Metropolitan State University of Denver held its first Faculty Senate meetings of 2023 on Feb. 1 and Feb. 15 after the Jan. 18 meeting was canceled due to campus closure. Both meetings were led by President Liz Goodnick, Ph.D., associate professor of Philosophy.
The Feb. 1 meeting gave Faculty Senate members the opportunity to comment on the faculty implementation plan after the Board of Trustees directed a pause on the implementation of the Faculty Workload Proposal at the end of January. Since then, the University has created a cross-functional workload task force co-chaired by interim Provost Marie Mora, Ph.D., and Faculty Trustee Meredith Jeffers that kicked off Feb. 24. The co-chairs also participated in a fireside chat on workload with Goodnick, Trustee Kristin Hultquist and MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., at the President’s Spring Update on March 2.
The Feb. 15 meeting was back to typical Faculty Senate business.
Guests
- Cris Gilbert and Roy Baroff spoke to the Faculty Senate to go over the new virtual Ombuds services.
- Todd Thurman, director of Athletics, spoke to the Faculty Senate about how to help student-athletes succeed on and off the field.
- Sen. Bob Schatz, Ph.D., professor of Psychological Sciences and a member of the Metro State Faculty Federation, also gave an update on the union.
Announcements
- Goodnick gave an update on the Faculty Senate Teaching Load Reduction Pause Ad-Hoc Committee, which presented its recommendation to the Faculty Senate during its March 1 meeting. Goodnick also updated the body on the progress of the Faculty Workload Proposal and how senior leaders at MSU Denver and the Board of Trustees are responding.
- The Handbook Committee is requesting input from all faculty members on handbook changes. Summaries of proposed changes, new language and feedback forms can be found here.
- Sen. Arlene Sgoutas, Ph.D., professor of Gender, Women and Sexualities Studies, is the new Colorado Faculty Advisory Council representative for the Faculty Senate. CFAC spring 2023 information, including articles, meeting agendas, news clips and more, can be found here.
- Bethany Fleck Dillen, Ph.D., professor of Psychological Sciences, and Devika Banerji, Ph.D., assistant professor of Marketing, have requested Faculty Senate representation on the Provost’s Faculty Diversity Taskforce. The task force is focused on language changes in the Faculty Handbook that better represent diversity/equity/inclusion work undertaken and expected by the MSU Denver faculty. Senators should contact Goodnick if interested in joining the task force.
New voting procedure
Sen. Kelly Evans, Ph.D., assistant professor of Human Performance and Sport, outlined the new voting method for in-person attendees. In-person attendees can use a QR code or Teams chat — both will take the attendee to Microsoft Forms for voting. Voting for online attendees will remain the same. More information on voting changes can be found here.
Academic Policy Committee Technical Changes
Sen. Jenny Allert, DNP, MSN, R.N., associate professor of Nursing, updated the body on technical changes. These do not get voted on and instead are presented to the Faculty Senate.
- Catalog Admissions Technical Change: The language stating a $25 fee has been removed, and language has been clarified. The new language can be viewed here.
- Modern Languages changed its prefix from MDL to LANG to match the K-12 accreditation. The MDL to LANG change can be viewed here.
Constitution changes
Evans gave a first read on changes to the Faculty Senate constitution. A working draft of the new constitution can be found here.
- Article III: Language was changed from requiring faculty members to teach at least three credit hours per semester to teaching at least 12 credit hours over their two-year Senate term.
- Article IV: An addendum has been added to include member definitions:
- 1.1: Voting members consist of all elected department faculty members, at-large faculty members, the Faculty Trustee, a CFAC representative and affiliate Senators. There is no voting by proxy or absentee ballot at Senate meetings or within committees.
- 1.2: Advisory members serving on committees shall not vote on matters before the Senate or within the committee, nor shall they attend executive sessions of the Senate or committees.
- Section 3: The election date of senators conducted within departments is being changed from April 15 to Feb. 15 to allow for more transition time between academic years.
Faculty Welfare Committee bylaws changes
Schatz held a first read on bylaws for the Faculty Welfare Committee eliminating section 16.1.6, which says, “Review, upon written request by a faculty member, restrictions on academic freedom, harassment, breaches of confidentiality and infraction against affirmative action; and prepare a summary report to the Senate.” This has been eliminated to prohibit individual faculty members from lodging a complaint against another faculty member to the committee, as that isn’t what the committee is for.
Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Committee bylaws
Sen. Devon Wright, Ph.D., assistant professor of Africana Studies and Sociology, held a first read on changes to the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Committee bylaws.
- The main changes were to remove “multicultural” and replace with “ESSJ” to match the newly named committee.
- There was also an addition to Section 21.1.2 to include: “On a rotating basis of a maximum of five years, the ESSJ Curriculum Review Committee is required to conduct a micro review of the ESSJ description and Student Learning Outcomes to ensure the ESSJ requirement is up to date with current Ethnic Studies trends, pedagogies and disciplinary practices and produce a report to recommend revisions as necessary to be submitted to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Review Committee.”
Handbook changes
Vice President Jessica Weiss, Ph.D., professor of Art History, held a first read on several handbook changes to sections involving the Faculty Senate Complaint Committee, Guidelines Year Clarification, Tenure Probationary Period Extension and Revised Language Suggestion. All changes can be found here in slides 54-64.
Faculty Trustee report
Sen. Meredith Jeffers, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and Faculty Trustee, reported back to the Faculty Senate on her work with the Board of Trustees, including her efforts on the Faculty Workload Task Force. A summary of her report can be found here.
Meeting adjourned
The meeting was called to adjourn. The Faculty Senate met again March 1, to be followed by its next meeting March 15.