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February 21, 2022

  1. Call to Order – the February 21, 2022 meeting of the University Senate was Called at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom by President, Louis Reis.
  2. Welcome and Opening Remarks – President, Louis Reis, COES
  3. Roll Call – Alicia Kimbell recorded attendance; a quorum was met
  4. Approval of January Minutes – a motion was made by Joanna Ward/Judith Robers all approved
  5. Special Welcome – Russell DeLuca-Kavanagh from Salem State University (Mass.) pursuing a Master of Education, attended meeting
  6. Introduction/Q&A – Dr. Donna Thomas, Chief Academic Director for Partnership
    1. Her new role
      1. Collaboration with individuals and off campus
      2. Growth opportunities for non-traditional learners
      3. Potential for companies/researchers to provide specific programs
      4. Oversees Academic Success Center in Bossier
        1. Looking to define what it will look like going forward
        2. Visit with Deans to see what they envision for growth in programs
          1. John Worsencrft  – encouraged her to speak to faculty members that are also eager to have these conversations
        3. Look into online programs; classes on the Bossier campus are not currently held in-person
          1. Tom Stafford – are there ways to make it equitable for commuting faculty to travel to teach(overload/reimbursement)
        4. Dual Enrollment
          1. Have not had a conversation about this program yet; unsure of involvement
          2. Louis Reis – Are there any current projects where we are trying to reclaim territory in North Louisiana that has been lost throughout the years?
  7. Updates
    1. Policy Updates
      1. Policy 1405 – Evaluation of Administrators
        1. Request that employees have an annual opportunity to evaluate their immediate supervisor and all administrators above them within each college or division
        2. Spoke with Justin Kavalir
        3. Definition of immediate supervisor varies from college to college
        4. Everyone needs to have the ability to evaluate any supervisor above them
        5. Poll vote taken by APC 2 weeks ago
        6. 1 dissent vote; all other approved
      2. Policy 1417 – Nepotism
        1. Senate Executive Committee expressed concerns that the proposed revision has language that might negatively impact faculty who have spouses working in administrative or supervisory roles (that is not the intent of the policy)
        2. The current language can create problems
          1. There are plenty of faculty/staff on campus where spouse serves in a supervisory role
        3. Louis Reis asked Justin Kavalir about the possibility of clarifying the wording of the policy(alter the language)
          1. Processes already in place; the wording will be worked on by Justin by the next APC vote
  8. COVID-19 Updates
    1. Mask-mandate lifted by ULS on 2/16
    2. Studnet Registrations (Stacy Gilbert)
      1. Registration holds are a manual process, not automatic
      2. Rollout of the system was delayed and there were some initial issues
        1. New software was not available until October
      3. Covid-19 case numbers are decreasing in all categories
        1. Chart was provided which included January and February number of new cases
  9. Meeting with Dr. Guice – January 14th
    1. Will meet with Louis Reis this week
    2. Has agreed to speak with the Senate at the March 28th meeting
    3. Ethics/DEI training for faculty/staff
    4. Surplus in state budget; optimistic about faculty/staff raises
  10. Updates from Committees:
    1. Communication – John Worsencrof had no updates
    2. Workload – Kathleen Heiden was unable to attend the meeting
    3. Technology – Tom Stafford – Contract research going on under security classification; Why the concern about surveying the university research system?
      1. Darrell Eddy – the university is required to have an acceptable use policy (most universities have these); will become more stringent in the future
  11. Upcoming Meetings for Louis Reis
    1. Plan to meet with Dr. Summet Dua (Ex. Assoc. VP research Partnerships, CRO)
      1. Will extend an invitation to him to speak with the Senate in April
    2. Plan to meet with Dr. Eric Wood (VP, Athletic Director)
      1. C-USA realignments and new student-athlete initiatives
    3. Plan to meet with Dr. Terry McConathy (Provost)
      1. Continuing talks to address work-load polices
        1. Louis Reis and Kathleen Heiden will be sending out a survey; looking for a university-wide common language to determine work-load units
    4. Possible plan to speak with CADs (pending policy votes in APC)
      1. Panel discussion?
  12. Senate Awards Committee
    1. Volunteer link will be posted on Moodle
    2. Schedule for wars process
    3. Discussion with Lisa Cole to determine best way for distributing stipend awards
  13. Officer Elections
    1. Elections will be conducted in Map (President, VP, Treasurer, and Parliamentarian)
    2. Contact Louis Reis if interested in running for any of the four positions
  14. Adjournment
    1. The meeting was adjourned at 4:57 p.m. by a motion from John Worsencroft/Jane Jacob