March 18, 2016

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE
Faculty Senate Meeting
MINUTES
March 18, 2016
TIME: 2:15 P.M.
PLACE: Rampey 215
Officers Present: Dr. Paul Grady (HPPA), Faculty Chair; Dr. Sarah Hunt-Barron (SOE),
Recording Secretary
Members Present: Dr. Chunyu Ai (MCS), Dr. Darlene Amendolair (SON), Dr. Warren Bareiss
(FACS), Dr. Bradley Baumgarner (NSE), Dr. Gary Bradley (SOE), Dr. Stacy Burr (SOE),
Meggan Burton (LLC), Dr. David Coberly (LLC), Dr. Chase DeHan (JCBE), Dr. Muhammad
Hameed (MCS), Dr. Dawn Henderson (SON), Dr. Araceli Hernandez-Laroche (LLC), Dr. Mary
Alice Hodge (SON), Dr. Laura Jennings (SCW), Dr. Jim Kamla (SOE), Dr. Toshua Kennedy
(SON), Dr. Evan Krauter (PSY), Dr. Judy Krueger (NSE), Ann Merryman (LIB), Lee Neibert
(FACS), Dr. Calvin Odhiambo (SCW), Dr. Allison Pingley (HPPA), Dr. Astrid Rosario (NSE),
Dr. Trevor Rubenzer (HPPA), Dr. Susan Ruppel (PSY), Kevin Shehan (LIB), Dr. Monika Shehi
(LLC), Dr. John Storm (NSE), Dr. Betsy Swanson (SON), Dr. Nur Tanyel (SOE), Dr. Tyrone
Toland (INFO), Dr. Carolyn Webber (FACS).
Ex-Officio: Dr. Clif Flynn, Interim Senior Vice Chancellor
Visitors: Dr. Jeannie Chapman (NSE), Dr. Amy Connolly (INFO), Dr. Ron Fulbright (INFO),
Dr. Katharine Gibb (SON), Dr. Jan Griffin (PSY), Dr. Samantha Hauptman (SCW), Cindy
Jennings (ITS), Dr. Celena Kusch (LLC), James LaMee (LIB), Michael Lampe (ITS), Dr. David
McCurry (DE), Dr. Yancy McDougal (IDS), Dr. Frank Rudisill (JCBE), Dr. Dirk Schlingmann
(CAS), Dr. George Williams (LLC).
ABSENT: Dr. Elizabeth Cole (JCBE), Dr. Richard Combes (HPPA), Dr. Tammy Gilliam
(SON), Dr. Frank Li (MCS), Dr. Holly Pae (SOE), Dr. Julie Wade (JCBE).
I.
Call to Order
 The meeting was called to order at 2:15 p.m.
A.
Approval of the Minutes
 The minutes of February 19, 2016 were approved.
II.
B.
Administrative Updates
 Dr. Clif Flynn, Interim Senior Vice Chancellor
− Remarked that he hoped some of the faculty were able to attend the David
McCullough lecture last night. He offered his congratulations to all who
made that event happen.
− Reported that the search committee hoped to make a decision next week
on the Executive Director of the Greenville Campus.
− Extended a heartfelt thanks to all, but particularly to Dr. Dirk
Schlingmann and Dr. Rob McCormick; because of their creativity, we are
able to make the eyesore that is the last annex go away for this fall. It took
a lot of work and faculty being willing to teach and times not ideal for
them but we made it happen.
C.
Committee Updates
 No committee updates were given.
D.
Old Business
1. Faculty Governance Website Presentation
 Katie Freseman presented the new faculty governance website, with a new
introductory section written by the current Faculty Chair, Dr. Paul Grady
(HPPA), and Faculty Chair-Elect, Dr. Holly Pae (SOE). The menu of the
site was reviewed, which is now consistent across pages within the faculty
governance section.
 The site will archive anything older than 5 years; that information will be
housed in the library’s archive system.
 Each faculty committee has its own web page now. The committees will
be able to update their pages as needed. For committees that did not have a
web page, information from the Faculty Manual has been included on the
committee’s page until the committee chooses to update their page.
 Dr. Grady explained this is a structural overhaul of the faculty governance
pages, which were developed in 2001. No objections were voiced and the
new site will go live immediately.
New Business
A.
Distance Learning Task Force
 Dr. Grady explained that this report is added to the agenda for information
purposes only. It is not to be voted on and it is a draft report because the report
is still being considered by the Faculty Welfare Committee (FWC) and
suggestions for revisions by FWC have been made to the committee. Portions
of the report have already been rewritten to meet concerns voiced by FWC.
FWC will review the document again and offer any additional feedback. The
final version of the report will be brought forward on the April agenda. This
draft is included so Dr. Grady can answer any questions Senate may have as
he will not be present for the April meeting.
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B.
The task force was put together in the fall simply to assess where we were as
an institution as it relates to distance learning. It was comprised, as the Service
Learning Committee was last year, of people who were vested in distance
learning and online education. They put their report together and it has been
vetted by FWC once, and will be again, by the General Education Committee
and by the Academic Affairs Committee for their commentary and their
comments have been looked at and taken into account and are in the draft
provided.
Dr. Grady requested that if Senators have any questions they ask now. He also
asked Senators to take the report back to their units and share it with
colleagues and raise any questions at the April meeting.
Dr. Grady explained that the intent of the committee was to make
recommendations. He noted that this report is not a mandate. In April when
you vote on it, it is not a requirement that anything in this report be done. It is
simply a suggested set of guidelines for a conversation that will start in the fall
at the unit level. Everything in the report is simply a recommendation. He
noted that voting on this in April, should the Senate support it, and forwarding
it to Dr. Flynn and Dr. David McCurry, Director of Distance Learning, is
simply a recommendation. It is not a mandate of anything that has to happen
and nothing in the report will happen without unit faculty having full approval
and participation in the conversation that will move forward after that.
The revised report will be forwarded immediately upon completion to the
Faculty Senate.
Dr. Jan Griffin (PSY) asked Dr. Grady to type up a version of what he had just
said. When faculty vote on this in April they vote that these are only
recommendations so that is clearly understood.
Program, Curriculum, Catalog, and Course Changes
1. FACS
a. New Course Request
(1) SPCH U330
 Dr. Carolina Webber (FACS) noted that this was a course taught last
fall and because of its success the department has chosen to offer this
as a regular course offering.
 The new course request was approved unanimously.
2. HPPA
a. New Course Request
(1) POLI U408
 Dr. Trevor Rubenzer (HPPA) explained the premise of the course and
noted this course reflects the expertise of Dr. Matt Placek, new faculty
member in HPPA.
 The new course request was approved unanimously.
3. IDS
a. Change in Catalog Course Listing
 The Senate chose to consider these courses as a block.
(1) IDST U398
(2) NPAD U201
(3) NPAD U401
(4) NPAD U495
(5) NPAD U499
 Dr. Yancy McDougal (IDS) explained these were changes to
accommodate the move of non-profit management from the Johnson
College of Business and Economics to IDS and reflected changes as
the program moved from a major to a minor.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
4. INFO
a. Change in Graduate Catalog Course Listings
(1) HIMS U750
(2) HIMS U751  Dr. Amy Connelly (INFO) explained that these were simply changes
to the course title and description to better reflect what is being taught
in those course listings.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
b. New Course Request
(1) HIMS U350
(2) HIMS U425
(3) HIMS U499
(4) INFO U417
 Dr. Ron Fulbright (INFO) explained that these three courses are all in
support of an action for a new degree program in health informatics.
INFO 417 is to separate the two tracks into two degrees and give each
degree its own courses.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
c. New Graduate Course Request
(1) INFO U740
 Dr. Fulbright explained this course focuses on artificial intelligence.
 The new course was approved unanimously.
5. LLC
a. Change in Catalog Course Listing
(1) ENGL U459
 Dr. Monika Shehi (LLC) noted that this change reflects a move to
theories of composition to theories of rhetoric and composition; it
includes the use of persuasive language.
 The change was approved unanimously.
b. New Course Request (1) CHIN U201
 Dr. George Williams (LLC) reported that this has been offered as a
special topics course, but now there is enough demand for it to be a
course.
 The new course was approved unanimously.
6. College of Business and Economics
a. Change in Catalog Course Listing
 The Senate chose to consider these courses as a block.
(1) ACCT U336
(2) ECON U291
(3) MGMT U290
(4) MGMT U374
 Dr. Chase DeHan (JCBE) noted that the change to ACT U336 is a
prerequisite change, ECON U291 is a change to the math requirement
to be more inclusive of upper level math, MGMT U290 is a change to
the description to represent what is being taught in the class, and
MGMT U374 is a change to a prerequisite as well.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
7. School of Nursing
a. Change in Catalog Course Listing
(1) NURS U308
(2) NURS U375
 Dr. Darlene Amendolair (SON) explained that nursing was
redesigning these courses to meet the needs of our community,
realigning pharmacy to begin first semester for NCLEX.
 These changes were approved unanimously.
8. Academic Affairs Committee
a. Request for a New Degree Program
(1) Bachelor’s Degree in Health Informatics.
 Dr. Ron Fulbright (INFO) noted that historically Upstate offered
one degree with multiple concentrations; after 16 years, that needs
to be its own degree program. It makes the program more
powerful, looks better on student transcripts, gets students hired,
and Upstate can now support this change with full-time faculty.
 The request was approved unanimously.
b. Change in Curriculum or Program
(1) FACS
(a) Communication Studies  Lee Neibert (FACS) explained that this adds the new course in
interviewing to the catalog.
 The request was approved unanimously.
(2) HPPA (begin here)
(a) Major in Political Science
(b) Minor in Political Science  Dr. Rubenzer noted this is just adding the course just approved to
the major and minor in Political Science.
 The request was approved unanimously.
(3) INFO
(a) Health Informatics
(b) Information Management & Systems
 Dr. Fulbright explained that many jobs in the Health Information
Management profession require the RHIT and RHIA certifications.
Upstate is the only 4-year program in the state where students can
sit for the RHIT. This changes the catalog worksheet to reflect the
new degree program.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
(4) College of Business & Economics
(a) Economics/Finance (1)
(b) Economics/Finance (2)  Dr. DeHan noted the first change enables students to take
international economics or international finance and the second
change removes the cost accounting requirement to an elective
within the degree program.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
(5) School of Nursing
(a) Bachelor of Science in Nursing – Four-Year Track  Dr. Amendolair noted this reflects the realignment of the
curriculum based on the two changes approved for the catalog
course listing. Pharmacology has been increased from a 2 to 3 hour
course and nutrition has been added from a 2 to 3 hour course as
well.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
c. Change in Graduate Curriculum or Program
(1) INFO
(a) Master of Science in Informatics
 Dr. Connolly noted that when the graduate program was first
proposed, Informatics requested a Health Information Management
and an IMS graduate degree program, but only one was given with
two catalog pages. This reflects the move to two programs and
includes the addition of the INFO U740 class.
 The change was approved unanimously.
d. Change in Program
 Dr. Grady noted that although the paperwork was completed, two
program changes for SCW had been left off the agenda. The changes
were distributed to the Senate (see attached). Dr. Calvin Odhiambo
(SCW) suggested we consider the program changes first and then
consider the catalog change. Dr. Grady agreed.
(1) SCW
(a) Criminal Justice (Palmetto College)
(b) Criminal Justice (Upstate)
 Dr. Samantha Hauptman (SCW) noted that the writing lab course
is no longer valuable to students and the course materials and
objectives will be incorporated into a research methods course.
This change is occurring in Upstate’s program and the Palmetto
College program.
 The changes were approved unanimously.
e. Change in Catalog
(1) SCW
(a) Criminal Justice
 Dr. Odhiambo stated that this is a change in catalog to reflect the
change that was just made.
 The change was approved unanimously.
(2) College of Business & Economics
(a) Business Administration  Dr. DeHan explained that this is a change requiring students to
maintain a 2.0 or better to enroll in 300-level courses.
 The change was approved unanimously.
f. Change in Graduate Catalog
(1) INFO
(a) Master of Science in Informatics  Dr. Connolly explained that this is a proposal from the Graduate
Committee. The committee added a paragraph about course
numbering for graduate courses.
 The change was approved unanimously.
IV.
Announcements
 Dr. Grady announced representatives will be coming from all five USC campuses at
the end of the month. There will be a campus tour. Dr. Harris Pastides sent his warm
congratulations for re-implementing this process of annual faculty leadership
conferences as a model of intercampus collaboration.
 The Distance Learning final report will be on the April agenda.
 Dr. Rubenzer noted that if you are a faculty member teaching a general education
course and you haven’t heard anything from your chair about the general education
assessment, please send him an email. If you are a chair, the reports were due
Monday.
V.
Adjournment
 The meeting adjourned at 3:01 p.m.