FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Emporia State University
October 19, 1999

Members Present: Aber, Akers, Blaufuss, Calhoun, Chamberlin, Cogswell, Fowlkes, Ghosh, Goltra, Hoy, Koch, Kuehn, Landis, Lovett, Mehrhof, Montalvo, Moore, Piper, Russell, Salvatore, Saunders, Schwenn, Simpson, smith d, smith f, Summerville, Swanson, Templeton, Tidwell, Toadvine, Waters, Williams, Wright, Wyatt
Members Absent: Catlett, Lovett, Shapiro
Liaison: Hill (absent)
Substitutions: Firooza Pavri for Lovett
Visitors: Ryan Wilson

  1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Kuehn at 3:32 PM in the Kanza Room of the Memorial Union.

  2. Announcements of Attendance: (see above)

  3. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the October 5, 1999 meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved.

  4. Announcements and Comments:

    1. ASG President Templeton: Templeton informed the Senate that ASG is considering a resolution in opposition to the Kansas Board of Education's recent action de-emphasizing organic evolution and changing other science standards. He also reported that a number of student organizations including ASG, the Black Student Union, Black Women's Network, and Residence Hall Association are sponsoring a Halloween service project entitled Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat, a food drive that will benefit needy children. The event is scheduled for October 30, 1999.

    2. Vice President for Academic Affairs John Schwenn: Schwenn reminded the Senate that nominations for the three new teaching awards are due in his office by Monday, November 1, 1999.

    3. Faculty Senate President Marvin Kuehn: Kuehn reviewed the recent Board of Regents Meeting. 1) He said the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents is working on a resolution about how Regents University Chief Executive Officers are hired. There is currently no written policy on the hiring process. The main concern is that there should be a national search for Regents University CEO's. 2) Vice President Schwenn distributed copies of the draft of the intellectual property policy to COCAO. Approval of policy is possible by December. 3) The student government presidents are working toward 4 goals: a uniform nondiscrimination policy for all Regents Institutions that includes sexual orientation, support for faculty salary raises, opposition to tuition and fee increases, a study about nontraditional students so that their needs can be better met.
      FSB 98017, the Grievance Policy has been sent to President Schallenkamp. A resolution on evolution and related concerns appears to be forthcoming. Fort Hays State University faculty voted 79 to 72 to establish collective bargaining. There seems to be dissent between the Faculty Senate and the administration at Fort Hays.

  5. Committee Reports:

    1. Committee of Campus Governance (Akers): Akers welcomed James Williams, the new Senator replacing Norma Robinson. She reported that COCG is reviewing the Guidebook and the Constitution in an attempt to identify inconsistencies about faculty definitions and other issues.

    2. Academic Affairs (Swanson): Swanson reported that the Developmental Course Policy review is an ongoing issue. FSR 99001, Revision of Graduate Midterm Grade Requirement will be discussed later today. A proposal favoring tuition wavers for faculty dependents is being written. Senator Saunders is working on this policy and will send it to Faculty Affairs for consideration when he has completed it. Registration holds continue to be discussed. Ed McGlone Director of Assessment and Educational Measures has been invited to AA to discuss holds for competency exams.

    3. Faculty Affairs (Simpson): Simpson noted the submission of FSB98017 and issued a call for input about intellectual property issues.

    4. Ad Hoc Committee on Administrator Evaluations (Mehrhof): Mehrhof reported that the Committee continues to meet but has nothing to report to date.

    5. Ad Hoc Committee on the Guidebook for Faculty (Calhoun): Calhoun told the Senate that the Committee will not meet until after the Guidebook is distributed to faculty. Some comments and corrections for consideration have been received from the Executive Committee and the Committee on Campus Governance.

  6. Old Business:

    1. FSB 99001-Revision of Graduate Midterm Grade Requirement. The Bill was briefly discussed and a friendly amendment was approved. The Bill then came up for vote. Twenty-five Senators voted in favor of the Bill with three abstentions.

  7. New Business:

    1. FSR 99002-Resolution Concerning the Removal of Evolution and Further Alterations to the Kansas Board of Education's Science Standards. Moore moved adoption of FSR 99002. The motion was seconded. Moore told the Senate that Dr. Richard Schrock, a member of the committee that wrote the science standards for the State of Kansas, was the one most responsible for writing the Resolution. Faculty from the Divisions of Physical and Biological Sciences have analyzed the Resolution and provided comments to the initial draft. Wyatt noted that this Resolution expressed concerns about issues not mentioned in resolutions from other Regents Institutions such as sexuality and falsifiability. He asked for information about these issues.
      Moore responded that the Board had included language that makes sexuality appear foreboding, not a normal part of life. After reading the actual statement of the Board's policy, Simpson suggested that it would be difficult making a strong case that the Board's policy did in fact do that. He suggested the statement about sexuality be removed from the Resolution. After considerable discussion, Simpson offered an amendment deleting the phrase about sexuality as a health risk. The motion was seconded. Twenty Senators voted for the amendment with 1 opposed and 7 abstentions.
      Moore discussed the statement in the Resolution expressing concern about Board's Policy of falsifiability as the "sole essential core definition of science." Simpson replied that the word "sole" did not appear in the Board's Policy. Moore responded that the wording of the Policy strongly implied that falsifiability was the sole definition of science. Discussion ensued. Waters asked for clarification about whether the Boards action eliminated evolution from science curricula. Moore replied that evolution was removed from the standards and would not be included in the State's tests that are used to measure knowledge in science. This would result in it not being taught in many classrooms.
      Simpson offered another amendment based on Hoy's suggestion replacing the word "sole" in the resolution with the word "an". The motion was seconded. Nineteen Senators voted in favor of the amendment with 9 abstentions.
      Koch moved that the Resolution be tabled so that Senators could discuss this issue with their faculty before a final vote. This motion was seconded. Twenty-three Senators voting in favor of the motion with 5 opposed.

  8. Other Concerns: None

  9. For the Good of the University: Fowlkes urged faculty to support the Homecoming Musical, The King and I.

  10. Adjournment: President Kuehn adjourned the meeting at 4:42 PM.

Submitted by:
Gary Wyatt
First Vice President of the Senate
Last updated on 5 November 1999.
Provide comments about the text to Gary Wyatt at wyattgar@emporia.edu.
Return to the Minutes of the Faculty Senate.