Thursday
January 7, 2010
MA 21K
2:00 p.m.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

AGENDA

 

1.     Approval of the minutes from the November 19, 2009 meeting


2.     BA/BS Degree Proposal


3.     Program Review

4.     Liaison Reports


5.      Other Items

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 Approved 1-14-10

MINUTES

 

PRESENT
Laine Berghout, David Ferro, Colleen Garside, Azenett Garza, Doris Geide-Stevenson, Ed Hahn, Sue Harley, Ann Millner, Peggy Saunders, Kathleen Sitzman, Mike Vaughan – Kay Brown, Secretary

MINUTES
Colleen Garside: Moved to approve the minutes from the November 19, 2009 meeting
Second: Kathleen Sitzman
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

PROGRAM REVIEW
No programs will be eliminated this year that would result in involuntary termination of faculty.

There are around twenty minors in the system that departments were unaware existed. These minors are not listed in the catalog, but are still in the system. Departments and Deans need to confirm that the minors in question (minors not in the catalog) are not viable programs and need to be eliminated from the system.

Foreign Languages & Literatures - There were problems with the French and Japanese programs that were acknowledged by the Department Chair. A list of concerns was shared with faculty in those programs. The programs are working toward correcting the problems.

TRUSTEES
Peggy Saunders will represent David Ferro at the Trustees meeting January 12.

SALARY CMTE
Salary, Benefits, Budget & Fiscal Planning – David Ferro, liaison

Charges 5 and 6 will be addressed at the meeting Monday, January 11. Information on these charges will be presented at the next Executive Committee meeting.

5. Re-review salary increments given current faculty for completion of a degree in light of the level of the degree and the expectation of the job. (October deadline)

6. Review policy 3-51 concerning fixed and adjunct salary rates. (October deadline)

Cliff Nowell and David Ferro have been analyzing the data on charge 2. Bruce Davis is also looking at the data from Continuing Education

2. Investigate the difference in compensation between online and face to face teaching. (December/January deadline)

The other charges will be addressed by the Salary Committee this semester.

Even though the job market is very tight the CUPA data indicates that salaries are increasing. In terms of hiring this creates inversion problems. The Provost felt that national salary data is somewhat misleading. Some states have given salary increases, but employees were given mandatory furloughs. California required their employees to take furloughs which amounted to an 18% salary cut. The loss of wages because of furloughs does not show up in the base salary data. Unfortunately, job candidates look at the data and compare salaries. Departments would have to point out that some institutions require furloughs. Weber State has not wanted to cut salaries. The Provost felt that when the budget situation turns around, that faculty and staff salaries should be the top priority. He also felt that when money comes available salary increases should come before increasing online compensation and overload compensation. Weber State employees will not receive a salary increase this year.

The Legislature is looking at the state retirement benefits. At this point we do not know if the Legislature will make changes to the retirement program.

Budgets - Weber State’s budget will be cut 1.8 million dollars this year. A number of things have been implemented by the institution and Deans to help absorb the cut. Program elimination or program restructuring is different than administrative consolidation.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environmental Issues Committee – David Ferro, Liaison

The Environmental Issues Committee has formed several subcommittee to address the charges. The committee is working with the IT Division to reduce energy consumption and they are also meeting with the Student Services Division looking at computer labs in terms of energy usage.

TLA
Teaching, Learning & Assessment Committee – Colleen Garside, Liaison

 TLA Events

Upcoming Events

Working On

RSPG
Research, Scholarship & Professional Growth Committee – Azanett Garza, Liaison

Spring Call for Proposals - Hemingway Collaborative and Excellence awards will go out next week with a deadline date of February 19. Funding for the awards was not cut.

Report of the RSPG Fall awards will be scheduled for the February Faculty Senate meeting

HD
Honorary Degree – Kathleen Sitzman, Liaison

The committee discussed the possibility of eliminating December commencement. December 2009 commencement was well attended and the committee felt it would be hard to consolidate December and May commencements.

They have held two meetings and have received great nominations for honorary degree recipients.

GEN ED
General Education Improvement & Assessment Committee – Laine Berghout, Liaison

Charges 1 and 2 were scheduled early

1. Develop and implement a plan for formalized collection and reporting of assessment data and systematic improvement of all general education, diversity (DV), and scientific inquiry (SI) courses. (An outline of the plan including milestones should be submitted for Executive Committee review by the end of September, 2009 with monthly review of progress thereafter.)

2. In consultation with the Provost’s office, review the organization of Gen Ed at WSU and develop an improved organizational plan than will allow for effective oversight and development of Gen Ed. The plan should address issues of consistent leadership and incorporate representative subcommittees for breadth and core Gen Ed areas. (An outline of the plan including milestones should be submitted for Executive Committee review by the end of September, 2009 with monthly review of progress thereafter.)

The Curriculum Committee sent four courses to the General Education Improvement & Assessment Committee for their review and recommendation. Discussion of core requirements has been delayed as the Gen Ed Committee was focused on the gen ed courses sent to them by the Curriculum Committee.

Diversity Requirement - Some conversation has taken place.

Charge 5 is part of the review process

5. Work with the Curriculum Committee, as needed, to evaluate the existing General Education courses that will undergo review during the 2009-10 academic year. Based on the results of the review process, recommend clarifications and modifications of mission statements and learning outcomes to Gen Ed breadth area committees.

There has been some criticism of the policy of one opposing vote sending a gen ed course to the Gen Ed Committee for further review and their recommendation. However, because of this procedure there has been some very beneficial discussion in the Gen Ed Committee regarding what gen ed ought to be and what it ought to be accomplishing. This discussion would likely not have taken place had the one opposing vote option not have been part of the review process. The opposing vote(s) should not be seen as a veto, but rather an opportunity for the Gen Ed Committee to review and make recommendations separate from the recommendations of the Curriculum Committee.

CURRICULUM
Curriculum Committee – Laine Berghout, Liaison

Charges 1, 2, and 3 have been addressed.

1. Review and approve curriculum and program proposals.

2. Continue to conduct workshops on an as-needed basis with college curriculum committee chairs to acquaint them with curriculum procedures.

3. Implement the adopted review process for assessment of General Education courses. In consultation with the General Education Improvement and Assessment Committee chair, recommend improvements to the review process. (Report on the progress by November)

Charge 6 is nearing completion

6. Provide a report on the recent history and current status of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degree-requirements at WSU. Recommend changes to the current university requirements for the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees that will promote a more natural fit of degree with major. (March 2010 deadline)

CRAO
Constitutional Review & Organization Committee – Doris Geide-Stevenson

All deadlines have been met. Additional items will be addressed as they come to them from other committees.

APAFT
Appointment, Promotion, Academic Freedom & Tenure Committee – Sue Harley, Liaison

Charge 2 has been addressed and is ready for the Agenda Setting meeting January 14.

2. Review language in Section 8 of the PPM regarding consistency of language and policy. Particular attention should be paid to the language used for Instructors, Instructor Specialists, and Visiting Professors. December 2009 deadline for completion.

The APAFT Committee will not move forward at this time on review of adjuncts mentioned in charge 3.

3. Develop a comprehensive review policy for non-tenure track part-time or full-time faculty. Final deadline is open at this time. Progress report due March 2010.

The APAFT Committee is waiting to hear from University Council before they can address charge 1.

1. Determine the status of proposed changes to the intellectual property sections of the PPM that are currently under review by the University Counsel. If appropriate, make recommendations for policy changes in response to the results of that review. Open deadline because the committee is working with an entity outside of the committee itself.

Three Organizational Units are making revisions to their tenure documents, Stewart Library, Dumke College of Health Professions, and the Goddard School of Business & Economics.

ASSA
Admissions, Standards & Student Affairs, Peggy Saunders, Liaison

Charges 6 will come to the Executive Committee Agenda Setting meeting January 14.

6. Review and align academic policies for transfer students. (PPM 6-2 III. 2. b. regarding the appropriate admission status of transfer students with cumulative GPA less than a 2.0. Policy refers to PPM 4-17 [Academic Standards Policy] for placement of "warning" or "probation." However, PPM 4-17 II states the cumulative GPA of students who transfer to the University will be computed on the work taken only at WSU. PPM 4-17 needs to address transfer admissions placement of warning or probation. (by December, 09)

Charge 4 has been completed.

4. Revise current policy to allow associate of arts and associate of science degrees from select colleges/universities in the surrounding states to be given the same transfer status as AA/AS degrees within the Utah System of Higher Education. (by December, 09)

Charge 7- Each department will look at the DANTES exams and make their own determination just as they now look at CLEP exams.

7. Review whether the test results of DANTES military exams should be considered for WSU credit similar to CLEP test results. (by December, 09)

Charge 9 - The policy will give some options other than TOFOL. The changes to the policy will be reviewed at the Agenda Setting meeting.

9. Review and update the policy that specifies language requirements for international students.

Charge 5 - This has been looked at and discussed.

5. Review and make recommendations about the policy of not allowing final exams the week prior to the regularly scheduled final exam period. (by December, 09)

The subcommittee is working on charge 8

8. In consultation with the WSU Graduate Council, develop guidelines for new graduate programs, including: Credits required, requirements such as a thesis, number of 5000 level courses accepted and/or dual numbered courses, common core emphasis, foreign language requirement in MA programs, etc. (by March, 2010)

ARCC
Academic Resources & Computing – Ed Hahn, Liaison

A draft has been written addressing charge 1 A. Grants exceeding $5,000 will require matching funds.

1. Allocate ARCC resources, including Dee Family Technology Grant funds, using consistent, objective, fair, and responsible criteria.

A. Review funding criteria and procedures for ARCC for possible revision or clarification purposes. (December deadline)

They want to have an R and R account for repair and replacement.

DEGREES
Currently there are 45 degrees that offer either a BA only or a BS only. These would probably not be questioned. There are 9 specialized degrees, i.e. BFA, BM which don’t fit with either the BA or BS degrees. There are 62 degrees that offer both the BA and BS options. Looking at the 62 degrees that offer both the BA and BS options there appears to be 25 that would have a question (this is overstated because there are degrees within a department that are stated many times, i.e. Visual Arts 3-D, Visual Arts 2-D. Those 25 degrees are housed in 11 departments. Two of those departments have stated that even though they offer the BS they feel they should not.

It is the mission of the Curriculum Committee to review program changes, but if packages were brought forward through the Curriculum Committee to Senate using an advocate it should not be a challenging process. Ryan Thomas would be a good consultant in the process.

The language in the proposal needs to be clarified. The language would create the check list. Departments could list the four courses that make the degree either a BA or a BS degree.

The Provost suggested the following process.

By 2010 or 2011 three things could be done

1. Change the BA requirement

2. Remove SI requirement

3. Temporarily assume that a program that is presently offering a BS should be offering the BS. Review of the new guidelines would be triggered by one of three things:

The SI course list from the Registrar will be sent to Executive Committee members.

NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be the Agenda Setting meeting, January 14, 2010.

ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m.