II CORRECTIONS AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 13 OCTOBER 2009 (document A)

III PRESIDENTS' REPORTS
Katherine Schmidt, Faculty Senate

• President Schmidt reminded the senate of the new curriculum deadline: 12 January 2010


• On November 24, we will get an update from Tom Bergeron on the LACC review committee, as well as projection for the year.


• A letter of thanks has been sent to Peter Callero for his PEBB service.


• Practical tip: Introduce your division to the portal and to the online curriculum proposal submission process


• The executive committee has collaborated with the committee on committees to form a roll out plan for our committee charge review process this year. Each committee will submit a memo to the executive committee when they complete their new charges. These will subsequently be voted on by the Senate.


• On November 6, the executive committee will be meeting with the Curriculum and Graduate committees.

• Dave Macdonald reported on enrollment:


• The state has more students going to college than ever:



OUS is expecting 6% system-wide increase, though one campus will be below that number.




Community colleges are reporting a 15-20% increase



• We are in the 3rd year in a row of record enrollments only a few other institutions can make this claim (OSU, PSU).


• As of Monday (10/26/09) enrollment was 5690; this morning it was 5716.


• Graduate enrollment is up 20%, freshman enrollment is up 5% and sophomore enrollment is up 10%.


• The impact of a larger sophomore class is increasing numbers in 200-level classes, which puts pressure on the departments.


• Latino growth is 15%. This group is key to continued growth.


• The increase in Latino students was not at the expense of other minority groups - our class is more diverse than last year and we were already the most diverse OUS campus. This can be attributed at least somewhat to the presence of faculty. When visiting the campus, prospective students see faculty, not just staff. Unlike other campuses, our preview days have faculty, which is mentioned all of the time by students who choose to come


• Our international student numbers are steady, despite terrible global economy


• Looking forward we need to continue to move retention up, continue to grow Latino students and other underserved populations, increase graduate student numbers, increase the diversity of our international students.


• Overall we anticipate 4-6% growth for next year


• Challenges: Budget - need to be mindful, families are having a hard time paying for college. The opportunity grant is declining and the perception is being built that college is more expensive. We need to think about how we move forward with the Tuition promise - Can we sustain it? We need to be aware of the enrollment plans of other institutions and we need to maintain momentum.


• Gay Timken asked how the administration plans to deal with faculty and classroom needs with increasing numbers, since we are already quite tight.


• Dave MacDonald responded that the Provost and Deans will be looking at this and that they are already keeping enrollment numbers lower than they possibly could go, so that we can have time to adjust. Mark Weiss added that we are opening a new classroom building.


• Mark Weiss reported on the financial situation


• Last year OUS and WOU were asked to come up with plans for reduction up to 30% (about a 6 million dollar decrease). The back of the handout he gave (posted on senate site) sums up appropriation levels, last year and this. Fortunately 30% cut did not occur we received approximately and 11% reduction.


• During 2009, the economy worsened and we received 5% cuts for over the biennium


• This year the 18.2 million we are initially budgeted is supplemented in a large degree by the federal recovery funds without those funds, the cut would have been deeper. Those funds are available this biennium, our understanding is that they will go away next biennium. To address the cuts, universities have responded differently (staff cuts, etc.).


• The report he handed out will be the one which we report on for the rest of the year.


• Ending last year we had a fund balance of about $6.1 million, which is about 13% of our budget. Our fiscal goal is to have a fund balance of 10-20%, with a goal of about 15%. Where we ended was not a bad place, considering that state funds were reduced in the last 6 months of the year. Other institutions need to keep a fund balance of 5-10%. Because of the tuition promise we need to have a higher balance, since we can only raise tuition for approximately ¼ of our students, while the other schools can raise it for everyone.


• This year they are preliminarily projecting a small surplus of $279,000. There are many risks that will likely curtail that surplus and make it a deficit. The current plan will get us to a 13.4% fund balance at the end of the year.


• The increase in salary expenditures is based on new faculty in both colleges and new staff positions. The staff positions existed in the past and we want to show that we feel it is important to reinvest in ourselves.


• The top ½ of sheet is education and general funds. The center is the auxiliary enterprises (Housing and dining, health center, bookstore, etc.). The only significant change in those operations is the $20 million in debt for our learning/living center.


• Last sections is designated operations (Parking, telecomm, DEP, intensive English program, etc.).


• The back of the page lists risks that may occur, including if the tax measures are voted down:



WOU has been asked by OUS how they would respond to a worsening Oregon economy; their response: 1/3 from fund balances, 1/3 from services and supplies, and 1/3 through a furlough program for non-union contract employees.




The state is committed to maintain 2005-2006 funding levels to keep federal funds, but some states have asked for exceptions, so this may not be a given.




We've been asked to identify reserve balances (all) including auxiliary fund balances. At WOU, this includes money that we have put away to pay off the $20 million debt for the live/learn center. These could be "swept" by the state.




If any OUS institutions require additional help, it will likely come at the expense of the others.




Next year, we anticipate the federal funds that have filled a gap for us to be gone.




Enrolment - If we need to go away from the tuition promise, it could have an impact on enrollment.




Value of the PERS trust fund has been hugely reduced and there are likely to be huge increases in the contributions in the next years, (legal limit is 6% per year) and he has been told to expect that.




Expectation by all of us that salary increases will occur - need to find funds for this



• There was considerable concern over the idea that money that has been designated (for the building) could be taken. Since it has not been spent, it is seen by the state as available.

Joe Hutchinson, Staff Senate
Not present
Evan Sorce, ASWOU
Not present
Kent Neely, Provosts' Council
No report today to make time for an expanded president's report.

IV OLD BUSINESS
none

V NEW BUSINESS
Credit by Exam Policy, Klay Kruzcek of ARC (document C)

• Under the current credit by exam policy, students can challenge a course by taking an exam, and, if the department feels they have successfully passed, they can get credit for that course. A student can not get credit by exam for a course that has a lower number than a class that they have taken.


• In math, this is an issue, because it is possible for students to take a class, such as calculus in high school, without getting AP or college credit. If they then come to WOU and enroll in calculus 4, that limits the number of other math credits that are available for them to take, making it hard to complete the degree with sufficient credits.


• The ARC is recommending that the wording "except when specifically allowed by that department" be added to the policy to provide some flexibility and discretion on the part of departments. This proposal would also clean up the language in the catalog.


• John Leadley asked for clarification that the only current option for these students is to challenge the lower division courses before starting in their math program at WOU. This was confirmed.

Academic Excellence Showcase Endorsement, Bryan Dutton (document D)

• Bryan Dutton came on behalf of the showcase planning committee to ask the senate for an endorsement of the Showcase, which is held in the spring and sponsored by Phi Kappa Phi and PURE. The senate has done this in previous years, usually by having the executive committee draft a letter to campus in support of the showcase, which is then distributed to campus.


• Dean Braa added that [the showcase] is a good thing.

Enrollment Numbers, Associate Provost David McDonald (document E)
This was presented as part of the President's report.

VI COMMITTEE REPORTS
none

VII INTERINSTITUTIONAL FACULTY SENATE REPORT
none

VIII SUSTAINABILITY THEME
New Residence Hall, Part I: Sustainability, Tina Fuchs (document F)

• Tina Fuchs gave the first part of a two part report on the new sustainable live/learn residence hall/classroom building being constructed on campus. This part of the presentation focused on the sustainability aspects of the new building. She will focus on the live/learn aspects next time.


• The new building is being built in the Grove, which will make much of this space more useful for students (currently it is to wet to use for much of the year). They did have to cut down trees to do this, but those trees, as well as some from near the APSC building will be re-used in the project (approximately 31 tables, also wall panels and a grand staircase).


• They are hoping to design a building that will make students more thoughtful about how they use energy in their rooms. Green qualities are included in all aspects of the construction of building. They are building using the LEED standards, with a goal of reaching platinum status for this building.


• The building will have low flow faucets, energy efficient appliances, dual flush toilets, waterless urinals and use environmentally friendly cleaning products. There will be a 35,000 gallon cement tank to collect runoff from roof and sidewalks which will have a system to put the "cleaner" collected water into the system to flush toilets. She anticipates that the tank will be pretty full through fall and winter months.


• The building is oriented in the best way to collect sunlight from the west.


• Each room will have a dual plug system, which includes some plugs that can be turned off (for plugging in cell phone chargers, etc.) when not actively being used. Rooms will also have light sensors to automatically turn on and off lights.


• The contractor for this building is known for their work on LEED buildings. They are very organized and do a good job of managing waste. They are also using mostly local and regional material (approximately 90%) from within 500 miles of the site.


• During construction all of the ducts will be sealed to keep hazardous materials from going into the system before the building is open. They are also using low VOC materials.


• Educational messages and plaques will be throughout the building, including monitors that will be set up so students know how much energy is being used in different parts of the building at any time. Among these will be a large LCD in lobby (which will hopefully inspire competition to be green).


• Our target is 54 LEED points for platinum (the platinum range is 52-69 points). If we do this, we would be the largest residence hall to achieve platinum. Smaller buildings have done it, including one 10 bed hall at Duke, but none of this size.

IX ADJOURNMENT
4:38 pm

II CORRECTIONS AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 14 July 2009 (document A)
Approved without amendment.

III PRESIDENTS' REPORTS
Katherine Schmidt, Faculty Senate (document B)

• Reminded the senate that the new deadline for proposals to be to either the Curriculum Committee or Graduate Committee for inclusion in next year's catalog is 12th January 2010.


• Displayed the revised senate website and reminded senators to visit the site prior to the meeting and/or bring laptops to the meetings, as paper copies of agenda items will not be available at meetings


• President Schmidt received no comments on NWCCU feedback process.


• President Schmidt requested that senators remind their divisions to:



update their website with office hours, class schedules, etc. (a request from the students)




include a senate report as a regular part of division meeting agendas so that Senators can communicate more effectively what is happening



• We had great turn out at our new senator orientation (16) and Planning meeting (13)


• At these sessions, we came up with 2 out of 3 priorities for year



Sustainability




Strengthening and reestablishing communication with senate committees. Exec will be meeting with chairs and directors associated with committees




The third priority is that senate committees are to revise charges by the end of the academic year
Executive committee will be meeting with Committee on Comommittees first to establish the roll-out process for the revisions.



• Informed the senate that all reports will be limited to 10 minutes in length. Sponsors will be given a 2 minute warning and told when time is out.

John Minahan, Western Oregon University

• Enrollment was 5500 students as of this morning; many of these are part time.


• We have a freshman class of 950 (had aimed for 1000). This is still 48 more than last year.


• We are down about 50 transfer students and are down in continuing freshman, however this is expected since last year's freshman class was small. Our continuing numbers in the other classes are strong.


• We have good numbers in international students - steady from last year - which is good considering there is more competition for these students from other institutions in the area.


• Made significant progress in the number of Hispanic students, as well as other ethnic minority groups.


• Graduate masters program up enrollment is up 85 to 452 students. These are extraordinarily good numbers.


• We are about where it was anticipated we would be with budget.


• WOU administration is currently working on an exercise for 10% reduction in January/February, which is most likely to happen if ballot measures fail. This is not a surprise. The troubling piece is that the Legislative Fiscal Office also wanted to know our fund balances. Dr. Minahan has written a protest letter regarding this request, as the fund balances are tuition money and not general fund and looking at those funds crosses a boundary.

Joe Hutchinson, Staff Senate
Not present

Evan Sorce, ASWOU
Not present

Kent Neely, Provosts' Council

• Provosts' Council met at OIT on 10/13/09. This meeting was a breath of fresh air after last years discussion of cuts, holds, etc.


• Discussed new OUS admission system either automatic or standard based on performance in (specific) college prep classes. There was some concern on the part of the admissions officers on exactly what "automatic" means.


• A few Senate bills and their implementation were discussed:


• Senate bill 342: Deals with the international baccalaureate program and how these will be accepted across OUS. Now that it is a policy, it will be forwarded to board and officers of community colleges for approval. Also included are general education outcomes for community colleges (AAOT). (See attached)


• Senate 442: Amalgamation of regional colleges was originally included in this, but has been removed, turning the focus now to access and success of rural community students and the possible conversion to semester system for OUS. If the semester changed happened, it would not be mandatory, but some of the community colleges might also do it. Larry Galaciao is the lead on this.


• There is no longer a moratorium on academic program proposals, however, there is renewed and more intense scrutiny of them. The primary questions being asked are: Have students requested them, have industries? When the new programs are approved, the Academic Strategies Committee will review these, not the full board, after the Provosts' Council.



This time there were 2 programs: A BA/BS in Earth science from PSU and a graduate degree in medical statistics from OHSU.



• There was some discussion among the senators about the costs, efficiencies and pedagogical changes a switch to a semester system could make. Generally, most comments indicated that this could be a positive change.

IV OLD BUSINESS

• Curriculum Proposal: Business Administration, H. Bahari-Kashani & J. Leadley (documents C & D)


• Primarily, this change formalizes what has temporarily been in effect since the first term: changing the business classes from 3 to 4 credits. The old program was never in place; teaching at 3 credits did not happen at all. Since this decision was during the first term of program, based on experience, they do not have any data to show the need (program never really existed).


• Also made minor changes to align business and computer science courses and distribution.

Dean Braa moved to approve
Bryan Dutton Seconded
Motion passed unanimously

V NEW BUSINESS
PEBB Open Enrollment, H. McDaniel (document E)

• It is really important that everyone do open enrollment this year. Blue Cross Blue Shield will become PEBB Statewide (and will be administered by Providence Health Plans).


• You will want to look up your provider on the PEBB website to make sure that they will be a provider in the new system. Most still will be, but in case not, HR has a form so that you can continue care if you are in the middle of a surgery, pregnancy, ongoing treatment, etc.


• Feel free to contact Heather to talk about options.


• Joel Alexander added that in IFS, it was mentioned that PEBB is worried about whether the system can handle too many people doing open enrollment in the last week. Heather mentioned that if the system crashes, HR does have paper forms available.


• Joel added that there is a change for international travel - you need to go on the PEBB website and get your MedX form (also available in HR) before travelling internationally. This is very important since many countries are not aware of our new carrier and it can save you problems in case of an emergency abroad.

Dean Braa reminded the senate of the Service Peter Callero has given on our behalf to the PEBB board and made a motion that the Senate send a letter of thanks to Peter Callero for his service on PEBB board on our behalf.
Seconded Scott Beaver.
Unanimously approved

Interinstitutional Advising Assessment Project, K. Sullivan-Vance (document F)

• WOU has been invited to participate in this project along with Concordia, PCC, PSU, OSU, UO and UP.


• This project is looking a little more at faculty roles than previous student-centered projects.


• It is currently going through WOU's IRB; PSU human research board has already approved it.


• A goal is to try to tie advising to retention, as there is a great deal of lore, but not research, about the link between advising and retention.


• They are looking at the importance that students and faculty attribute to advising functions. Also faculty experiences and how that impacts advising.


• This is an overall look, not a critique of individuals.


• Students will be contacted several times to take a survey, starting in February. Incentive for responding will be four $100 dollar bookstore certificates.


• Faculty will also be getting emails - their incentive will be $500 in professional development money.

VI COMMITTEE REPORTS
none

VII INTERINSTITUTIONAL FACULTY SENATE REPORTS
Report, J. Alexander

• An emerging theme seems to be seamless nature that is desired outcome of high school to college matriculation. Last year's theme was panic (joke). Underlying that was an interest in what different senates do on their campuses, with the discovery that there is lots of variability.


• Senate Bill 342 was discussed, as on some campuses students can be admitted at the sophomore level, with sometimes up to 45 credits being earned through International Baccalaureate. On WOU's campus, we evaluate course by course.


• Request to faculty: please participate in survey before 10/21 - particularly those in English and math: www.corestandards.org


• Also, select math and reading faculty received a survey from OUS, please respond if you did.


• IFS will be invited to tri-board meeting in January. The tri-board is the Higher education Board, Education Board, and Business Board.


• Another concern, some Community Colleges are pushing to offer 4 year degrees in certain areas. These would be human-service degrees in areas that might impact some divisions on campus (e.g psychology, health).

VIII SUSTAINABILITY THEME
Online Submission System for Curriculum Changes, L. Burton, M. Ellis, & Z. Chen (document G)

• New curriculum system available from the portal


• Starting this evening or tomorrow morning, you will have a menu option for course or program requests. By Clicking on this, you can start the process.


• The forms will check to make sure you have filled in appropriate fields. Once you have done that, you can attach files (as many as you want). After this, you will return to menu, where you can check the approval status.


• Approvers will have an "approve course and program request program", where they will go to approve requests.


• At this point there is no save or edit option, it is a short form and, really, if changes need to be made, they should be approved by all of the appropriate parties. Eventually, they hope to have a re-submit option in place, so fields could be copied from one proposal to another.


• There were several questions about the saving and editing options, Michael and Laurie reminded folks that cutting a pasting would be easy between the forms.


• Bryan Dutton suggested that form templates be made available so folks could think about what they wanted to type before getting to the actual form. Laurie said she would make these available on the Curriculum Committee page.


• Michael and Laurie will work on developing a page so that Deans can review submitted proposals earlier in the process.

IX ADJOURNMENT: 4:41 PM

Online Documents for Senatorial Review (www.wou.edu/president/facultysenate):
A: 26 May 2009 meeting minutes for corrections
B: FYI--27 May 2008 meeting minutes documenting NEW deadline for curriculum changes
C: FYI--Music Curriculum Changes, approved by Executive Committee
D: FYI--Theatre Curriculum Changes, approved by Executive Committee
E: Faculty Handbook Revision Process, Provost Neely
F: Business Administration Curriculum Changes
G: Textbook Rental Program, Associate Provost McDonald

I CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 PM
Attending:
Katherine Schmidt, Scott Beaver, Mark Girod, Zenon Zygmont, Elaina Jamieson
Sandra Hedgepath, Gay Timken, Camila Gabaldon, Bryan Dutton, David Doellinger, Dean Braa, Carl Schroder

Ex-Officio:
John Minihan, Evan Sorce, Dave MacDonald, Kent Neely, Joe Hutchinson

II CORRECTIONS AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 26 MAY 2009 (document A)
No corrections were submitted. The minutes were approved

III PRESIDENTS' REPORTS
Katherine Schmidt, Faculty Senate (documents B, C, and D)

• There has been a change in the deadline for submitting curriculum changes to the Curriculum Committee. Please share the date [January ] with your Divisions immediately and persistently


• The Executive Committee took the following actions at their last meeting:


1. Approved curriculum changes for Music and Art.


2. Agreed to change the website:


3. Website as the main content location for upcoming meeting materials


4. Soon-to-be-updated members list will be moved to a different page on the site


5. The committee on committees will be updating lists and charges for all committees, these will be posted on the site


6. Minutes of meetings will be pasted in to the blog for easy search and retrieval


• There will be an orientation for new senators during new student week; both new and returning Senators are encouraged to attend.


• There is now a cheat sheet for Robert's Rules of Order on the back of name tags, for the convenience of Senators.


• The Senate planning meeting for the upcoming year will be 9/22/2009.


• Bill Kernan has announced that faculty whose computers are being replaced this year will have the option of choosing whether their computer will be a laptop or desktop, Mac or PC. Senators are encouraged to consider requesting a laptop, so that they can bring it to meetings and save resources.

John Minahan, Western Oregon University

• We have had 3 SOARs so far, which have resulted in a Freshman class of 791 frosh (39 more than last year). We have additional SOARs scheduled and we want to increase this number to 1000, as the Tuition Promise will be hard to hold without 1000 freshman.


• The State legislature closed without balancing the budget, so budgeting will have to be re-opened. We are planning on 20% budget cut.


• Composition of the incoming class is bimodal, with the income of parent-dependent students increasing and the income of independent students decreasing. We need to find a way to decrease this bimodality in order to maintain our first generation feel. A possible solution is more scholarships.


• We have had a focus visit from NWACC and did not score high. Our systems of assessment were ok, but they way in which we use the assessment (e.g. to determine changes in curriculum) did badly. This was common with other institutions. We may need to be more careful about how we make curriculum changes. It may not be enough to say we think it is a good idea.


• We are up 7.6% in total enrollment; Retention is "out of sight." Because retention rate is so high, more students are taking LACC in their year, meaning we are tight in sections for those courses and have fewer seats for freshmen. We will be adding sections - we cannot afford to lose students because there are no seats.


• Tuition is up 9% for incoming students, this compares to U of O who is up 15%.


• Otherwise, we are in good shape financially, though there are some concerns about the Tuition Promise. It does not seem right for the costs to be pushed entirely on to the freshmen, unless the enrollment numbers are very high and they are very rich. They have developed scenarios for making it work.


• Also, potentially impacting our students this year, the Opportunity Grant will be cut off August 15. Dave MacDonald reported on behalf of the president that 1/3 of our students are eligible for opportunity grants and last year the cut off was in October. There is an effort to have winter and spring awards, but not optimistic.

Joe Hutchinson, Staff Senate

• Announced that he will be coming to meetings and is pleased that there is a seat for the Staff Senate president


• He has been working with Drs. Taylor and Killloran on an Emergency Management grant for the last 15 months. Last week they were informed they had received the grant and he is excited about the possibilities for upgrading and enhancing our systems at WOU.

Evan Sorce, ASWOU

• Brought greetings from students. He looks forward to working with faculty and has been talking to students about what faculty can do to enhance their learning at WOU, including booklists that are availabe well in advance of the beginning of classes.
• Sustainability is his big issue, more recycling bins, etc.


• There was some discussuion about the cost of texbooks at the bookstore as compared to other sources. Zenon Zygmont, who was on textbook committee in 2003 remarked that at that time, the bookstore's mark up was 30% new and 35% used. Mark Weiss mentioned that at the root of this is the question of whether we want a bookstore on campus or not. The bookstore is supposed to break even at the end of the year. It has not for the last several years.

• He had three meetings last week with OUS regarding academic strategies and thanked Dean Rosselli for attending the Provosts' Council in his place.
• The Academic Strategies committee had 5 priorities that were presented by Jim Fransisconi
  1. Revise institutional missions
  2. Making sure critical needs are being met in the state (teacher education, health professions, etc.)
  3. A recruitment strategy for increasing participation from students in rural Oregon
  4. Latino students parity and success
  5. Priorities for increasing completion and retention
• The group will likely grow
• Chancellor spoke of line item veto by governor
• At board meeting there was a dramatic showing of students interested in keeping tuition low
• U of O - showcased electronic course evaluation system "what do you think" we are doing a beta test of a similar system this fall
• There is a moratorium on the board reviewing new programs, but the Provosts' Council did review some to be reviewed by the board when that moratorium is lifted

IV OLD BUSINESS
None

V NEW BUSINESS
Faculty Handbook Revision Process, Provost Neely (document E)

• Last year, in reviewing the handbook, he realized it was old. Since this is is a critical piece of information for faculty, he looked into revising it. During that process, he learned that faculty had worked on revising it previously and he solicited additional review from that group.


• The revisions are now almost complete. Wanda Clifton-Faber will be compiling them and they will go on the web, so that there is something in place for fall. The web document will be a live document, with regular opportunities for faculty and div chairs to comment and revise. Bryan Dutton added that the incoming senate and faculty union representatives have reviewed it.

• This change would be to the Master of Science in Management and Information Systems. It changes the business courses in this degree from 3 to 4 credits.


• It is felt that a 3 credits is not enough at the master's level and they have been temporarily been teaching the classes at the 4 credit level with more success.They are also dropping 1 class, so total credits stays approximately the same.

Textbook Rental Grant Proposal, Associate Provost McDonald (document G)

• It costs $1120 per year for the average full time student to buy text books (varies by discipline). This average has gone up 50% since 96-97; It is one of those "hidden costs" of college


• FIPSE program (Federal government) is running a grant that would allow universities to develop innovative programs for course material rental


• There are 3 considerations
  
  1. Appropriate resource (determined by faculty)
  
  
  2. Cost to students
  
  
  3. Bookstore impact


• There is a very short turn around on this, so WOU's chances are good.


• There was much discussion about the potential impact of this program and the creative ways faculty have already begun utilizing to deal with this issue, including using articles instead of texts and putting them on eReserve and purchasing old editions of the books and making them available at the library.

Additional items?
none

VI COMMITTEE REPORTS
None

VII INTERINSTITUTIONAL FACULTY SENATE REPORTS
None

VIII ADJOURNMENT

Adjourned 4:21

President's report, Provost Neely for John Minahan:

Senator Hass has introduced Senate Bill 442 to the legislature, a bill that is meant to investigate the possibility of consolidating the regional institutions of higher education with other existing state universities. President Minahan took the initiative of contacting senator Hass last week and personally delivered a letter to the office of Senator Hass. The principal point in the letter was that Western Oregon University has distinguished itself as a unique university within the Oregon University System (by overcoming considerable financial challenges and continuing to demonstrate momentum in fulfilling a unique mission) and is distinct from the other universities that have been identified as being regional. Because of our success, we should not be looked at as part of the problem nor should we be looked at as part of the solution for other campuses.

WOU continues to do very well in attracting students and admitting students. Compared to last year, we have improved by over 14% in the number of students who have applied for admission at Western. Of those who have applied, we have had 33% who are admitted. We have also had tremendous success in increasing our Hispanic student applications by 36% and increasing our admissions by 65%. We have also had great success in retaining students transitioning from freshman to sophomore.

We have maximized revenue through our retention efforts, through additional recruitment of traditional students, through our new minority recruitment plan, and the continuing recruitment of international students.

Regarding program changes: Program changes should only be brought forward if there is a very clear and persuasive case that can be made regarding retention, recruitment, access, or minimizing expenses.

David McDonald gave a brief summary of yesterday's reading: The panel is aware that we are dealing with a $3 plus billion deficit in terms of the next biennium. The committee is looking for the university system to be part of the solution. Our failure to do so will empower them to make decisions on our behalf. It will be necessary to consider what is best for students.

Mark Weiss also stated: On February 19th, the governor announced furloughs, salary freezes, and some salary rollbacks for state government, Chancellor's office, and the offices of the university presidents. This will be discussed at the next board meeting.
The expected financial impact is a $9 million reduction this year for OUS--$443,000 of that is directly attributable to Western. Consequently, we reduced our appropriation by $443,000. With the additional reduction of about $800 million of revenue shortfall this year, the Oregon university system is being asked to take another $37 million reduction, translating to approximately $1.8 million for WOU. Our expected fund balance for the end of this year is about 12%. We expect the reductions for next biennium to be $4 million per year--that represents 20 % less than the funding level we got from the state in the 07-09 biennium and approx 30% below what we consider to be our essential budget level.

We're in the process now of beginning to put together our next year's budget. We expect our enrollment to remain even. We think a 7% to 9% increase in tuition for the new cohort of students entering the university next year may be necessary. We will have an increase in remission levels. A salary freeze will likely be essential for the next biennium, as will some reduction in S and S budgets.

Staff Senate, Jennifer Hansen's Report
No report

ASWOU, Max Beach's Report
No report

Provost Kent Neely's Report
No report. Provosts' Council will meet next week.

IV. Old Business

Request to establish 800 course numbers: JoNan LeRoy Director for DEP

It was proposed that WOU define 800 Professional Development numbers.

Action: Senate unanimously approved to endorse the establishment of 800-level Professional Development course numbers.

Graduate Studies: Linda Stonecipher, Director of Graduate Studies

Proposed: a conditional admission proposal for graduate language requirement. The main intent of this policy is to create an educational environment that emphasizes English language development that will provide international students with the necessary foundation for graduate-level coursework.

Changes to the proposal:
Page 2, Policy Log;
IELTS log will be 6.0 rather than 6.5;
Page 3 part C "During the year of conditional admission" is changed to "During conditional admission";
Page 3 part C #2, "receive at least a B- on all coursework" will be made more explicit by indicating that "all coursework" means "each course"

Action: Senate unanimously approved the proposal with the corrections as noted.

Military Science: Colonel Susuico

Proposal for MS 118 designated as an LACC class.

Action: Senate unanimously agreed to table action on this proposal until the March 10th meeting.

Revised Sports Leadership Minor: Marita Cardinal

Three changes are proposed:

1) Change in language for the elective course options from: "Choose three credits
total from coaching classes and /or practicum" to "Choose six credits of sport- or
coaching-related courses and/or coaching practicum, with advisor approval."

2) Increase the credit hours from 2 to 3 for PE 361.

3) Add PE 420: Motor Learning for Coaches as an alternative to Regular Motor Learning.

Action: Senate unanimously approved the proposed Sports Leadership Minor changes.

Theater Arts: Michael Philips

Proposed: a number of small curricular changes and corrections to theater degree programs. Additional classes are added to fill curricular holes and to better align the program with the National Association of Schools of Theater (NAST). Changes do not alter the total number of required credits for each degree.

Action: Senate unanimously approved the Theater Arts proposed changes.

Graphic Design: Diane Tarter

Proposed title changes for some of the existing courses and three new courses. The
three added courses (Digital Design A423, A424, A425) will run parallel to the
Print Design sequence. The new courses provide more options for graphic design
students. Students may choose to take one or both of the 400 level sequences after
completing all prerequisites in art foundations, introductory 200 level courses, and
the 300 level year-long sequence. This flexible choice option fits within the 84
credits required in the art major. This addition is proposed in order to align WOU's
art program with current practices and university offerings in the state, our region,
and the nation.

Action: Senate unanimously approved the proposed changes to the Graphic Design program.

Music: Joe Harchenko

New course proposal: MUS 404 Junior Seminar. In order for us to be more in line with other institutions, a zero credit-hour requirement that would be passed upon successful completion of the capstone project.

Action: Senate unanimously approved the new course proposal.

V. New Business

No new business

VI. Additional Reports and Items

Office of Institutional Research and Sponsored Projects (OIRSP) report

Action: Senate agreed to table this report and discussion until our March meeting.

VII. Meeting Adjourned

5:00

approved_senate_minutes_11-25-08.doc