April 8, 2020
FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
April 8, 2020
Present: Lynn Atkins, David Barrett, David Batuski, Donald Beith, Susan Bennett-Armistead, Erik Blomberg, Amy Booth, Alice Bruce, Stephanie Burnett, Mauricio da Cunha, Paula Drewniany, Phil Dunn, Nuri Emanetoglu, Per Garder, Mark Haggerty, Torsten Hahmann, Emily Haigh, Heather Hamlin, Leonard Kass, Amanda Klemmer, Colt Knight, Sara Lello, Margo Lukens, Robson Machado, Natalie Machamer, Ivan Manev, Robert Meulenberg, Grant Miles, Patti Miles, Renae Moran, William Nichols, Christopher Nightingale, Elizabeth Payne, Deborah Rogers, Deborah Saber, Michael Scott, Howard Segal, Kathryn Slott, Sean Smith, Andrew Thomas, David Townsend, Phil Trostel, Peter Van Walsum, Todd Zoroya, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Faye Gilbert Interim Provost, VP Research Kody Varahramyan, Claire Strickland CBO, Robert Dana, Ken Ralph, Kimberly Whitehead Chief of Staff, Jeff St. John, Chris Lindstrom, Christopher Richards, Harlan Onsrud, Jen Bonnet (PEAC), Peter Altmann (CEAC), Camryn Hammill (Undergrad Rep)
Absent: Kristina Cammen, Julie DellaMattera, Sam Hanes, Judith Josiah-Martin, Anil Raj Kizha, Peter Koons, Nigel Pitt, Laura Rickard, Holly Schreiber, Mary “MJ” Sedlock, Mohsen Shahinpoor, Mark Wells, Xudong Zheng, SuriyaPrakaash LakshmiBalasubramaniam (Grad Stud Gov),
I. Welcome, Announcements and Comments
II. Approval of Minutes
March 4, 2020
Approved
III. Committee Reports
BOT – Patti Miles
There will be some money from the government to help offset costs due to Covid-19.
Q. Will the UMaine System offices reduce spending?
A. Patti has not heard anything about that.
Comment: Claire said expenses are high. UMaine will be looking to reduce expenses/costs. Travel and PCards will have reductions for FY20 and FY21 budgets may be pushed to June but President Ferinni-Mundy can speak to that when she arrives.
Q. Do you have any specifics on UMaine cost reductions?
A. No
Will expenditures be less with buildings closed? Claire said yes.
Academic Affairs – William “Dee” Nichols
There is a motion for SET under New Business.
Gen Ed – Subcommittee of Academic Affairs – Sam Hanes
The committee has decided to table (or at least slow work on) Gen Ed revisions until a face to face meeting can take place. Sam is going through data on perceptions and will write a report.
Constitution & Bylaws – Grant Miles
Changes to the Constitution and Bylaws, submitted by the committee, will be moved to fall when they can be discussed fully. Dee thanked Grant Miles for all the work the committee did.
Research & Scholarship – Sean Smith, Deborah Saber & Nuri Emanetoglu
No report.
Finance & Institutional Planning – Mauricio da Cunha & Mike Scott
FIPCE asked that the committee be involved in budget discussions, at least informed. Jeff Hecker was scheduled to speak at the last senate meeting but that was cancelled. The committee would still like to have him come discuss his recent presentation to the UMaine community. Maybe in the next couple of weeks he could still come discuss it with senate.
University Environment – Erik Blomberg
There have been some emails regarding the Children’s Center staff reading to the children over Zoom during furlough. They were told they couldn’t do that or use Zoom and university computers. It’s not that parents expect that resource but that teachers wanted to keep the connection with the children.
Q. Does daycare go through summer?
A. Yes
Comments: Employees elsewhere have been told it’s illegal to do work while not employed and unpaid. Chris Lindstrom (head of HR for UMaine) said, generally, this is the case. He will check to see if there are any options or to be paid for some hours of work. Erik asked if he’d let him know about any discussions that take place.
Howard commented that cuts to the Childcare Center have taken place before and that it seems like the lowest paid get cut first. Provost Gilbert said the closure was based on Covid-19 guidelines not cuts.
Service & Outreach – Colt Knight
No report.
Committee on Committees – Grant Miles
No report. Dee asked if the search for Provost is moving forward, as well as other positions. Dave said it would be a question for the President.
Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Margo Lukens
There is a motion under New Business. The March 4th motion has gone to the President.
Library Committee – Howard Segal & Robert Rice
A summary was sent out from the committee’s most recent meeting. Howard asked where the Resolution stands, he heard it was voted down.
Comment: The Resolution passed but was not unanimous. Joyce Rumery stated people are still working at the Library checking out books, laptops, etc., others are working from home.
Information Technology Committee – Patti Miles
The committee has not met. Patti stated she’d complained about IT over the years but has been pleased with the response of IT during Covid-19.
Q. Would this be a good time to do a student inventory of technology access?
A. Patti said it should be done to see how students are being reached. Maybe students could be sent a survey.
Comments: Provost Gilbert said students that haven’t connected to Blackboard are being called, emailed or letters sent to see what the issues are.
Could questions be added to the student evaluations regarding technology difficulties? The questions would need to be the same for all faculty regarding technology issues. The Assessment Office has always used questions but we wouldn’t know specific students. Deb Allen said personalization was added yesterday and she can discuss options. President Ferrini-Mundy stated she liked the idea.
Ad Hoc Shared Governance
No report.
Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration
David Townsend commented that campus senate presidents had a meeting regarding Unified Accreditation. Faculty will need a say on how Unified Accreditation works with governance. It won’t be a System Senate, each campus needs to have a Faculty Senate and a say.
There will be a meeting soon regarding a possible name change for Little Hall. There is a lot of information to go through and look at and what other universities have done. There’s a document on how buildings are named.
Comments: Howard would like to be informed on the name change. He worked in Little Hall when he worked in Michigan. President Ferrini-Mundy said it should be kept in mind the connection of Clarence Little and Jackson Lab.
IV. Announcements and Updates from the Administration
President Ferrini-Mundy thanked Faculty Senate for still meeting since continuity is important during this time. Unified Accreditation efforts by the system are moving forward. Starts with a change request, it’s not the full study but the first step and how changes would take place. David Townsend and group are looking at governance, there are several working groups. A draft will be out soon for the UMaine System to review. She’d also like senators to review it carefully so there is faculty input. Academic Standards, once looked at, UMaine is already doing a lot that would be compliant.
It appears everyone is settling in during this time but seeing where faculty and students are challenged, stress levels etc. It appears the same issues that come up every year are coming up now.
There will be budget challenges FY 20, FY 21, and FY 22. A steering group is putting together a document and together they’re trying to open budget planning to some on campus. There will be a call for ideas, budget reductions and new ideas. Federal aid is coming for FY20.
Q. As things move forward with the budget, can FIPC be involved?
A. President Ferrini-Mundy thought that would be a great idea, she’ll talk to Provost Gilbert to find a way.
There is a Town Hall tomorrow at 2 pm.
Comment: Regarding students engaged in research, is it moving forward? It is being moved forward by some. President Ferinni-Mundy asked Mauricio if he’d work with Christy to pull things together, this isn’t a time to back away. Students’ being engaged in research is important; they may be seeking out that opportunity in the future.
FY21 ideas from Jeff Hecker are important but can’t do full RCM now. Units need to innovate on how to generate revenue and entice students, there should be ways to accommodate that.
V. Questions of the Administration
Q. A few weeks ago Jeff Hecker was going to talk to senate but it was postponed. We’re hoping that meeting will take place soon. Do you have any thoughts on that?
A. Jeff gives a clear explanation on how things are done with the budget. Deans are also helping units understand how budgets go together. There has been a lot of work to get the project as far as it is. The RCM may need to wait for a future budget.
Q. Are there any projections on enrollment/retention?
A. I wish there were. We’re cautiously optimistic for out-of-state and graduate student numbers. In-state numbers aren’t where the administration would like. There are a lot of phone calls and texts going out.
Chris Richards, Interim VP for Enrollment Management, commented that there are no projections currently since it’s a difficult time. They’re adjusting as they go since students can’t come to campus. There are areas of optimism but hard to say how it will go.
Marine Science has 49 paid deposits, ahead of schedule from last year. Many seem to be steered towards UMaine due to Maine being a safe place to be.
President Ferinni-Mundy said she’d just seen a report suggesting K-12 schools complete the year remotely. There’s a concern with equity for students. Some K-12 students can’t get material due to lack of internet access so some may miss the last six weeks and wondered if the university can find a way to fill the gaps. Maybe short modules, prep courses, etc. It’s an idea for everyone to think about.
VP Research Kody Varahramyan was asked about the letter going out for a census of research. He stated a follow up email was sent today to build on previous communications. It revised what is essential research. There is an online form with revisions for reporting on campus as well as field work. We’re currently moving from notification mode to approval mode after review. If students are home they only need to notify that but for campus or field work it requires approval. Part of this is to inventory research for federal funds.
Q. Someone asked if the form was already submitted do they need to resubmit?
A. No. Previous submission will be looked at to see if additional approval is needed.
Q. Is this just for research or any activity?
A. It’s broader to include scholarly work.
Q. How about including this information into the faculty activity report. The last three months can be specified in that.
A. We’re trying to make it short. The form asks name, contact information, and what the work is about.
Ken Ralph, Athletic Director, said Division I sports are stopped and athletes have gone home, no athletic work going on. Recruiting is going well remotely and now looking at domestic students. They will be working with campus organizations regarding summer camps and how to sponsor summer programs but only when it’s safe.
Q. Faculty have some questions regarding pass/fail, will financial aid be affected? Is it okay for undergraduates taking Grad courses to take pass/fail?
A. Merit scholars etc., talks are going on now. The request is to err on the side of giving students the benefit of the doubt. If a student is borderline, scholarships may be continued. Also, looking at Merit Scholarships for high school students and how to use other indicators to award those scholarships.
We need to try and be compassionate and maybe look at grades from fall FY21 for high school students and grades. Incompletes are being extended for undergrads. Withdrawals will be extended; undergrads taking grad classes can’t take Pass/Fail.
Jeff St. John said language was moved to the FAQ today. They’re running weekly withdrawal data at Student Records, which is currently down significantly, more students are staying in courses. Language for Pass/Fail and Withdrawal, extensions and a recommendation that students talk to Academic Advising and Financial Aid.
Q. It was asked if graduate students want to finish but having difficulty now, can they extend an incomplete in to the summer?
A. Graduate Students have no deadline on incompletes. Undergrads have 10 weeks into the fall semester to finish an incomplete.
Comment: Some departments are requesting a grade instead of an incomplete.
VI. Old Business
No old business.
VII. New Business
PCRRC
April 8, 2020 Motion
MS in Data Science & Engineering
REVISED Faculty Senate Motion, for April 8, 2020 Full Senate Meeting
BACKGROUND on the Data Science and Engineering MS degree proposal
A collaborative interdisciplinary team developed an emerging research area proposal on Data Science and
Engineering which was approved by the Provost in 2014. The MS proposal and the particular title for the proposed degree emerged in part from this research proposal. The interdisciplinary team developing the proposal discussed the name. The rationale for selecting the name was 1) to reflect the emerging research area title, 2) to differentiate UMaine’s program from more generalized Data Science proposals that tend to focus largely on statistical analysis, and 3) to specially cover engineering aspects within the program. The team purposely discussed the inclusion of “engineering” in the degree title to indicate a focus on engineering in the sense of “the tradition of design and problem-solving skills.” The five thematic areas articulated in the program are broader than most Data Science programs. One of the guiding goals is to be as inclusive as possible in terms of target student populations. The team believes data science and engineering skills are becoming universally necessary skills for students in all disciplines,
from the humanities and social sciences, to the natural sciences, to business and engineering. UMaine’s program thus aims to be broadly inclusive and allow entry points and pathways for students from both STEM and non-STEM backgrounds. Another aim is to have the degree obtainable by distance education. There is a potential population currently in the workforce that are seeking and can benefit from retraining, particularly in data science and engineering skill sets.
In 2019 the team received approval for the Intent to Plan for graduate programs in Data Science and Engineering (MS, Graduate Certificate, 4+1). At that time, the Senate encouraged them to consult with all affected units as they developed the full proposal. In consultation with the five UMaine college deans, the team formed a planning committee with broad representation. They have since added a planning committee member to represent UM Machias.
The team submitted their full proposal to the Senate PCRRC on January 9, 2020. At that time, the full proposal was circulated to the Senate via email, and the PCRRC met to discuss and identify questions arising; PCRRC raised questions about governance structure, the necessity of intensive advising in a program attracting students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, and ongoing funding for program administration. The PCRRC held a campuswide meeting on the MS in Data Science and Engineering at 9:00am on February 19, 2020 in the Bumps Room, Memorial Union.
RESERVATIONS:
The most salient issue from the discussions is the necessity for a campus policy on governance of interdisciplinary graduate programs, of which there are likely to be more, not fewer. If an interdisciplinary program such as this is proposed to report directly to the Graduate School, we think this provides insufficient faculty governance; in the present campus structure, the VPR/Dean of Graduate School does not report to the Provost/VP Academic Affairs. Such a structure short-circuits policies for faculty oversight of campus academic programs. While members of Senate PCRRC endorse the principles of the MS in Data Science and Engineering, we think this is the moment to urge campus administrators to initiate work on creating campus policy for robust faculty governance of interdisciplinary programs.
Acknowledging these important reservations, based on the discussion in committee and at the campus-wide meeting,
PCRRC recommends that the proposed program move to a vote in Faculty Senate on April 8, 2020.
MOTION:
The Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee (PCRRC) has met with the various units associated with the creation of this new interdisciplinary MS degree, thoroughly examined and reviewed the proposal, and moves, with the reservations outlined above, to accept the creation of the new Master of Science in Data Science and Engineering, an interdisciplinary degree at the University of Maine.
Q. Will this degree be under a department?
A. That’s discussed under Reservations in the document. The proposal suggests reporting to the Graduate School since the structure hasn’t been worked out.
Comment: Some discussions have been around it not being under one particular unit since multiple units are involved.
Vote via Qualtrics:
Yes 41
No 6
Abstain 3
Faculty Senate committees of Academic Affairs and General Education Motion to adopt the movement toward using the Online Student Evaluation of Teaching
Online Student Evaluation of Teaching Background and Current Policies and Procedures
Acknowledging that student input is essential in improvement of instruction, the AFUM contract states that faculty conduct student evaluations in each course taught. Specifically, the contract states (Article 10B2):
The parties agree that student input is essential in the improvement of instruction and shall be considered during evaluation. Further, student input is a meaningful part of evaluation. Consequently, Unit members shall conduct evaluations in each course taught.
I. Online Student Evaluation of Teaching System
UMaine implemented the Explorance Blue Course Evaluation System in December 2016. This system includes support for multiple instructors, dynamic timing, and customized survey questions (configurable by instructor, course, department, and/or college), and will permit distributed reports based on complex permission settings. UMaine deployed Blue for all online courses at UMaine & UMM starting in spring 2017. Since spring 2017, an increasing number of academic units have also moved to Blue for evaluating in-person courses: As of fall 2019, 30 academic units or programs, plus 42 individual faculty members, were using Blue for all course evaluations. UMM is now using Blue for evaluating all courses – online and in-person.
Currently, UMaine, USM, UMFK, and UMM use Explorance Blue for online Student Evaluations of Teaching. Access to Blue through the portal is implemented through UMaine’s authentication service and the Blue hosted data center is SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
II. Evaluation Form Items
The AFUM contract indicates that forms must contain a series of questions, each confined to a limited aspect of the unit member’s teaching performance. Academic units may develop or revise their own evaluation form or procedure (Article 10, Section B2). Consequently, faculty must use the form identified by their unit, which could be the default form (the 19-item short form) or a custom form. Some units also use common custom questions for their labs, recitations, or clinicals. Faculty Senate and the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment will examine other forms such as (Laboratory Courses, Lecture/Lab, Project based courses, Online, Hybrid, ITV delivered, Internship/Practica/Clinical, Seminar, Studio Performance, Independent Research, Activities, etc.). If approved these alternate forms could be selected during the Question Personalization process.
Faculty also are given the option of adding their own customized questions during a question personalization period.
III. Signed Comments
Per the AFUM contract, items that consist of broad solicitation, without limit or direction, to evaluate the instructor’s performance shall only be placed in the personnel file when signed by the student who has conducted the evaluation. Consequently, students are given the opportunity to sign their evaluations. In Blue, students are provided a check box item to indicate that they have signed the form and therefore would like their open-ended comments to be included in the instructor’s personnel file.
III. Multiple-instructor courses
In cases where courses have multiple instructors, students are asked to evaluate each instructor. There are two sets of questions: a common set of questions relevant to the course and individual sets of questions for faculty.
IV. Online Student Evaluation of Teaching process
The online SET process requires multiple steps as shown in the following figure and described below.
| Identification of courses (Academic unit admin, staff) | Question Personalization (Faculty) | Evaluation (Students) | Response Monitoring/Reminders (Faculty) | Report Distribution
(OIRA) |
Identification of courses to be evaluated: Each term, OIRA provides units a list of their active courses. Units indicate which courses are to be evaluated in Blue. OIRA uses evaluation history to set default indicators. For example, if an independent study has not been included in the past, the default will be to not include it unless otherwise indicated.
Timing. Course lists are sent mid-semester.
Question personalization: Faculty have an opportunity to design personalized questions prior to the evaluation period.
Timing: For standard semester-length courses, question personalization will open two weeks week prior to the evaluation period – four weeks prior to the end of the course. Faculty receive an initial email invitation and one reminder prompt. Question personalization closes one day before the evaluation period.
Evaluation: Students are sent emails directing them to Blue for evaluating their courses. The emails include directions for completing the form.
Timing: Per the AFUM contract (Article 10, Section B2b). For courses scheduled for a full term, the evaluation window is the last two weeks of classes. Students receive an invitation email to complete their evaluations the Monday of the second to last week of classes. They receive two additional reminders. Evaluations close at midnight on the last day of classes. Evaluations are not open during finals week. (Alternative schedules are arranged for courses with alternative lengths/schedules.)
To ensure adequate response rates, instructors are encouraged to provide students class time to complete the online SETs, as they would for the paper form.
Response rate monitoring: Faculty have the opportunity to monitor their response rates throughout the evaluation period and can also monitor in real time while students complete in class. They receive an initial email invitation directing them to the response rate monitor in Blue. The email is followed up with two reminders during the evaluation period.
Distribution of Reports. Reports are generated in Blue two weeks after grades are due to be submitted to the Office of Student Records.
Reports: Two sets of reports are generated: One report includes the quantitative items from the academic unit form, as well as signed comments. This report is shared with the faculty member, academic unit chair/director, and administrative support staff for the unit. The second report includes the personalized questions and unsigned comments. This report is only shared with the instructor. Reports will not be generated for courses with fewer than two responses.
Distribution: Faculty members receive an email indicating that their reports are ready and are directed to Blue for access. Academic unit chairs/directors and administrative support staff are provided summary reports for each course section and faculty member.
Data Storage and Access
Confidentiality: Student identity is confidential and not included with responses in instructor reports, except signed comments, which include student names if signed. Student information is deleted from data downloaded from Blue for the purpose of calculating departmental and college norms.
Access to Data:
Reports: Instructor and departmental reports are securely stored within Blue. In Blue, access is controlled by user-defined roles such that only current faculty members, chairs, deans and administrative staff have access to each level of reporting. OIRA staff with administrative accounts in Blue also have access to all reports. Access is available via the Blue icon on the UMaine Portal or directly via https://maine.bluera.com/maine. Reports can be downloaded as PDF for local storage. In addition, reports for departmental use, are downloaded from Blue and stored in UMaine’s secure cloud storage solution (currently Box). Currently, a Box folder has been created for each academic unit, and access is provided to the academic unit chair/director as well as the unit’s administrative support staff member. OIRA staff members also have access to this Box folder for the purpose of adding reports or retrieving reports to send to individual faculty members who need reports that are not stored in Blue. (e.g., paper evaluation reports.)
Raw data: Data downloaded from Blue for the purpose of calculating unit and college norms are stored in Box and managed by staff members of the OIRA for the purpose of calculating departmental and college norms. To maintain confidentiality, student ids are deleted when the data are downloaded for the purpose of confidentiality. Evaluation data collected through the paper forms are combined with the aggregated data collected through Blue for the purpose of calculating the comparative norms used in the promotion and tenure packages.
Motion:
The Faculty Senate of the University of Maine endorses and supports the move to the full implementation of the Online Student Evaluation of Teaching as outlined in the policies and procedures section above. In addition, Faculty Senate asks the Senate Committee of Academic Affairs, along with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA), to explore other forms of student evaluation of instruction that represent differing course structure (i.e. online, seminar, internship, methods, etc.) that could be selected during the Question Personalization process. The elected members of Senate also request the Senate Academic Affairs Committee and OIRA to continually provide information regarding best practices for ensuring high return rates and to report this information to Faculty Senate annually.
Vote via Qualtrics:
Yes 38
No 4
Abstain 8
Elections and motion votes will be done via a Qualtrics survey.
Qualtrics Election Results:
President – William “Dee” Nichols
Vice President – Deborah Saber
Secretary – Kathryn Slott
BOT Rep – Harlan Onsrud
Adjourned 4:45 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Grant Miles
Prepared by Kim Junkins