Faculty Senate - October 2024 Minutes

*Proxy for Dr. James Masuoka
**Proxy for Dr. Vicki Dillard
***Proxy for Dr. Sandra Groth
****Proxy for Ms. Jill Young

Call to Order: 3:32 PM

Housekeeping:

• Approval of Agenda - Dr. Sandy Shawver motioned, and Dr. Rodney Fisher seconded. All approved.
• Dr. Rodney Fisher motioned, and Dr. Erica Judie seconded. All approved.

Current Business/Information Sharing: None

New Business:

1. Provost - Dr. Marcy Brown Marsden
   • Dr. Brown Marsden will be speaking to colleges to which she hasn’t yet spoken soon to seek feedback on the Working Draft of the Strategic Plan. Dr. Brown Marsden reviewed the draft, which will need to be submitted for approval to the TTU Board of Regents. It aligns how faculty performance is evaluated. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable and all have specific or range-based targets. Some targets are difficult to identify because we don’t have data from prior years. We’ll need to establish the starting point for those which don’t have prior data. Each VP is meeting with their area about the strategic plan to get feedback and information to bring to cabinet. Dr. Brown Marsden welcomes questions, suggestions, and feedback.
   • Dr. Shawver asked if matriculation goals include dual credit consideration. Dr. Brown Marsden indicates that those will definitely be considered.
   • Dr. Capps asked who will establish goals and targets per objective, considering especially college-readiness and TSI scores and indicators. Dr. Brown Marsden indicates that this is one aspect they are looking for input on, and that those will be decided in consultation with relevant areas.
   • Dr. Lei asked if we can solicit feedback from our colleges. Dr. Brown Marsden says yes, and Dr. Lei suggests that we might collect feedback and then offer collective responses. Visits to the colleges should also be a pathway to deliver feedback.
   • Dr. Case asked Dr. Brown Marsden to elaborate on what is meant by “discount rates,” and Dr. Brown Marsden explained that those discount rates refer to internal scholarships which do not necessarily represent “real cost,” which is different from the case with military partnerships, which are covered by external donor dollars to cover “real costs.” This is not a “Flower Mound” situation.
   • Dr. Lauren Jansen (Proxy for Jill Young) asked about measuring success rates of students who have advanced placement credit for courses depending upon whether the student is taking continuation courses within that discipline or subject.
   • Dr. Capps asked about students who are not college-ready not performing, submitting work, or attending class. Concerns about the retention being connected to colleges when students are only enrolled in courses outside of their major or discipline. Dr. Brown Marsden agrees that those factors will need to be considered in individual assessments. Dr. Brown Marsden acknowledges that students’ failure to engage may be a factor of motivation, interest, or preparedness outside of what is measured by TSI. FMA aims to address some of these, and measuring performance on those course activities along with retention surveys of students who were not retained may also provide insights regarding the contributing factors. Early Alerts can also be utilized to predict some of those numbers. For example, the 128 students who did not complete FMA but were not retained at MSU with a GPA of 2.0 or higher. This group should be an area of focus. Often for these students the reasons are financial. We can identify the following as measures or specify targets: Completion of FMA, Early Alerts, TSI scores, & TASP utilization.
   • Dr. Magee asked how our retention rates compare to other institutions, and Dr. Brown Marsden said that we’re lower, but, of course, there are so many factors including admission rates, funds, and student demographics. Dr. Vandehey asked about performance in those core classes when students don’t know how to prepare for tests. Dr. Brown Marsden said that she and Dr. Garrison are cross-checking Early Alerts with TASP utilization to identify the students who need additional support and can use the resources more effectively.
   • Dr. Stiles described an alert she received from a faculty member, and she encouraged the faculty member to directly contact the student to encourage them because alerts can also be discouraging. Communicating with students ourselves in addition to alerts.
   • Dr. Henschel asks about procedures and recommendations about dropping students and communicating with students versus TASP.
   • Dr. Case argues that we need to provide more foundational education for college readiness, especially with military population, and Dr. Brown Marsden explains that the military education center will be a focused resource, and to utilize Student Success Coaches to provide additional student support and to bridge to TASP. Dr. Brown Marsden also wants to ensure that faculty have the autonomy to make those decisions for themselves and to have the right to their own pedagogical philosophy.
   • Dr. Brown Marsden anticipates Town Hall in November and some will be beyond colleges for giving strategic plan feedback.
   • Dr. Brown Marsden departed.
   • Dr. Lei asked the timeline for feedback because of the November Town Hall. We should all bring feedback from our colleges to the next Faculty Senate meeting on Nov. 14^th.
   • Dr. Capps commented that Admissions has been commended for high enrollment, but we don’t have accountability beyond that enrollment number.
2. Tenure & Promotion Portfolio Procedure - Dr. Capps
   • Dr. Capps has had complaints about the digital portfolio process, and Dr. Brown Marsden said that this was a Faculty Senate initiative, and if it needs to be improved, Faculty Senate needs to work on it. The tentative plan is to gather feedback from College and University T & P Committees about how to improve instructions and procedure after the current round of applications, and then faculty senate reps can work with TLRC (and potentially the successful applicants) to develop training materials to help faculty prepare.
   • Dr. Henschel asked about when faculty get access to those shells. In prior years, access was granted very late in the process. Dr. Henschel suggested that all TT faculty be given a shell for the purpose of professional documentation, structured similarly to the T&P sections.
   • Dr. Colmenares Diaz asked if the hard copy is still an option. For now, they do, but the goal was to shift to digital.

Unfinished Business:

1. Response to Resolution on Shared Governance from Spring 2024 - Dr. Capps
   • Dr. Capps provided the resolution, and then showed the document provided by Dr. Haynie and Dr. Brown Marsden that lists required committees, additional committees, and eliminated committees. The Budget Oversight Committee was eliminated, but senators expressed concern over that. Dr. Stiles also expressed dismay that the Who’s Who Committee has been eliminated.

Committee and Other Reports: None

1. Academic Council - Dr. Dawn Slavens
   
   • Met Sept 24th
   • Credit hour conversion will be awarded on a semester hour schedule for all courses; MSU does not award partial credit, so transfer credit hours will be rounded to nearest whole hour.
   • Effective Fall 25
     1. New 18 hour minor in Military History
     2. Two graduate certifications for 9 SCH in History to be offered
     3. Graduate GPA for Good Standing must maintain 3.0 and earn no more than two Cs in their major
2. Administrative Council - Dr. Matthew Capps
   No report. Has not met.
3. Allocation Advisory Council - Dr. Matthew Capps
   No report. Has not met.
4. Athletics Council - Dr. Catharine Garahan
5. Budget Oversight Committee - Dr. Bev Stiles
   No report. Has not met.
6. Enrollment Management Council - Representative TBD by vote
   No report. Has not met.
7. Leadership Advisory Council - (Unlisted)
   No report. Has not met.
8. Student Affairs Council - Dr. Randy Case
   Council meeting was scheduled but canceled.
9. University Celebration of Scholarship - Dr. Darla Diltz
   
   • UCS will have a Fall session and a spring session.
10. Other Committee Reports - None

Meeting adjourned at 4:37 pm. Dr. Capps made a motion to adjourn, and everyone seconded.
The motion to adjourn passed unanimously.

Submitted,
Hillary Coenen, Faculty Senate Secretary
Matthew Capps, Faculty Senate Chair

Next Meetings:
The next Executive Committee meeting with the President will be at 1:30 PM on Oct. 18th.
The next Executive Committee meeting will be at 3:30 PM on Nov. 7th via Zoom.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be at 3:30 PM on Nov. 14th in Bridwell Hall 204.