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October 2023 Council Packet Minutes
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Inter Faculty Organization (IFO)

Faculty Association (FA)

At MetroState University – a MinnState institution

October 2023 Packet

October Council 2023

  • CCSPA
  • CIS
  • CLA
  • CNHS
  • COM
  • COS
  • LIB
  • UED
  • CF Caucus
  • Disability caucus
  • FOC caucus
  • Women's Caucus
  • LGBTQ+ caucus

College/Unit Meetings

IFO Council monthly meeting

IFO FA (union) Officials

Current Statewide IFO Board Members –

Upcoming Packet

For more information about our union, archives of minutes, or a current copy of the contract go to our website www.metrostatefa.org. For information about the statewide IFO, go to the statewide website at www.ifo.org

We welcome your feedback! Please feel free to contact Cindy Harley cynthia.harley@gmail.com with comments, questions, and concerns.

  1. Approval of Minutes

  1. Motion: Approve September 2023 IFO FA Council Minutes located at https://www.metrostatefa.org/minutes

Motion to approve. Seconded. Carries.

  1. Call to Order

 Call for additional agenda items or reordering the agenda.

  1. FA President’s Report

  1. Meet and Confer-- The president announced that there are no discussions of retrenchment, reorganization, or BESIs at Metro. We discussed advising in terms of shortages and streamlining the assignment of advisees to advisors within their major. Administration admitted that the advising reorganization is taking longer than they had anticipated. We discussed concerns with the email policy in detail, and administration assured us it would only be for the most egregious repeated offenses.
  2. News from the IFO Board-- The contract was ratified! You will likely see your pay increase in November (including back pay from the start of the year). The other contract elements are now in effect. If you want a paper copy-- please let me know! At statewide meet and confer we discussed the ongoing issues with timely faculty pay basically MinnState gave our institutions a deadline that did not work for us. This has been explained and we suggested that they change their notification process about delayed pay. We also discussed the 2025 supplemental budget ask for the legislature, we are lobbying to bridge the gap between what we asked for and what we got, we want to turn the one-time money into ongoing, and we are hoping to get more HEERF funds. One of the key issues was related to SCSU’s desire to expand their use of predatory online program managers into the undergraduate curriculum. We are, as an organization, opposed to OPMs. Of course we talked about more, but these were the most salient bits for me. Alec Sonsteby was appointed as statewide IFO Treasurer by the IFO Board.

  1. Consent Agenda

  1. CLA Motion VII B Person to contact RE: classroom preparation

        **note item is highlighted in gray to reflect its position on this consent agenda**

Motion to approve consent agenda.  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. Action Items

  1. Volunteer opportunities available: Please look at committee rosters and volunteer for open positions that interest you. As a reminder we voted to reinstate the faculty advisory committee to the community engagement council. Note IFO statewide and Minnstate committee calls have not all been released yet. We have the possibilities we know of listed.

FA Committee Roster

University committee and council roster

  1. IFO Statewide (mostly 2 year appointments)
  1. Adjunct representative to contingent appointments committee (1yr appointment)
  1. Matt Ryg volunteers
  1. Constitutional review
  1. Alec Sonsteby volunteers
  1. Action
  1. Queen Booker volunteers
  1. Election voting procedures committee
  1. Scott Cooper volunteers

Motion to approve the slate of statewide volunteers.  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. MinnState
  1. academic calendar advisory-- current debate is how to aid programs that have licensure issues and make winter break less hectic for those doing scheduling. Alignment with other colleges, universities, and K-12 calendars is a topic of discussion and equity should be kept in mind.
  2. educational development
  3. Standards of effective practice (education)

  1. Artificial Intelligence Task Force Volunteers Needed: The administration has created a charter for a committee about artificial intelligence. We need volunteers to be on that taskforce and any feedback on the charter itself.
  1. Here is the memo about committee creation
  2. Here is the draft charter

Please volunteer and give feedback.

CCSPA nominates Crystal Fashant to the A.I. Task Force. Seconded. Motion Carries.

CLA volunteers: Tom Atchinson, Padma Challakere, Parva Panahi

COM: Aber volunteers

DAC: Addition to charter “Develop policies, procedures, guidance and best practices for the university about using artificial intelligence technology as a tool for teaching (pedagogy, assessment), student learning, faculty and student scholarship and research, and in carrying out the work of the university. Assess how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language models impacts our understanding of and policies related to academic integrity, accessibility and student conduct.  Particular attention will be given to understanding the impact of AI technologies on equity, inclusion and anti-racism efforts.”

WEC Supports but asks for equity caucus representation to the taskforce

LIB nominates Kat McLarn

Academic Appeals nominates Michelle Filkins

Motion to approve AI task force volunteers (except CLA).  Seconded.  Carries.

Motion to approve DAC addition to charter. Seconded.  Carries.

Motion to add equity caucus representation (WEC motion).  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. Updated Internship Form Needs Feedback: The Internship and Apprenticeship Coordinator requests IFO approval on an updated Academic Internship Agreement form (AIA) to replace the current AIA. This form is used to register students for an independent internship with the course code of 350I. The current iteration of this form can be located here. The updates were made to increase accessibility and usability of the form. During the month of August, faculty in Cybersecurity and Computer Science have piloted the use of this updated form and shared feedback. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Feedback that has offered as an opportunity for improvement have been focused on confusion on how to complete page 3, which varies by department. Emily Johnson, the Internship and Apprenticeship Coordinator is currently working on creating a complimentary document to help navigate each section and in October is kicking off an Internship Workgroup. It is the hope that this workgroup will be a catalyst for programs prioritizing their internship guidelines webpages and future updates to the general internship pages will be forthcoming.

Here is a link to see the form. Please give feedback

WEC supports

LIB: The form is an improvement

Motion to approve new form.  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. Charter of BOT nomination committee for second review: At its September meeting, the Faculty Council decided to pursue the creation of a Board of Trustees teaching award nominations committee staffed by faculty. Attached is the first reading of a proposal for such a committee, which lists its charge and potential membership. Please review the proposal in your unit meetings and submit feedback or motions in your unit’s minutes. The second reading will occur in November, and if approved by Faculty Council, the committee will be officially established and added to our FA’s operating procedures.

Here is the proposed charter: Charter for BOT group

DAC Support

WEC support

LIB Motion to approve. Passed

Motion to approve charter for BOT group.  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. FA Budget: At the September FA Council meeting the attached FA 2023-24 budget was amended and approved.  We have an accumulated surplus of about $16,000 and will receive approximately $20,000 in support payments from the statewide IFO this year.  The spending allocations in the budget total approximately $27,000, this uses our whole allocation for the year and uses 44% of our accumulated surplus.

The budget may be amended during the year by the FA Council.

Here is a summary of the expenditures by category:

Dollar Amount

Percent of Support Payment

Percent of Total Budget

Contributions, Gifts and Special Projects

$1,800.00

9%

7%

FA Organizing and Events

$3,000.00

15%

11%

CF Organizing and CFVP Stipend

$10,407.78

51%

38%

Unit Meeting Refreshments

$5,000.00

25%

18%

Equity Caucuses and IFO E&D Committee

$ 7,000.00

35%

26%

$ 27,207.78

134%

Requests for reimbursement should be submitted to the FA Treasurer and should be accompanied by receipts and minutes approving of the expense. For unit meetings, we anticipate a motion that approves expenses once a semester.

DAC Support

WEC support

  1. Proposed changes to the chapter XVI of the FA operating procedures:

The FA Treasurer is offering these proposed changes to our FA Operating Procedures to clarify some of the processes that should be followed by the FA Treasurer and to detail some practices that should be part of the Treasurer’s diligence in assuring that expenditures are properly approved.

 

This should be regarded as a first reading of these proposed changes with an invitation for further suggestions and hopes of approval later this academic year.

See the proposed changes here. Additions are underlined. Please note there is a new section clarifying the reimbursement process.

CLA Query-- Do FA assets include a rollover surplus?

DAC Support

WEC support

LIB Motion to approve proposed changes. Passed

Motion to approve the proposed changes and waive a second reading. Seconded. Carries.

  1. Second reading security committee charge and composition

In September, we asked that the composition allow for one member of each interested equity caucus. The document has been updated to reflect these changes.

DAC Support

WEC support

LIB Motion to approve. Passed

Motion to approve.  Seconded.  Carries.

  1. Respond to this survey from campus operations about facility planning. Deadline October 6th

CCSPA found the survey insufficient and has no confidence in the results produced or any  interpretations. Motion Carries.

Rationale: Based on the low quality of this survey and the recent poor communication  about facility planning, the faculty have little confidence in the planning process, and we  are deeply concerned about what the outcome will be. This survey is not a substitute for  meeting with and speaking with faculty and academic units.

COS Motion:  Admin should survey the faculty regarding current and planned office usage and needs, during Fall 2023.

Rationale; Office space discussions have had limited opportunity for faculty weigh-in, especially in light of changes post-pandemic.  This process should be data-driven with the most up-to-date surveying, so that we can accurately determine and address any issues that exist.

Move the COS motion. Seconded.

Amendment by substitution: Admin should work with the IFO (maybe faculty issues) to develop an appropriate survey to use to address faculty space needs (current and future use). Amendment seconded. Carries.

Vote on amended motion: Carries.

Motion to direct Exec to include CCSPA and COS motions as rationale at M&C and ensure CFC are included. Seconded. Carries.

  1. Carryover Motions from Previous Governance Cycles

  1. CFC Motion: To authorize and direct the Executive Committee to conduct a vote of FA membership to amend the Metro State University Faculty Association constitution as follows (inserting the highlighted underlined text):

ARTICLE V -- OFFICERS AND STAFF

Section 1. Officers: The officers of this organization shall be the president, the vice presidents (resident faculty and two (2) co-community faculty vice presidents), the secretary, and the treasurer.

 

ARTICLE VI – OFFICER ELECTIONS AND TERMS OF OFFICE

The officers of the FA shall be elected at-large by a secret ballot of the membership during April of even-numbered years. Both resident and community faculty members vote for officers. Resident faculty will vote for resident faculty vice president and community faculty will vote for community faculty vice president(s). The officers shall serve a term beginning in July of even-numbered years and continuing two full years and until elected successors take office. There is no limit on the number of terms any member may serve as an officer.

 

Rationale: The Community Faculty Caucus’s rationale for this proposed amendment is located in the September packet.

 

CCSPA moves to support CFC motion as stated. Seconded. Motion Carries.

Note: According to Article XIV of the FA constitution, the constitution can be amended “by a two-thirds majority vote of FA members in good standing who vote.”

CLA Motion: CLA supports 4 credits of compensation for each of the CF co-vice presidents. Seconded. Motion passes.

COM: Motion to approve. Seconded. Failed

COS: Motion to approve. Seconded. Passed

COS query: Concerns over compensation. Would it be possible to split 4 credits for both VPs?

CNHS Motion: Pass CFC Motion: To authorize and direct the Executive Committee to conduct a vote of FA membership to amend the Metro State University Faculty Association constitution. Motion passed unanimously.

DAC noted

WEC noted

Move the CFC motion.  Seconded. Carries.

  1. New Business-- Motions from Unit meetings and Committees/Councils

  1. CLA Motion: Metro FA Membership reminds FA exec that individual members can submit motions and other items for the packet, so long as they meet the packet submission deadlines. Motions do not need to come through units, caucuses, or committees to be included in the packet. If passed, the following language shall be added to the IFO operating procedures, in the section about the packet: "IFO members may submit motions and other items for the packet, for consideration in unit meetings. Motions and other items for the packet must be submitted before the monthly packet deadline for inclusion." Seconded, motion passes.

Rationale: For decades, Metro FA members have been able to submit motions and other informational items for the packet. Our most recent exec team has interpreted the rules in our operating procedures that apply to moving motions to FA Council (Operating Procedures C.4, "The Council receives reports and motions from FA committees and academic units, and formulates the official faculty policies and positions”) to apply to the packet more broadly, such that individual members must submit motions to their units, caucuses, or committees first before inclusion in the packet. This is a break from decades of precedent that allowed individual members to submit to the packet (as nothing in the operating procedures expressly requires motions to come through units, caucuses, and committees). Additionally, it causes significant delays in moving issues through the governance cycle, adding an additional, unnecessary time to solving urgent issues. This recent reinterpretation of the operating procedures makes our union less responsive to the needs of our members.

COM: Motion to approve. Seconded. Failed

CIS: Discussed

COS: Motion to oppose. Passes. Rationale-- this has not been the consistent practice set by the FA.

CNHS: Abstain

DAC noted

WEC noted

LIB Motion to oppose. Passed. We do not recall past ability for individuals to put motions directly into packet.

Move the above CLA motion. Seconded. Fails.

  1. CLA Motion: Administration should clearly communicate who is responsible for ensuring that classrooms are fully prepared for teaching each week (including contact information and a process for requesting materials or repairs). Seconded, motion passes.


Rationale: While it is generally understood that IT is responsible for any technology in the classrooms, it is not clear who is responsible for maintaining other aspects of the classroom. For example, who ensures that every classroom has a stock of whiteboard markers? Who ensures that every chair and table are in good, working condition? Too often, faculty have to go to other nearby classrooms to try to get the most basic materials needed to teach a course. 

CCSPA supports this CLA motion. Classrooms are deteriorating (broken chairs, tables, etc.).  As stated in the rationale, “Too often, faculty have to go to other nearby classrooms to try  to get the most basic materials needed to teach a course.” Seconded. Motion Carries.

COM: noted

CIS: Support

COS: Support

        COS query: How is this different from the service portal?

CNHS: Support.

Several CNHS faculty discussed these issues occurring especially during night classes

                DAC noted

WEC support

  1. CLA Motion: CLA IFO expresses sincere appreciation to the faculty association for their overwhelming support as we navigated administrative issues in Spring 2023. Seconded, motion passes.

Rationale: FA support for the CLA vote of no confidence of the former CLA dean and the support of FA members during our meeting with President Arthur in Spring 2023 were deeply appreciated and played an important role in the administrative changes in CLA.

COM: noted

CIS: Discussed

DAC noted

WEC support

  1. CLA Motion: When there is a failure to pay a faculty member, administration automatically ensures an off-cycle check within 5 days, without burdening the affected faculty member. Seconded, motion passes

Rationale: A group of faculty have been notified that they will not be paid on the September 8 pay date as scheduled due to administrative error. There is a history of this happening. Skipping a paycheck when it is expected can pose a significant financial burden on faculty.

President’s note: When we discussed this issue at meet and confer with Minnstate they gave rationale of why they discourage off-cycle checks-- this is because benefits are such are not taken out of off-cycle checks which may cause issues later on. However, we did note that off-cycle checks are of particular need as an option for contingent faculty. They stated that they would let local universities know that off-cycle checks are an option but to let the faculty know the considerations.

LIB Queries:

CCSPA supports the CLA motion as stated. Seconded. Motion Carries.

COM: motion to table indefinitely. Seconded. Passed

CIS: Discussed

DAC noted

WEC support

CLA Motion: Despite MinnState’s concern about off-cycle checks, when a faculty member is underpaid, it must be rectified immediately. Faculty should be notified immediately of the error and provided the option for an off-cycle check with an explanation of the effect on benefits and other deductions.

 

Rationale: While we recognize that off-cycle checks do not include deductions, those problems are less severe than the problems associated with not receiving a paycheck. The most vital issue—failure to pay faculty for their work—should be addressed immediately.

Motion moved, Seconded, Approved

Move the above CLA motion. Seconded. Carries.

CNHS: Motion passed. Several faculty members discussed the impact of not receiving compensation in a timely manner

  1. CLA Motion: When financial management is understaffed in providing faculty support for P-cards, administration needs to provide processes that ensure faculty travel planning and financial reimbursement are completed in a timely manner; and financial management should extend timelines for reconciliation in place of last-minute demands. Seconded, motion passes.

Rationale: Faculty have reported recent concerns with the efficiency and availability of financial management. Pcard reconciliation deadlines are strict, but it is difficult to reach someone/receive responses to questions to facilitate meeting the deadlines. Concerns are also raised about the efficiency of processing travel authorizations and travel reimbursements. Administration needs to ensure that financial management inquiries and paperwork routed through financial management are addressed in a timely manner.

Move the above CLA motion. Seconded. Carries.

President’s note: When this is discussed in your unit please collect information about specific issues and experiences as that information will aid us in discussion of this issue should it move forward.

CCSPA supports the CLA motion as stated. Seconded. Motion Carries.

COM: noted

CIS: Support

COS: Support. Rationale: there have been delays in reimbursement in COS.

CNHS: Examples of specific issues and experiences-- 2 experiences with p cards without issue. 1 experience with challenging p card and reconciliation. Issues with being reimbursed outside of the 60 days resulting in money being taxed twice.

DAC noted

WEC noted

  1. CLA Motion: Administration should fully staff financial management in order to address the requirements of a well-functioning, financially stable university, and stop pushing financial management responsibilities onto faculty.  Seconded, motion passes.

Rationale: Staffing is insufficient in critical offices on campus. The understaffing contributes to significant delays and failures of processes. A well-functioning financial management office is critical to effective university functioning and ensuring faculty can perform their contractual duties. Additionally, more and more financial management responsibilities have transferred to the faculty (e.g., cost centers and coding transactions) who have insufficient knowledge and training, and whose time would be spent on non-administrative duties.

        Move the above CLA motion. Seconded.

Motion to table until next month. Seconded. Carries.

President’s note: When this is discussed in your unit please collect information about specific issues and experiences as that information will aid us in discussion of this issue should it move forward.

CCSPA supports the CLA motion as stated. Seconded. Motion Carries.

COM: Motion made. Seconded. Motion failed.

CIS: Support

CNHS: Supports a fully staffed department.

DAC noted

WEC noted

  1. Resolution: CF need to have the same access to essential administrative and teaching technology such as Adobe as RF. Justification: CF need the same access to essential technology to ensure the full functioning of their jobs. Example: For the 10-J grants, the form for applying is electronical. There are many tech glitches for CF who can’t do the same things with adobe forms. This is emblematic of CF resource issues in general. Motion Passed unanimously.

President’s note: The virtual computer lab houses a lot of software for use by faculty and students. To use it go to labs.metrostate.edu. Requests for software install can be made here: https://services.metrostate.edu/TDClient/1839/Portal/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=23468

Access  to Adobe creative cloud (including acrobat) is available to all faculty using this information: https://services.metrostate.edu/TDClient/1839/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=116657

Here is information specific to Office 365: https://services.metrostate.edu/TDClient/1839/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=114865

CCSPA supports this CFC motion as stated.

CLA Motion: Information regarding technology and software access  should be passed on directly to all newly hired faculty to include CF in the onboarding process. Motion moved, Seconded. Motion passes.

COM: noted

CNHS: Resources provided on agenda

DAC noted

WEC support

        Motion withdrawn

  1. Responses from the Administration 

  1. Updates from Administrative Reports

  1. Action Items
  1. EOD is looking for equity champions (see IX B 3)
  2. Volunteers for testing new student orientation (see IX B 6)
  3. Consider becoming certified in Mental Health First Aid (see IX B 6)

  1. Informational Items
  1. Hybrid and Multimodal Scheduling-- The provost sent an email dated September 26th about Multi-modal (aka hyflex) course scheduling. This information has been passed by our IFO attorneys who stated that it looked correct to them as well. In the memo she discusses course models that do not fall into this category.

In addition there have been discussions of the schedule A/schedule B for hybrid (not hyflex) courses. This originally passed through the FA in Feb/March 2022, leading up to it we exhibited strong opposition to this approach. In meeting with the provost she seems open to exceptions. The schedule is as such-- if your course is in person 8 or fewer times during the semester, they would like you to pick schedule A (odd weeks) or schedule B (even weeks) to aid in room scheduling. I have discussed the issues present with the current schedule surrounding Spring Break. And clarifying a means to grant an exception for courses that cannot work in this model. If this is something that potentially negatively impacts your courses, please let me know specifics.

Here is the memo

CLA Motion: The faculty remind administration that faculty object to the Schedule A/Schedule B structure of hybrid courses. Hybrid scheduling must be revisited. We request data regarding classroom use

Rationale: Hybrid courses are designed to meet student and curricular needs, and take numerous different forms. Sometimes, they meet a few weeks at the beginning and the end of the semester, but are online in the middle; sometimes, they meet for multiple weeks in a row, then are online for multiple weeks; sometimes, they meet for the first half of the semester, and then online for the second half. First or second session classes also pose unique challenges for the A/B structure. Meeting these student and curricular needs should be the top priority, not the convenience of scheduling. We need a highly flexible and adjustable hybrid system if it is going to work for the needs of our students.These hybrid scheduling decisions are curricular decisions best addressed by departments.

Motion moved, Seconded, Approved

Move the above CLA motion. Seconded. Carries.

COM Motion: If an instructor is teaching a course that meets in a multi-modal/hyflex format and at least meets 50% of scheduled weeks, they will be considered for the additional hyflex compensation. Motion seconded. Motion passed.

Move the above COM motion. Seconded. Carries.

CIS Motion: We reaffirm our earlier opposition to requiring courses to use a schedule A or B model

  1. Schedule Optimization Initiative-- The provost is starting a Schedule Optimization Taskforce. From her memo “As the university finalizes its Mission, Vison, and Values project, it is an opportunity to evaluate our current course schedules and define our future goals for course modality in support of the university’s articulated vision and considering the strategic actions necessary to meet the competition from Online Program Managed (OPM) programs being introduced by our sister universities to enter the adult learner market. This includes each program and college developing a plan responsive to these factors and considering the best way to meet the needs of the university’s contemporary learners.  Plans will include the appropriate mix of online, mostly online, in-person, hybrid, and hyflex courses and programs, consider accelerated program offerings and approaches such as low residency hybrid programs.   Once defined, we will continue to optimize a two-year course schedule that meets the needs of students, supports robust class sizes, and aligns with the budget targets developed using the RCM budget model.  The overarching goal of this project is to increase the variety of course modalities to improve student success, retention, and enrollment.

Project Manager/Activity Owner:  Amy Gort and IFO faculty co-chair, project management support

Team Members/Contributors: Academic Innovation, Planning, and Quality Improvement Council, Academic Departments, University Technology Advisory Council, Deans, Center for Faculty Development, Instructional Design Group, Academic Technologies, President’s Cabinet (Cabinet Action Team)”

Here is a draft charter

CLA Query:

Comments/Questions: This latest iteration of the two-year schedule fails to address numerous problems that have plagued this effort for the past decade. It has always been true that failure to address the problems renders a two-year schedule meaningless. These questions identify some of the problems:

  1. Will administration commit to offering all courses on the two-year schedule regardless of enrollment?
  2. Will administration commit to offering all courses on the two-year schedule regardless of classroom needs?
  3. If there are not sufficient faculty to offer all of the courses on the two-year schedule, will administration commit to hiring more faculty in a timely way?
  4. If courses are not on the two-year schedule (new courses, courses with unexpected demand, etc), how soon will how soon will administration commit to adding the courses to the schedule?
  5. Will administration commit to offering all courses on the two-year schedule with sufficient sections to ensure that all students can take their planned courses regardless of their own scheduling limitations? That likely means multiple sections of every course.
  6. Modality: Modality is a curricular decision and should be made at the department level. Committing to modality in a 2-year rotation restricts faculty curricular choice and prevents flexibility in responding to student needs.
  7. OPM: CLA is strongly opposed to OPMs.  OPMS remove faculty choice for curricular and scheduling decisions.
  8. What data demonstrate that other comparative schools are a threat to Metro because they are using OPMs?

Motion to bring the above CLA queries to M&C. Seconded. Carries.

COM: noted

LIB recommends that a grievance officer join the group

Move the above LIB recommendation as a motion. Seconded. Carries.

  1. The administration is creation cabinet action teams. Areas of focus include
  1. The competitive impact of Online Program Managed programs being targeted to adult learners by sibling Minnesota State universities and recommended competitive responses
  2. Understanding the cultural imperatives of becoming the anti-racist learning community that embodies respect, equity, inclusion and belonging for students and employees.  What changes are needed and how should we approach culture change?
  3. Reshaping our work, workforce and workplace, focusing on how the work environment and modality of work impacts achievement of our strategic goals for equitable student success, a respectful and inclusive workplace, and an effective and efficient workplace.

COM: noted

  1. Finance, Budget and Facilities Update (Admin-VP Kent)
  1. budget attached. Decentralizing to allow the RCM model to be able to do its thing
  2. Increasing supplier diversity
  3. New security director is Nathaniel Williams
  4. Space planning continuing with each college meeting with BWBR

  1. Academic Affairs/Provost’s Update (Admin–Provost Gort)
  1. PARS are in. The assessment committee will be looking at pt III and council members will provide feedback on I and II
  2. Jules Thompson is Interim Assistant Provost. Her job will be to lead assessment of student learning.
  3. MS in dental therapy suspended citing program enrollment, accreditation, and cost. I (Cindy) have contacted the impacted faculty and facilitated conversations to aid them in plotting a course to accreditation that is adequately supported.
  4. COM is changing its name to College of Business and Management. This was asked for by the faculty
  5. The academic advising reorganization workgroup made some recommendations. The provost responds to most of these. 

 

  1. VP Equity & Inclusion Update/(Admin–VP Landrieu)
  1. EIAR is working on campus climate hosting a town hall Dec 1st to share past efforts and upcoming plans. Surveys forthcoming to assess climate
  2. Equity by Design-- work to be focused on 3 areas 1) PDP/PDR to help draft a template for equity by design data 2) additional resources to give aggregate data to departments for planning 3) to offer professional development opportunities
  3. Form to learn more and support efforts of employee resource groups
  4. Looking for equity champions
  5. Passport events upcoming

  1. Technology Update (Admin–CIO Reed)
  1. Nothing really new
  2. UTAC is discussing whiteboard marker maintenance.

  1. HR and Search Update (Admin–VP Barrett)
  1. summary-- HR has plans to hire 3 people. An assistant director, an HR business partner, and a talent acquisition specialist. The talent acquisition finished interviews this week. The HR business partners should be interviewing in the start of October

  1. Student Success (Admin-VP Anderson)
  1. They want faculty volunteers to test the new student orientation
  2. Tutoring and testing reports to Bobbi following Jules’ move to interim Assistant provost
  3. American Indian Student Success Coordinator and AANIPASI positions filled. Still trying to fill Latinex Student services coordinator
  4. Offering several sessions for mental health first aid certification.

  1. Strategic enrollment and marketing
  1. shows that enrollment is down significantly from 7 years ago. However, some colleges appear to be rebounding and the overall decline is lower than it has been in many years.
  1. Mission Vision and Values Update this is an update on the consulting work that has been done on Mission Vision and Values. It does not include the group consultations that happened the first two weeks of the semester.
  1. Report

  1. Non-attendance in Asynchronous Courses-- In response to the Provost’s 9/5 memo, the Faculty Issues Committee provided the following feedback:

The Faculty Issues Committee reviewed the provost’s memo and notes that it conflates two issues: 1) ensuring faculty engagement with students in online courses and 2) understanding what specific standards the provost uses to determine when a student stops attending an online course.

We believe that faculty are best positioned to determine a date of last attendance based on their own course outcomes and assessment methods.

We encourage the provost to share with the faculty the financial aid implications about the date entered for last date of attendance.

 

The Faculty Issues Committee defers a meeting with the provost pending further investigation of these issues.

CLA Motion: CLA shares Faculty Issues Committee concerns and we support their effort to investigate the nonattendance issues.

Moved, seconded, Approved

LIB Motion: We affirm the comments from Faculty Issues. PASSES.

Move support for the Faculty Issues concerns. Seconded. Carries.

  1. Referrals to Committees From Previous Governance Cycles

  1. To  constitution and operating procedures (Sept VIIF 2023): Approve of the name changes [Change language to in all committees from Ethnic Studies Department to “ethnic studies program.’ ] and, waiving any requirement for a second reading, update the FA Operating procedures accordingly.

XIII. Information Items

  1. T&P Workshop

The IFO Metro State Faculty Association (FA) Faculty Issues Committee invites you to attend its annual Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Workshop on Friday, November 10 via Zoom. The event will be in the afternoon 1-4pm.

There will be a faculty panel of recently tenured and/or promoted individuals who will speak about their experiences and answer questions, as well as members of the administration (provost and deans) who will share their expectations and advice for the process. Statewide IFO staff have been invited to speak, as well.

 

We will send a more detailed program (including times for each group of participants) and the Zoom link as we get closer to the date.

 

Note: Due to the sensitivity of the topics discussed, the session will not be recorded.

 

Kind regards,

Faculty Issues Committee

 

Sapna Thapa, chair (UED)

Vahdi Rao (COM)

Sheila Kunkle (CIS)

Amy Harding (CNHS)

Michael Stein (COS)
Sonia Davila-Williams (CCSPA)
Alec Sonsteby (LIB)

  1. Independent Internship Information Session

The Career Center invites faculty and staff to participate in an informational session specifically designed for you on how to support Independent Internships (courses 350I and 650I) on October 24th from 3-4pm. If you have ever questioned how a student registers for the course and how a faculty evaluator is supposed to support the student in their course, this session is for you. Attendees will also learn about the updated Academic Internship Agreement form and hear updates on the Internship Workgroup that kicks off in October. Registration requested.

  1. Accessibility syllabus wording changes-- I received a number of questions about the emails we received early in the semester regarding attendance policies and accessibility. I asked CAR to create a guide that helps us as faculty better understand how to write syllabus policies that are compliant with laws surrounding accessibility. Here is their response. 
  2. Equity by Design Data-- I have heard from a few people that they cannot access their equity by design data. It is likely that you do not have a VPN connection. If you do have one and turn it on it should work. If you dont want to install one you can access it through the virtual computer lab.
  1. Follow the instructions in this knowledge base article “Virtual Computer Lab: Access via Web Browser”
  2. Open a Web Browser
  3. Navigate to the Metro State Home page
  4. Go to my.metro
  5. Click on my.reports on the left
  6. Click on “Equity by Design” underneath “Summary Reports”
  7. Enter your StarID and password when prompted
  8. This will take you to your data
  9. If you do not see your  data click on “View Report at the top right of the page

Note Equity by Design data is so that you can look at student performance in your courses and examine potential equity gaps. The Equity scorecard is a different item which looks at performance of all students at a given University or Program.

  1. Atlas.ti now available! The University has now secured an institutional license for the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti.  It is primarily for classroom use, but there are some additional licenses for faculty use.  A big thank you to Jason Kopp, Steve Schmalz and others for helping us get this resource.  If you wish to get access to this software, please reach out to Marcia Hagen for information.

  1. Cool opportunities for continuous improvement or service
  1. Learning opportunities through the Center for Faculty Development are on this list.
  2. CF receive a stipend for attending orientation events (contact Center for Faculty Development Associate Director Mousumi Munmun at Mousumi.munmun@metrostate.edu) and for completing the required MinnState training, aka ELM training (the ELM training will be posted soon an email about this will be sent via HR when it is posted). If you attend an event or take a training and do not receive a stipend, please contact me. Note it often takes a month or two for HR to process stipends.
  3. Resident faculty: A reminder of Art. 22, Sec B: Among other things, evidence of achievement in each of the five (5) criteria may include activities by the faculty member intended to help close educational equity gaps. Beginning July 1, 2022, faculty should normally propose to engage in such activities with respect to at least one (1) of the criteria.

XIV. IFO FA Announcements

  1. Membership Report

These data are from statewide IFO, not HR. Members are current IFO members. CF memberships are valid through the next academic year following the Fall or Spring assignment. For more information regarding CF membership see this document

Metro State IFO membership numbers as of 10/11/2023

Members

Non-members

Faculty without current assignment*

Total

RF

186

89.4%

9

13

208

CF

137

26.3%

206

178

521

*Members without current assignment are those not currently teaching. This could mean they were not given an assignment, are on leave, left the university including retirement or paused membership (ex. for administrative assignment).

Important Dates--

Social Media & IFO website:

Archives of Minutes

  1. The Meet & Confer minutes are prepared by Administration and can be found as follows:
  1. College (unit) IFO minutes archived at: www.metrostatefa.org/MetroFAInfo/Minutes 
  2. IFO FA committee minutes archived at www.metrostatefa.org/MetroFAInfo/Committees 
  3. Additional archives of our Metro State FA minutes available through contacting Cindy Harley.

Council Meeting Rules and Information

  1. Our IFO FA Council meetings are open to our IFO FA members. Voting members are dues-paying members and chosen by appointment by our respective colleges and caucuses.
  1. Attendance will be compiled by the FA Executive Committee (Exec.) to ensure meeting efficiency.  We will not be doing formal introductions.
  2. We will always follow Robert’s Rules of Order and the FA Operating Procedures.
  3. Zoom rules and etiquette:
  1. Please mute upon entry and stay muted until you are called on to speak.  If you have a point of order or other permissible reason, you may interrupt the speaking order with the words “point of order.”
  2. Please use the “raise hand” feature of Zoom to participate in discussion.  The Executive committee will do our best to maintain an accurate speaking order.
  3. Feel free to add a question to the chat.  
  4. Respectful commentary welcome in chat or through the speaking order
  5. Voting will be verbal unless there is a contested result. If so, we will vote via the Zoom poll feature.
  1. Our IFO FA Executive Team will share the screen to allow all participants to follow the agenda easily.  The IFO FA Secretary will be taking minutes offline for your review after the meeting.

Robert’s Rules Helpful Information

General      Action Items     Motions    Referrals     Information Items       Appendix      Fun Stuff

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