Faculty Senate recap: course additions and sustainability

Hiring a director of sustainability became a new possibility as a student honors project moved forward on Monday during a faculty senate meeting.

Senator Dr. Annette Sisson presented the senate with a motion to task the university budget and faculty compensation committee to consider hiring a director of sustainability.

“Action might include asking the administration to fund the position, or it might entail reporting to the senate that the idea is unworkable,” she said.

The meeting consisted of catalog and curriculum proposal discussion, the sustainability motion and end of year reports from senate committees.

Dr. Sisson’s motion passed unanimously. The proposal began with an honors research project that was presented to the faculty senate previously in March. This was the first time the senate was presented with a motion and voted on the issue.

The senate also reviewed catalog and curriculum proposals. These are submitted by professors to add classes to official university curriculum. Before proposals are passed, they are reviewed based on numerous stipulations, some of which include course piloting, expected student engagement and diversity impact statements.

Senate committees also began their end of year reports, something that will likely be continued at the meeting on April 24.

While faculty senate wraps up the semester, nominations are going out for 2023 – 2024 senate officers. Before and after the meeting, senators had the opportunity to submit nominations on Slido.

Some of the nominations introduced included Mark McEntire for senate president, Lora Harding for senate vice president or secretary, and Daniel Schafer for secretary. The senate has yet to finalize these elected positions.

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This article was written by Katie Beth Cannon