Setting priorities — UI Faculty Senate planning ahead

The University of Idaho Faculty Senate held its first meeting Wednesday, where leadership members began to set priorities for the upcoming year.

Faculty Senate Chair Marty Ytreberg said senate leadership compiled a list of issues and concerns brought forth by members at the senate retreat last week. They took the list to Wednesday’s meeting for an informal vote on the importance of each issue.

“What this will do is help us decide who we want to invite, because the senate leadership will be coming up with a list of people that we want to invite to speak on various topics,” Ytreberg said. “The vote is based on sort of how to make the most impact on those items.”

Ytreberg said the information gathered in Wednesday’s meeting could help determine the body’s agenda in the coming weeks and beyond.

Four issues received a significant number of votes by faculty senate members: staff career ladders and internal promotions, UI’s distance learning infrastructure and two issues that coincide with UI President Chuck Staben’s initiatives — enrollment, and talent management for faculty and staff.

In regard to the discussion on career ladders and internal promotions for staff, some members of faculty senate felt that it would gain greater support if the issue were combined with faculty career concerns. But other senators said the

better approach would be keeping faculty and staff affairs separate.

Michael Murphy, director of choral activities for the Lionel Hampton School of Music, said he has seen staff morale issues pushed aside when lumped together with faculty morale issues over the years, and believes it would be in the best interest of all stakeholders to keep each body separate.

UI’s distance learning infrastructure refers to the university’s ability to offer programs that are adaptive to non-campus lifestyles, such as allowing UI courses to be taught online so students can live throughout the state and region.

Faculty senate members who voted for prioritizing the improvement of UI’s distance learning infrastructure took into account possible incentives for faculty to participate, availability of resources to assist faculty with course design, availability of ade- quate technology in Idaho and creating a committee to look more closely into the issue.

During faculty senate retreat, Ytreberg said Staben introduced items high on his administrative agenda — including enrollment and talent management — that also aligned with senate interests. Ytreberg said the senate plans to engage with the president on some level regarding all of Staben’s initiatives.

“This will be a good year for faculty senate,” Ytreberg said. “I’m confident we will get a lot done.”

Amber Emery can be reached at [email protected]

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