skip to main content Indiana State University University Faculty Senate EC#1 Approved August 21, Minutes Indiana State University Faculty Senate 2007-08 Time: 3:15 p.m. Place: Hulman Memorial Student Union 227 Present: Chairperson V. Sheets, Vice Chair A. Halpern, Secretary Sr. A. Anderson, J. Fine, J. Hughes, M. Miller S. Pontius, T. Sawyer, D. Worley Ex-Officio: Provost Maynard I. Administrative Report Provost Maynard addressed: a) Fall enrollment, sharing that incoming student enrollment figures show an increase of 2% to 6%, with a decline of 2% in the Graduate School, so far, for the Fall semester. More accurate, detailed figures will be available in one week. Students aren’t transferring to ISU as everyone had hoped. The new Ivy Tech President is very focused on workforce development. As international student enrollment is down, Mike Chambers will be helping with International Affairs. b) In the next few weeks the recommendations for changes to the faculty awards will be made. c) Work is being done to clarify procedures for background checks on new hires. A 3rd party will be contracted to assist. Terre Haute schools insist on background checks for all ISU faculty and staff working with the schools. Grad assistant background checks may be problematic since they may have to move to Terre Haute for the job before the background check is complete. In the hiring process, 3 finalists will have background checks done. A panel consisting (in part) of HR, Faculty Senate, the Provost’s office, and the college the new hire would be working in, will determine the nature of anything found in the background check and how it might effect the new hire’s position. Lying on an application is far worse than having an unlisted criminal issue discovered. d) New Faculty Orientation was attended by approximately 33 very diverse individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. e) The search is optimistically going on for the Dean of College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services. f) There is great interest in the Presidential search. Mr. Alley (of the Board of Trustees) has stated that a 15 person committee is being formed consisting of 5 faculty members and 10 non-faculty individuals. A consultant will assist. g) Upcoming events: 1. The Foundation’s Back To Campus Reception will be held on Sept. 10th in the Ohio Building. 2. The President’s Fall Address will be held on September 13th. 3. The Sycamore Air Show, formerly The Terre Haute Air Show, has been named for the University because of ISU’s major contributions. It is taking place on September 15th & 16th at Hulman Field. The sponsorship has enabled us to provide staff, faculty, and ISU students a discount off the ticket price. Alumni and student tents will provide an opportunity to connect with current and former students. Saturday night, a country music concert will take place (Joe Diffie and Aaron Tippin). h) Last Friday a document signed by 8 of 9 tenured Library faculty was delivered- citing no confidence in the Library Dean, Myrna McCallister. II. Chair Report Chairperson Sheets: Welcome, members of the executive committee, provost. I am honored and humbled to serve as your Chairperson this year, and I look forward to working with each and every one of you. The fall has set upon us (sooner than most us of may have wished). Nonetheless, I trust that you—as I—are returning refreshed and ready to face the challenges of a new year. The opening of each academic year brings renewed hope and optimism. Returning to the classroom is always exciting for me. In any event, we have a strong reason for optimism at the beginning of this year. Our enrollment numbers—at least on first glance (as “official” counts are still a few days away)—look quite good. It appears that we may have a solid increase in new freshmen, and although transfers seem down, overall enrollments appear to be above levels used in making budget projections. This is clearly reason to celebrate, but we must not become complacent. We must continue to focus on marketing & recruitment strategies that bring high-achieving classes of students. And as importantly, we must redouble our efforts on retention. We must identify and support initiatives that promote students’ academic success in the first year as well as their identification as ISU Sycamores, and we need to increase our attractiveness to transfer students; these we must do, lest our gains be temporary. There are additional challenges coming before us this year. We must begin to prepare for our upcoming NCA visit. We must revisit our mission statement to give clarity and direction to the review process, and we will review our General Education program. These activities, which strike at the very heart of the institution, must be driven by faculty who hold the academic values of the campus as their guide. In addition, as everyone is aware, we will soon begin the process of a presidential search. A presidential search provides a unique opportunity for faculty input into a process that can literally shape the future of the institution. I believe this is the single most important task for the year. It thus appears that it will be a very busy year. But I am confident that the faculty, working together, will identify solutions to our challenges that enhance ISU’s greatness. It is with this hope that I conclude my report. III. Fifteen Minute Open Discussion 1. It was noted that the timing of two faculty receptions is so close to each other, attendance at one could affect attendance at the other. Next year the meetings will not be scheduled so close together. 2. The Foundation is helping with financing for caps and gowns, and a discounted price has been negotiated. 3. The Provost expects all positions filled by Interim Deans and Interim Chairs to be filled by permanent Deans and Chairs within the coming year. IV. Nominations for Parliamentarian Tom Sawyer by acclamation as Parliamentarian. (D. Worley, M. Miller 9-0-0) V. Standing Committee Slates After modification, approved as amended. (A. Halpern, S. Pontius 9-0-0) VI. All University Committee Recommendations After modification, approved as amended. (M. Miller, A. Halpern 9-0-0) VII. Charges to Standing Committees The Chair distributed a draft of suggested Standing Committee charges, with a request that the Executive Committee members read them and make further recommendations for discussion at the September 4th meeting. The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m. Last modified: September 16, 2008 Copyright © 2007 by Indiana State University.