January 18, 2007
Loyola Marymount University
Faculty Senate Minutes
January 18, 2007
Collins Center
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Present: Cynthia Becht, Charles Erven, Sonny Espinoza, Véronique Flambard-Weisbart, Vicki Graf, Paul Harris, Yvette Lapayese, Blake Mellor, Mel Mendelson, Ed Mosteig, K. J. Peters, Ralph Quiñones, Damon Rago, Nina Reich, James Roe, Jonathan Rothchild, Sue Scheibler and Seth Thompson
Excused: Najwa Al-Qattan, Jeffrey Davis, Omar Es-Said, Gary Kuleck, Chun I. Lee, Liz Murray, Jennifer Offenberg and Rhonda Rosen
President Graf called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. She began the meeting with a moment of silence.
I. Announcements – President Graf
- An Evaluation of the Senate survey will be distributed to senators very soon. This survey will help the Senate assess its own performance and confirm areas of focus.
- The next Faculty Senate Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 1, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Collins Center.
- Senators will be receiving an email from President Graf regarding the ESOF salary requests for the budget presentation. CAO Rose is supportive of ESOF. President Graf would like faculty input before she presents at the Budget Committee Meeting that will take place next week, Friday, January 26. Faculty are highly encouraged to seek support from their Deans before the Budget meeting.
- Separate Faculty Senate meetings with the finalist candidates for the position of Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies have been scheduled. President Graf asked senators to attend the upcoming session on Friday January 19. Several senators indicated their intention to attend.
- Véronique Flambard-Weisbart has joined the Senate to replace Rudy Fleck who is on sabbatical.
II. WASC Update and Decision Support Environment - Margaret Kasimatis, Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness
LMU WASC Special Visit – LMU’s special visit will take place in February or March 2008. There are four issues that LMU will be focusing on in preparation for the visit:
1. Creating a culture of evidence related to student learning
2. Linking long-range financial planning to student learning
3. Demonstrating whole-person education and education in service of faith
4. Creating a learning organization
A centerpiece example in the self-study report will be the Core Curriculum review.
Decision Support Environment. This is a five-year project, currently in the planning stage, that will offer enhanced, centralized access to information, enabling faculty and staff to make better decisions with high quality data and easily accessed reports.
Q & A
Q. In terms of providing a “culture of evidence,” what is the hoped-for balance between quantitative and qualitative data?
A. There is definitely room for qualitative data, especially in disciplines where providing quantitative measures is difficult. Either type needs to be objective.
Q. Fine Arts is extremely difficult to quantify. Who is determining the assessment criteria? The difficulty with qualitative evaluations is finding the right language to convey the criteria.
A. Come to one of my workshops.
Q. Who finances WASC?
A. Universities pay dues every year. If we are not WASC accredited, students cannot receive federal financial aid.
Q. What will be the negative impact of the Decision Support Environment on the faculty workload? We need to ask that question with every big change or activity.
A. We are not getting rid of LMU’s current transactional data systems. For some people the new tool will create more work. People who want data reports will need to be trained. But using it will cut down the time that it takes to access and analyze data.
Q. I have not bought into the “culture of evidence” goal since it sounds like a corporate term. I do not believe in looking at the product, but at the process.
A. If you are not seeing the connection between the goals and the mission of the university, it a great question to take back to the Cabinet.
III. Core Curriculum, Workload Committee and Faculty Handbook Updates – Matt Dillon
Core Curriculum. The Core Curriculum is undertaking a comprehensive revision. Matt plans to have a short “blue print” document to present to the Senate this semester with a general statement of the mission and the Core Curriculum goals.
Workload Committee. The new taskforce will meet for the first time next week. The question of workload has become institutionalized so there will be a more comprehensive approach to addressing this issue.
Faculty Handbook. Matt distributed a proposal to reorganize the Faculty Handbook.
It was moved and seconded to accept the Proposal to Senate for reorganization of Faculty Senate Handbook, 1/18/07.
(1) Whereas the current LMU Faculty Agreement (i.e., annual contract) is
“subject to and incorporates by reference the latest edition of the Faculty
Handbook, the Statement of the Faculty Senate regarding Teaching/Advising,
Scholarship, Service and Merit, and the current general Bulletin of the
University,” and
(2) Whereas the current Faculty Handbook includes material that is either
obsolete or clearly does not pertain to the contractual agreement,
(3) It is proposed that the Faculty Senate establish a subcommittee to revise both the Faculty Handbook and the language of the Faculty Agreement in order to clarify the issue of contractual obligation.
(4) Furthermore, it is proposed that the revised edition of the Faculty Handbook be divided into three parts:
1. Introductory material (essentially: History of the University and Sections
I-IV, updated)
2. Academic Policies (essentially Sections V-VII, edited)
3. HR Policies pertaining to the Faculty (e.g., Discrimination, Leaves of
Absence, etc.)
After discussion it was moved and seconded to amend the motion by striking the entire text of paragraph (4), retaining paragraphs (1)-(3) only.
Motion to amend passed unanimously.
The vote was called on the original motion as amended. The amended motion passed unanimously.
IV. Student Handbook on Community Standards - Linda McMurdock, Dean of Students and Francesca Piumetti, Assistant Dean of Students/Chief Judicial Officer
In order to address recent faculty statements that many faculty do not feel safe in the classroom, Linda McMurdock and Francesca Piumetti were invited to the Senate to discuss resources available to faculty and to explain Judicial Affairs procedures. A copy of Community Standards, the conduct policies handbook issued by the division of Student Affairs, was distributed to each senator.
The following points were clarified:
- Community Standards is updated each year. It is distributed to all the colleges at the beginning of the academic year.
- Anyone (faculty, student, staff, Sodexho, community member, etc.) may file a complaint against a student with Judicial Affairs. Faculty with complaints about student conduct should contact Judicial Affairs.
- Complaints are processed through a formal hearing and after the hearing a decision is made whether to hold the student accountable. The student has the right to appeal the decision with the Student Conduct Committee which is made up of faculty, staff and students. This Committee may change the first decision.
The Faculty Senate discussed the procedures. Some senators felt that the process as described seemed intimidating to faculty. Other senators mentioned having had a positive experience with Judicial Affairs, noting the discretion and professionalism of the process. It was mentioned that future iterations of the Community Standards handbook would include language of respect for the classroom as a sacred space. Incorporating similar language in course syllabi to set the tone in the classroom was also suggested.
V. Tour of the St. Robert’s Student Computer Lounge - Erin Griffin and Joseph Cevetello
The Faculty Senate visited the new St. Robert’s Student Computer Lounge. Members of ITS hosted the visit with tour stations and refreshments.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
Submitted by: Cynthia Becht
Prepared by: Rosa Calderon