Faculty Senate passes Workload Implementation Resolution

Votes

DACA Resolution 

Sen. Meredith Jeffers, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and faculty trustee, read the DACA Resolution, which would allow the Faculty Senate to publicly support DACA, Dreamers, the MSU Denver Board of Trustees and President Davidson in their ongoing advocacy at the state and national levels.  

Because of a timing issue, Sen. Jenny Allert, MSN, motioned to make this a second read and a vote, which passed with 71 in favor, five in opposition and one abstention. The motion passed with 74 in favor, five in opposition and three abstentions.  

Delivery-method options 

Sen. Kim Klimek, Ph.D.; Connie Sanders, registrar; and Jeff Loats, Ph.D., director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design, held a first and second read on options for course-delivery methods. The proposal would give students different modes of available classes consisting of in-person, hybrid in-person, syncflex, hyflex, asynchronous online, synchronous online, dual mode, study abroad: online, hybrid online and self-paced asynchronous online. If passed, the proposal would go into effect next summer. 

The motion passed as written with 72 in favor, four in opposition and one abstention.  

Multicultural Committee redesign  

Sen. Devon Wright, Ph.D., and the Multicultural Committee held a second read on the proposal of changing “Multicultural” in the committee’s title to “Ethnic Studies and Social Justice.” This would modify five of the existing Student Learning Outcomes and require updating the description. If the resolution passes, there will likely be four workshops in spring to help transition classes. 

The motion passed with 62 in favor, 11 in opposition and four abstentions. 

During the next meeting, voting on the redesign continued when Wright gave a second read on new Student Learning Outcomes and gave side-by-side comparisons for each one. 

• SLO 1 passed with 71 in favor, seven in opposition and seven abstentions. 
• SLO 2 passed with 69 in favor, 12 in opposition and two abstentions. 
• SLO 3 passed with 65 in favor, 10 in opposition and four abstentions. 

Two more SLOs and the implementation timeline will be voted on at the Dec. 7 Faculty Senate meeting. 

Best grade stands  

Academic Policy Committee Chair Allert proposed eliminating the 18-credit-hour limit to retake courses and include a statement that says Financial Aid will pay for only one retake of a previously passed course. The policy also ensures that no matter how many times a student takes a class, their best grade will be applied to the hour totals and GPA. 

The second read passed with 68 in favor, eight in opposition and four abstentions. 

Catalog language clarification (double dipping)  

Allert proposed language changes to the catalog in different areas that would allow students with dual majors to double dip, matching the policies for students with one major. 

• Course Count and Limits 
  • Allert proposed removing the phrase “Coursework used to meet requirements for one major or minor may not be used to meet requirements for a second major or minor” so that the new copy will say, “Courses are allowed to count as meeting requirements in multiple areas.” 

• Rules for the General Studies Program 
  • Allert proposed removing the phrase “two requirements: (1) Multicultural and (2) General Studies, or major or minor requirements” to be rewritten as “Students may use the multicultural course to satisfy more than one requirement.” 

• Multicultural Graduation Requirements 
  • Allert proposed adding “Multicultural courses can satisfy both the multicultural requirement and any other program requirements satisfied by that course.” 

The second read passed with 69 in favor, four in opposition and four abstentions. 

Workload Implementation Resolution 

Sen. Christina Foust, Ph.D., associate professor of Communication, led the continued discussion of the final Workload Implementation Resolution, accompanied by Provost Alfred Tatum, Ph.D., who was allowed to speak due to a 79-3-0 passing vote.  

The resolution would require Tatum to share implementation plans from each college to the Faculty Senate no later than Dec. 20 and gives department chairs until Feb. 15 to return revised guidelines to deans. The Faculty Senate will devote the first spring meeting to discuss implementation plans and vote on proposals.  

This discussion ended with a motion to consider this discussion as a first read and passed with 51 in favor, 21 in opposition and nine abstentions. The second read passed with 50 in favor, 11 in opposition and 11 abstentions.