August 21, 2026
ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY SENATE MEETING
August 21, 2026
LSE 219
Attendees:
Audrey Folsom, Amanda Mohler, Richard Segall, Rob Williams, Eric Dry, Suzanne Melescue, Alexandr Sokolov, Michael Cooper, Julie King, Jason Causey, John Hershberger, Scott Mangan, Rollin Tusalem, Veronika Scudamore, Stephanie Hoeckley, Anne McGee, Guolei Zhou, John Howard, Eric West, Robert Bradley, Banafsheh Aghayeeabianeh, DayDay Robinson, Gary Edwards, Timberly Baker, Stephanie Gotay, Nicole Covey, Andrea Brown, Melanie Fulton, Pankaj Nagpal, Koushik Biswas
Proxy Attendees:
John Howard for Jeremy Weeks
Guests:
Kevin Hennings (parliamentarian), Carlitta Moore
Absentees:
Kacie Altom, Kristen Sumler, Kim Vickrey, Toccara Carter, Mark Lewis, Marceline Thompson-Hayes, Pradeep Mishra, Bert Greenwalt, Mohamed Milad
The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm by Amanda Mohler and John Hershberger
Order of the day:
Motion to approve the order of the day by Andrea Brown, seconded by Alexandr Sokolov; all are in favor, the motion carried.
Approval of Minutes:
The motion to approve the April 17, 2026, meeting minutes was made by Richard Segall and seconded by Rob Williams; all in favor, the motion carried.
New Business
Vision for Faculty Senate
1. Community
a. Propose peer-selected awards for Spring 2027, unique recognition awards (Should this be done by the Faculty Association?)
b. Listening Tour – John can come to each college/unit to listen to their concerns and see how we can help, doing it all year.
c. Partnering or hosting events to recruit and retain students and/or future senators
d. Mid-semester meeting with the summer CETL teaching summit participants
e. Overall goals: increase visibility and generate a pipeline of senators
a. Current opaqueness with shared governance
b. What is the role of faculty in shared governance at A-State?
c. Talking with Deans, Chairs, Faculty to get clarity
d. Goals are to clarify goals and responsibilities of each group in shared governance, increase transparency, and build trust among shared governance groups
e. Definition of shared governance: “a college or university in which all the components are aware of their interdependence, of the usefulness of communication amongst themselves, and of the force of joint action will enjoy increased capacity to solve educational problems.” 1966 joint statement by AAUP, ACE, and AGB.
i. President of Faculty Senate
ii. President of Staff Senate
iii. Chair of the Academic Deans Council
iv. Co-Chair of the Chairs Council
v. President of Student Government Association
vi. President of Graduate Student Council
vii. Chancellor/Provost Representative
viii. Six Faculty Senators (one from each college)
ix. Six Staff Senators
g. Can we use a system to track proposals in shared governance? Maybe Curriculog?
Ask for Senators’/Guests' vision for Faculty Senate
Continued information dissemination
Faculty Association – Dr. Carlitta Moore
See the link in the email about the Faculty Association sent by Carlitta Moore.
Faculty pay dues for this. We have a constitution and a bank account with the new officers. Nominations are open and come from Faculty Association members.
Join through Marketplace, through the Pack Portal. Dues are $15 for the year.
Main purpose: provide programs .... (get from CM or the KB): philanthropy and social interaction. Bylaws are created and approved by legal (will upload in the KB). The voting for officers is run through Slate; current Faculty Senate Association members are blind to the nominations. All current officers are at the end of their term. We are trying to revive it so that the work can continue and grow. If you join the association early, you will get a gift.
Carlitta also pitched doing a Study Day social, with a space for faculty and staff to unwind and socialize. For a mental break during finals week.
Election of Vice President and Secretary for 2026-2027
Kacie Altom indicated this summer that she is interested in the secretary position; Rob motions for Kacie to serve as secretary, Eric West seconds.
Audrey Folsom and Alexandr Sokolov are interested in the VP position. Senate votes on paper; Kevin counted the votes. Audrey Folsom wins with 16 votes; Alexandr had 10 votes. Audrey Folsom is appointed as Vice President.
FRAC appointment procedure overview
FRAC increases research output, and student travel is also managed through it. Deans will put names forward for the 3 colleges that need members on the committee, and we will vote on those names to appoint people to the FRAC.
Old Business
Committee Updates or reports?
None
Some concerns were raised about the Pay Equity Policy from the Deans. This policy is not a shared governance matter, but we can make recommendations.
Meeting adjourned by John Hershberger at 4:08
Minutes Recorded by Audrey Folsom