Draft to be approved 10/17/12

 

  The Metropolitan State College of Denver

 Faculty Senate

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

3:20pm – 4:50pm

Tivoli 320 A, B & C

 

MINUTES

-----------

 

Attendees:  Akacem, Badwan, Bagwell, Bahl, Balogh, Bernhardt, Bisio, Bonham, Butler, Carnes, Collette, Cook, Corash, Davinroy, Davis, DelCastillo, Denn, Dormer, Duburguet, Dyhr, Ethier, Evans, Flemon, Forgash, Gagliardi-Seeley, Gatlin, Ghosh, Gibson, Gurley, Haga, Hagen, Hallam, Hasley, Hathorn, Hernandez-Julian, Hill, Hoffman, Holloway, Izurieta, Jayasanker, Jacobs, Jiang, Johnson, Karris, King, Kleinfeld, Klimek, Komodore, Krasner, Krugman, Lamb, Liu, London, Louden, Lubinski, Malpass, Matthews, McKenzie, Mowder, Odell, Ortiz, Pantos, Pleis, Posey, Preuhs, Pytlinski, Reid, Reimer, Rogers, Ropp, Rucki, Sahami, Saxe, Schatz, Shopp, Sidelko, Simpson, Stephens, Tollefson, Wagner, Wanberg, Weber, Worster, Yeh, Zajdowicz, Zeiler, Zhang, Zhu   Guests:  Ayesse, Golich

 

 

 

I.                        Call to Order

 

II.                     Approval of Previous Meetings Minutes (at Senate Website), VOTE.

 

  The Vote was called.

  The Minutes were approved. 

 

III.                 Announcements/Updates

 

-           Affiliate and Category II Senate Elections are being run by Elections Committee. Please encourage department colleagues to consider those positions on the Senate.

-           The Senate Diversity Committee is continuing the cycle of the Faculty Climate Survey in Spring 2013. More information will be provided as the date approaches.

-           There is one request for Senate representation on the Wellness Committee that will include administrators, faculty and classified staff with support from HR that will be launching different programs and events. If interested in serving on a college-wide committee, please email President Sahami.

 

IV.               ELECTIONS - Vacant At-Large Seats: Multicultural Review Committee and Rules Committee – Elections Committee

 Senator Ropp, Chair, Elections, announced the two At-Large committees.

 Senator Carnes, Chair, Multicultural Review Committee, gave a quick overview of the responsibilities of the committee.

 

 Senator Ropp announced one nominee and called for nominations from the floor.

  Annie Butler is appointed by acclimation.

 

 

 Senator Ropp, Chair, Rules Committee, gave a quick overview of committee responsibilities.

 

 Senator Ropp announced one nominee and called for nominations from the floor.

  Daniel Krasner is appointed by acclimation.

 

V.                  PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION and VOTE: Proposed Handbook Change:  Removal of Appendix A from Handbook. – Provost Golich http://www.msudenver.edu/senate/assets/pdf/Handbook/ReqForChangeToHandbook-Appendix%20A.pdf

 Provost Golich spoke about the origin of this Handbook change. In spring of 2009, she remembers hearing about the need to fix the faculty evaluation system and the frustration with Appendix A.

 

The formal title for Appendix A is: Minimum Degree Level and College Teaching Requirements for Rank Upon Appointment. Appendix A is designed to be used for initial hiring only. In the Handbook, it is subject to Trustee approval. The goal in removing it from the Handbook is to provide more flexibility to faculty and to ensure fairness in the hiring process. The change is not meant to take away a policy or standard but to move it from the Handbook so that changes can be made more expeditiously and would ease workload.

 

  Provost Golich opened the discussion.

 

  Senator Odell, Human Performances, reported that department faculty had questions about the future location of Appendix A and do not want the change approved until that information is determined.

 

 President Sahami mentioned the main theme of the Senate’s discussion at the last meeting was the future location of Appendix A and what the process would be for utilizing it.

 

 Provost Golich understood the concern and would like to work with the Senate Welfare Committee to develop the future specifics of Appendix A.

 

 Senator Rogers, Social Work, asked what faculty without their terminal degree would do if Appendix A is taken out of the Handbook and what their due process rights will be if a degree requirement is subsequently changed.  His second question was that if faculty were brought in as a TOPS candidate, what would be their protection if they were being considered for faculty needing a terminal degree.   Provost Golich compared faculty protection to that which students are granted under their governing catalog, and it was her understanding that faculty would be grand-fathered under the requirements they met when they were hired.

 

 Senator Hagen, History, agreed that initial hiring is governed by Appendix A but contends that it does have Retention, Tenure and Promotion implications in granting tenure and promotion. While working on RTP, she has seen numerous instances where issues arose about promotion and the appropriate degree. Senator Hagen believes that taking Appendix A out of the Handbook would grant administration more flexibility, not faculty.

 

 FACT Rep Saxe, English, thought that since the document was in the Handbook it provided certain protections for faculty since the Board of Trustees is not a part of the administrative line. He does not see how taking Appendix A out of the Handbook will provide more freedom for faculty in selecting future members of departments.

 

 President Sahami outlined the process for institutional-wide vetting for faculty and confirmed the plan to safe-guard its continuance.

 

 Senator Worster, Music, understood the proposal and reported that the department discussed this change and how it has been used successfully in tenure and promotion according to departmental guidelines. He believes that only departments, their faculty and accreditation agencies, if any, should be involved with deciding what degrees are required for initial hiring.

 

 Senator Hagen, History, gave a scenario where a faculty member was hired according to Appendix A and the department chair wrote a negative letter for the person’s retention or tenure citing that the person did not have an advanced degree. The RTP committee was able to write a positive letter refuting what the chair wrote.

 

 President Sahami asked for any additional comments or questions. There were none.

 

 The Vote was called.

A=Yes=Remove Appendix A

B= No = Do not remove

 

  Final vote was 43/Yes to 32/No.

 

The vote passed and Vice-President Ortiz and President Sahami will vote ‘Yes’ on behalf of the Faculty Senate.

 

VI.                FIRST READING and DISCUSSION of MOTIONS: Proposal to change “College” to ‘’University” in the Constitution and By-Laws.  – Rules Committee http://www.msudenver.edu/senate/assets/pdf/motions/2012/Rules_Motion_University_Wording-091912.pdf

 Senator Ropp, Chair, Rules Committee, announced the motion to change the language of the Constitution and Bylaws to reflect the change the word “college” to “university”.

 

 Motion #1: Motion to Amend the Constitution

The name, “Metropolitan State College of Denver,” will be changed to

“Metropolitan State University of Denver” throughout the Faculty Senate

Constitution.

 

 Motion #2: Motion To Amend the Bylaws

The name, “Metropolitan State College of Denver,” will be changed to

“Metropolitan State University of Denver.” “MSCD” and “Metro State” will

be changed to “MSU Denver,” and “College” or “college” will be changed

to “University,” where appropriate. These changes will be made

throughout the Faculty Senate Bylaws.

 

 A Discussion was called for the two motions.

 

  President Sahami reminded the Senate of the process to make changes to Senate constitution and bylaws. There were no comments or questions.   President Sahami announced that the 2^nd reading and vote would be held at the next Senate meeting.  

 

VII.             FIRST READING and DISCUSSION of MOTIONS: Proposal to change the minimum teaching eligibility requirements for senate service in the Senate Constitution  – Rules Committee http://www.msudenver.edu/senate/assets/pdf/motions/2012/Rules-Article_III_changes.pdf

 Senator Ropp, Chair, Rules Committee, opened the discussion of the motion to amend Article III for clarity and consistency (this motion does not revisit the vote made in May, 2012 regarding department chairs).

 

 The Preference poll that was sent out to the Senate asked if the minimum teaching requirement should be reduced to three credit hours, be taken out all together, or maintain the requirement at six credit hours. The survey results were:

 

43% approved of reducing to three credit hours;

30% approved of taking out the requirement completely; and

26% preferred no change from the six credit hour requirement.

 

The Rules Committee decided to accept the selection that had the highest percentage approval of three credit hours.

 

 The Motion was read into the record:

 

Motion: Change Article III of the constitution to:

 

The Faculty

 

The faculty shall consist of tenured, tenure-track, and Category II faculty who teach at least 3 credit hours each semester at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. Department chairs are eligible to serve on Senate. Affiliate faculty can serve on Senate only if they are elected representatives of the affiliate faculty.

 

Faculty members on leave from the University cannot be Faculty Senators or

serve on senate committees while they are on leave.

 

Current wording:

 

The Faculty

 

The faculty shall consist of individuals who hold current contracts to teach for

Metropolitan State College of Denver and whose current assignment includes at least six credit hours of scheduled teaching. Department chairs shall also be classified as faculty. Individuals appointed for teaching or instructionally related responsibilities on a per credit, per term basis are excluded.

 

 President Sahami called for any comments or discussion.

 

 Senator Hernandez, Economics, proposed an amendment to remove the phrase, “who teach at least three credit hours each semester” from the motion. He gave his reasoning for the amendment.

 

 President Sahami explained the process for a friendly amendment.

 

 Senate Posey, Women’s Studies, commented that the language regarding chairs does not state that chairs are held to the same requirement.

 

 President Sahami gave a five minute break while the Rules Committee discussed the proposed amendment to this motion.

 

 Senator Ropp announced that the Rules Committee declined to accept the friendly amendment.

 

 Senator Hernandez made a point of order and asked if parliamentary procedure states that the body does not agree on the amendment, the body still votes on the amendment.

 

 Senator Hernandez made a motion to remove the phrase “who teach at least three credit hours each semester”. His motion was seconded.

 

 President Sahami asked the Rules Committee’s permission to vote on the second motion to change the language first and the original motion second. Permission was granted.

 

 The vote will be on removal of “three units per semesters” clause.

 

 A discussion of Senator Hernandez’s motion was called.

 

 Senator Pytlinski, Art, commented that faculty are defined at the HR level and an alternative could be to use that language in redefining the Senate constitution.

 

 Senator Malpass, HPS, asked what changes would be made after the vote.

 

 FACT Rep MacDonald, supports Senator Hernandez’s motion; believes that keeping a minimum teaching requirement would negatively impact smaller departments if chairs are not eligible to serve on the Senate; and that this becomes an ethical issue about inclusivity of faculty members.

 

  The Vote is called to strike the language of the “three units” from the motion.

      A= Yes to Approve

B= No to Oppose

 

 The motion failed with a vote of 32/Yes to 47/No.

 

 President Sahami announced that the language remained unmodified and the Senate will have a second reading next meeting.

 

 

VIII.           PRESENTATION and DISCUSSION: Faculty Proposed IP policy. – Sen. S. Cook, Chair IP Taskforce http://www.msudenver.edu/senate/assets/pdf/IPCombined_091912.pdf

 Senator Cook, Chair, IP Taskforce, explained their appointment to examine this issue relating to the best practices in the field to protect faculty and the institution, to review Metro’s current IP policy, and to construct or recommend change, if applicable. The Taskforce are asking for senators to review the information and discuss with other faculty. Senator Cook outlined the efforts of the Taskforce and their findings.

 

 Senator Cook called for any questions.   

 

 Senator Wanberg, Industrial Design, asked if the question of student owned intellectual property was address in this research.

 

 President Sahami asked senators to please share this information with department faculty and contact Senator Cook directly with any suggestions or comments.

 

IX.               Motion to Adjourn.

 

 The Vote was called.

 The Senate was Adjourned.