A PDF of the recap can be found here.

Note: Complete proceedings of the meeting were recorded and are available at https://senate.oregonstate.edu/november-9-2017. This recap contains agenda attachments, votes associated with action items, Information Items and the Roll Call.

 

FACULTY SENATE
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Recap

 

A. ACTION ITEMS

  1. Faculty Senate Slate of Candidates 

The 2017 Slate of Candidates was presented for approval. Kate Halischak, Bylaws and Nominations Committee Chair, presented the 2017 Slate of Candidates for: Senate President-Elect, three new members of the Executive Committee (EC) and one Interinstitutional Faculty Senate (IFS) Senator. The President-Elect serves for one year, and then automatically assumes the presidency of the Faculty Senate; EC members serve two-year terms; and IFS Senators serve a three-year term.

Nominations were opened for all positions – there were no nominees from the floor. The nominations were declared closed.

  1. Approval of the 2018 Apportionment Table

The 2018 OSU Faculty Senate Apportionment Table was presented for approval during the meeting. Senators have until 5PM Wednesday to vote electronically. The 2018 Apportionment Table was approved following the meeting.

B. COMMITTEE REPORTS

  1. Graduate Council Proposed Policy

Theresa Filtz, Graduate Council member, presented a proposed new policy:

The proposed policy was presented for discussion in November, and a vote is scheduled in December. Senators were encouraged to share this proposed policy with their constituents for review and feedback.

  • Senator Dave Shaw, Forestry, was under the impression that the unit head is responsible for what the policy calls for. Filtz responded that there is no university policy – although there may be a unit policy, which is fine.
  • Senator Mina Ossiander, Science, read a statement on behalf of the Mathematics Graduate Chair. Mathematics is not in favor of the proposal and feels that such cases should be dealt with on a case-by- case basis – there is a disastrous effect when it’s a top down process.
    • Filtz acknowledged that the Graduate Council did receive the communication from Mathematics, and they understand the difficulty, which is why the policy doesn’t state that the unit must find accommodations for the student; there may be rare cases when there is not an appropriate advisor. There must be a written policy to refer to.
  • Past Faculty Senate President Jack Higginbotham has experienced this situation three times. There is the legal question of whether the university has entered into a contract with the student. He spoke in favor of the proposed policy to help protect students. He noted that there are times when faculty have to do what’s right.
  1. Proposed Bylaws Revisions  

Mike Bailey, past Bylaws and Nominations Committee Chair, presented proposed Bylaws revisions for discussion. It is anticipated that these proposed revisions will be presented for approval during the December Faculty Senate meeting to allow time for Senators to discuss these revisions with their constituents.

C. DISCUSSION ITEM

Fall Term Start Date

Rebecca Mathern, Registrar, discussed the Fall Term start date. The major points were:

  • There will be a four-year calendar, and a periodic assessment of effectiveness will occur.
  • Sunday move-in days lessen the opportunity for binge drinking.
  • Mid-week start resulted from creating a university closure when Veteran’s Day was created.

Discussion:

  • Ex-officio John Bailey noted that Fall 2018 has a Thursday start because OSU does not close for Jewish holidays – a commitment was made to not host a major event on a major holy day.
  • President Mason indicated that students consider it a hardship for them to attend class on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving when they could be traveling.
  • Senator Ossiander, Science, stated that GTA training is affected. One unit would like a week after the start of the GTA contract before classes start so there is time for advising and training, which didn’t occur this year.
  • Senator Jovanovic, Engineering, stated that faculty discussed the change, and the overwhelming sentiment is against this disruptive change. Colleagues are in favor of retuning to a full week to start classes.
  • A faculty member from Agricultural Sciences felt that it is very disruptive when Thanksgiving is in Week 8, and suggested considering adding week 9 and 10 after Thanksgiving. Mathern responded that this issue has come up. The committee recognized that Winter term starts on a Monday, regardless of when January 1 is, and having classes for two weeks after Thanksgiving would push the calendar further out into December.
  • Ex-officio John Bailey questioned why Winter break needs to be so long. Mathern responded that, traditionally, Winter break is 3-4 weeks, additionally, the end of term processing always takes a week.
  • Senator Hunter-Zaworski, Engineering, observed that Thanksgiving is as disruptive as the half week at the beginning of the term; she would rather have students travel safely on Wednesday. There needs to be a conversation related to full week classes.
  • Senator Schwartz (v. Boovy), Liberal Arts, suggested combining the two half weeks, put them at the beginning of the term, and take off the entire week of Thanksgiving. Mathern responded that this was a significant consideration, but there are contractual issues associated with this option. President Mason asked Donna Chastain, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer, to think about the contract issues in this respect.
  • Senator Kaplan, Liberal Arts, noted that not only are TA’s affected, but so are faculty on 9-month contracts who only had two contract days to prepare for class.
  • Senator Riggs, Associated Faculty, explained that non-degree students are looking for semester courses which transfer easier. Mathern noted that this is a system-wide question and that degree partnership agreements with all 17 community colleges must be considered – there are significant hurdles to work through.
  • A professional faculty member who assists faculty in their research obligations noted that the early start date is prohibitive to faculty. Mid-week starts are problematic for faculty service obligations, and how is this taken into consideration in the decision-making process? Mathern explained that is why the issue is being discussed at the Faculty Senate.
  • Senator Dever, Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, questioned whether a mid-week term end was considered. Mathern said that could mean that finals week would begin on Wednesday; she was unsure whether the committee had discussed that option.
  • President Mason stated that Dead Week is not a dead week since students are still in class.
  • Senator Scott, Engineering, inquired whether it would it be possible to compress the final exam schedule, which is now more than 4.5 days – could it be compressed into three days? Mathern noted the concern raised is that students already have multiple exams in one day. She indicated that the committee could explore a mid-week term end as well as the possibilities and ramifications.
  • President Mason stated that, as the unit person who cajoles colleagues to submit grades on time, he was beyond appalled at how many units don’t submit grades until days after they are due. Mathern noted that thousands of grades are not submitted on time and emphasized that, if exams are going to be compressed, the faculty need to do their jobs.
  • Mathern will distribute notices related to future listening sessions and thanked Faculty Senators for their feedback.
  • Senator Meigs, Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, stated that he and many colleagues teach an intersession class off-campus prior to the start of Fall term. The change in the term start date has severely crimped their ability to deliver these experiential learning courses.
  • Senator Beisiegel, Science, noted a problem with the shrinking number of contract days before classes start. Previously there were three full days to work with the Math TA’s before classes started, but now there is barely a day and half because the official contract started this year on September 15 or 16, but classes started on September 20, and students have other orientation events to attend.
  • Senator Bakos, Cascades, questioned the meaning of "less drinking the weekend before classes begin" as it relates to beginning on a Thursday.
    • Senator Quick, Science, added, if move in is on a Friday, then the students are here all weekend before class, but when move-in is on a Sunday, do administrators really think that students don’t drink between move-in and the time the term begins?
  • One questioned whether OSU could consider moving to a semester schedule (fall, spring) so classes can be 15 weeks long to comprehensively cover courses.
    • Senator Swisher, Science, added that, since OSU is no longer part of OUS, isn't this a real possibility?
    • Another questioned whether, nationally, Ecampus was losing revenue and students by staying with a quarter system.
  • Senator Eric Dickey, Liberal Arts, thank Rebecca Mathern for the opportunity to discuss this issue. He also stated that, as a professional faculty who serves faculty in their research obligations, the early start date is prohibitive to faculty. The mid-week starts are problematic for faculty service obligations. How is this taken into consideration in the decision-making progress?

D. SPECIAL REPORTS

  1. Graduate School Update     

Jennifer Brown, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School outlined her role, philosophy, goals and Graduate School activities.

  • Beaver Bites – there are roughly 4,675 graduate students as of Fall 2016.
    • Core functions of the Graduate School is strengthening processes and creating efficiencies.
    • The Graduate School recently moved from Kerr Administration Building to Heckart Lodge – an open house will occur after the first of the year. The new location includes a 30-person classroom and their own conference room – they also hope to have the Graduate Council meet there.
  • Are there strategies to finding better graduate representatives? Dean Brown indicated that they are not currently looking into this issue, but will add it to their list to discuss.
    • Senator Plaza, Liberal Arts, noted that faculty don’t want to be a Graduate Council Representative (GCR) because there are no associated ‘points’; he suggested that this be considered as service to the university.
  1. OSU Employee Critical Training Initiative  
  • Donna Chastain, Interim Director of Human Resources, and John Buzzard and Angela Ridge, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), outlined the OSU Employee Critical Training Initiative. Critical Training Leadership Essentials
  • Critical Training Charter
  • Chastain stated that the Human Resources (HR) mission is to become partners with the rest of OSU – HR is working on changing what they do for OSU, as well changing the perception of HR, and look forward to engaging with Registrar Rebecca Mathern regarding the academic calendar.
  • Chastain explained that, in 2016, the Board of Trustees (BOT) received a report related to critical risk at OSU which identified employee discrimination, harassment and poor management training as risk factors. The BOT charged Mike Green, Vice President of Finance and Administration, with resolving these issues.
  • Chastain was tasked with overseeing a process to review critical training at OSU. She appointed two work groups – one looked at critical training content, and the other looked at a platform, which included review of both a talent management system and a learning management system. The talent management system integrates recruiting and performance management systems and ties together all aspects of an employee’s training, growth, etc. The learning management system is a platform that allows delivery of training and provides tracking and reporting on training.
    • The two workgroups were Critical Content, led by Curtis Flynn, and the Talent and Learning Management Workgroup, led by Paul Biwan, and membership consisted of representation cross campus. They learned that content providers had a platform, or platforms, but no very good content. The analysis resulted in a partnership in leveraging processes already available at OSU. PACE was contracted with to assist in delivering training. There will be OSU-specific training, rather than ‘off the shelf’ training.
  • Angela explained that the platform is self-paced and courses can be completed independently. This is occurring now because there was a mandate by President Ray and the BOT to coordinate the efforts to create and deploy Critical Training by January 1, 2018.
  • Senator Plaza confirmed that the training was not optional.
  • Chastain indicated that the timeline for new and current employees would be 60 days for the required training.
  • In response to Senator Plaza’s inquiry of penalties for non-compliance, Chastain indicated that names of those not completing the training will be reported to the dean/ equivalent, the Provost and President Ray.

E. INFORMATION ITEMS

  1. Affirmation of the Responsibilities of Faculty Regarding Curriculum

The OSU Faculty Senate had originally been asked by the Interinstitutional Faculty Senate (IFS) to consider and approve the attached resolution (Section II) affirming faculty autonomy in creating and implementing the curriculum. However, this request has been withdrawn by IFS.

The document is attached so you can view the concerns addressed related to .

It is anticipated that a report on HB2998 will be presented to the Faculty Senate during the December 7 Faculty Senate meeting.

  1. Faculty Small Group Session with President Ray

In an ongoing effort to improve communication lines between the faculty and administration, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee is sponsoring a Fall term small group conversation with President Ray and faculty (academic, research and professional). This conversation will be facilitated by a Faculty Senate Executive Committee member and will consist of up to 12 faculty. This is an opportunity for the President to hear what faculty are thinking and experiencing; faculty are encouraged to speak freely. If you’d like an issue clarified, or wish to confirm a rumor, this is the place to do it!

The session is November 27 from 9:30-11:00. If you wish to attend, please register online at http://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8JmFMuYC1xkg3I1.

  1. December Faculty Senate Meeting

Please note that, due to the end of the term occurring the first week of December, the Faculty Senate meeting will be December 7 rather than December 14.

  1. Remote Participation in Faculty Senate Meetings

To participate in Faculty Senate meetings via WebEx, log in to https://oregonstate.webex.com beginning at 2:50 PM on the day of the Senate meeting, and then login with your ONID credentials to the Faculty Senate Chat Room. Senators and proxies must log in with their real names so that attendance can be accurately reflected; if you are a proxy, please indicate the Senator you are representing. If you are asked for a meeting number, insert 921 759 624. If you experience problems logging in during the meeting, please contact Vickie Nunnemaker at [email protected].

  1. Faculty Senate Retirements and 1039-Hour Appointment

Faculty Senators – Faculty Senators whose terms extend beyond December 31, but who are retiring at the end of fall term, are no longer eligible to serve as a Senator. If you fall into this category, please contact Vickie Nunnemaker at [email protected] as soon as possible so a replacement can be identified to complete the remainder of your term.
Committee/Council Members – Faculty whose Senate committee/council terms extend beyond December 31, and are either retiring at the end of fall term or whose 1039-hour appointments end fall term, are no longer eligible to continue serving. If you are not filling a specified emeritus/retired position on the committee/council on which you serve, or if you are unsure, please contact the Faculty Senate Office so a determination may be made and/or a replacement identified.

  1. Declining to Run for Faculty Senator

All currently employed academic, research and professional faculty, regardless of FTE, are eligible to be elected to a Senator position and represent faculty in their respective Faculty Senate apportionment unit. However, Executive Level 1, 2 and 3 (dean or above) are excluded from being elected, as are Senators who are completing two consecutive three-year terms or faculty on LWOP. Because the deadline to decline has been extended to Noon on November 13, please complete the survey at http://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5nj4OhspZmhZoRT if you wish to decline to have your name placed on the Senator nomination ballot. Faculty must decline each year.

  1. President-Elect, Executive Committee and IFS Elections

As provided in the Senate Bylaws, (Article VI, Section 3) and amended on October 6, 1977, "additional nominations may be made from the floor and the nominations shall be closed." The Executive Committee requires that if such nominations from the floor are made, the nominator must obtain, in advance, the nominee's willingness to serve if elected.

The University-wide election of the President-Elect and IFS Senator will be conducted between November 15 and December 6. Ballots will be distributed to all eligible voting members of the OSU faculty, in accordance with current Faculty Senate Bylaws. Voting must be completed no later than 8:00 AM on December 6 and results will be verified prior to the December 7 Faculty Senate meeting. The individual receiving the highest number of votes will be declared the winner in each of the elections.

Election of new members of the Executive Committee will be conducted electronically prior to the December 7 Faculty Senate meeting. Those candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected. Tie votes shall be resolved by written ballot in a run-off election during the meeting.

F. REPORT FROM AND DIALOG WITH THE PROVOST & EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Ed Feser

  • Federal tax legislation – OSU is working actively to prepare a letter to Washington to comment on the Republican-announced budget. One of the biggest issues is the tax liability of waiver.
  • He hopes to present SP4.0 to the Board of Trustees in Spring 2018.

G. REPORT FROM AND DIALOG WITH THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT

     Bob Mason

  • The Faculty Senate today hosted a Carbon Legislation Forum that included participation by State Senators and Representatives. They sincerely expressed their gratitude related to how useful the forum was to them and their appreciation of the expertise of OSU faculty.
  • Remember veteran’s on November 11.

H. NEW BUSINESS

No new business

 

Meeting adjourned at 4:59 PM.

Recap prepared by Vickie Nunnemaker, Faculty Senate staff

Roll Call

Members Present:
Agricultural Sciences: Diebel (remote), Heppell, Sanchez, Sherman, Simonich (remote), Stone (remote)
Associated Faculty: Bangs, Breen, Bruce, Mark Bierly (v. Calvery), Hansen, Mathern, Nishihara, Riggs
Business: Akroyd, Bourne (remote), Cluver (remote), LeMay, Murnieks (remote)
Cascades: Bakos (remote), Wolsko (remote)
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences: Dever, Meigs (remote)
Education: Arellano (remote), Bachman (remote)
Engineering: Albertani, Hunter-Zaworski, Johnston, Jovanovic, Mayaram (remote), Moon (remote), Scott, Tumer, Wildenschild (remote)
Extension: Galloway (remote)
Forestry: Leavengood, Shaw
Hatfield Marine Science Center: Henkel (remote)
Liberal Arts: Proxy name illegible (v. Barnd), Below (remote), Adam Schwartz (v. Boovy), Cramer (remote), Dickey (remote), Duncan (remote), Inderbitzin, Maldonado (remote), Osei-Kofi (remote), Plaza, Rebecca Olson (v. Sheehan) (remote), Trujillo
Library: Michael Boock (v. Van Tuyl)
Public Health & Human Sciences: Bethel (remote), Hannigan-Downs, Mahana, Yun (remote)
Science: Bogley, Bokil, Cozzi, Giovannoni, Gitelman, McIntyre, Ossiander, Quick (remote), Swisher (remote), Tate

Members Absent:
Agricultural Sciences: Cassidy, Chang, Field, Gaebel, Goddik, Hayes, Mata-Gonzalez, McGorrin, Pscheidt
Associated Faculty: Bradoch, Gillies, Hayes, Powell, Sagmiller, Sather, Signs, Yee
Business: Gerasymenko, Schilpzand, Scott
Cascades: Hagen
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences: Mix, Ozkan-Haller, White
Engineering: Bay, Gambatese, Istok, Kelly, Squires, Stone, Yeh
Extension: Ashton, Riggs
Forestry: Cushing, Knowles
Liberal Arts: Chappell, Driskill, Gottlieb, Gross, Herrera, Orosco, Roper, Shay
Pharmacy: Linares, Sikora
Public Health & Human Sciences: Bovbjerg, Carozza, Luck, Wilcox
ROTC: TBD
Science: Beisiegel, Faridani, Gable, Jansen, Karplus, Remcho, Riverstone, Thomann, Weis
Student Affairs: Alvarez-Cortez, Jenkins, Newhart, Wright
Veterinary Medicine: Gordon, Huber


Guests Present:
Jennifer Almquist (remote), Sherm Bloomer, Raul Burriel (remote), Kim Calder (remote), Theresa Filtz, Erin Frost, Rosemary Garagnani (remote), Lynn Greenough, Lynne Hindman, Emma Larkins (remote), Amy Leeds, Gabriel Merrell, Terrence Merritt (remote), Melanie Mitchell, Sastry Pantula (remote), Angela Ridge, Kristin Rifai (remote), Robbin Sim (remote), Terralyn Vandetta (remote)