Agenda Items of Business

1. Approval of the Minutes and Treasurer's Report. President Chandler called the January 14, 1997 meeting of the Tarleton State University Faculty Senate to order at 3:30. The minutes of the December 10, 1996 meeting were approved. Secretary/Treasurer Lilly reported that the senate had $2678.63 in its account Jack Russell represented CIS. Irma Harrington was absent. 

• how specific the policy should be 
• how much leeway colleges and departments should have 
• how much release time is needed 
• how should remote site moderators be chosen and supervised. 

The discussion that followed first centered on the preparation time necessary to convert course materials for distance learning. This resulted in the motion that faculty engaged in distance learning have the right to ¼ release time per class in either the semester prior to or during the semester the distance learning course is taught. The motion passed. The senate also recommended to the subcommittee that the VPAA be responsible for scheduling distance learning courses, that teacher evaluations from remote sites be kept separate from on-campus evaluations, and that some concrete assurances for external costs (travel, remote-site moderators, copying, testing security, etc.) be obtained from the administration.

3. Discussion of the Need for an Emeritus Status Policy. Dan Hardin reported that he had read several other schools' policies and that consistently the policies all seemed to state something similar: "Faculty with ten years service may be considered for emeritus status." Hardin said he would provide the sources for his information on the Internet to interested senators. The senate will revisit this issue at a future meeting.