2024-2025

Faculty Senate Minutes for the 2024-25 academic year

April 18th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

April 18, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Julie King, John Hershberger, Jessica Curtis, Suzanne Melescue, Dwayne Powell, Shanon Brantley, Stephanie Hoeckley, Katie Camden, Trinity Pullam, Rob Williams, Pradeep Mishra, Kristen Sumler, Kim Vickrey, Toccara Carter, Khem Aryal, Paul Finnicum, Richard Segall, Hao Yang Teng, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Eric Dry, Karen Graham, Scott Mangan, Veena Kulkarni

Proxy Attendees: Rob Williams proxy for Ibrahim Duyar, Katie Camden proxy for Jamie Pasmore, Rebbecca Wellborn proxy for Rashele Wade, Pradeep Mishra/Karen Graham proxy for Sarah Scott,

Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian)

Absentees: Alexandr Sokolov, Zahid Hossain, LTC Morgan Weatherly, Donna Caldwell, Paul Finnicum, DayDay Robinson, Bert Greenwalt, Mark Lewis, Gary Edwards, Ed Salo, Rollin Tusalem, Pradeep Mishra, Argelia Lorence, Savannah Cormier

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Karen Graham, all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The motion to approve the April 4th, 2025 meeting minutes by Richard Segall, seconded by Jessica Curtis and Paul Finnicum, all in favor, and the motion was carried out.

 

New Business

There are 2 nominations for Faculty Senate President: John Hershberger and Dustin Sullivan

We will hold a Qualtrics vote in 2 weeks. April 28th – 30th is the voting window. Look for it in an email and the Daily Digest. All faculty can vote. You can only submit your vote once.

 

Old business
Faculty Equity Proposal Discussion

Please keep giving feedback so that modifications can be made. The draft of the policy was emailed out in early April. We will discuss this again during the first meeting of the Fall semester. It is a lot of work trying to standardize all the terms and requirements. The committee should put forth a letter for equity, in addition to the chair and dean’s letters.

 

Committee Reports

None

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:09 pm.

Minutes recorded by Audrey Folsom, approved on 9/5/2025 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

 

April 4th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

April 4, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Julie King, Suzanne Melescue, Dwayne Powell, Savannah Cormier, Shanon Brantley, Stephanie Hoeckley, Katie Camden, Trinity Pullam, Pradeep Mishra, Kristen Sumler, Toccara Carter, Argelia Lorence, Khem Aryal, Richard Segall, Bert Greenwalt, Mark Lewis, Gary Edwards, Ed Salo, Rollin Tusalem, Hao Yang Teng, Guolei Zhou, Eric Dry, Karen Graham, Scott Mangan, Ibrahim Duyar, Jamie Pasmore

Proxy Attendees: Ibrahim Duyar proxy for Rob Williams, Rebbecca Wellborn proxy for Rashele Wade, Pradeep Mishra/Karen Graham proxy for Sarah Scott, Susan Whiteland proxy for Kim Vickrey, Amanda Mohler for Audrey Folsom

Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Todd Sheilds

Absentees: John Hershberger, Alexandr Sokolov, Zahid Hossain, LTC Morgan Weatherly, Hung-Chi Su, Donna Caldwell, Paul Finnicum, DayDay Robinson, Veena Kulkarni, Jessica Curtis

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Ed Salo, seconded by Dwayne Powell, all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The motion to approve the March 21, 2025 meeting minutes with AAS and FEq acronyms spelled out, by Ed Salo, seconded by Trinity Pullman  all in favor, and the motion was carried out.

 

New Business:
Chancellor Dr. Todd Sheilds Q&A

Arkansas Access Act

 

Arkansas Access Act Overview:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senator Questions:

 

New Business

 

Old business

 

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 4:23 pm.

Minutes recorded by Amanda Mohler, approved on 4/18/2025 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

March 21st, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

March 21st, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Julie King, Alexandr Sokolov, Dwayne Powell, Shanon Brantley, Stephanie Hoeckley, Audrey Folsom, John Hershberger, Katie Camden, Trinity Pullam, Robert Williams, Pradeep Mishra, Kristen Sumler, Donna Caldwell, Toccara Carter, Argelia Lorence, Suzanne Melescue, Khem Aryal, Richard Segall, Bert Greenwalt, Mark Lewis, Gary Edwards, Kim Vickrey, Paul Finnicum, DayDay Robinson, Veena Kulkarni

Proxy Attendees: Rob Williams proxy for Ibrahim Duyar, Natalie Gatlin proxy for Rashele Wade, Trinity Pullam for Jamie Passmore, John Hershberger for Amanda Mohler, Wayne Wilkinson for Jessica Curtis, April Shepard for Eric Dry

Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Will McLean, Alyssa Wells, Tom Moore

Absentees: Hao Yang Teng, Zahid Hossain, LTC Morgan Weatherly, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Scott Mangan, Ed Salo, Rollin Tusalem, Karen Graham

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Julie King all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: The motion to approve the March 7th, 2025 meeting minutes by Katie Camden, seconded by Kim Vickrey, all in favor, and the motion was carried out.

 

New Business:
Dr. William Mclean Q&A

 

Can you provide an update on centralized scheduling?

Course Dog is the vendor for centralized scheduling. The contract has been signed, IT is working on it, and everything is on schedule. Someone will be appointed over CourseDog to run it and train people. Spaces have been mapped out, some rooms have been blocked out (like specialty labs). It will be helpful. Issues with rooms can be handled through it. There is a possibility that fall class assignments could change at the last minute as things get updated in the schedule. The software will run all the spaces on campus, including the Reng Student Union and the Cooper Alumni Center. Will students be notified if class assignments change? Yes, it will be automated. What about building or classroom access? Someone will have to unlock classrooms that are needed.

 

 

 

Why are emeritus faculty being removed from email servers?

This is an ongoing discussion. It was a system policy that went into effect in October 2023, for security purposes. They can provide a personal address to still get updates but they no longer have an A-state email. They may keep it if they are still doing research. A review is needed to have emeritus status. If someone is kicked off, they can reach out.

 

What is Astate’s facilities management model? Is there a time limit for when service requests must be completed?

Will does not know. The Faculty Senate should ask Russ Hannah or Brian Lasey to speak to this. They report to Finance & Administration.

 

What is the rationale and process for providing raises to faculty?

(statement about high pay in Athletics) Athletics does not report to the Provost. They are allowed to make a certain amount of money, which is dictated by the state and any money beyond that is paid for by private foundation money. The bonuses (etc) are negotiated with the foundation.

Addressing the dean-level pay question. If one moves jobs/positions, they can negotiate more money. Dean's pay is on par to be competitive in the market.

Is there a redundancy between the dean and chair positions? There are some, but they are different positions with different responsibilities and accountabilities, especially in this higher ed. climate and with the growth in programs. The budgets are coming back to the deans and the department chairs. Merits and raises are going to be under their purview, as well as scheduling and planning. The deans are earning their money. 

 

Discussion about equity and salary compression, faculty retirements, etc. Our enrollment needs to increase for a few years before we can address all the salary compression. The equity committee (FEqC) is working on a policy for a transparent process. Discretion will be at the college level. Some of this is market-driven. Job performance is a metric to be considered too, more so than seniority.

 

 

New Business

Testing in access and accommodation issues. Cheating issues happening in Access and Accomodations Services (AAS). Proctoring is not happening, rules are not followed. Some students have taken the exam/computer and walked out of AAS to take it, then come back to turn it in. Access and Accomodations Services may not have the capacity to accommodate so many people and proctor them the way it should be. We will invite AAS to speak.

 

Can we have a Zoom option for remote faculty to serve on the faculty senate?

 

Old business
Committee Reports

Ombudsperson committee – they have met. They are researching what it is at other universities. The report should be ready in early Fall 2025.

Faculty Equity Committee – report due for the first meeting in April

IRB committee will meet after Spring break

 

The meeting was adjourned by John Hershberger at 4:04 pm.

Minutes recorded by Audrey Folsom, approved on 4/4/2025 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

March 7th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

March 7th, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Julie King, Alexandr Sokolov, Rollin Tusalem, Karen Graham, Shanon Brantley, Stephanie Hoeckley,  John Hershberger, Katie Camden, Robert Williams, Donna Caldwell, Toccara Carter, Ed Salo, Suzanne Melescue, LTC Morgan Weatherly, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Khem Aryal, Scott Mangan, Jamie Pasmore, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Bert Greenwalt, Gary Edwards, Kim Vickrey, Paul Finnicum, Ibrahim Duyar, Veena Kulkarni

Proxy Attendees: Rob Williams proxy for Sarah Scott, Rebecca Wellborn proxy for Rashele Wade, John Hershberger recording minutes for Audrey Folsom, Kevin Berry for Kristen Sumler, Asher Pimpleton-Gray for Savannah Cormier, Katie Camden for Trinity Pullam,

Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian)

Absentees: Hao Yang Teng, DayDay Robinson, Mark Lewis, Zahid Hossain, Jamie Pasmore, Dwayne Powell, Jessica Curtis, Pradeep Mishra, Argelia Lorence

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Donna Caldwell all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the February 21st, 2025 meeting minutes by Richard Segall, seconded by Ed Salo, all in favor, motion carried.

 

New Business:

There will be two speakers for last part of semester:

A question was raised about the use of pronouns.

A question was raised about students having issues with purchasing materials from the bookstore—apparently the bookstore changed its policy

A question was raised about where the Education Dean search was

A question about the centralized scheduling system was raised

A question about library funding by the legislature was asked

A question was asked about integrating online/in person courses

Faculty Senate Elections are coming up soon.  It was noted that the requirements are in the constitution and the only limit by college is that a faculty member in the current President’s college cannot run.

 

Old business:

Committee Reports:

 

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:15 pm.

Minutes recorded by John Hershberger and prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 3/21/2025 (uploaded to KB on 10/14/2025)

February 21st, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

February 21st, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Argelia Lorence, Julie King, Alexandr Sokolov, Rollin Tusalem, Karen Graham, Shanon Brantley, Stephanie Hoeckley,  Rashele Wade, John Hershberger, Kristen Sumler, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Pradeep Mishra, Trinity Pullam, Sarah Scott, Robert Williams, Donna Caldwell, Ed Salo, Suzanne Melescue, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Khem Aryal, Scott Mangan, Hao Yang Teng, DayDay Robinson, Mark Lewis, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Bert Greenwalt, Gary Edwards, Paul Finnicum, Ibrahim Duyar, LTC Morgan Weatherly

Proxy Attendees: Trinity Pullam for Katie Camden,  

Guests: Calvin White, Will McLean, Alyssa Wells, Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian)

Absentees: Zahid Hossain, Kim Vickrey, Veena Kulkarni, Toccara Carter, Jamie Pasmore, Dwayne Powell

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Rashele Wade all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the February 7th, 2025 meeting minutes by Richard Segall, seconded by Sarah Scott, all in favor, motion carried.

 

New Business: Provost Q&A

No questions submitted.

Comments from the provost:

Fall admit applications are up by 1600 more than last year. Now we must yield those. Spring orientation is coming up, on Saturdays. Please consider helping your college with those.

Current student mix: Online 50.5%, traditional 49.5% students

AOS is still growing, up 7%, and so are our traditional student numbers – this is healthy growth!

Research status, we are reaffirmed as R2 ($10.3 million research expenditure dollars reported)

The plan is to not drop the research status but to deepen it.

We had a large grant this year, but we are still up $3 million.

About the executive orders from the government (federal and state) – currently, no negative impact on the campus. We have been actively managing it.

Go look at the access bill from our governor that dropped last week. https://governor.arkansas.gov/news_post/sanders-announces-arkansas-access-higher-education-reform-legislation/

HB1512:  https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=HB1512&chamber=House&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R  

We will be notified if negative impacts are coming.

Everything has been pretty quiet, so far.

Our chancellor was in Washington, DC 2 weeks ago to meet with senators and representatives. We are looking at expanding.

We are staying out of the fray.

Questions from the senators:

What role will the faculty have in the review process for performance review of faculty? (new HB1512 bill)

We are still weeding out the details. There is nothing concerning in the bill. The governor’s goal is for us to teach students how to think, not tell them what to think. The pushback from other higher education institutions is the common portal for the state (one fee to apply to all the state universities). But we are good with that because we will get access to a larger pool of applicants, our competitors are not liking it.

Question: why can’t we do online lessons when we have a snow day when we have proven we can do online well?

It disadvantages everyone who does not have internet access in rural areas. When students sign up for online modalities, they accept the online format. When they sign up for face-to-face, they may not have access to the internet from where they live. This is also part of HLC and ADHE’s truth in advertising requirement. If it is listed as traditional, it must be in a traditional format and it can’t be switched to online. You should also not be compelled to attend online meetings when the campus is closed due to winter weather conditions (for the same reason that it disadvantages anyone who may have lost internet connection or does not have reliable internet at home).

Senators expressed concern about indirect cuts and budget cuts from NIH, could it spread to other funding institutions? It is a real fear that it would be cut to a flat 15% and might spread to other funding sources. But we don’t have a lot of NIH money on our campus, so we are currently only minimally affected.

 

 

Old business:
  1. Committee Reports:
    1. IRB committee will meet next week
    2. The equity committee is finalizing a proposal
    3. The ombudsman committee is formed

 

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:33 pm.

Minutes prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 3/7/2025 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

February 7th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

February 7th, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Dwayne Powell, Argelia Lorence, Julie King Alexandr Sokolov, Rollin Tusalem, Karen Graham, Shanon Brantley, Katie Camden, Rashele Wade, John Hershberger, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Pradeep Mishra, Trinity Pullam, Jamie Pasmore, Ed Salo, Toccara Carter, Suzanne Melescue, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Khem Aryal, Scott Mangan, Hao Yang Teng, Kim Vickrey, Mark Lewis, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Bert Greenwalt, Gary Edwards, Veena Kulkarni, Paul Finnicum, Ibrahim Duyar

Proxy Attendees: Kevin Berry for Kristen Sumler, Cindy Crum for Donna Caldwell, Karen Graham for Sarah Scott, Ed Owen for Stephanie Hoeckley, Ibrahim Duyar for Robert Williams 

Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Dr. Pimpleton-Gray, Dr. Spack, & Dr. Long

Absentees: LTC Morgan Weatherly, Zahid Hossain, DayDay Robinson,

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Julie King all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the January 17th, 2025 meeting minutes by Richard Segall, seconded by John Hershberger, all in favor, motion carried.

 

New Business:
Dr. Pimpleton-Gray, Dr. Spack, & Dr. Long, HOWL Service Center (Lupine Wellness Center):
  1. The Lupine Wellness Center by Dr. Pimpleton-Gray: Mental Health and Wellness Support at A-State. It used to be named “the HOWL Service Center”. There was confusion with the HOWL transition program (which is for those who are differently abled) and the Atlas program (a degree program associated with HOWL transition).
    1. Faculty supervisors: Dr. Savannah Cormier, Dr. Whitley-Williams, Dr. Sandusky, Dr. Kristin Johnson, Dr. Pimpleton-Gray.
    2. The clinicians are A-State students in their clinicals, they are getting their field experience. They are supervised by the faculty supervisors.
    3. Services offered: Individual Counseling; Couples and Family Counseling; Play Therapy; Academic Interventions; Group Counseling; Consultations, Behavioral Parent Training; Behavior Therapy for Children; Telehealth Services
    4. Cost: Students are seen at no costs; faculty, staff, and the community are seen on a sliding fee scale; No one has been turned away for their ability to pay. They do not take insurance.
    5. Location: 330 University Loop (Ed Comm building, Room 133, (870) 972-2000) Call to book an appointment
    6. You can refer students to these services.

  2. Wilson Counseling Center: Dr. Martha Spack and Dr. Long. The focus of the WCC is on student wellness
    1. Services are for the students, at any enrollment level
    2. All the counselors are licensed professional counselors
    3. They are a learning institute, so interns work at the WCC too
    4. They offer teletherapy for Arkansas residents, or help them find services where they live if they are from out-of-state
    5. Services offered: Individual counseling, Group counseling, Career counseling, TAO (open to all- online self-help tool), Meditation room, Workshops (in classrooms, Wellness Wednesdays, etc.), Classroom Presentations, Consultation, Referral resources, Crisis intervention. There is also a selfcare week in Fall and Spring
    6. How students reach the WCC: walk-in, call, online – paperwork is online (they use CCAPS, https://ccmh.psu.edu/ccaps-34-62 )
    7. Top concerns: Students seen are concerned about anxiety, depressive symptoms, stress, family, academic performance
    8. If a student needs help, faculty, please reach out to WCC
    9. There is no session limit, typical is bi-weekly (they make more visible progress in a 2-week span, and WCC can see more students)
    10. There is no waitlist, and no one is turned away, the turn around to appointment is quick
    11. The Wilson Counseling Center page has great traffic from students on Instagram @WilsonCounselingCenter https://www.instagram.com/wilsoncounselingcenter/
    12. WCC is an acute center with a robust referral center to meet the needs of students
    13. Additional support: The A-State CARE team meets every week; faculty can refer students they are concerned about for services through the Behavioral Alert through the CARE team. Once a report for behavioral concern has been filed, an immediate outreach is done, and the student must come in for a face-to-face meeting within 24 hours. The CARE team figures out services needed and next steps.
    14. What about undergrads that do not live on campus? They often can be located and reached out to in the community. They are treated the same as on-campus students.
    15. WCC has their own confidential space at 107 N Caraway across the street from Eugene Smith building and in front of the Parking Garage

 

 

 

Old business:
  1. Committee Reports:
    1. IRB committee will meet next week
    2. Equity committee is finalizing a proposal
    3. The ombudsman committee is being formed

 

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:58 pm.

Minutes prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 2/21/2025 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

January 17th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

January 17th, 2025

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Alexandr Sokolov, Shanon Brantley, Katie Camden, Kristen Sumler, John Hershberger, Stephanie Hoeckley, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Sarah Scott, Pradeep Mishra, Donna Caldwell, Trinity Pullam, Jamie Pasmore, Ed Salo, Toccara Carter, Suzanne Melescue, Hung-Chi Su, Guolei Zhou, Khem Aryal, Scott Mangan, Hao Yang Teng, LTC Morgan Weatherly, Kim Vickrey, Mark Lewis, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Bert Greenwalt, Argelia Lorence

Proxy Attendees: Rebecca Wellborn for Rashele Wade, Sarah Scott for Karen Graham, Banafsheh Aghayeeabianeh for Veena Kulkarni, Eric West for Julie King, Veronica Scudamore for Paul Finnicum, Ibrahim Duyar for Robert Williams 

Guests: Calvin White, Will McLean, Alyssa Wells, Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Tom Moore 

Absentees: Zahid Hossain, DayDay Robinson, Rollin Tusalem, Gary Edwards, Robert Williams, Dwayne Powell

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Eric Dry, seconded by Donna Parker all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the December 6th, 2024, meeting minutes by Richard Segall seconded by John Hershberger, all in favor, motion carried.

 

Provost Q&A
  1. Welcome back, we had the highest December graduation this year, and we have a great start to the Spring term.
  2. How are clinical hours accounted for in the faculty workload?
    1. We haven’t tackled the faculty workload yet. Academic Affairs (AA) is not touching clinical hours because there is a variance between disciplines. They are set by colleges and departments due to accreditation requirements. The deans decide this. Right now we do not have a formula. Workload is discipline-set, AA does not override this.
  3. How are the credit workloads delineated among faculty in the college/department?
    1. It is department-specific. The percentage distribution of workload for a faculty can change between departments due to accrediting agency requirements. AA will not set these.
    2. If there are concerns about inter-department equity issues, where do we take them? To the program director (or coordinator), then the department chair, then the dean. Follow the grievance progress. It only comes up to AA if the dean cannot resolve it. Teaching load reductions must be justified. AA only checks productivity.
  4. Can workloads for the upcoming terms be sent out by the chairs/dean by a specific deadline to allow for better preparation?
    1. The provost will address this with the deans next week.
  5. Comments on the State of the State Address by the Governor. We are prepped for all the issues she talked about. We got praised. We are doing it right, we are getting in front of it. We will make our own future. This is part of what our chancellor and provost are doing in Little Rock and why they spend a lot of time there.
  6. Where is DEI going? We have been successful in making DEI more expansive to include everyone. We have widened the circle to address everyone’s issues. Narrowing the circle gets us in trouble. We are being strategic and we are talking to our senators and representatives.
  7. Thank you for what you do. Have a great semester!

 

 

New Business
  1. Spring tasks:
    1. The equity committee is in place and they are working on a document for the senate and provost to review.
    2. Alexandr Sokolov is almost done with the proposal for non-tenure track promotion.
    3. Should we have an ombudsperson for issues within departments/colleges? A national organization (AAUP) protects faculty and could be instated on campus and this person would be the representative for the faculty. This person would support the faculty in the grievance process. Could we put an ad-hoc committee together to gauge interest and study what is done elsewhere? Joining AAUP does have a cost. This advocacy would help the faculty resolve the issue possibly before it goes through the grievance process. Which senator would like to chair this committee? Jessica Curtis agreed to be chair. Motion to approve by Sarah Scott and seconded by Katie Camden. Motion passes.
    4. Any other projects we want to work on? Fix the IRB process. There are issues throughout the process for all the colleges. We can put an ad-hoc committee together to study the issues faculty are having with IRB approval across campus. Who wants to chair? Katie Camden will chair the IRB one. Sarah Scott motioned for approval and Eric Dry seconded. Motion passes.

 

Old business.
  1. What happened to the team-teaching proposal? It will be sent to the chancellor soon.

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:44 pm.

Minutes prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 2/7/2025 (uploaded to KB on 10/14/2025)

December 6th, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

December 6th, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Alexander Sokolov, Julie King, Shanon Brantley, Katie Camden, Kristen Sumler, Dwayne Powell, John Hershberger, Stephanie Hoeckley, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Rashele Wade, Trinity Pullam, Karen Graham, Jamie Pasmore, Ed Salo, Toccara Carter, Suzanne Melescue, Hung-Chi Su, Khem Aryal, Robert Williams, Scott Mangan, Hao Yang Teng, LTC John (Morgan) Weatherly, Kim Vickrey, Mark Lewis, Rollin Tusalem, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Gary Edwards, Bert Greenwalt, Ibrahim Duyar  

Proxy Attendees: Karen Graham for Sarah Scott, Veronica Scudamore for Paul Finnicum

Guests: Todd Shields, Calvin White, Will McLean, Alyssa Wells, Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian)   

Absentees: Donna Caldwell, Zahid Hossain, DayDay Robinson, Guolei Zhou, Veena Kulkarni, Pradeep Mishra

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Alexandr Sokolov all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the November 15th, 2024, meeting minutes by Katie Camden seconded by John Hershberger, all in favor, motion carried.

 

The senate entered a closed session.

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 4:57 pm.

Minutes recorded by Audrey Folsom and approved on 1/17/2025 (uploaded to KB on 10/14/2025)

November 15th, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

November 15th, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Julie King, Veena Kulkarni, Shanon Brantley, Katie Camden, Kristen Sumler, Dwayne Powell, Pradeep Mishra, John Hershberger, Stephanie Hoeckley, Ibrahim Duyar, Guolei Zhou, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Rashele Wade, Trinity Pullam, Karen Graham, Jamie Pasmore, Ed Salo, Toccara Carter, Suzanne Melescue, Robert Williams, Scott Mangan, Hao Yang Teng, LTC John (Morgan) Weatherly, Kim Vickrey, Mark Lewis, Ibrahim Duyar, Richard Segall, Eric Dry, Gary Edwards, Bert Greenwalt

Proxy Attendees: Veronica Scudamore (Proxy for Paul Finnicum?), Karen Graham for Sarah Scott

Guests: Will McLean, Calvin White, Alyssa Wells, Carlitta Moore, Kristen Ruccio, Tom Moore   

Absentees: Khem Aryal, Donna Caldwell, Zahid Hossain, DayDay Robinson, Alexander Sokolov, Hung-Chi Su, Rollin, Tusalem,

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Eric Dry all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the November 1st, 2024, meeting minutes by Jessica Curtis seconded by Ibrahim Duyar, all in favor, motion carried.

Provost Q&A

 

1) Why was the advising change not a shared governance issue?

Because it was a workflow procedure change, not a policy change, it is in the purview of the Provost. Communication was given before the change, at all levels. Deans were all on board. Input was sook at the college level. Shared governance can only make recommendations to the Chancellor and the Provost.

 

2) How is the university preparing for the new federal administration? In particular, what are plans to deal with potential tariffs, potential restrictions on student visas, and curtailment of academic freedom?

Tariffs: we have nothing to do with those, it might impact procurement, and it would fall under the systems office

Visas: international education is important, if restrictions are placed, we must comply. But we have lived through this before. We will do all we can while complying with state and federal law. We will use best practices.

Academic freedom: Review academic freedom regarding how it is impacted by the law. Your personal views do not fall under academic freedom, especially if it is not related to your discipline. You have freedom of speech, you can say what you want but you can’t be protected from the consequences; we work for the state, therefore, we represent the state and Akanasas State University. We will advise you if needed but we will protect the institution (the whole/A-State). Look at court decisions about academic freedom. We are limited in how much we can protect you. We will advocate for you but may not be able to protect you. We are agents of the state. The provost is not worried about the federal government. Of the federal laws, Title IX has the biggest impact on you. We are more concerned with the state government’s position. They ask about faculty-to-student ratios; staff:student:faculty ratios, and worked hours per week. They also asked about tenure. The state will have the biggest impact on how the university operates. Tenure will look significantly different. The guard rails are gone. DEI legislation is coming. The core mission of educating our students is staying the same. They have (the state legislature) an opinion about how many staff and faculty it takes to run our campus. We won’t be able to keep the departments we had in 2011. This is why faculty lines are disappearing.

 

3.) Students have concerns about financial aid, mental health, and other personal issues. When referred to the Registrar, Counseling Center, and Financial Aid, the offices often do not provide much support to help these students stay in college. What plans do we have to improve training in these areas so they can support student retention and place less of a burden on faculty?

The new advising model has taken the burden off faculty. We are beefing up financial aid and registrar. FAFSA has undergone one of the biggest transformations in decades. This is why we need more training and professional advisors. It is constantly changing and faculty can’t be expected to keep up with the constant changes. All these new changes in workflow are to reduce the burden on the faculty. Not all of this falls under AA but falls under Student Affairs. We are trying to get more help for counseling (not under AA). Students needing counseling could go to the HOWL Service Center for mental health. Enquire about this if you are interested. H.O.W.L. Service Center

 

4.) The changing allocation of Infrastructure Funds places some programs at a disadvantage as they are programs that often require expensive supplies to meet the most basic needs of our students. Since a lack of funding for supplies and equipment directly impacts our ability to recruit new students, how does this administration plan to support the needs of the programs, who will now have limited access to infrastructure funding?

The way we are moving the infrastructure funds will provide more money from a deeper pool of money for departments. The current departmental limit is $120,000 but with this new way, departments can purchase items that cost more than that. It will require the dean and the chairs to put more thought into the proposals. We will fund more large things now, but it will require a proposal. Make a great proposal. In times of plenty, you have to be good stewards of your money. We have to be good stewards all the time. The infrastructure money did go out this week.

 

5.) Our department has remained the same size throughout the pandemic, but we have had numerous faculty lines removed, reduced to non-tenure-track, or moved to adjunct load. If this administration wants to prioritize full-time faculty lines, why have so many lines removed or reduced?

We do prioritize full-time faculty lines where there is growth. If there is no growth, faculty lines may not be needed. A line has to be justified. TN State has laid off 114 university employees. Nationally, 27 universities have closed or shut their doors. We have to be able to defend our decisions regarding the money we spend. We are being forced to do something different now. This is why the Provost is being honest with us and keeping us informed.

 

A legislative session is happening soon. The Chancellor will update us soon (next month). Tenure is being questioned, DEI legislation is coming, they are questioning the curricula, and they are pushing workforce development. We will need to right-size to the current requirements. We have had declining enrollment since 2014. Things are not okay but we can make it. UConn cut dozens of programs. The Provost is advocating for us. We will not be a victim of the future. We will create our future. We will keep our core values of educating Arkansas. We were the only 4-year institution that got money yesterday (Grant awarded by Gov. Sanders). 4-year universities have lost their value propositions with the state. Concerning DEI, we will protect everybody (that is how we keep it). Concerning tenure, we are advocating for a 7-year post-tenure review (to protect and keep tenure).

 

New Business

Guest speaker Kristen Ruccio, Chair of Access and Accommodations Committee.

New guidelines for classrooms to make them more accommodating.

We are publishing a resource for faculty and staff. It will be available the week after Thanksgiving. Access promotes retention.

It has 6-pages of suggested good practices for classrooms (after the all captioning stuff), materials, and events. Course files should be screen reader-friendly (large Excel tables can be a problem). Use at least 14-point fonts. Be open about having an inclusive classroom. Don't discuss a student’s disability in front of the whole class. Representation matters (in your materials). Minimize ableist language. For events provide a contact for people with mobility issues, food allergies, and avoid flashing lights. Guidelines for accessible PPTs and color-blind friendly materials.

Find the document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11QZ13MhCXPGefzUquKx_b5-wdNUnhgsUFCV6iE32-78/edit?tab=t.0

Old business

None.

The meeting was adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 4:14 pm.

Minutes prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 12/6/2024 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

November 1st, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

November 1st, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Pradeep Mishra, Robert Williams, Rashele Wade, Dwayne Powell, Jessica Curtis, Julie King, Katie Camden, Trinity Pullam, Kristen Sumler, Jamie Pasmore, Alexandr Sokolov, Suzanne Melescue, Shanon Brantley, Hao Yang Teng, Guolei Zhou, John Hershberger, Toccara Carter, Stephanie Hoeckley, Ed Salo, Scott Mangan, LTC J. Morgan Weatherly, Mark Lewis, Bert Greenwalt, Richard Segall, Hung-Shi Su, Eric Dry, Veena Kulkarni, Ibrahim Duyar, Asher Pimpleton-Gray

Proxy Attendees: Amanda Wheeler Gryffin (proxy for Paul Finnicum), Robert Williams (proxy for Karen Graham)

Guests: Will McLean, Calvin White  

Absentees:  Khem Aryal, Donna Caldwell, Savannah Cormier, Gary Edwards, Zahid Hossain, Dayday Robinson, Sarah Scott, Rollin Tusalem, Kim Vickrey

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Richard Segall, seconded by Alexandr Sokolov, all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the October 18th, 2024, meeting minutes by Katie C, seconded by John H, all in favor, motion carried.

Provost Q&A
  1. What professional development opportunities are there for adjunct faculty members? Many of our adjuncts work full-time jobs and cannot commit to a full 7-month ACUE course in addition to their jobs and teaching 1-3 classes. However, many adjuncts have never taught before. What resources are available from A-State to help them learn the best pedagogical practices?

Answer: We are limited to what we can do because they are not full-time and do not have full-time benefits. There should be training at the department and college level for those adjuncts. If they are not competent, they should not be hired.

CETL is accessible to all, and small tutorials will be released by CETL in the near future. If the adjuncts are teaching 9 hours, they might need to be full time.

 

  1. I found out recently that students receiving counseling services at A-State only receive a session every other week due to staff shortages. Does A-State plan to return to a model where students can receive counseling every week?

Answer: Academic Affairs does not control counseling services. The Chancellor was consulted and is aware. This is a Dr Spack question (Student Affairs). We have contacted St B and NEA to see what help we can get. The demand is through the roof. We have the most anxious generation. The counseling staff is there, fully staffed, the demand has grown exponentially. It is the same on all campuses.

We are looking for college-ready students, but we need to stop doing that because they do not exist. We need to make the campus ready for the student that is going to arrive. We need more resources there to meet the needs.

 

  1. Last year, University Graduate Assistantships were not awarded until the summer. Will that funding be released earlier this academic year?

Answer: We are hiring a grad school dean, and we will look over this process and redistribute the positions according to need. They have not been rearranged or re-evaluated in a while (5 years).

 

  1. Are there any plans to increase the compensation A-State offers adjunct employees?

Answer: They are grossly underpaid. To increase pay we need to increase recruitment and retention. They are also thinly used. If they taught larger classes, we could pay them more because we would need less of them (1 adjunct x 60 students vs 3 adjuncts x 20 students). We may need to use more instructors instead of adjuncts. We need to stop the overuse of adjuncts when we don’t need them.

Will added: Look at your curriculum; are you trying to be everything to everyone. Do you have too many electives and therefore need too many adjuncts? There are pilots of 90 hours baccalaureate degrees in other institutions. They are stripping gen eds. This is coming from the state legislation.

 

  1. At A-State, there is a shocking lack of funding available for low-income returning students who are not single parents. Would the administration consider creating or advocating for scholarships to allow these students to return to school later in life?

Answer: This administration has spent over $100,000 from the foundation funds to wipe away the balances of struggling students. This was not publicized due to the political climate. Low-income students have great GPAs and ACT scores, these are our Promise Plus students. We are raising more money for needs-based education funding. We are doing it but also simply not publicizing it. We are removing barriers for those students to be able to re-enroll and continue to matriculate through their programs.

 

Comments from the Provost.

“Camelot is over” we have pressures to provide a workforce pipeline. It is better if we come up with the plans and degrees for it than if it is mandated by the state.

To set the record straight on the bonuses: 9 faculty out of 500 are not getting bonuses (due to high DFW rates). We are doing good. They have been personally notified by the provost, so don’t worry you would have gotten an email from the provost if you are not getting the bonus. The bonus was to reward retention, graduation rates, or recruitment.

 

New Business

Pradeep Mishra, faculty member and director of printing services: We are invited to come over and see what they can do for us. They are located on the first floor of the Ed Com building (south of the library).

We are encouraged to order from printing services instead of using outside print shops. Admissions sent post cards, 45,000 of them and were going to put address stickers on them. Printing services was able to do it faster and cheaper than the traditional way (no stickers) and saved $100,000.

Banners can be made too. Off campus costs a lot more.

Check with printing services before you go off campus.

They can print scientific posters. Don't buy a printer, the ink will dry, and it will end up being a waste.

They can make T-shirts in many colors, they simply only stock the traditional A-State colors. They can order more T-shirt colors if we want them. They can only do group orders for T-shirts.

They also work 8-5 M-F so they need lead time for any projects.

They are working on updating the website so you can see all the items available (astate.swagforce.com).

Need a PO to order.

They can also manage outside orders for you if they don’t carry the item you want.

 

Old business

none

Adjourned by Amanda Mohler at 3:47 pm.

Minutes prepared by Audrey Folsom, approved on 11/15/2024 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

October 18th, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY 

FACULTY SENATE MEETING 

October 18, 2024 

Reynolds 222

 

Attending: Ed Salo, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Robert Williams, Robert Williams (Proxy for Ibrahim Duyar), Dwayne Powell, John Hershberger, Nicole Arnel (Proxy for Kim Vickrey), Matt Harmon (Proxy for Katie Camden), Mike Cooper (Proxy for Trinity Pullam) Sarah Scott, Jamie Pasmore, Julie King, Amanda Wheeler Gryffin (Proxy for Paul Finnicum), Toccara Carter, Rashele Wade, Alexandr Sokolov, Guolei Zhou, Stephanie Hoeckley, Scott Mangan, Karen Graham, Suzanne Melescue, Hao yang Teng, Kristen Sumler, Mark Lewis, Bert Greenwalt, Richard Segall, Shanon Brantley, Gary Edwards, Eric Dry, Khem Aryal, Veena Kulkarni, Rollin Tusalem, Day Day Robinson

 

Guests: Tom Moore, Calvin White, Will McLean, Alyssa Wells, Ian Buchanan.

 

Absent: Amanda Mohler (John Hershberger lead the meeting), Audrey Folsom (Ed Salo recorded minutes), Donna Caldwell, Zahid Hossain, Pradeep Mishra, Hung-Chi Su, LTC J. Morgan Weatherly

 

Vice President John Hershberger called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM.

Ed Salo moved to accept the order of the day. It was seconded by Sarah Scott and passed by voice vote.

Ed Salo moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Eric Dreyer, second, did the motion and they passed by voice vote.

 

Provost Q&A
  1. A list of faculty that have a greater than 25 percent DFW outcomes have been distributed to Deans and Chairs. Three related questions:
  2. Not all courses with higher than desired DFW rates reflect poor instruction. Although a DFW rate is an easy metric to compute, will there be a deeper evaluation of factors such as the mix of courses an instructor teaches and their respective student evaluations, how well students are being prepared in lower-level perquisite courses before entering upper-level courses, and student’s GPA and history of attendance when entering upper-level courses before punitive action, if any, is taken?
  3. If a certain DFW threshold results in punitive action, will this penalty be enforced at the course level, individual faculty level, department level, or college level?
  4. Please describe the level of new resources that the university is committed to providing to improve DFW rates and evidence that such resources at prior universities have yielded improved DFW rates.

 

Calvin White-

A list was sent out with all the DFW's that were between 50 and 20% to the deans and Chairs

We are not looking at the raw data but the data in the larger context.

Currently, we are not doing anything at the Provost office with the data. ACUE is recommended for those on the list. And chairs will be documenting the DFW rates in formal reviews. There is no punitive action now, but there might be in the future.

The Provost was surprised by the DFW in certain areas. In some areas it was not where you usually think it is. For the upcoming bonus, people with high DFW rates may not get the bonus.

The Provost office sends $50,000 to CETL for ACUE training, and CETL will become more visible with more pedagogical functions.

The Provost office will be getting data to the chairs and Deans more frequently, and the data should be used as a guide.

John Hershberger commented that we need to have a change of teaching culture.

 

Question 2

  1. Discussions about our equity process have been discussed. Since the policy has not changed yet, is it possible for faculty to resubmit for equity even if it has not been three years since they last applied? Those questioning are those who did not receive equity the last time they applied.

Calvin White- The Provost asked the HR and the lawyers to make sure that this was correct.

If you have received equity, you cannot apply. In three years. If you have been promoted, you have to wait. If you did not receive equity then you can apply again.

More people coming through the process. Money will be in smaller pots. We are still looking at teaching, research, and service as the grading process.

PRT does not have to send it up the chain (equity requests).  The request can stop at all different levels in the process. We can change the process, but we don't have $3,000,000 to solve the problem.

University College and CLAC have salaries are the ones that are out of whack.

 

Just because you apply every year does not mean you have a better chance of receiving it.

 

  1. The centralized advising model hinges on Degree Works being accurate. Who is responsible for making the changes/updates in Degree Works such as course grade requirements, pre-requisite courses, etc? If the chairs are responsible for making the changes, when will training be provided on how to update Degree Works so that it is correct and up-to-date?

 

Calvin White-  The faculty controls all our curriculum changes. Everything will still go through that process. And we'll continue to go through that process.

We need to give any changes in the curriculum to Chris Boothman and he will upload it into Degree Works. If we need training then it will be provided.

 

John Hersberger- what about the 15 hours per semester rule that came down from ADHE .

Will McClean explained that the change was from the state and we have no controll over that.

 

  1. There is policy for student infrastructure fees straight from the Treasurer's office website that states:

“Infrastructure Fee

Provides funding to assist in the enhancement of the student learning environment. This learning environment consists of, but is not limited to, classroom furnishings, student computer labs, teaching media, students software teaching tools, and highly mediated classrooms to name a few. The expenditure of these funds must go to visible improvements that students can see, touch, or use in their everyday learning environments. Consequently, students must have primary advice on how these funds will be invested.”

What is happening to FY25 infrastructure money. We usually have been able to order equipment by now or at least have information about when we can order things. Where is the money?

 

 

Calvin White- Money still is in the Provost office. There's $900,000. The Provost office will fund everything this year but will not next year. In the future, the money will not be divided equally. The Provost will ask the Deans what will be the most successful use of the money and it will be placed in the best places.

 

Ed Salo asked about the Journalism Department update.

Calvin White- They're coming up with new curriculum and hope for a break through soon.

Calvin White- The tenure track lines requests went out to the Deans this afternoon.

 

Ian Buchanan- Staff Senate President

The Staffs in IT is working on creating a culture of working together. With the faculty and other groups on campus, they're big three are a well informed community of employees. Campus unity and awareness. And retention of all employees.

They're doing this through an empowerment activity series. Receiving tickets to football game, period. Anonymous comment box for different groups. They are also working on a Zen den Modeled after Lyon College.

 

Committee Reports

Equity Committee meet and organized the committee.

 

Adjourned 3:49pm.

Meeting minutes prepared by Ed Salo, edited by Audrey Folsom and approved on 11/1/2024 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

October 4th, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

October 4th, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Rob Williams, Alexandr Sokolov, Audrey Folsom, Katie Camden, Savannah Cormier, Jessica Curtis, Julie King, Kim Vickrey, Rashele Wade, Scott Mangan, Trinity Pullam, John Hershberger, Ed Salo, Stephanie Hoeckley, Donna Caldwell, Kristen Sumler, Jamie Passmore, Guolei Zhou, Karen Graham, Suzanne Melescue, Hao Yang Teng, Hung-Chi Su, Richard Segall, Toccara Carter, Mark Lewis, Eric Dry, Gary Edwards, Bert Greenwalt, Veena Kulkarni, Khem Aryal, Ibrahim Duyar, Rollin Tusalem

Proxy Attendees: Rob Williams for Ibrahim Duyar; Steven Muzatko for Dwayne Powell, Karen Graham for Sarah Scott,

Absentees: LTC J. Morgan Weatherly, DayDay Robinson, Shanon Brantley, Pradeep Mishra, Paul Finnicum

The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Alexandr Sokolov, seconded by Donna Caldwell, all in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the September 20, 2024 meeting minutes by Rashele wade, seconded by John Hershberger, all in favor, motion carried.

Chancellor Q&A

The Provost was not able to be at this meeting due to a family emergency.

 

  1. We were told a few times last year that a workload policy was being drafted and would be brought to the Faculty Senate for discussion. Any progress/ update on it?

The committee is formed and has put things together, the vet school requirements caused it to take a turn and be delayed, it is needed, policies across campus are very different. It is in the works. The new system President wants to look at it.

  1. With the plan to move to centralized advising, will there be any concessions for programs who have specific qualifications for advising per the program's accreditation?

Yes, I am not aware of accreditation that mandates registration. Centralized advising is for registration, not for faculty-student interactions or mentorship. Rules change at the federal level and at the state level, the professional advisors stay on top of that. Getting students registered quickly gets them ready for returning the next semester, psychologically. Faculty should follow up with their students as they are matriculating through their program. The number of hours per semester rules for the challenge scholarship is set. Students should have to take 15 hours per semester, minimum, for the lottery scholarship. They are allowed to take 12 the first semester but can take 15 or more. There is no appeal for the lottery scholarship. For institutional scholarships, the hours have to be taken at A-State (not ASU-N). Degree plans in each major are vastly different. Degree works should guide the students as to what to take next, and if they don’t pass a course it should change the plan in accordance. The change of major process will be changed to automate (with immediate update). We want the info we give them about registration (hours needed, etc.) to be the same (consistent) if they change their major. We don’t want faculty to be liable for telling the students something wrong about the number of hours they need and lose their scholarship. FAFSA is being delayed again this year. We should still meet with our students to guide them through their college career and teach them to be professionals. Make sure Chris Boothman knows your degree rules so they are set right in degree works, like if you need a C in a certain class(es).

  1. Explain why we can no longer use outside services for t-shirts? Printing services have limited colors, sizes, and designs that are not accommodating for all programs or students. Furthermore, small business owners have now lost a significant portion of their business becausestudent organizations and programs are no longer allowed to use them. 

This is a miscommunication. We are asking people to go to our campus printing services first, if we can’t do it, go to a local business. It is not forbidden to go off campus. There is still a university styling guide that must be followed, so use local print shops that are approved vendors.

  1. Who can examine the University’s contracts with Rise Point (faculty, HLC, the AR Legislature, all of the above)? Does the contract with RP stipulate RP’s payment is equal to 50% of tuition per student recruited?

The Chancellor checked with Legal. RP feels that if that info is known publicly it would be a competitive disadvantage for RP. If someone wants to see the contract you can look at it (if requested) but you can’t disclose any info about it. It is 50% of the tuition that comes back to us.

Centralized scheduling for the classroom – what if you have health issues and can’t walk across campus?

If you do have accommodations due to mobility issues, they can be considered. CS will allow you to be more familiar with the rest of campus and get to know other people. Knowing where you are in case of an emergency will be immediately available to UPD/first responders.

Academic colleges will get input to consider needs and technology that are specific to your teaching (lecture and lab). Instructors will get a preview of the schedule.

Maximum use of the classrooms in each college is the goal. The intent is to put people in the place they should be first (their college/building) and only move them elsewhere if needed because all the spaces are full in their college/building. Our most filled time is still only at 60% capacity. We are not full. Classroom spaces are being underused and underfilled.

The system is not designed to hurt you or make you walk across campus. Keeping you in your building or close to your building is the goal while matching you to the right classroom size for your needs. This will allow us to see what the needs of each college/building are.

The Coursedog software has had great reviews from the faculty. It considers historical data and proximity when making decisions about classroom assignments.

 

 

New Business
Chris Boothman – Vice Chancellor for Distance Education & Technology & Chief Information Officer: The new Pack Support.

Pack support stays. Its software changed from Starfish to SLATE. SLATE is for centralized advising/registration and student success. It is used by Nikesha Nesbitt’s group. It populates from Canvas too. Automated triggers can be set up, like messages if they haven't logged in for a few days, and it also sends message to Nesbitt’s team.

How do faculty raise flags?

The Early alert form was set up in Canvas. It is a short form, it can be sent for many different issues with automatic notification to Nesbitt’s team so they can reach out. Also, it allows to close the loop on any report. You can edit the report if you made a mistake. You get an email when the loop is closed that action was taken.

From Canvas, click “Help” (bottom left) and you will get the Early Alert form. In Spring, all courses will have it in the left-hand side menu. You still have to fill out all the student’s info, eventually (down the road) the program should integrate so the student data can be populated.

SLATE will allow advising notes to be made by the professional advisors (Nesbitt’s team).

Faculty mentors could be set up to get notifications about flags, down the road.

Eventually, each student will have 3 people assigned to them: a professional advisor, a faculty mentor, and a student success advisor.

You can bookmark the Early Alert form, if you want to. It works that way too.

 

Can we have student photos in Banner or Canvas for our rosters? Students can upload one, so you can encourage them to do so.

 

Simple syllabus will go campus wide in the Spring. The pilot in CNHP has been going great. Training will be available in November.

 

Summer 2025 – new website will go live.

 

Grade Repeat Policy

Currently the limit for repeated hours for GPA recalculation is 18 hours. Should we open this up to unlimited hours?

Discussion: We should allow repeat of any classes for any grades. CPOS will prevent issues with a cumulative grade recalculation. Financial aid will only pay for a passed course twice. Because we have competitive programs, students want to be able to retake courses to improve their GPA. Both grades will show.

CPOS – course program of study – government only pays for courses on the program of study.

Students are currently being penalized for concurrent credit courses with bad grades with the current limit on recalculation. The limit for recalculation is at 18 hours currently.

Chairs want the C s that were retaken included in the recalculation as it will help students right now.

The highest grade would be used in the recalculation, but all grades will show on the transcript.

 

Old business
Committee reports

Equity committee is being formed.

Faculty handbook draft has moved from the Provost to the Chancellor’s desk.

Motion to adjourn  John Hershberger, seconded by Donna Caldwell

Minutes uploaded to KB 10/14/2025

September 20th, 2024

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

September 20, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Dwayne Powell, Audrey Folsom, Khem Aryal, Trinity Pullam,

John Hershberger, Donna Caldwell, Ed Salo, Rashele Wade, Kristen Sumler, Julie King,

Pradeep Mishra, Sarah Scott, Alexandr Sokolov, Shanon Brantley, Scott Mangan, Kim Vickrey

Toccara Carter, Savannah Cormier, Suzanne Melescue, Paul Finnicum, Stephanie Hoeckley

Katie Camden, Richard Segall, Mark Lewis, Guolei Zhou, Eric Dry, Hao Yang Teng, Hung-Chi Su, Gary Edwards, Veena Kulkarni      

 

Proxy Attendees: Sarah Scott for Karen Graham, Margaret “Maggie” Hance for Jessica Curtis

 

Absentees: LTC J. Morgan Weatherly, Ibrahim Dyar, Bert Greenwalt, DayDay Robinson, Rollin Tusalem, Rob Williams

 

The meeting was called to order at 3:01 pm.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to amend the order to add introductions so we can get to know each other, by Eric Dry, Second by Alexandr Sokolov

Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the September 6, 2024 meeting minutes by Sarah Scott, second by John Hershberger, all in favor, motion carried.

Introductions – round of introductions by name and department/college

Provost Q&A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Business
Presentation by Madeline Ragland from Academic Integrity
Old business
Committee reports:

The equity committee is still looking for members.

Motion to adjourn by Paul Finnicum seconded by John Hershberger, the meeting adjourned at 4:49 pm.

Minutes prepared by Dr. Audrey Folsom and approved on 10/04/2024 (uploaded to KB 10/14/2025)

September 6th, 2025

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

September 6, 2024

Reynolds 222

 

Attendees: Katie Camden, Dwayne Powell, Alexander Sokolov, Shanon Brantley, DayDay Robinson, Suzanne Melescue, Gary Edwards, Ed Salo, Kim Vickrey, Robert Williams, Ibrahim Duyar, Rollin Tusalem, Toccara Carter, Bert Greenwalt, Richard Segall, Guolei Zhou, Sarah Scott, Jessica Curtis, Scott Mangan, Savannah Cornier, Eric Dry, Donna Caldwell, Stephanie Hoeckley, Hung-Chi Su, Hao Yang Teng, Paul Finnicum, Veena Kulkarni, John Hershberger, Khem Aryal, Pradeep Mishra, Audrey Folsom, Mark Lewis 

 

Proxy Attendees: Karen Graham for Sarah Scott, Addie Fleming for Trinity Pullam, Fredrick Webb for Raschele Wade  

 

Guests: Tom Moore

 

Absentees: LTC J. Morgan Weatherly

 

Meeting Called to Order: Ed Salo established a quorum. The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm by Ed Salo.

 

Passing of the Gavel: Succession of new Faculty Senate President, Amanda Mohler.

 

Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Audrey Folsom, seconded by Donna Caldwell, all in favor, motion carried.

 

Approval of Minutes: One edit to correct word in section 3B. Motion to approve the April 19, 2024 meeting minutes by Katie Camden, second by Paul Finnicum, all in favor, motion carried.

 

Election Senate Secretary: Audrey Folsom volunteered for the Faculty Senate Secretary position, seconded by John Hershberger, all in favor, Audrey is the new Faculty Senate Secretary

 

Provost Q&A:

            Dr. Calvin White welcomed everyone back on campus and highlighted the growth experienced on and off campus and all the changes that made this growth possible. Dr. White laid out 4 goals for our campus:

  1. Advising: we are fundamentally changing advising, including a change to the registration format because of the many mistakes and issues that were happening
    • The FASFA changes are hard for faculty to keep up with
    • Advising is not mandated by the Chancellor
    • Conversations are happening across campus about advising and what it should look like, the Deans are involved, and concerns of the chairs and faculty should be voiced and addressed.
    • Your degree plans should be up-to-date.
    • Professional advisors will not replace faculty mentorship (which is what we are currently calling advising) but will keep up with the financial aid implications and keep the students updated.
    • Only 2% graduate with no course substitutions, this needs to change
  2. Centralized Scheduling is coming for Fall 2025
    • We are the only school in the state not doing this
    • This will help us account for where everyone is at any point in time, in case of an emergency (think active shooter)
    • We will have exceptions for lab spaces and sim labs that are dedicated to or used by specific programs
    • The system we will be using to do this is Coursedog https://www.coursedog.com/
  3. We are revamping the A-State webpage. It is outdated.
    • The new site will go live next summer
    • We will seek feedback from all programs, departments, …
    • This is imperative for HLC and ADA compliance
    • We are on an old platform that is no longer used by anyone in the business
  4. Accountability to goals
    • We have full parking lots and full classes, and we are hiring more people
    • These are good things, every campus has these issues (parking,…)
    • We are teaching more, or larger classes.
    • White announced a plan for a bonus in November. This is a one-off. Raises will still have to wait. We have decades of losses, and it will take a while to turn it around. We have $60,000,000 of deferred maintenance that needs to be done.
    • Our classes are fuller, which is a good problem, but we should not be expecting to be paid more to teach full classes.
    • We have over 16,000 students enrolled, a 12% growth, 48% are online and 62% are in person. This is due to our new enrollment strategy. We beat UCA by every metric.
    • There will be a campaign around Honors College to improve it
    • The Provost will teach a class next fall.
    • Salaries will be addressed as we get more students on campus. We are headed in the right direction. We are going to change more. The goal is to increase by another 10% for next year.
  5. Questions from the Faculty Senate:
    • Question about how the centralized scheduling will work. The system will assign you a classroom, it will not dictate when and what you teach (only where you teach).
    • Question about what to expect for this legislative session: it will focus on Higher Ed this January. If they could change our funding formula, it would help us. We are 41% funded by the state. Also, an anti-DEI legislation proposal is coming. We will fight for DEI. Will we see the same issues with tenure as Florida and Texas? We will fight for our faculty.
    • Another question about centralized scheduling: will there be a location priority or stratification? You could be assigned to teach anywhere on campus. Only labs and sim labs can be assigned exclusively to certain programs.
    • Questions for the Provost or Chancellor can be submitted via this Qualtrics form: https://astate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4JctnSrgsZuB7tI

 

Election of Vice-President: John Hershberger self-nominated to serve as Vice-President. Motion to approve John Hershberger as Vice president by Paul Finnicum, seconded by Ed Salo, all in favor, John continues as Vice President for this term..

 

Reappointment of Parliamentarian: Kevin has agreed to continue to serve as Parliamentarian

 

New Business: Amanda Mohler asked, what are our needs?

 

Old Business: Any reports? None

Our goal is to deliver the meeting minutes a week before the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 4:01 by Dr. Amanda Mohler

 

Minutes prepared by Dr. Audrey Folsom and approved on 9/20/2024 (uploaded to KB on 10/14/2025)