ISU Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman addressed the Faculty Senate to let them know about recent personnel changes.

Hoffman said that the new associate vice president for human resources has arrived on campus and is excited for the opportunities to come. An announcement concerning the new dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences could come as soon as Wednesday, and the call for candidates for a new College of Business dean has been made.

Hoffman also offered her thanks for the congratulatory messages she has received since being made a finalist for president at the University of New Mexico. She made sure Faculty Senate members knew she would not be leaving anytime soon as she among five finalists for the job and that she will fly out Thursday night after the reception for ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and interview Friday morning.

The senate passed a proposal Tuesday that ignited serious discussion among senators.

The proposal dealt with possible changes to Section 2.6 in the Faculty Handbook dealing with faculty appointments to college budgetary committees. Senator Annemarie Butler proposed an amendment to the change, citing that her change would clarify which faculty are elected and appointed to the budgetary committee while still retaining the requirement that at least one member of the Faculty Senate must be seated on the committee.

“This expresses shared governance,” Butler said.

Former Faculty Senate President and current senator Michael Owen opposed this amendment, saying that all other colleges have shared governance and participation. The debate continued whether this was something under senate ordinance or if it was something better discussed at the college level as opposed to the university level.

In the end, the proposed amendment failed and the proposal passed in its original form.

The Faculty Senate also passed a resolution calling for the creation of a minor in U.S. Latino/a Studies.

Two new proposals were presented to the senate and will be discussed at the next meeting in January. One proposal calls for changes to the curriculum and instruction educational computing minor. This proposal will change the name of the minor to “Learning Technologies.”

“The minor already exists, so no curriculum changes will be made. Only the name will change,” said Senator Suzanne Hendrichs.

The other proposal introduced under new business calls for the discontinuation of the master’s and Ph.D. programs in zoology. Hendrichs said that there are currently no students enrolled in the programs.

Faculty Senate President Steve Freeman introduced a special order of business concerning appointment policies described under Section 3.1 of the Faculty Handbook. The minor changes state that appointments to the rank of professor be continuous, allowing for individual academic tenure. Freeman said that this will align policies with current practices. The proposal was passed by the senate.

The senate also approved the fall graduation list as well as accepted a series of Memorial Resolutions honoring colleagues who passed away in the last year. This was followed by a brief moment of silence honoring the deceased.