My apologies for not posting these for a few weeks.
At today’s Senate meeting:
The Presidential search is continuing. Candidates will be interviewed around this weekend, with second-level interviews to follow shortly thereafter. A campus forum will be held on May 18, and the Board will deliberate to choose a final candidate between May 25-27.
The Academic Technology Committee reports that they have decided to continue the Canvas pilot project, and hope to expand it to include a broader range of classes and instructors. They are also planning to begin a student survey of both Canvas and Blackboard users.
Wendy Nelson will take the position of Learning Outcomes tri-chair for fall 2016, but she will be taking a sabbatical in spring. It would be ideal if someone would volunteer for this position, to be trained by Wendy in fall. The three positions include 120% release time, to be divided among the tri-chairs as they decide.
We also need someone to come forward to serve as faculty tri-chair for accreditation.
The SPC has recommended that development and planning for the South Center continue. It is anticipated that the South Center could help bring in more FTES to mitigate the losses of recent years. There was some discussion as to the concerns of the local community regarding traffic congestion.
There was significant discussion of the update to the strategic plan. The Senate approved of the emphasis being placed on encouraging teaching and learning by forming connections across campus. There were objections to language which seemed to imply that the problems with growth and enrollment were to be remedied by changes in scheduling and efficiency, with no direct mention of improvements needed in recruitment, marketing, and long-term planning (e.g. not cutting courses at the last minute).