This month’s Faculty Senate meeting focused on deadlines for winter intersession grades, policies concerning emotional support animals, and the use of letters from previous chairs in tenure consideration portfolios.
Due to issues with late grades submitted for the intersession, the senate discussed a possible deadline for submittal. In the past, some winter intersession grades were not submitted until May. This caused issues for students who were attempting to graduate, but were delayed or encountered issues with grades for classes which may have not been passed.
The deadline would come with an option for professors to request an extension if needed.
The motion passed for a deadline of 8:30 a.m. on the third day after the end of the intersession.
Dr. Tim Pierson brought the issue of policies for emotional support animals (ESA’s) to the attention of the senate. There is currently no policy in place for ESA’s.
ESA’s are not the same as service dogs, and are therefore not recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, according to Pierson, they are recognized by the Fair Housing Act, but it doesn’t support the ESA’s in the classroom.
Pierson went on to point out that qualified health professionals have documented the need for ESA’s.
The discussion in the senate revolved around whether or not the animals would be disruptive or distracting in classrooms, and allergies of those around the ESA’s.
Currently, the determination for the allowance of service dogs is sent to the Office of Disability Resources for determination and then Housing.
A decision has yet to be made concerning ESA’s.
The main concern of letters for tenure consideration portfolios was confidentiality. The current policy has been that faculty could include letters from previous department chairs, and the new policy would require the letters to be included. Discussion centered aroundon how to best ensure confidentiality.
The new academic core curriculum has been delayed for a year due to needs for more feedback and the senate to revisit it again. This pushes the new academic core curriculum to be piloted during the 2017-2018 academic year, and then rolled out in the fall semester of 2018.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held on March 3 at 3:30 p.m. in rooms 209 A&B in Greenwood Library. The University Planning Council meeting will be held on April 26 at 3:30 p.m. Both meetings are open.
