News

The University Curriculum Committee maintains its own website which is available by clicking the link below
 University Curriculum Committee

5/18/04

• The University Senate is currently holding an electronic discussion and vote on the Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities Committee's revisions to the Appeals Process regarding tenure and promotion.  The final draft of the revisions is available for your perusal in .rtf format.

• New on the Website we have the new Senate Membership and the new Senate Standing Committees.  A new copy of the Senate Charter is forthcoming. 

5/03/04

• The University Senate will meet on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 in the Garrett Center Ballroom at 9:00 a.m.  The following items are available for your perusal:

  • The Meeting Agenda

  • The Minutes of the April Meeting

  • Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities Agenda

  • University Curriculum Committee Agenda

  • General Education Committee Agenda

  • Proposal to Revise the Composition of the University Curriculum Committee 

  • Proposal to Create the Position of Copy Editor

  • Graduate Council Policy Actions

  • Proposal to Revise the Curriculum Review Process

  • Proposal for Bylaws Change Regarding Senate Membership

4/20/04

• The 2004 Salary Study is now available online.  

• At the last senate meeting there was some discussion concerning the administration of the joint engineering program.  Dr. Reis, the Engineering Department Head, has shared with the Senate the text of the Addendum to the Framework of the Memorandum of Agreement for the Joint Engineering Program.  The University Senate Chair extends his thanks to Dr. Reis and the engineering department for their efforts to help the Senate understand the the issues involved in the administration of the joint program.  

4/14/04

• The University Senate will meet on Thursday, April 15, 2004 in the Garrett Center Ballroom.  The following items are available for your perusal:

  • The meeting agenda.  

  • The minutes of the February meeting of the University Senate

  • The minutes of the March meeting of the University Senate

  • Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities items

  • University Curriculum Committee Consent Agenda

  • Proposal to Recommend Suggestions to Improve Awareness of Policy and its Changes

  • Proposal to Recommend Suggestions to Improve Academic Quality in the Classroom

  • Statement on Academic Dishonesty

  • Graduate Council Policy Actions

  • Proposal to Revise the Curriculum Review Process

  • Proposal for Bylaws Change Regarding Senate Membership

  • Proposal from the Student Government Association

  This is the second to last meeting of the semester.  The final University Senate meeting will be held May 5, 2004 at 9:00am.

2/22/04

• The University Senate met on Thursday, February 22, 2004 in the Garrett Center Ballroom.  Click here for the meeting agenda.  The minutes from the January meeting of the University Senate are available here.  In addition, the Standing Committee Reports are now available

  • Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities Committee

  • General Education Committee

  • University Curriculum Committee

1/04

• The University Senate met on Thursday, January 22, 2004 in the Garrett Center Ballroom.  Click here for the meeting agenda.  The minutes from the November meeting of the University Senate are available here.  In addition, the Standing Committee Reports are now available:

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PLUS / MINUS GRADING SYSTEM ISSUE

• Here is the revised text of the University Senate motion concerning plus/minus grading.

• The Student Government Association has had the first reading of a proposal opposing plus / minus grading.  The SGA motion is available here.

• Senator Strow has developed a website containing research on the benefits of a plus / minus grading system.  You can reach it here.

• A report from Arizona State University's Ad Hoc Committee on Plus/Minus Grading

• A report from Truman State University concerning plus / minus grading systems.

• A report from the California Community Colleges concerning plus/minus grading systems in that state is available.

• Eastern Kentucky University Ad Hoc Committee on Plus / Minus Grading 2002-2003

• A study of plus / minus grading done at North Carolina State University.

• A study of plus / minus grading done at University of Maryland, Baltimore County

• A computer simulation of plus / minus grading done at Wake Forest University is available here.

• Three journal articles on plus / minus grading:

  • Bressette, Andrew.  2002.  "Arguments for Plus/Minus Grading: A Case Study." Educational Research Quarterly 25(3): 29-42.

  • Malone, Bobby G., Jacquelyn S. Nelson, and C. Van Nelson.  A Study of the Effect of the Implementation of the Plus/Minus Grading System on Graduate Student Grades. (ED446143)

  • Plus and Minus Grading Options: Toward Accurate Student Performance Evaluations. (ED395631)

PROPOSED CALENDAR CHANGE ISSUE

• A proposed 2004-2005 University Calendar including January Term is available here.  A June memo from the University Calendar Committee concerning this proposed calendar is available here.  (NOTE:  The chair of the University Senate received this memo from several different sources once the proposal was announced to the entire university.  The extent to which the concerns listed by the committee have been ameliorated is unknown at this time.)

11/20/2003

• The University Senate will meet on Thursday, November 20, 2003 in the Garrett Center Ballroom.  Click here for the meeting agenda.  The minutes from the October meeting of the University Senate are available here.  In addition, the Standing Committee Reports are now available

  • Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities Committee

  • General Education Committee

  • University Curriculum Committee

10/18/2003

• Ever wonder what the president of a state university in Kentucky makes?  Wonder no more with this excel spreadsheet.

10/14/2003

• Here are the Standing Committee Reports and/or resolutions that will be considered at the October 16, 2003 meeting:

  • University Curriculum Committee

  • General Education Committee

  • Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities

10/13/2003

• The University Senate will meet on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 3:30pm in the Garrett Ballroom.   Click here for the agenda of the October University Senate meeting.  

9/18/2003

• The University Senate will meet on Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 3:30pm in Garrett Ballroom.  Click here for the agenda of the September meeting.   Click here for the minutes of the August University Senate meeting.

8/19/2003

• The 2003 Conference of the Kentucky Long Term Policy Research Center is entitled At the Crossroads:  Prospects for Kentucky's Educational Future:  Preschool to Postsecondary.  This conference will be held on November 18, 2003, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky.  The cost of the conference is $40; however, there is a group rate.  Individuals interested in attending the conference and receiving the group rate are urged to contact, Douglas Smith by November 1.   

• The University Senate will meet on Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 3:30pm in Garrett Ballroom.  Click here for the agenda of the August University Senate meeting.   Click here for the minutes of the April University Senate meeting.

• The University Senate is attempting to make University Governance more transparent by collecting a listing of university level committees.  University level committees are those committees which include faculty members from different units across the campus (e.g., Parking Committee, Athletic Committee, etc.).  

8/18/2003

• The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Coalition of Senate Faculty Leadership (COSFL) are co-hosting a Fall Conference entitled "New Academic Challenges to Kentucky Universities."  This free conference will be held at the Council on Postsecondary Education on October 18.  Featured speakers include Jane Buck, President of the National Organization of AAUP, and Dr. Thomas Layzell, President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.    

6/13/2003 

• Faculty Welfare and Professional Responsibilities Annual Salary Study has been sent to each departmental representative to the 2003-2004 University Senate.  

• A preliminary 2003-2004 University Senate membership list has been posted.

• A preliminary list of 2003-2004 University Senate committees assignments has been posted (sans OCSE and University Libraries).  If you would like to know who to talk to about a specific issue, ask your departmental senator or go straight to the list. 

• Last year, the University Senate passed a resolution asking the university to eliminate Social Security Numbers as an internal identifier so as to better protect faculty, staff and students from identity theft.  Vice-President for Information Technology, Richard Kirchmeyer responded by forming a SSN Elimination Task Force.  The summary report and the final report of that task force is now available on the WKU-IT web site.  According to the IT website, the suggestions from the task force have been approved by the Academic Council. 

03/18/2003 - New Reports

In the 2002-2003 academic year, the Faculty Status and Professional Responsibilities Committee performed two surveys concerning faculty retention.  The results of these surveys can be read here:

Faculty Workload Study (.doc)
Department Head Survey Results (.doc)

03/21/2003 - New Reports

Earlier this semester, the Faculty Regent approached the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate for assistance in gathering faculty opinion for a regent's survey of the president.  Although not technically a survey done by the University Senate, the Faculty Status and Professional Responsibilities committee did include part of the University Senate President Questionnaire to the end of the Regent's Survey.  The results of this questionnaire are available here:

Faculty Opinions of President: The Regent's Survey (.pdf)