by Kristin Whitman

Call to order of decisions to be made at VSU.

Faculty Senate had a meeting last Thursday, Jan. 22, in University Center Magnolia Room to talk about new, old and unfinished business on campus.

The meeting started out with the election of a new Parliamentarian. Dr. Peggy Moch, who served in this capacity last semester, is on sabbatical leave this semester.

A lot of discussion was brought on from old and unfinished business from last semester and semesters before such as academic freedom, political activism, and electronic communication in connection with issues which surfaced in July of last year. There are two committees focusing on this: the Technology Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee.

Another issue that was brought up during the meeting was sexual harassment. President Michael Noll commented on this issue, “There was another incident of sexual harassment at VSU in November in connection with another fraternity which is currently under investigation,” Noll said. “Some folks are apparently not taking this seriously and it is time to stop this nonsense.”

After closing up on sexual harassment the faculty moved on to the academic scheduling. The Academic Scheduling and Procedures Committee is currently analyzing how many students, faculty and staff are negatively impacted by misaligned spring breaks. President Noll thought it would be too early to report on the issue.

Afterward new business was brought to the floor where one of the things discussed was the on-going topic of the “Academic Forgiveness Policy”, which would allow students to retake courses in hopes of replacing a poor grade with a higher one. No decision was made at the meeting, however.
“There is still some fine-tuning to do before a decision can be made,” Noll said.

The next meeting will be held for the month of February and the dates and times with the Faculty Senate agenda will be out then as well.