Faculty Senate - May 2026 Minutes

Call to Order: 3:31 PM

Not Present: Dr. Catherine Gaharan, Dr. Daniel Frazier, Dr. Sandra Shawver, Dr. Darla Diltz, Dr. Ann Marie Leimer, Mr. Rafael Powell, Dr. Kimberly Onstott, Dr. Kirsten Lodge, Dr. Jon Scales, Dr. Mika Morgan

Housekeeping:

• Approval of Agenda - Dr. Michael Vandehey motioned, and Prof. Candice Fulton seconded. Majority approved.
• Approval of Minutes - Dr. Adam Lei motioned to approve the minutes from April 9, 2026, and Prof. Candice Fulton seconded. Majority approved.

Current Business/Information Sharing:

1. 2026-2027 Executive Committee
   • Dr. Slavens announced that the executive committee appointed by the President for 2026-2027 Academic Year is as follows:
     1. Presiding Officer: Mary Draper
     2. Associate Presiding Officer: Hillary Coenen
     3. Secretary: Sarah Cobb
     4. Treasure: Jessica Fino
     5. Parliamentarian: Stacia Miller
   • In her email to appoint officers, Dr. Haynie reiterated her appreciation for the faculty senate and for our productive relationship.
   • Dr. Slavens indicated that senators who were rolling off were able to indicate interest in a presidential appointment, and three senators who were scheduled to roll off were reappointed by the president: Kimberly Onstott (GHSHS), Dawn Slavens (MCoSME), and Sandra Shawver (WCOE).
   • Dr. Slavens recognized faculty who were rolling off and thanked them for serving.
2. Plans to Align Faculty Senate Bylaws and Constitution with Updated Policies
   • Dr. Slavens explained that with the revisions to Policies and Bylaws, some inconsistencies were noticed across the documents. Dr. Slavens gave examples regarding when agendas should be provided for meetings and when Deans should be asked for elections and appointments of senators.
   • Over the summer, incoming and outgoing executive committee members will review the documents to ensure that they are aligned in order to provide revisions to be approved by a vote in the fall.
3. Proposed Faculty Senate Meeting Dates for 2026-2027
   • Dr. Slavens said that bylaws indicate that the meeting dates for the following academic year should be proposed at our May meeting. Executive committee plans to retain the existing pattern for meetings: the second Thursday of the month at 3:30 PM with possible exceptions for semester beginnings and endings. Dr. Slavens said that it might be prudent to set into bylaws that the meetings should retain that pattern and that it may have been helpful to send out the Outlook invites sooner so that it was on calendars.
   • Senators indicate that pre-finals week is preferred.
   • Dr. Gupta asked if the meeting is one hour or an hour and a half. Senators agree that the target is an hour, but because we’ve had lots of speakers this year, our meetings have gone over one hour.
4. Faculty Senate Purpose and Role
   • Senators are elected or appointed to represent the entire faculty of MSU (OP 06.02).
   • What do you do to keep faculty in your college informed?
   • Dr. Miller Whitworth said that Senators share out at monthly college meetings and email summaries to the college after.
   • Dr. Choudhury indicated that Dr. Lei always does a nice job of sharing minutes and summarizing them in an email.
   • Dr. Cobb said that in McCoy, senators used to regularly meet with the Dean to keep them apprised of what was happening in senate and how it might come up in the college.
5. Brainstorm priorities for 2026-2027
   • Dr. Slavens asked for senators to share their concerns and priorities for the coming academic year.
   • Dr. Lei asked if we will have the pre-tax option for the TSA retirement accounts. FS should follow up to see where we are.
   • Dr. Gupta asked if Faculty Senate has addressed AI-policy or guidelines. Dr. Slavens indicated that Dr. Duff and a faculty committee will review and work on guidelines and guidance.
   • Dr. Draper asked if that committee will also address and review procedures for academic integrity, and Dr. Coenen indicated that procedures were mentioned by the Provost.
   • Dr. Cobb indicated that problems with communication to faculty are ongoing, and maybe we should pursue a faculty handbook.
   • Dr. Azzouz said that changes are planned for retirement, that we need to be informed about those changes.
   • Dr. Watts asked if Dawn Fisher should be invited to present at the first meeting in the fall to share information about retirement structures.
   • Dr. Azzouz said that when he was hired, he wasn’t informed about differences between TRS and ORP, and many faculty may regret their choices.
   • Dr. Draper asked if there might be interest in Zoom sessions for all faculty and new-hires to be informed about these changes. Dr. Slavens plans to reach out to Dawn Fisher to request sessions.
   • Dr. Gupta said that the Library is working on resources focused on AI-use for faculty and students. She indicated that we should share information about those resources.
   • Dr. Spencer indicated that upon being hired, she was given guidance about the tiered options for AI-policies.
   • Dr. Slavens said that after attending the SGA meeting, where they had great discussions about issues pertaining to AI.
   • Dr. Gupta asked if we have a Staff Senate representative. We have not, but we need one.
   • Dr. Cobb asked if Staff Senate meetings are open to the public. Staff Senate rep, Dr. Bunch said they are.
   • Dr. Choudhury asked if there could be information sharing across the groups. Dr. Slavens said that’s a good idea.
   • A senator said that the new SGA President is Rory Rucker.
   • Dr. Coenen indicated that Faculty Senate meetings are also open to the public.
   • Dr. Gupta indicated that the TLRC’s student panel on using AI was exceptional.
   • Senators indicate that AI literacy should be covered in the onboarding courses like First-Year Mustangs Adventure & College Connections.
   • Dr. Machado reiterated that it is important that we have clear AI-policies.
   • Dr. Azzouz said that hiring new faculty is an issue that affects student retention. Hiring without a teaching demonstration is a risk to the department. Dr. Cobb agreed that guidance may be needed on hiring faculty.
   • Dr. Machado asked, what kind of training and professional development is available, and how are we engaging in conferences and developing our teaching.
   • Dr. Miller Whitworth said that the focus of the AVP of Academic Innovation and Student Success will be pedagogical development. Dr. Coenen said this is also a priority for the Gardner Institute initiatives. Dr. Choudhury explained that TLRC will also implement a mentorship theme.
   • Dr. ElSharafi said that we should have strategies to recruit local and regional students more intentionally, and provide more detail and positive stories to local counselors.

New Business: None

Unfinished Business:

1. Course Evaluations
   • College Deans received and should have distributed the Spring 2026 Evaluation rollout schedule in February.

Committee and Other Reports:

1. Student Government Association - Parwar Bin Hafiz
2. Staff Senate - Dr. Phillis Bunch
3. Academic Council - Dr. Darla Diltz
   No report.
4. Administrative Council - Dr. Dawn Slavens
   No report.
5. Student Allocations Council - Dr. Michelle Hall
   No report.
6. Athletics Council - Dr. Catherine Gaharan
   No report.
7. Student Affairs & Enrollment Council - Dr. Bev Stiles
   No report.
8. University Celebration of Scholarship - Dr. Darla Diltz
   No report.
9. Emergency Management Committee - Professor Jill Young
   No report.
10. Leadership Advisory Council - Dr. Dawn Slavens
    No report.
11. Other Committee Reports - None

Announcements:

1. Interfolio will be used for tenure & promotion this fall, and eligible faculty have been invited for training in the platform. Committee members will also be trained on using the platform. Following that, all faculty will be trained.

Meeting adjourned at 4:25 PM. Dr. Gupta made a motion to adjourn, and Dr. Fino seconded. The motion to adjourn passed by a majority.

Submitted,
Dr. Hillary Coenen, Faculty Senate Secretary
Dr. Dawn Slavens, Faculty Senate Presiding Officer

Meetings & Deadlines:
Meetings will resume in the fall.