WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

Regular Meeting – December 3, 2007

Call to Order

Jeff Newcomer, 2007-2008 Faculty Senate President, called the Senate meeting to order at 4:03 p.m.  Newcomer welcomed twenty-two (22) Senators, one (1) ex officio member, the Legislative Liaison (1), and the recorder (1) for a total of twenty-five (25).  (See attached roster).

Items from the Senate President

Approval of Senate Minutes.   Senators approved the minutes of the November 19, 2007 meeting. 

Senator plays cello.  Newcomer invited Senators to hear John Friesen, a fellow Senator, who is giving a cello recital tonight in Performing Arts Center.

Faculty Forum.  Senators heard Newcomer announce a Faculty Forum to meet with consultants from the Presidential Search Advisory committee.  Flyers will be sent to provide dates and times.

Mediated Classroom Availability.  Newcomer distributed a report on the use of mediated classrooms from 2003 through 2005.  There is generally less highly-mediated classroom availability during the 10 am to 2 pm teaching hours.

Items from the Administration

§    Provost Murphy expressed regrets at having to announce the resignation of Rhonda Allen, Vice Provost for Faculty Relations who had begun her service to Western in September.  Allen was unable to successfully complete a move from the East Coast.  Murphy is trying to decide how to best use the resources allocated to the provost’s office.

Items from UFWW

§    UFWW President Bill Lyne fully endorses the faculty selected for the Presidential Search Advisory committee and reported he was part of the initial selection process.

Appointments & Elections – Mick Cunningham, Officer

Faculty are requested to volunteer for the following:

Catalog Work Group to review catalog program with Student Affairs – 3 faculty

This group will visit the University Catalog and consider new programs that will do web-based and print versions of the catalog.  User feedback will be sought from the faculty.

Commencement Work Group to review graduation priorities with Student Affairs – 3 faculty.  This group will deal with the serious issues of overcrowding during commencement.

Contact Mick Cunningham or the Faculty Senate Office if you or a colleague is available for service.

Items from Academic Coordinating Commission

ACC Charge:   Newcomer reported that he is meeting with the Chair and Vice Chair of ACC along with the Registrar, Catalog Coordinator, and Chairs of College Curricular Committees and TCCC, to get their input on ACC charge and processes.  Newcomer will report after the meeting.

Writing Proficiency

§    Senators heard a report from Jim Hearne, Chair of Academic Coordinating Commission, on the history of writing proficiency (WP) points.  Guests Carmen Werder, Donna Qualley and Roberta Kjesrud were present. 

§    Senators commented on their experiences teaching writing proficiency in various areas.  Dan Larner pointed out larger issues, stating that hovering over this whole policy is the general quality of writing instruction and whether it serves a large enough purpose for our students.  Writing seems especially important in contemporary circumstances.  The point is we need resources to improve writing proficiency and to enable faculty to provide writing within the disciplines.

§    Senators endorsed a proposal to fractionalize the WP requirements in the major and suggested discussion on issues such as requirement for additional resources, the need for an instructional component, percentages of writing per credit hour and its effect on learning course content, rewriting of drafts, providing sufficient opportunity to write longer papers, writing style requirements across disciplines, and the overall effect of the WP requirement on student writing ability.[j1] 

Item from Legislative Liaison

§    John Purdy continues to propose to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HEC Bd) that the Council of Faculty Representatives have a voice.  The new HEC Bd draft of its Strategic Plan is available (on the Senate website) and Purdy endorsed the Senate’s plan to create a committee on Diversity as recommended in the Plan.

Budget Items

§    Senators discussed the allocation of faculty lines in the biennial budget and heard Provost Murphy discuss the challenges of providing a rich menu of options for students, student/faculty ratios, and Admissions concerns when large freshman classes are expected to compensate for a decline in transfer students.  Murphy is making efforts to ensure there are transparent reports of allocations.

ADJOURNMENT  

Senators adjourned at 5:50 pm

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, 12-3-2007

                                                                                                            _______________________

                                                                                                            Joan Stevenson, Secretary

Roster of the 2007-2008 Faculty Senate

Article III.  Faculty Senate:  The Faculty Senate is empowered to speak and act for the Faculty in University affairs with particular responsibility in the areas of curriculum, academic programs, Faculty salary, Faculty status, scholarly activities, and all matters relating to the welfare of Faculty, the education of students, and the academic mission of the University. The Faculty Senate is limited to 30 voting members elected by the Faculty, and the President of the University, the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University, and a college dean appointed by the Provost serving as Provost's Council representative as ex officio non-voting members.    (Faculty Handbook, page 55)