April 3rd, 2026
ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY SENATE MEETING
April 3rd, 2026
Reynolds 222
Attendees: Amanda Mohler, Audrey Folsom, Banafsheh Aghayeeabianeh, Richard Segall, Karen Graham, Rob Williams, Rashele Wade, Eric Dry, Suzanne Melescue, Alexandr Sokolov, Michael Cooper, Julie King, Kristen Sumler, Kim Vickrey, Hao Yang Teng, Jason Causey, John Hershberger, Scott Mangan, Rollin Tusalem, Veronika Scudamore, Stephanie Hoeckley, Toccara Carter, Anne McGee, Eric West.
Proxy Attendees: John Howard for Jeremy Weeks, Matthew Harmon for Kacie Altom
Guests: Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Dominque White, Blake Walker, Jill Simons
Absentees: Marceline Thompson-Hayes, Pradeep Mishra, Guolei Zhou, DayDay Robinson, Gary Edwards, Ibrahim Duyar, Joy Goode (for Robert Bradley), Bert Greenwalt, Jamie Passmore, Mark Lewis, Savannah Cormier, Dwayne Powell
The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm by Amanda Mohler.
Order of the Day: Motion to approve the order of the day by Rashele Wade, seconded by Rob Williams; all are in favor, the motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: The motion to approve the March 20th, 2026, meeting minutes was made by Richard Segall and seconded by Matt Harmon; all in favor, the motion carried.
New Business
Dr. Dominque White & Blake Walker Access & Accommodations
Access and Accommodation Services has 6 full-time staff and 1 part-time staff.
They manage the golf cart transportation system and special seating, etc.
They only serve registered students, including those with temporary impairments. This includes on-campus and AOS students.
They service all accommodations across campus for students.
There is an online form to complete to register for the services. No deadline. Accommodation is not retroactive. Documentation is kept private. Registration does not have to be repeated each semester, but they have to request to use their accommodations each semester. That is also not retroactive.
Typical accommodations were presented (extended time, excused absences, note-taking, etc.)
Reasonable accommodations are not meant to fundamentally alter or eliminate essential course requirements. There must not be an undue burden on the institution or risk to the health and safety of the other students.
Questions to ask: Is there another reasonable alternative? What is essential?
Setting up accommodations is an interactive process that involves students, AAS staff, and many other people, such as faculty and advisors. Accommodation can change over time.
A rule of thumb is: “If we can do it, we probably should.”
Many students have multiple conditions.
AAS is available to come to your department for info sessions.
Question about a 2-to-3-week absence in a 7-week term. Can that be retroactive? It depends on the circumstances (hospitalization?). It might be a case for issuing an incomplete.
Question about allowance to turn things in late. How late can they turn it in? Up to one day, up to two, or up to three days late. There is a concern that they may get so far behind that they cannot catch up in shorter terms. The end of the term is the final due date/deadline.
Questions about students claiming that their accommodation covers them watching shows during class. That is not a thing from the AAS office. It’s a trend to calm anxiety.
Concern about accommodation for students in deadline-oriented degree programs – students with accommodations are not equipped to deal with the workplace deadlines, and employers are complaining. AAS is to accommodate for their current environment, not their future employment. Although people can get workplace accommodation in certain workplaces.
Should we define what is essential for our degree or program? It is something to explore. They have to meet the essential core skills of their discipline. AAS accommodates for access, not for success.
Is there an indication on their transcript or record that they had accommodations? No.
Accommodations don’t always translate to the employment conditions they are entering. Are we tracking our graduates who have accommodation to see how they are doing once they leave here? It’s a project that has begun, but we don’t have much data yet.
Dr. Jill Simons, Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning & Antonio Jones, A-State Online Faculty Support – Canvas Accessibility
Accessibility updates due to new regulations for digital content.
3 tools can help you (found in course settings, navigation, find it, enable it, and save):
1. Tidy Up
2. UDOIT/UFIXIT
3. Canvas accessibility checker.
Some colleagues do not upload videos properly and don’t understand why it may not be compliant.
There is more scrutiny now. Content and files should be at 90% compliance.
Is it retroactive? No. We cannot change courses that have already been published and completed.
How specific does the alternative text have to be? It depends.
The deadline is April 24th, but we mostly need to show progress. Work on Spring courses and upcoming summer ones. Courses that have students in them are the priority.
Resources will be sent to the faculty to help.
Old Business
Committee Reports and Updates
None.
4:21 pm adjourned by Amanda Mohler
Minutes recorded by Audrey Folsom