Faculty Senate Discusses Student Input

The Faculty Senate at Frostburg State University is the primary body of faculty shared governance at FSU, despite most students have little to no knowledge about the group or what they do. Organized in committees and subcommittees, the body makes important decisions on all aspects of academic affairs.

At their most recent meeting, held on September 4, 2019, the agenda included votes and discussion on several topics, among them a request by President Nowaczyk to update the university’s policy on bestowing honorary degrees. The previous Honorary Degree Policy, approved in 1996 and updated in 2001, allowed for student input in the form of a representative appointed by the President of the Student Government Association. The vote held this past Wednesday on an updated policy now excludes student input in this process. The rationale, published online, says the measure “brings the awarding of honorary degrees more in line with the recommendation of the faculty.” While other institutions, such as the University of Maryland, have a similar policy, some institutions, like the University of Michigan, continue to allow for student consultation.

A second measure discussed and subsequently voted on during the September 2019 meeting was raised by the Faculty Concerns Committee. Their request, a Syllabus Statement on recording technology disallows students to record classroom activity, particularly to include recordings made without the instructor’s knowledge/permission, recordings that can be edited to show other students or the instructor disparagingly, and recordings that can be publicly shared through social media and other means. Furthermore, in order to receive formal permission from an instructor to record classroom activity, the student must fill out a “Recorded Class Policy Agreement” form which allows for students to use recorded material for only two purposes:  private study use or small group study, and only with students enrolled in that particular course.

While other boilerplate measures were discussed, such as course description updates and amended admission criteria for specific majors, the last controversial topic was on the issue of course evaluations completed by students and their impact on faculty merit raises. While the measure to exclude course evaluations from the yearly assessment of staff will not be decided until the October 2 meeting or later, the matter is one of contention, especially for one member of the Faculty Senate who said, “why should students who haven’t earned a degree be allowed to judge me on my pedagogical approach?” Continued discussion on this proposition will take place at their next general meeting.

The Faculty Senate meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 4:00 PM in the Atkinson Room at the Lane University Center. Meetings are open to all members of the campus community.