BY RAEGAN NEUFELD
The FHSU Faculty Senate, its duties, and its priorities for the 2022-23 school year were discussed at length during this morning’s Student Government Association meeting.
Faculty Senate President Rob Byer was present at the meeting as a guest speaker. He spoke about the senate’s different committees and how the senate is structured, but he focused mainly on the importance of connections between the shared governance organizations on campus, such as SGA having an understanding of what the Faculty Senate is doing, and vice versa.
“The more we can share information and communicate, I think the better it is for all of the groups,” he said.
Byer also noted the opportunities that SGA and Faculty Senate have to make an impact on campus.
“If there are concerns that students have and concerns that faculty have, and we act in concert, then the administration is going to listen to those a lot more,” he said.
Byer emphasized the overlap of student and faculty issues saying that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.
Two priorities for the Faculty Senate this year are changes to the general education program and the reorganization of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. According to Byer, both priorities originate from Kansas Board of Regents requirements.
The future changes to the general education program were instituted by KBOR for all public institutions, and the CAHSS reorganization is being done in order to avoid closing programs based on KBOR evaluation requirements.
In her report, SGA Legislative Affairs Director Ella Burrows provided more information on each priority, which she gathered from attending the most recent Faculty Senate meeting.
“[FHSU] has until 2024 to change our general education program,” Burrows said. “Currently our program has 51 credit hours within it, and they’re looking at going down to 34 or 35 credit hours.”
As for the CAHSS reorganization, Burrows reported that final opinions and proposals from department chairs are being turned in today After that, feedback will be collected for three weeks through Google Forms, staff meetings, and a special Faculty Senate meeting on September 20.
“In the last week of September there will be a listening session with [Provost Arensdorf] to get final thoughts on the reorganization,” Burrows said. “They’re looking to submit the reorganization plans in the beginning of October, so that it can be on the KBOR schedule at the beginning of November.”
In a similar report, SGA President Ryan Stanley said he will be meeting with Arensdorf next week to discuss the reorganization, so he can share the information with fellow students.
Several events were also discussed during the meeting.
Upcoming SGA events:
- National Suicide Prevention Week tabling – September 12, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. outside the Memorial Union.
- Freshman/KAMS Senator Elections – September 14 via TigerLink
- National Voter Registration Day tabling – September 20.
- Free Legal Counseling – September 28, 2:00 p.m., form on TigerLink.
The next SGA meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on September 15 in the Eagle Hall of the Robbins Center.