed: in favor: 36; opposed: 2; abstentions: 5

So the motion now reads as follows: “The FS supports the recommendation by the CARE Team that the University requires all in-coming full- and part-time employees and those currently in leadership positions including supervisory positions, managers, administrative staff, and faculty department chairs/program directors to attend the CARE Orientation Workshop, Understanding Racism and Anti-Racist Organizing, provided, however, that no part-time employee shall be required to take the training more than once.” Passed

Motion to close debate—(Condon/Schoenberger). Passed

Motion that the FS recommend that FS members for the academic year 2005-06 be required to complete the CARE training by the end of Spring 2006 semester—(Weston/Clifford).

Motion to amend motion from “CARE training” to “CARE Orientation Workshop”—(Hornstein/Tripp). Passed

There was discussion in favor and opposed to the motion. Those opposed were concerned about issues of grievances, and who the FS represents. Penalties for those who do not attend were discussed.

Members from CARE were invited to speak and they spoke in favor of the CARE training.

There was discussion for and against the motion; against because of workload issues; in favor because Senators need to be good examples for other faculty.

Motion to close debate—(Schoenberger/Tripp). Passed

So the motion now reads as follows: “ The FS recommend that FS members for the academic year 2005-06 be required to complete the CARE Orientation Workshop, Understanding Racism and Anti-Racist Organizing, by the end of Spring 2006 semester.” Passed: in favor: 23; opposed: 8; abstentions: 8

Motion that the FA urge Administration to budget funds to pay adjunct faculty at a reasonable hourly rate for attending any training deemed mandatory by the University and its associate units, affiliates, and organizations—(Hoover/Hergert). Passed

There was discussion for and against the motion.

Motion to close debate—(Onyiah/Tabakin). Passed

Motion to move agenda to Uniform Start Date—(Schoenberger/Larkin). Passed

8. New Business

b. Uniform Start Date (FS 092705 8.d)—Kilborn discussed the possibility of a future uniform start date and the potential of difficulties, D2L for example.

Motion to refer to the Committee on the Institution—(Schoenberger/Clifford).

There was discussion about the Committee on the Institution. The letter from Linda Baer from the Business Practice Alignment Committee was discussed. Possible computer problems were discussed, even though the letter stated that it could be handled. The need for the decision of when to start being up to SCSU was discussed. There was discussion mostly in favor of the motion. The need for more data and evidence supporting the uniform start date was discussed. The need for end dates was noted. Kilborn noted that this item is on the next state-wide Meet and Confer agenda.

Motion withdrawn because the quorum was lost—(Schoenberger).

9. Adjournment at 5:10 p.m.