The Metropolitan State University of Denver Faculty Senate met Sept. 6, led by Senate President Liz Goodnick, Ph.D., associate professor of Philosophy.
Guest speakers
- The body welcomed Leone Dick, deputy chief operating officer and chief of staff to the vice president to discuss campus safety and upcoming building-access changes. Employees with questions can check the Auraria Higher Education Center FAQ page or email Dick directly.
- Vinnie Piturro, Ph.D., professor of Film and Media Studies in the Department of English, updated the body on the application for the Carnegie Foundation designation.
- MSU Denver is developing a task force and moving forward with the application.
- Faculty Affairs Civic and Community-Engaged Excellence Award winners:
- Tenured/Tenure Track: Christina Foust, Ph.D., associate professor of Communication Studies
- Full-time Faculty: Leslie Merrill Schmidt, co-coordinator of the Dance Program and Dance advisor, and Nicole Predki, lecturer, co-coordinator of the Dance Program and Dance advisor.
Announcements
- Contact Ramona Morris for information regarding faculty salaries.
- 1 Book/1 Project/2 Transform has selected “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson. The author event will take place Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. in the Tivoli Turnhalle.
- View research support, spaces, technology and more faculty resources at the Auraria Library.
Quorum and minute approval
The Faculty Senate met the mandatory quorum, and the minutes from Aug. 23 were approved with 72 in favor, two in opposition and three abstaining.
Academic Policy Committee updates
Sen. Jenny Allert, DNP, MSN, R.N., associate professor of Nursing and chair of the Academic Policy Committee, updated the body on a technical change and the University minor requirement, as well as a refresher on how academic policies are developed.
- APC technical change on Reisher Scholars requirement. The language was changed for any potential scholarship with the same requirement. The change can be viewed here.
- The University minor requirement is being removed beginning next fall.
- Erica Buckland Anderson will create a tracked-changes catalog document to encapsulate all administrative changes to programs regarding the removal of the University minor requirement.
- How academic policies are developed.
Committee vacancies
- Vacant seats and descriptions can be found here.
- Academic Subdivision slots are open to all senators but will be open to all faculty members if not filled by Wednesday.
- At-large seats are now open to all faculty members.
Cross-Functional Taskforce on Faculty Workload update
To close out the meeting, Marie T. Mora, Ph.D., provost ad interim and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, and Meredith Jeffers, Ph.D., director of Strategy, spoke with the body to provide a faculty–workload update.
- All taskforce members can be found here.
- The taskforce presented options to the Board of Trustees in June and received feedback on the viability of the options. Recommendations, updates and next steps can be found here and a formal report will be available soon.
Up next
The next Faculty Senate meeting will take place Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 3:20 p.m.