At the University Senate meeting, instead of congratulating Ball State University for creating a glass center and being the first in Indiana with a glass curriculum, professors voiced concerns about the lack of parking spaces due to construction.
The group talked about projects taking place at the university and within the Senate, including a glass curriculum for College of Fine Arts, SafeAssign implementation and amendments to the Senate Handbook.
Undersecretary for University Senate Melanie Turner said construction is underway for an addition to the Fine Arts program. The Ball State University Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass is part of the Ball State Bold Campaign, and accommodates machinery for a glass curriculum. This will allow Ball State students to obtain a masters or bachelors of fine arts degree. Ball State will be the first to have such a program.
Professors voiced complaints that construction for the project has eliminated about 40 parking places near the soccer field. Students from Burris Laboratory School who park their cars near this area add to the problem.
At the last Senate Agenda Committee meeting, a task force presented their findings for a text-matching program that faculty might use to identify sections of students' assignments that had been plagiarized. The group decided to use Blackboard's SafeAssign software and they recommended faculty receive training before using the program. They sent this recommendation to the provost.
Faculty Council Parliamentarian David Pearson presented these findings at the University Senate meeting. He said the provost had accepted their recommendation, and faculty must attend a mandatory training seminar before being allowed to use the software.
"It's not extremely difficult, but for interpretation of the data, it's critical you receive training," Pearson said.
One of the last points of business was a first reading of proposed amendments by the Senate Agenda Committee to the Senate Handbook. Open discussion about the proposed amendments is not allowed until next month's meeting. Also, Senators cannot revise the amendments. They can only accept or reject them, in which case, the Senate Agenda Committee may consider making revisions.
Four amendments were proposed, regarding membership of the Public Safety Committee, membership and policy statements of University and Department Promotion and Denure Documents, non-voting membership of the Teaching Evaluation Committee and committee representation.
Highlights from the meeting--
- SafeAssign- Presentation explained why Senate task force chose Blackboard's SafeAssign over other text-matching programs
- Faculty who wish to use it must attend a mandatory training session
Amendments--
- Four amendments proposed by Senate Agenda Committee were presented for a first reading
- Discussion of the amendments will take place at the January meeting
Glick Glass Company-
- Glick Fund has provided $5 million for the Glick Center, and it still needs a $5 million match
- Construction has already begun and professors are concerned about parking by the soccer field
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