Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting September 16, 2009
The regular meeting of the 2009-2010 Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by President Houle. The following senators were present for all or part of the meeting: Bartschat, Chesnut, Clapham, Cramer, Cravero, DeWitt, Dore, Esposito, Gilbert, Houle, Klipec, Knepper, Lyons, Mosser, Parsa, Vitha, Walker
Absent: Courard-Hauri, Petersen, Reincke, Van Wyke
President Maxwell Report – No Report
Provost Renner Report
Provost Renner opened his remarks by announcing the Fall 2009 enrollment numbers. There is only a slight decrease in the total headcount from last year, yet an increase in the number of fulltime students.
The Provost mentioned his belief that his orientation to Drake is continuing and he looks forward to his remaining ‘first’ visits around campus. The upcoming Futures II Conference planning continues and he stressed that proposals which are truly transformative will be presented for consideration by the campus community.
There is an eleven member group working intensely to prepare a response to the possible H1N1 virus outbreak. The group is preparing a relatively extensive list of information for the Drake community which will be ready for publication soon. One main goal is to protect and preserve educational activity.
Also soon to be presented will be the results of a minor reorganization of the Academic Affairs division reporting structure. The Provost finished with reminding the body of the Board of Trustees meeting in early October.
Senator Esposito asked if there will be efforts to inoculate our students against the H1N1 virus. The Provost indicated that Drake’s Health Center will be a distribution site as appropriate within the national distribution release of a vaccine. He stressed that it will be equally as important this year to get the seasonal flu vaccination.
President Houle Report
President Houle indicated that 09-10 committee assignments are essentially done. He thanked the many volunteers in this effort. Since it is expected for curriculum and assessment issues to come forward to the Senate this year, he encouraged the senators to plan now to get themselves and their units involved in the proposals.
Norah Carroll, Student Senate liaison, gave an overview of the 09-10 Student Senate structure and membership.
New Business:
James McNab, Multimedia Producer with the Drake Telemedia Center, presented the Senate with information concerning the iTunes University which is a mechanism to distribute media files. He indicated what can be a podcast, what can be done with a combination of audio and slides, and what can be placed as a podcast as a reoccurring event. He encouraged the Senate to contact him to for further information or consultations.
Specifically iTunes University is available to nonprofit educational bodies. There are over 300 institutions worldwide currently using this service according to Mr. McNab. It is a free service.
The service is available to all campus users and restricted to only campus users. Within the blueView portal, there is a channel on the Campus Life tab. Mr. McNab demonstrated the features for the Senate. He encouraged the faculty to review the channel.
Senator Clapham asked if there is a link to Blackboard. The reply was no.
When asked, Mr. McNab indicated that studies have shown that students do still come to class even if the class is available electronically. President Houle offered that there may be some policy issues to be revisited based on this particular use of technology, mainly concerning use and misuse.
Upon proper motion and vote, the Senate went into Executive Session at 4:15 p.m. to consider the Honorary Degree and Drake Medal nominees.
The Senate adjourned at 4:40 p.m.