The Metropolitan State University of Denver Faculty Senate convened Sept. 20, with the meeting led by President Liz Goodnick, Ph.D., associate professor of Philosophy.
Guest speakers
The body welcomed Marie Mora, Ph.D., interim provost, to give updates from the Office of Academic Affairs.
- Deans are developing faculty-workload plans. These plans will move toward a differentiated workload over a three-year period. The first phase of these plans is anticipated to begin next fall.
- The first meeting with the Faculty Workload and Oversight Implementation and Advisory Committee will take place in October. This ad hoc committee used to be the Cross Functional Task Force and Faculty Workloads Steering Committee. The membership remains the same and includes representatives of the Faculty Senate leadership team and other key areas of the University.
- Mora invited the Faculty Senate president and the president of the Council of Chairs and Directors to be part of the Provost’s Council to strengthen shared governance and communication. This council includes deans, associate vice presidents and other academic leaders.
- The Provost Tuesday Talks are now being held monthly. The first was Sept. 12 and reviewed faculty-workload plans and addressed questions. Tuesday Talks will be announced in the Early Bird a few days beforehand.
- Ongoing hiring searches include the dean of Hospitality and the executive director of Online Learning.
Groundbreaking and grand openings
- The groundbreaking for the Health Institute took place Sept. 26.
- The Charlie Papazian Brewing Education Lab opened Sept. 20. Read about the lab.
Announcements
- The Senate welcomed Ann Obermann, Ph.D., LCSW, associate professor of Social Work, as the newest MSU Denver faculty trustee. As the faculty representative to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees, she will serve as a nonvoting advisory member of the board and a voting member of the Faculty Senate.
- The Provost Search Committee completed interviews of 13 semifinalists. Up to five finalists will be recommended for the next round of interviews. The final interviews will be closed to ensure confidentiality and to safeguard the integrity of the selection process. Read more about the provost search.
- MSU Denver’s Energage Workplace Survey will be open until Sept. 29. An email from Energage ([email protected]) was sent to all employees Sept. 18 with a personalized link to access the survey.
- Connect with employees around campus whom you may not regularly interact with through the Lunch Buddies program. Space is still available. Sign up to be a lunch buddy.
- Nominations for the 2024 Roadrunners Who Soar Awards are now open. Nominate colleagues who embody the University’s CADRE values. Learn more about Roadrunners Who Soar.
- The Voting Engagement Project for this fall is encouraging voter registration and engagement. Students are available to make classroom visits. Sign up by contacting [email protected]. Learn more about the Voting Engagement Project.
Quorum and minutes approval
The Faculty Senate met the mandatory quorum, and the minutes from the Sept. 6 meeting were approved with 74 in favor, one in opposition and four abstaining.
Bylaw changes and first reads
- Ethnic Studies and Social Justice bylaws change
- A change to the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice bylaws was proposed (Section 21.2 Membership) to the body. The recommendation is to have the additional one advisory member without vote to be appointed by the Faculty Senate Committee rather than by the vice president of Academic Affairs. The change can be viewed here.
- General Studies bylaws change
- A change to the General Studies bylaws was proposed (Section V.20.2) to the Senate. The recommendation was to reduce the size of the committee from 14 members to 10. This proposed change would eliminate current Faculty Senate representation.
APC General Studies grade clarification and technical change
- An addition to the Rules for the General Studies Program has been proposed to clarify what constitutes a passing grade for General Studies courses. This will be voted on at the Oct. 4 meeting.
- Proposed addition: “A grade of D- or better earned at MSU Denver is passing for General Studies courses, except for the written communication category, which requires a grade of C- or better. A D- may not meet prerequisite or program requirements.”
- The Mandatory Participation Verification statement that is required to be published by MSU Denver to comply with Title IV regulations for federal financial-aid funds was inadvertently left out of the graduate catalog. It should have been included in the graduate and undergraduate catalogs. The change is a technical one and is being corrected.
Committee vacancies
View the committee descriptions and vacancies available. All open committee seats are open to all faculty members. Email Goodnick and Faculty Staff Assistant Anjeli Dwyer if interested.
Faculty-workload feedback discussion
The Senate took part in a Faculty Workload discussion to review goals and priorities, get additional feedback from the Senate on how to move forward and determine what the Faculty Senate should advocate for as the workload project continues its work. The discussion points included:
- What Teaching Load Credits (TLCs) are most important to prioritize.
- The Faculty Senate’s role in the Advising Office hours conversation.
- What priorities the Senate should advocate for this year and how the Senate should be involved in those advocacy efforts.
The discussion was forward-looking, and the output will be used to guide the Senate’s actions for the remainder of the year. Materials used to guide the discussions include:
- Workload Update draft (grid)
- Workload Update slides from Senate 9/6
- TLC draft
- Banking Policy 2022 draft