The Metropolitan State University of Denver Faculty Senate met Oct. 4, led by Senate President Liz Goodnick, Ph.D., associate professor of Philosophy.  

 

Guest speakers 

Faculty and staff housing: Christopher Bennett, senior director of Strategic Infrastructure and Development, provided an overview of projects in progress. Faculty-and-staff housing, part of the recently announced Ballfield Lot project, is in the planning phase and will be used as a recruiting tool to attract and retain faculty and staff members. Units will be made available to rent to MSU Denver faculty and staff members, with an estimated move-in date of fall 2026. The planned housing units will be targeted for people who earn 60% to 80% of Denver’s average median income, and rent will be subsidized. Faculty and staff members are asked to fill out the housing survey. The data will assess the level of interest in leasing one of these units and ensure that the data is current. View the full infrastructure update. 

Career and Employment Information Catalog Module: Erica Buckland Anderson, director of Curriculum and Catalog, gave the Senate a look at a new Career Pathways module that will be included in the 2024-25 catalogs. The module will include career and salary data, industry trends and an overview of the pathway program. This new feature will allow each major to customize the information presented in the catalog. Buckland will work with department chairs and/or their appointed contacts to determine what each catalog page will include. View the full Career Pathways Catalog Module update.  

Provost update: Marie Mora, Ph.D., interim provost, shared updates from the Office of Academic Affairs. 

  • Reminder: Deans are developing three-year plans due at the end of the semester to address differentiated faculty-workload issues. As part of these plans, deans are charged with figuring out how the plans will be executed and the resources needed for sustainment. The first phase is expected to begin next fall. The plans will be shared with the Faculty Workload Oversight and Implementation Advisory Committee.  
  • The next Tuesday Talks With the Provost will be Oct. 24.
  • MSU Denver has been recognized by Excelencia en Educación with its Seal of Excelencia.
  • Work to operationalize student success has begun in support of Pillars I and II of the 2030 Strategic Plan.
  • On Oct. 18, the Provost’s Office and the Office of Faculty Affairs will host a tenure-and-promotion celebration.  

Announcements

MeetGeek app. All employees are asked to immediately remove the MeetGeek app if they have it installed on their MSU Denver computer. MeetGeek is an artificial-intelligence meeting assistant that automatically records and transcribes meetings and more. There is no institutional contract or service-level agreement between MeetGeek and MSU Denver; thus, there are no enforceable controls over how MeetGeek uses data collected while participating in University meetings. If any regulated data is mentioned, shared or presented during meetings that MeetGeek is analyzing, MSU Denver could be violating Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or other data-protection guidelines. See the MeetGeek app full update. 

To remove the MeetGeek app: 

  • Go to myapps.Microsoft.com. 
  • Hover the mouse over the MeetGeek application. 
  • Click on the three dots in the upper right corner. 
  • Select Remove. 
  • Contact Anjeli Dwyer if you need assistance removing MeetGeek. 

To volunteer as a Commencement marshal, please fill out the Call to Marshals form by Oct. 30. The Fall 2023 Commencement ceremony is Dec. 15. See the Faculty Senate marshal update for details, including how to order regalia (deadline is Oct. 20).  

Gender-inclusive restrooms. The LGBTQ Resource Center at Auraria is seeking feedback related to gender-inclusive restrooms. Please provide feedback by Nov. 3 and RSVP to attend a listening session. For questions, contact Tyrell Allen, director of the LGBTQ Student Resource Center at Auraria. 

Handbook-language feedback is requested to ensure that revisions represent faculty work and that specific language is captured. Complete the handbook-feedback survey by Oct. 13.   

A Board of Trustees Faculty Senate Report was provided by Goodnick to the board. 

Faculty-workload update  

Based on the feedback and direction provided at the Sept. 20 Faculty Senate meeting (faculty-workload feedback discussion), overall long-term priorities, Teaching Load Credits priorities and overall Senate involvement have been identified. These priorities will guide the Faculty Workload Implementation and Oversight Committee and will be what Goodnick will advocate for on behalf of the Faculty Senate. See the Oct. 4 faculty-workload update outlining priorities. At a high level: 

  • Teaching Load Credits priorities: Overload Teaching Policy, New Course Prep, Large Classes
  • Overall long-term priorities: 18 credit hours, 21 credit hours, differentiation, 80/10/10 baseline (80% teaching/10% service/10% research) 
  • Senate involvement: Implementation/Oversight Committee, Handbook Committee, Ad-hoc Working Group 

Meredith Jeffers, Ph.D., director of Strategy, and Mora provided a faculty-workload update at the Board of Trustees’ Academic and Student Affairs Subcommittee meeting. See Goodnick’s video response to the faculty-workload update.  

 

Community Hour update 

Mora shared that based on additional Community Hour feedback, representation from various shared-governance bodies and the Faculty Senate president will be invited to work with her and the vice president of Student Affairs to determine what the Community Hour could look like, including the development of a potential pilot program. Plans for the Community Hour will be brought to the Faculty Senate and Council of Chairs and Directors for additional feedback. 

Additionally, a Community Hour Decision memo has been sent to Faculty Senate members to collect feedback from their departments. Feedback is due by Oct. 12. The Community Hour topic will be further addressed at the Oct. 18 Faculty Senate meeting. To review the memo, download it here. 

 

Quorum and minutes approval 

 Minutes from the Sept. 20 meeting were approved with 67 in favor, one in opposition and four abstaining. 

 

Faculty-trustee report 

Faculty Trustee Ann Obermann shared the Board of Trustees meeting dates and outlined the committees she will be participating in. She also shared highlights from the Sept. 23 board meeting. See Obermann’s faculty-trustee update.  

Bylaw changes and revised first reads 

Ethnic Studies and Social Justice  

  • Additional revisions to the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice bylaws have been proposed (Section 21.2 Membership) to include curriculum representation. The revised change can be viewed here. The Faculty Senate will vote on these revisions at the next meeting.  

General Studies  

  • Additional revisions to the General Studies bylaws have been proposed (Section V.20.2) to ensure that there is an advisory member from General Studies and representation from Curriculum. The revised change can be viewed here. The Faculty Senate will vote on these revisions at the next meeting.  

Academic Policy Committee  

AP Language Exam technical change 

  • These are technical changes and nonvoting, informational items only. 
  • Spanish Language and Culture classes were listed with no credits and need to be changed to list 4 credits. 
  • Intermediate French II was left out, so it is being added.  

General Studies grade clarification 

  • This is a revised first read. Language has been updated to use consistent terminology and remove “may not” wording for clarity in meaning.  

DSST Exam addition to the catalog  

  • This is a first read to add the list of DANTES Subject Standardized Test exams to the catalog to be consistent with International Baccalaureate/Advanced Placement.  

Upper Division Graduation Requirement  

  • This is a first read to change the upper-division requirement for graduation from 40 to 39 credit hours, making it divisible by three to match the majority of course offerings. 

Language change due to University minor-requirement removal  

  • This is a first read to adjust requirements for all bachelor’s-degrees language due to the minor-requirement removal. 

Extended-major definition change and link in the program  

  • This is a first read to adjust the definition of the extended major due to the removal of the minor requirement. New language will also include a link in the program description that will go to this definition for student transparency.