Nov. 13 at 2:04 p.m., the Faculty Senate held their meeting to address concerns of the faculty. In their meeting, they discussed the SGA survey, Canvas, course evaluations and a proposal for a new doctorate degree.
The first thing on the agenda was committee reports where a faculty member mentioned the proposal of a doctorate in restorative leadership. This degree would be offered to 20 faculty members interested in the course that would be considered an interdisciplinary track consisting of a 60-hour course.
While discussing this proposal, a guest was able to discuss what this program is and what it would consist of.
With the continuation of discussing the agenda, the faculty also made note that the alternative grading policy of pass or fail for students will not continue in the spring.
In another committee report, Professor Anna Mary Williford, the senator for the Carmichael Library, brought up that the Learning Enrichment Center is looking for more tutors, so if the faculty had any suggestions, they should be submitted to the LEC.
The senate also discussed the SGA survey that was sent out to all students discussing how they felt about the fall semester. Dr. Tiffany Wang discussed how most of the survey answers were complaints about access to residence halls and some about the cafeteria.
With regards to class instruction itself, there were no remarks made by the students, although some students mentioned how it was hard to get into contact with their advisors or professors. Students even noted wanting more in-person office hours.
Even though students complained about this, Wang noted that professors most likely deal with the same problems when it comes to communication.
The Senate later discussed the use of Canvas and how the Malone Center has been useful with helping professors better understand Canvas. One member mentioned how the Center has better helped them understand all the resources Canvas has to offer.
Although Canvas has been beneficial to many members of the faculty, Dr. Andrea Eckelman mentioned how students had complained that the syllabus location varies for each class.
One idea Eckelman proposed was creating a way to have professors agree on set rules and locations for their Canvas. This idea would hopefully minimize student confusion when dealing with Canvas.
The Senate then moved into a discussion about upcoming course evaluations. One faculty member mentioned his concerns in accurate evaluations and what can be on his record. Concerns of foul language and remarks made about the professor’s physical appearance were also mentioned in course evaluations and how to handle that.
Many members also chimed in on response rate and how that can skew the results of the evaluation.
As faculty member discussed their concerns with evaluations, they concluded that they would look in-depth to how course evaluations are logged and do more research about them for the time being.
With course evaluation being a main topic, faculty members hoped that there would be a significant response rate as well as useful information gathered from the evaluations.
The Senate also mentioned how Box was renewed for another year to use for storage of notes and papers but a switch to Office will be sometime next year.
With everything on the agenda being discussed and no further comments made, the faculty members adjourned their meeting.
Aubrie Chastain is a writer for The Alabamian. She is a first-year political science major with plans to attend law school. She enjoys a good book, coffee and hikes.
