Insight

THEIR OPINION

By Hal Nees

The Faculty Senate at Metro represents the faculty of the college in all matters of interest and concern to the faculty.

These interests and concerns include, but are not limited to, receiving and making recommendations on current and proposed changes in academic, administrative, fiscal and personnel policies. The Faculty Senate is part of the governance at the college. The college operates using a system where the board of trustees and the president of the college involve the faculty in the decision-making process. The faculty offers suggestions and recommendations, influencing the institution on many levels. In most cases, the faculty has much of the say in terms of the curriculum offered at the college.

The Faculty Senate has a number of committees, which perform much of the college work that is within the realm of the faculty, and at the boundary between educational and administrative concerns. These committees are: Academic Policies, Faculty Welfare, Budget, Instructional Resources, Curriculum, Elections, Retention, Promotion and Tenure, Student Affairs Board. There are other committees that work on special projects for the senate.

During the academic year, the faculty senate meets two times per month. All senators are elected from their academic departments and represent the academic departments at the senate meetings. The senate has several representatives, who are elected to represent the senate; the elected positions include a president, vice president and a secretary, as well as others for specific positions within the senate.

We will be working on several items during the academic year of 2005-2006. Some of the priorities for the senate this year include the following areas of effort:

There is some interest in starting plus-and-minus grades for students next year. The faculty needs to discuss the issues and learn what the students believe is appropriate. Some faculty would like to see plus-and-minus grades; others do not agree that this change is appropriate. The academic policy committee will make a recommendation to the senate during the year.

The senate is working with administration to increase the number of tenured and tenure track faculty at the college. We believe that the college needs to recruit additional faculty of color and we support maintaining a diverse faculty. The online education system needs to be examined at the college, and we will work on that issue. Additionally, the faculty senate gives Excellence in Teaching awards each year. We will continue to recognize teaching excellence.

I serve as the president of the faculty senate and find the position to be rewarding and exciting. I get to meet many members of the faculty and work closely with the college administration. With Dr. Jordan taking over as the president of the college, we are now filling some open positions that were either not filled, or had interim people serving in the positions. One of the most critical positions the college will fill this year is the vice president of academic affairs and provost. This person is the chief academic officer on the campus and reports directly to the college president. We hope to select the person by the end of this semester. Dr. Jordan will make the final selection and the board of trustees must approve the person for the position.

Hal Nees is the Faculty Senate President. He may be contacted at neesii@mscd.edu