Recap of University Senate’s Nov. 19 meeting

Co-chairs of a University Senate committee told senators at their Nov. 19 meeting that the committee believes it is making progress toward answering questions regarding some Purdue University Global guidelines.

Professor Stephen Beaudoin and Senator Deborah Nichols, co-chairs of the Purdue Global Select Committee, said they’ve been working to resolve confusion surrounding certain Purdue Global guidelines, including a Purdue Global faculty notification policy regarding “red and yellow alerts” and student arbitration. Beaudoin and Nichols provided the update during the resume of items under consideration portion of the meeting.

Beaudoin said that under the policy, red alerts had to be reported to administration within 60 minutes. Red alert incidents include protests, media inquiries that require a statement or response from Purdue Global as an institution, non-routine visits by regulatory agencies and events that could lead to injury or harm.

Yellow alert incidents are required to be reported in 24 hours, and include non-life-threatening medical issues and inquiries from federal, state or accrediting agencies.

Beaudoin said there was concern that Purdue Global was trying to stifle faculty but that was not the case.

Beaudoin said a clause was added to the policy to indicate that the media rule is intended only for official University statements – not individual faculty statements. Several senators voiced concerns during Beaudoin’s presentation, saying the clause was too vague and did not make the part about individual faculty statements clear.

Beaudoin said the policy should not dissuade faculty from speaking about their own work.

There was also clarification regarding student arbitration. The Purdue Global arbitration agreement will be affected by a recent federal court decision. In that case, the court held that certain 2016 Department of Education rules at the center of the lawsuit must be allowed to go into effect. Those rules now provide, in part, that mandatory arbitration cannot be used to resolve disputes with students who have federal student loans. The Purdue Global arbitration agreement had already been modified to comply with pending guidelines of the Higher Learning Commission adopted on this topic last year, but the HLC guidelines are, until such time as the Department of Education issues new arbitration rules, largely moot as a result of this federal case.

Also at the meeting:

* Dan Hasler, executive vice president for communication, gave an overview of Purdue’s yearlong 150th anniversary celebration. Hasler explained what went into choosing the four “Giant Leaps” and encouraged senators to continue thinking about how these strategic areas can continue to be communicated throughout the next year and beyond.

Hasler also emphasized that the Ideas Festival, which is the centerpiece for the year-long celebration, connects world-renowned speakers and Purdue experts. Hasler said he hopes events tied to the Ideas Festival events highlight how Purdue is continuing to tackle some of the biggest issues affecting the world.

* Senate documents regarding the addition of an Honors College representative on the Senate  and a document regarding Senate reapportionment were jointly approved by the group.

* After questions from several faculty members, the Senate voted to send to the Educational Policy Committee for further review a resolution supporting the addition of a clause in the student absence policy that specifically describes jury duty and witness duty as excused absences. The document was scheduled to be voted on at the meeting, but senators believed that the resolution needed more work before a vote.

* A resolution in support of a Graduate Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities was approved. The bill of rights will be used as a tool to highlight the importance of not only academic work but overall well-being as part of the graduate experience.

* The Senate approved a resolution for updated language in core curriculum appendices involving mathematics. Michael Harris, the Robert B. and Virginia V. Covalt Professor of Chemical Engineering and chair of the Educational Policy Committee, and Susan Swithers, professor of psychological sciences and chair of the Core Curriculum Committee, told the Senate that current language regarding mathematics is not written in “outcome language,” and the resolution will remove college algebra from the language and replace it with “mathematics/quantitative reasoning.” An updated set of skills will be added to the appendices to correspond with the new language.

* Discussion for a document regarding Purdue Global student and faculty rights, presented by Senator David Sanders, associate professor of biological sciences, was postponed to the Senate meeting Jan. 28.

* Peter Goldsbrough, professor of botany and plant pathology and chair of the Faculty Compensation and Benefits Committee, provided an update about the concerns surrounding staff and faculty benefits that have been addressed in recent months. Based on feedback, Goldsbrough said monthly meetings with representatives from HR will be scheduled to help address concerns as they arise. He also noted that his committee has representatives from CSSAC (Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee) and APSAC (Administrative and Professional Staff Advisory Committee) and that suggestions are welcome.

* Jenna Rickus, associate vice provost for teaching and learning, gave an update on the learning management system and Blackboard Learn review project that started earlier in the fall semester. A campus task force was created to help evaluate what Purdue would need in a new learning management system, which Rickus said would be hopefully implemented by 2020. Rickus said the current learning management system, Blackboard Learn, will be harder to use as it gets more dated, and said the University wants to replace the system before issues start to arise.

The next University Senate meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28.

Writer: Abbey Nickel, 765-496-1325, nickela@purdue.edu