Faculty Senate Meeting | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
During the November Faculty Senate meeting, members discussed feedback from the midterm grade survey among other items of importance, such as parking, commencement and registration.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee letter
The President of the Faculty Senate, Dr. Brian Boyd, conducted the meeting on Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. in the Student Union Endeavor Room. First was the call to order followed by approval of October meeting minutes.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee wrote the Faculty Senate Executive Committee a letter regarding the new campus parking system.
The contents of the letter consist of updates to the Wright Way Policy 7410.4, staffing issues, student reactions to the new parking system, faculty parking difficulties and the lack of transparency while implementing the new parking policy.
The committee believes that the current parking policy is confusing as it states that the policy has been updated but still holds the content of the old parking system.
According to the committee, due to retirement and other staffing issues, full-time parking staff went from three people to one person. The committee asked that the administration provide a detailed budget analysis on the parking and budget cuts currently occurring at the university. The committee also explained in the letter how the new parking policy decreases WSU’s revenue by about half a million dollars. The committee is skeptical if the new parking policy was the best choice for the university.
There has been no survey given to students about the new system change, but the committee mentioned working with student government. Student government wrote a letter with the overall thoughts of WSU students about the policy.
The committee also noted that a lot of faculty are not happy with the current parking situation as it has become harder for faculty to find parking, especially during the midday hours. The committee believes that consultation with faculty was necessary prior to changes in the policy.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee believed that the implementation of the new parking policy to put students first was meaningful; however, there was a lack of transparency to not only students, but faculty and staff as well.
The Faculty Senate Executive Committee sent the documents to Director of Public Safety Kurt Holden to help fix matters.
Prerequisites
The committee decided in a unanimous vote that the management of prerequisites would be solely by the registrar. The automated prerequisites can be opted in or out based on departments.
Midterm grade survey feedback
Guest speakers Tim Littell, associate vice provost for student success, and Blake Bailey, student government association president, shared a report of the midterm grade survey.
Littell presented the data from the survey: 86% of faculty submitted participation rosters, and 116 students on rosters that never attended classes dropped those given courses.
35% of faculty submitted a midterm grade, amounting to 14,623 grades. 7,481 students received at least one midterm grade.
“80% of students who responded to the survey thought that their midterm grades were helpful. Two-thirds of them wished that their faculty member had submitted midterm grades for all their courses,” Littell explained.
For more information on the midterm grade survey, visit this previous Guardian article and Littell’s powerpoint attached to the November Faculty Senate agenda.
Meeting overview
University Provost Dr. Amy Thompson encouraged faculty to go to commencement, which is only four weeks away on Dec. 9 and 10. The faculty deadline for registration for commencement is Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.
Thompson also mentioned a “First Destination Survey” that collects post-graduate plans for graduates to help assess WSU’s impact on student success.
On Nov. 11, spring course registration opened to all students; Thompson encouraged students to register as soon as possible.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will occur on Dec. 5 at 2:30 p.m. in the Endeavor Room of the Student Union.
