Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify that the new president will not assume duties until the current president’s term expires.
The Faculty Senate elected a new president, passed seven bills and heard the first readings of four bills to be voted on in February during their regular monthly meeting Tuesday.
Presidential voting and election
The Faculty Senate voted and elected their new president for the upcoming years. Sen. Michael Olsen, a mechanical engineering professor, was the only one to be put on the ballot and was voted and elected the new Senate president. He will assume presidential duties when current Senate President Meghan Gillette’s term expires.
Olsen has been on the Faculty Senate for eight years and at Iowa State for 25 years. He shared his vision and mission for the future of Iowa State with the Senate.
“Some Iowans are male, female, genderfluid or trans. Some Iowans are gay, straight or bisexual. All are Iowans,” Olsen said. “All Iowans should feel welcome and safe at Iowa State.”
Olsen received his PhD, master’s and bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Passed bills
The Senate heard the second readings for eight bills, unanimously passing six.
The first bill proposed renaming the animal ecology major to wildlife and fisheries conservation and ecology.
The second was a request to implement a new bachelor’s degree program for a digital and precision agricultural degree.
The third was a program proposal for an undergraduate minor in user experience design (UxD). Some senators chimed in with their concern for the broadness of the program last meeting, however, the Senate voted to postpone voting until the next meeting in February.
The fourth bill was for a request for a new master’s program for financial technology (FinTech), which passed with the support of all but one senator.
The fifth was a request for a new Master of Science in the supply chain management program.
The sixth was an amendment to the degree planning policy. Students are not currently allowed to achieve a minor, certificate or major of the same name. However, according to the amendment, the Academic Support and Achievement Center (ASAC) felt they needed to make changes as Iowa State recruiting gets more creative and paths for students become more diverse.
“These changes allow for a student to progress to a higher level of credential (minor, certificate, major), but we added provisions so they cannot be awarded in the same semester,” according to the amendment.
The seventh was the guidelines for term faculty percentages. The proposal suggests deleting section 3.3.2.1 and adding a paragraph on faculty composition in 3.3.
The last reading was curricular-related travel. As it stands, the handbook lacks clarity regarding the guidelines for missing classes. Now, it is proposed that the regulations may be waived only by special permission in which the course is offered.
First readings
The Senate heard the first readings for four new bills, all of which will be voted on at the next Senate meeting.
The first bill was a proposal for adding, removing or changing a program degree for Family and Community Service.
“The Family and Community Services focus area is already part of the Innovative Digital Education Alliance (IDEA) programming and provides working professionals in areas other than the already existing foci to obtain a fully online degree program. The existing focus areas are for professionals wanting to work with specific populations or on financial planning (older adults, adolescence and financial). The proposed focus area will apply to a broad population working with families across the lifespan and in a variety of settings,” according to the proposal.
The second bill was a proposed policy for academic progress and summer academic standards regulations.
“Removed section on college academic standards committee making decisions on academic standing. Recently approved policy on academic dismissal states that academic dismissal decisions occur at the university level,” according to the proposal.
The third proposal is for a new undergraduate minor in Sports Media and Communication.
The last proposal is a new area of specialization in an existing graduate degree program.
“The VDPAM Graduate Program seeks to establish five ‘areas of specialization’ for the Master of Science degrees. Students will have the option to choose an area of specialization or simply follow the core program. The students electing an area of specialization will major in Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Their graduate transcripts will acknowledge the area of specialization. The core epidemiology (VDPAM 528) and statistics (STAT 5870) courses will remain required for all students, with or without area of specialization,” according to the proposal.
The next Faculty Senate meeting is slated for Feb. 11.
