Meeting called to order at 3:13 p.m. on October 23, 2017
MINUTES SUMMARY
I. Roll – The following senators were absent: Bauer, Boucher, Dwyer, Gardner, Graham, Herold, Roth, Simos, Wake, and Woodward. Barnett, Minocha, Sharp, Shea, and R. Smith were excused. Jennifer Carroll, Tara Lynn Fulton, Glen Hoyle, Ted Kirkpatrick, Rick MacDonald, Frank Moore, and Nancy Targett were guests.
II. Remarks by and questions to the provost – The provost said that at the recent university system meeting with the Board of Trustees in Keene, the Education Excellence Committee of the Board (a standing committee) met on the first day with all of the provosts and the Board members. The issue that the Board asked about this time is what are we doing to project forward in terms of how our educational practices have changed over the last 20-50 years. Her reply focused on three elements. First, she discussed active learning in our classrooms, which led to a discussion of experiential learning, highlighting our Center for Social Innovation and Enterprise, which sponsor an Innovation Challenge, the Semester in the City, and a summer internship. She noted that increasingly our students are looking for mission-focused work. Both of these practices lead well into our career and professional success initiative that we have been robustly building here at UNH. Until recently, our career and professional success was largely focused on a narrow sector of process and organization. Now we have 1,700 companies involved in various events over the year. We have 1,200 internship postings each month, and this all works together to engage our students earlier in internship experiences which help them move along their career paths. She said that the Board was excited to hear what is going on here.
The provost also announced to the Board that UNH received a Global Innovator and Entrepreneurship Award from the global forum held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our program was founded in 2016, and the forum found our submission superb.
Finally, there was discussion about the Spaulding Science Building project, which has faced challenges in the past, and it appears that the Board is ready to make this project a priority. That will probably be voted on at the next Board meeting in late January or early February.
Here on campus, the Diversity and Climate Initiative is going well, with much discussion between and among student groups. There is good involvement with faculty and staff as well. This kind of discussion and engagement is crucial. The provost noted the recent panel on the First Amendment, which was well attended and enlightening. UNH School of Law faculty on the panel discussed trademarks, criminality and hate speech, as well as digital citizenship. The provost is very pleased with the level of engagement across the university on these issues.
A senator from the School of Law noted that at least 90% of their students have done at least one clinic or an internship. Nancy added that 94% of UNH School of Law students taking the New Hampshire bar exam pass that exam the first time, and 100% of those students who take the Massachusetts bar exam pass the first time. 92% of their graduates find bar-requiring jobs, placing the UNH School of Law second only in New England to students from the Harvard School of Law in that category. She declared these statistics to be direct results of the benefit of our faculty to our students.
She also noted that, in the US News and World Report rankings, there is a ranking for how students fare upon graduation based upon the expectations for those students. In that ranking, which she called the heart and soul of measures of success for an institution, UNH students consistently perform well beyond expectations, so much so that UNH is ranked #7 in the nation for that. Last year, UNH ranked #12 in this area. The provost asserted that this statistic speaks volumes about who we are as faculty in helping our students succeed.
A senator reflected that this year’s benefits open enrollment process uses a different default than in the past, when a non-response from faculty/staff indicated a continuation of the prior year’s benefits selection. This year, if an individual does not complete the open enrollment process, the default will be to reduce their benefits to bare minimum coverage in all areas. He asserted that his colleagues are not going to be happy with this change, which he said reflects a disregard for university employees as a whole. The provost agreed that the change is an unpleasant one for administrators as well, and suggested that as we have no control over this decision we should all let it go.
The Senate chair asked about the status of the Writing Committee, and the provost noted that she and the chair have met and discussed the interface between the Discovery and Writing Committees and the Faculty Senate, related to the intent of the original establishment of those committees. The chair said that he senses that it is appropriate for the Senate to take a larger role with both committees. The provost asked that the Senate be on the watch for any redundancy that might slow the process for the committees.
The chair thanked the provost for her time.
III. Remarks by and questions to the chair – The chair announced that the Agenda Committee recently met with the chair of the Writing Committee, and that they plan to move forward to recapture the original intent of writing across the curriculum. He noted that there are classes now included as writing intensive that are actually far outside the original parameters for such a class.
He said that he will meet soon with the dean of the College of Liberal Arts regarding the issue of double counting of courses.
Two weeks ago, the chair met with all of the standing Senate committees, and noted that they are all making good progress on their charges. It is important to bring motions before the Senate as soon as possible so that we don’t get backlogged in late spring, as two meetings are required to present and then vote on a motion.
The chair announced that the tenure-track AAUP is grieving the university because of privacy notices that some deans have been placing at the end of their campus emails. These notices give the impression that the content of those emails is private and may not be shared, but he noted that because UNH is a public institution, no such statement is valid. He said that the union has asked him to sit down with the union and the administration as they work to resolve this conflict. As a consumer behaviorist, the chair said that more important than what is said in such a statement is what the recipient perceives about the statement. The statements have been modified, but the modified versions are no more valid than the original. We will see what happens going forward.
IV. Approval of the Senate minutes from September 25, 2017 – It was moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the September 25, 2017 meeting of the Senate. The minutes were unanimously approved as presented, with no abstentions.
V. Discussion with representatives from UNH Bookstore/Barnes & Noble College – The chair introduced Rick MacDonald, the UNH Bookstore Director of Business Affairs. Rick turned the time over to Glen Hoyle, Regional Manager for Barnes & Noble College, and Frank Moore, our UNH Bookstore Manager. Frank shared a presentation to give a sense of what the UNH Bookstore does to ensure the course materials needed by faculty and students are available at the beginning of each semester in the preferred formats at the lowest prices the bookstore can provide. It is hoped that faculty will replace the current Booklist method of ordering books with the bookstore with the FacultyEnlight System.
Frank described the differences between Booklist and FacultyEnlight, noting that FacultyEnlight is already used by 800 colleges and universities. The system offers the ability to research and adopt course materials in a single, convenient place, shows cost comparisons and format availability, gives registered uses access to their past adoptions from the last two years at any affiliated campuses, allows faculty to read peer product reviews and to write their own, and offers a unique Department Administrator user-type which offers special features such as reporting and approving adoptions placed by faculty.
He pointed out that registering as a user for FacultyEnlight provides the most features for faculty, as registered members are able to submit new adoptions more easily (as creating a profile eliminates the need to enter school and contact information with each adoption), are able to review adoptions for the past two years, create and access favorites lists which can be emailed to a dean or department head, and write and submit textbook reviews. He noted that registering, which is free, is recommended but not required for research and adoption of course materials.
Faculty can access the system through the “Faculty Resources” tab on the UNH Bookstore website, or through a link on the course in Canvas, once the faculty member is registered. The first time a registered faculty member clicks over from Canvas, their LMS sign-on credentials will be paired to their FacultyEnlight account, reducing additional log ins. Faculty can always access FacultyEnlight through the bookstore website or by logging into www.facultyenlight.com.
Frank said that the bookstore researches each order to ensure students are getting the lowest possible price the bookstore can provide.
He noted that the use of Open Educational Resources has become an important part of course material affordability. A survey from the Florida Textbook Survey done by Open Access Textbooks showed that 63% of students surveyed don’t buy the required books, due to cost. While most OER is free, it often falls short of faculty expectations. The bookstore provides a full range of ancillary materials to complete the eText and make for a whole course. He noted that print is still important to students. The bookstore’s OER solution includes auto-graded practice problems which ensure students are learning as they progress through the materials, with a test bank which includes around a thousand questions per course which can be used both within the courseware and for offline tests. Lecture slides are also available for faculty use, as well as homework aids, a single sign-on and gradebook sync for LMS including Canvas, and the ability to connect all content and assessments to learning objectives to help measure student skills success. OER courses are available in the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Business, and General courses, with eighteen courses available for the upcoming Spring semester. He said that FacultyEnlight is fully integratable with Canvas.
Frank invited faculty to contact him with questions by email at frank.moore@unh.edu, or by phone at 862-2140.
A senator from the Nursing department said their department has been extensively using a particular company to provide materials in a package deal which includes the online resource code. She asked if the bookstore might be able to provide a similar package deal, and Frank said the he could investigate his connections to see if he could make that happen.
Another senator asked if FacultyEnlight is exclusive to the bookstore, so that students would not be able to discover their required texts elsewhere. Frank responded that the bookstore must fulfill the HEOA (Higher Education Opportunities Act) reporting requirements for the university. The bookstore puts all the relevant and necessary information on their publicly available website, so that anyone can search what materials are being used for any class at UNH for which the bookstore has received an order. In addition to FacultyEnlight, there is an option to distribute that information to other parties if necessary.
A senator asked how the information available on the UNH Bookstore website will be available on the course schedule found on the general UNH website. Frank said that at this time, the information from both systems appears on the MyCourses website, on the course summary. He pointed out that at the bottom of the course summary, there should be a link that says “view required course materials at the UNH Bookstore.” Clicking on this link will open a new page to the UNH Bookstore which will show the information that the bookstore has posted. He noted that bookstore staff are able to correct erroneous ISBNs. The senator noted that clicking on a specific item on the website does not bring up the desired result, and Frank asked to speak with him after the meeting to determine how to fix that problem.
A member of the Agenda Committee said that a Senate committee will be assigned to review the FacultyEnlight system.
The chair thanked Frank, Glen, and Rick for coming today.
VI. Academic Affairs Committee update – The chair invited AAC chair, Shelley Mulligan, to update the Senate on the work of her committee. Shelley said that her committee would like feedback from the Senate members on three items.
First, the academic outcome standards for UNH students have been revised by NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges). The committee would like to invite Barbara White, the UNH Accreditation Liaison Officer, to update the Senate on those changes and to explain how outcomes can be determined within departments; not to dictate to departments what their outcomes should be, but to encourage departments to establish their own clear and measurable outcomes. Most departments already have these in place. If faculty have questions or comments, they can contact Shelley directly to pass those along to Barb for that discussion.
Next, the AAC has been looking at the eUNH calendar in their charge to approve it, and the only issue they have noticed is for teachers who begin their teaching obligation before the eTerm begins. The information coming to the AAC from faculty and departments offering these classes has not revealed any problems. The AAC is seeking additional input from faculty who have been involved in these courses before compiling their recommendations.
Finally, the Student Senate passed a resolution a few weeks ago, urging the office of the Registrar to disallow classes from being scheduled during common exam time. Shelley noted that the common exam time has shifted back to Tuesday/Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening. The Student Senate has found that there are still a lot of classes being scheduled during that time, and that this prohibits students from being involved in other activities scheduled during what is general considered a time slot free from classes.
One of the committee members learned that there are currently 90 classes scheduled during that time period (56 T/R classes and 34 Thursday evening classes). The AAC feels that it is important to do what is possible to maintain the common exam time as a non-class time where it is feasible. Shelley noted that there is a process in place to get approval for exceptions to the rule to not schedule classes during this time, using an example of Occupational Therapy courses which are scheduled during this time, after working with the Registrar, because there are no classrooms otherwise available. She added that the classes scheduled during the common exam time include labs, graduate classes, and courses taught at the Thompson School of Applied Science, which contributes to the large number.
Among other topics reviewed by the AAC, the committee continues to agree that the proposed Discovery Social Identity Attribute, while meaningful in spirit, is not well supported in its current form. The AAC believes there is merit in the idea of increasing social identity education within the university, but that the current proposal needs more work. The AAC has drafted a motion to this effect which may be brought forward to the Senate in the coming weeks.
The AAC has also reviewed the assessment from last year on the Honors Program, including the conversation regarding the use of a renovated Hubbard Hall as a hub for the program. She noted that the administration continues to look for funding for those renovations.
Shelley said that committee has discussed the Writing Program, mentioned earlier today, and the role of the AAC in supporting the development of the program and addressing the issues raised in today’s discussion.
The chair thanked the committee for their work.
VII. Library Committee report – The chair introduced Daniel Chavez, chair of the Library Committee. Daniel introduced two guests, Dean Tara Lynn Fulton of the Library and Jennifer Carroll, Dimond Library Collections Manager, here to discuss the issues of purchasing collections, storage for special collections, and avenues to facilitate Open Access.
Dean Fulton said that academic libraries are going through an information economy shift, and likened that shift to the experience consumers have with managing their cable television accounts, pointing out the practice of the company to provide large packages of channels which consumers may or may not really want, including channels that are rarely used in order to secure the most desirable channels. She said that the library is currently asking departments to indicate what journals and collections they actually are using.
She noted that the UNH collection budget increases falls dramatically short of keeping up with book and journal cost inflation:
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She pointed out that in the current academic year, 95% of research libraries receive less than a 5% budget increase, and that 25% received a budget decrease, demonstrating that this problem is not unique to our institution. She thanked the Faculty Senate for their support last year in securing an increase to the Library’s collections budget.
She noted that, like cable companies, publishers require libraries to spend a certain dollar amount, which is not a sustainable practice. When substantial portions of the total budget are obligated towards large packages, those funds are unavailable for other important materials.
As a second metaphor, Dean Fulton referenced an extensive smorgasbord, which provides tremendous variety, but at a high cost. It is more fiscally effective to “order a la carte,” and the library has asked departments to provide lists of their most important journals and resources by mid-October. Titles were identified by the cost per use information the library has, targeting the titles with a high cost per use. The idea is to move such high-cost items over from subscription level to a pay-by-the-article model. The Library continues to negotiate terms with Elsevier and other companies. A revised list went out today, reduced from about 2,500 items to about 150 titles. She asked for faculty input on these revised lists, saying that the final list will go out at the end of October or early November. The changes will go into effect on January 1, 2018.
Jenn Carroll said that each department has a library representative who works with their subject librarian. Lists are sent through the subject librarian, and each department has their own way of sorting through the lists and offering feedback. She said that the library is working to be involved in the Open Access initiatives, as well.
A senator serving on the Library Committee commented on the tremendous work of the dean and the collections manager. Another member of the committee asked the dean to speak about the databases. Dean Fulton said that the library’s first priority is to provide the best of whatever is available to our faculty and students. She noted that the database of materials available remains complete, regardless of what is on our shelves, and that the difference is in how we access the articles.
A senator from the Physics department said that his department is concerned about the notion of use, noting that a particular journal that is considered “low usage” by the library has seven faculty members who are regularly published in that journal. The faculty disagree that the journal is “easily disposable. Jenn agreed that such a journal is not easily disposable, but that it is about prioritizing the journals that receive the most use across campus and trying to find balance approach. The senator said that some of these journals are important, not because students and faculty look up papers in them, but because faculty and students publish in them. Tara said that is why the Library sends the lists and usage data to each department, so that departments can indicate what they actually use and want to keep. She said that sometimes trade offs are made. She said that our usage data is not always reflected well in Google Search, which is why the Library seeks input from the departments.
A senator noted that, using the cable analogy, he has considered cutting the wire, but that he never does because building customized smaller packages is often complicated, and because he continues to stumble across otherwise unknown things that are meaningful and worthwhile to him. He asked if eliminating the “deluxe package” will make finding what we need harder. Jenn responded that the database maintains the record of all of the journals so that faculty and students can find them, and with the smaller package, it would require only a few extra steps to access the content of that document. Another senator praised the inter-library loan practice.
A senator asked what the current budget for the Library’s contract with Elsevier is. Tara responded that it is 28% of the total budget, or over $1 million.
The Graduate Student Senate representative asked if departments are aware of the journals that graduate students use in their research when they consider usage. Tara said that she is happy for graduate students to have access to the list for review. She also encouraged faculty to consider the list from an interdisciplinary perspective when looking for materials they would like to see retained.
The chair thanked Jenn and Tara for their comments.
VIII. Discussion with the Dean of Students – The chair welcomed Dean Ted Kirkpatrick. The dean said that the job of the Office of Student Life is to make sure, as best they can, that students are healthy, well, and safe as they pursue their degrees. He works closely with Dean Moorehead in the Graduate School, but his focus is on our undergraduates, to minimize risk where possible for those students.
He noted that the number of arrests at UNH this year, which he said is not a true indicator of the incidence of crime, are down dramatically this year. He believes that despite several messages sent out to students from the administration, this statistic is more about their behavior than about what the administration has been saying. He noted that any arrested student is required to meet with their college’s associate dean, which meeting is less about scolding the student than it is to make students aware of the public record of their arrest and the potential impact on their career path that such an event can have.
The conduct events dealt with in-house are also slightly down. These are incidents, perhaps, within the residence halls, which don’t escalate to the level of arrest.
What the dean worries most about in this digital age is the students’ social media presence. Incidents on social media are difficult to regulate. He noted the immediacy and range of social media posts that present a unique challenge, and said that students are not always as careful as they might want to be. Regardless of intent or perspective, items posted on social media immediately become part of the historical record, and once out there, individuals can completely lose control of a post or photo that goes viral.
His office is working on a draft of a social media policy, but he called any such policy “dicey,” and mostly aspirational, as it is crucial to maintain First Amendment rights. Part of the process is educating students that certain language or behavior that is not unlawful may still be wrong, with very real consequences. He said that the Senate’s motion on a model of mutual respect has been very helpful in working with students on the draft of this policy, and he praised the students for their ability to take direction.
He noted that with Halloween approaching, this weekend is rather high-risk, and said that he and his Red Coats will be out on campus. This group of about 20 faculty and staff will be wearing red jackets with their names on the front and their college affiliation on the back, and will be walking through campus from about 8 p.m. on. He and the college associate deans will be sending a message out to students to ask them to be mindful of the multiplicity of identities.
Ted also mentioned that he has been meeting with the Durham Town Council since summertime, with positive results. He said that the council is increasingly pleased with the efforts of the UNH administration to contain student issues. He also said that two local citizens are joining the Red Coats, but that they have been instructed to not interact with students, and they wear no affiliation on their jackets.
The dean noted that Greek membership (fraternities and sororities) had fallen to under 900, but that membership is now over 2,000, indicating that students are seeking affinity groups. He said that the Greeks have been progressive in their work, despite the recent incident with the Alpha Phi sorority. Ted noted that the members of that sorority met with the Black Student Union privately to work out their differences, and seem to have come to an understanding. This incident is an example of the need to educate students regarding diversity and mutual respect. He said that the campus climate is improving but that there are still hot spots.
Ted then spoke about a draft of a proposed policy on animals on campus. He said that he has been with the Senate Student Affairs Committee on this topic. Currently there are 45 emotional support animals in the UNH dormitories, nine of which are reptiles. He noted that there is no convincing evidence that non-registered emotional support animals do anything to actually ameliorate any specific problem that a student may be experiencing. He said that the policy will likely state that only true service animals will be allowed on campus, and that currently the only animals used as official service animals are dogs and small horses. There is a provision within the proposed policy to allow certain animals in certain circumstances, in order not to violate American Disabilities Act (ADA) interest groups, but he stated that that provision is unlikely to be implemented. The proposed policy has been three years in the making.
Dean Kirkpatrick noted that the increase of emotional support animals (ESA) animals on campus was not the trigger for this policy, but rather it was a number of complaints by faculty, staff, and students that people were bringing animals into classrooms and work spaces, creating problems for people with serious allergies or aversions to those animals. He said that that there are no provisions for certification of emotional support animals, including vaccination or training, but those provisions do exist for service animals.
This policy would not allow any animals in the interior of our buildings, unless they are service dogs, or are used for instructional or research purposes. Such a policy is non-discriminatory. The only group that might be allowed the rare exception would be students under Student Accessibility Services.
The policy is being reviewed by various governance bodies on campus. He said that legal counsel has been helpful in drafting a policy that would minimize the risk of litigation.
A senator asked about access to counseling services on campus. Ted noted that those services are now identified as PACS (Psychological and Counseling Services), rather than CAPS because the latter acronym is already being used on campus by Career and Professional Services. Ted said that he will be announcing the new director of the program who will be joining us next year from the west coast. Dr. Elisa Boulton is currently the interim director and will be the associate director when our new director joins us. Among the new clinicians at the center will be four licensed clinical social workers, and three post-docs per year. There is also a hope to engage the College of Health and Human Services with a site for their Masters in Social Work (MSW) students. The center is open two evenings each week, and there is an on-call psychologist whenever students are in residence on campus. He said that there remains a waiting list for the deeper-end services, but that there is no longer a waiting list for intake services. With our new system, every student who needs an intake evaluation can receive one within 24 hours.
Ted said that he relied on two consulting firms to assist with the rebuilding of the program, noting that the old counseling model, used on campuses across the country, was not meeting the needs of our students. All of the new clinicians hired were purposely selected from outside academic life, on the advice of the consulting firms.
Joan Bluting, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology, is now the faculty fellow in the office of the Dean of Students, and has been tasked to decipher mental health issues and help find pathways for better mental health for our campus community.
Along with the rebuilding of the counseling center has been the restructuring of the university’s conduct system. Matt Keegan has been hired, from MIT, to run that system as Director of Community Standards.
Ted said that in his current job, the four things he is most concerned about for our students are mental health, personal identity, alcohol and other drugs, and sexual violence and harassment.
A senator asked if the UNH General Counsel’s office will review the social media policy, and Ted said that that office has been instrumental in creating the policy. He added that FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) watch free speech rights on campuses very closely.
Another senator asked about an apparent increase in the number of concussions being reported on campus and how that impacts the requests from students for leaves of absence and other accommodations in the classroom. Ted said that he believes that the number of concussions occurring has not increased, but rather the reporting and diagnoses of the injuries has increased, which he called a good thing. He reminded the group that the he is the one to write the letter asking for accommodations for these students. He said faculty do not need to know the details of the medical reports, but that they can be assured that he has reviewed those cases. Using a scale from 1-5, he writes requests for accommodations for levels 3-5 only. He said that there is a uniform system for dealing with these cases, and that faculty should not act without a letter from his office. He assured the senators that under this system, students are getting the services they need. He added that his rule of thumb is that when students have missed more than two weeks of class, it is time to discuss the option of taking a leave of absence. He thanked the Senate for its support of the current leave of absence policy, which aligns with best practices across the country.
The Graduate Student Senate representative asked about services for students with ADHD, asking if there is anyone in the counseling center who can diagnose that condition. Ted responded that there was some concern among the medical staff that some medications were being prescribed too quickly and in large quantity, and that issue is being dealt with by our Health Center medical staff.
She also asked about medical care services for graduate students during semester breaks and the summer months. Ted said that providing services for graduate students is an important issue that he continues to work on with the Dean of the Graduate School.
VIII. New Business – There was no new business.
IX. Adjournment – Upon a motion and second to adjourn, the meeting was adjourned at 5:03 p.m.
