FACULTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

September 29, 2009 – 3:00 p.m.  – Provost’s Conference Room

Approved: 10/13/09

PRESENT: Ben Eggleston, Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Jim Daugherty

EXCUSED: John Stratton, Ada Emmett, Barbara Phipps, Steve Maynard-Moody

ALSO PRESENT: Molly Mulloy, Governance, Vice Provost Don Steeples.

            Chair Lisa Wolf-Wendel called the meeting to order.

 

MINUTES for September 1, 2009 were approved.

 

REPORT OF THE FACEX CHAIR

            Lisa reported that the job description for the Provost position has been released.  The committee is going into its “quiet phase” now, and more information is not expected until later in the spring semester.

The Furlough Planning Committee has recommended that students, GTAs, grant employees, and persons earning less than $32,000 per year be held harmless if furloughs are implemented in the future. A chart showing the number of furlough days assigned to each of five salary categories will be produced, with individuals allowed to decide when to take their furlough days. 

 

GRADE DISTRIBUTION

            Vice Provost Don Steeples reported that a commercial company has used the Open Records Act to obtain grade distributions for all instructors and classes with >5 students at KU in order to sell that information to students.  The Registrar and the Provost are considering making this information available free of charge on the Registrar’s website as a service to students; Steeples asked for feedback from faculty. Members discussed the pros and cons of making this information available publicly. Wolf-Wendel noted that there are some classes (like dissertations) where everyone who completes the work receives an “A.”  Members agreed that if the Provost makes this information available it would be useful to have an option (perhaps a pop-up box) where an instructor or department could provide individual notes about a course, especially those where the only grades are A and F. Following much discussion, Wolf-Wendel stated that this issue would be added to the Faculty Senate agenda on 10/8 so that input can be received from faculty in a variety of disciplines.

 

CHANGE STUDENT SURVEY OF TEACHING FORM

            Lisa and Dan Bernstein, chair of the former Task Force on the Assessment of Teaching and Learning, were part of a small ad hoc committee that met with Vice Provost Mary Lee Hummert to fine-tune the course evaluation form that was implemented last year. The group agreed to change Item #9, which used to be: “Compared with courses at a similar level, I would rate how much I learned as…” with choices of “much less” to “much more.” The new Item #9 is: “I acquired the knowledge and skills this course is intended to promote” with the response scale similar to other items (Strongly disagree to strongly agree).The updated forms will be printed in the spring. Lisa added that deans or departments may decide whether to use the Provost-approved survey form or their own departmental form, but this decision is not up to individual faculty members.

 

OLD BUSINESS

            Members discussed a concern by some faculty that doubling the number of staff members (from six to twelve) to the 57-member University Senate might dilute the influence of faculty voting on academic policy questions.  For example, while it may be appropriate for staff to vote on issues such as gender identity in the Non-Discrimination policy, some faculty believe it is inappropriate for six University Support Staff members to discuss/vote on policies such as course repetition or withdrawal. No further action was taken.

 

NEW BUSINESS

            Lisa Wolf-Wendel stated that last year’s SPPT Committee (Standards and Procedures for Promotion and Tenure) recommended three changes to Article VI of the Faculty Senate Rules to make the language consistent with UCPT practices, the Blue Form, and recommendations from the Task Force on Teaching Assessment.  These were scheduled for discussion at the April Faculty Senate meeting but postponed to the fall semester because of many questions raised by faculty. Among the controversial issues were the requirement for a job description and a statement on the Blue Form that work done as part of one’s dissertation could not be counted toward tenure. It’s Lisa’s understanding that the Provost has deleted this from the Blue Form, and FacEx members agreed that Lisa should consult with both the SPPT chair and with Vice Provost Mary Lee Hummert  about revising the recommendations.  These will be brought to the next FacEx meeting.

 

No further business.

Respectfully submitted,

Molly Mulloy