West Virginia University at Parkersburg
Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
December 16, 2013
Present: Senators/Representatives: Torie Jackson (Chair), Dianne Davis (Vice-Chair), Maggie Berdine (Secretary), Aaron Crites (ACF), Matthew Santer (BOG), Rob Anderson,  Uta Hempel, Al Newhart, Craig Rabatin, Missy Spivy, Joyce Stover, Cynthia Watkins, Dave Williams.  
Special Meeting: Open Class with Pearson Representatives: The first two hours of the Senate meeting were devoted to Pearson representatives addressing concerns raised at the December 2 via conference call with Mr. Andy Gates of Pearson and a follow-up memo from Jassamine Wass, Director of the Center for Teaching and Technology. Pearson Representatives in attendance were Andy Gates, Regional Vice –President for Institutional Solutions for Pearson; Leslie Sands, Executive Director for Pearson (who originally negotiated the contract for OpenClass with President Gnage); via conference call Katie Keppler, Vice-President Product Management (who runs the technical team); and Jake Brown, a Pearson Design Partner with OpenClass Learning Management Systems and liaison between Ms. Sands and Jessamine Wass, who was also in attendance.   
Mr. Gates opened the meeting by stating that “the OpenClass Design Partner Group’s goal is to make the product better for a broader market and improve student learning.” Ms. Keppler stated that the benefit to WVUP as partners in design is no cost [to the institution] to access Pearson’s LMS’s. Senator Anderson quickly pointed out that there was a cost to the students enrolled in OpenClass. Senator Hempel noted that for her freshman biology course, students paid $130.00, which included an online text. However, she expressed the concerns that 1) she had to design her own lab manual for the class because none was available from Pearson and 2) students had to pay a $100 lab fee and $170 for a lab kit, making the cost of a one-credit-hour class over twice the cost of a three-credit hour component of the course. Ms. Wass interjected that this cost is actually cheaper than what some other community and technical colleges charge.  
Ms. Sands then presented a list of WVUP faculty issues that could be “addressed in the short-term”:
Critical Issues: Mission [Pearson Power Point]:
•	Technical support
•	Data tracking
•	Selective release [gating]
•	Selective release [entered exam times]
•	Copying assessments
•	Student view of the instructor
•	Star and end dates for sections within a term
Senator Watkins indicated that Nursing and Workforce Development were using the Learning Studio platform to address access issues.
Critical Issues: Addressed [Pearson Power Point]:
•	As of January 13, Pearson Emlit??? will assume all responsibility for WVUP technical support. A 24/7 dedicated number will be set up for this purpose as well as a service portal page:
•	A monthly report will be sent to the institution of all calls, time answering phone, a tracking tickets, and time resolving problems
•	Comprehensive 24/7/365 Helpdesk Service
•	Dedicated toll-free telephone service
•	Real-time chat
•	Real-time e-mail support
•	Self-help/ web-based knowledge base
•	Branded support portal
•	Monthly reporting and satisfaction tracking
•	Standardized Service Level Agreement
Additional issues addressed:
•	In response to the placement of an ad in a math lesson, Mr. Gates categorically Pearson does not place ads anywhere in its system. The ads may be from one the platforms used for courses. It was established that math uses the PLUS platform. 
•	In response to “extreme lag times,” Mr. Gates affirmed that a clear line of communication needs to be established to and from Ms. Wass. She urged faculty to encourage students to contact Pearson help desk.
•	Senator Crites indicated that the problems he had had with Open Class had led him to stop offering online courses. He had to develop “workarounds” for both content and grades. Even though he was one of the faculty to receive initial training, when he actually began using Open Class, he was not given the tools to be successful. Matt Santer pinpointed the problem as faculty not being informed by the administration that Pearson considered faculty partners in developing a system. Open Class was not presented to faculty as an undeveloped system.  
•	Senator Anderson expressed concern that Pearson was pushing style over content
•	Dr. Tracy asked if a network of other users in the same disciplines could be made available to WVUP faculty. Also, in repose to where WVUP fits with other schools that have adopted Open Class, Mr. Gates replied, “mid-to- high transitional stage.” 
Data /Tracking [Pearson Power Point]:
•	As of January 13, Pearson will provide a weekly basis report to Jessie Wass with the following information per student and section:
•	A student’s last access date/time
•	Discussion messages read
•	Discussion messages posted
•	Chats: started and with whom
•	Assessment begun
•	Assessment completed
•	Total time in assessment
•	Announcements created and by whom
•	Assignments submitted
Additional issued addressed:
•	Dr. Tracy asked if the platform designed for WVUP was a stand alone platform for an entire institution. Mr. Gates responded that Pearson had done an “end around” to reach to the goal of replacing Blackboard institutionally.
•	Jessie Wass will set up Google folders for using OpenClass. The team needs to figure out the most efficient way to get information to faculty with the ultimate goal of real-time feedback from system. 
•	Senator Hempel stated one of her needs was data to access accuracy of student complaints about loss of exams.
Data/ Tracking [Pearson]:
•	We’ve added the following items to the Open Classroom v1 roadmap to be delivered in 2014:
1. Tracking of content items
2. Tracking of tools views
•	We are investigating the following items:
1. Announcements clicked on/text
2. Tracking of files ???web link
Gates: We now realize the gap in design partner agreement was not made clear to faculty. Participating faculty will have free access while helping to develop the platform.  WVUP is the only school in the state using Open Classroom institution-wide.
Selective Release: Pearson is adding this feature to the OpenClass v1 roadmap to be released on 2014. This feature will allow a faculty member to upload all assignments, etc. within a course and determine when they will be released to view/utilize. Faculty: one needed aspect is release for individual students, as well as extending exam time. 
Selective Release (Extended Exam Time): Pearson: This feature currently exists within OpenClass. It is a manual process in which faculty must extend the time of an exam after a student has taken it once.
OpenClass Version 2: Pearson: Version 2 will include the automatic recording of grades.
Gates: All that has been talked about today will “be accomplished and in the roadmap for Version 1 and will definitely be in Version 2.”
The session ended with Katie Keppler presenting areas of new product:
•	focusing on teacher efficiency, including how to put content into the system
•	notification: more efficient and expanded methods of delivery
•	cards to streamline the system. Examples: card with all due dates, card for tracking discussion, cards will permit more  flexible navigation, more flexible templates
•	grade book: had heard the most about improving efficiency
•	refine and expand social aspects. Example: student can take own work from a course to use a part of an interview portfolio
Faculty Senate Meeting: 
Updates:
Advisory Council of Faculty: Aaron Crites reported on last Friday’s meeting. 
•	House Bill 330 had “hit a snag.” Fox Lawson developed one “massive” database into which all data will be entered. The State has found this unacceptable. Two options moving forward: 1) sue Fox Lawson for the originally agreed upon database, which will move legislation ahead two years before implementation, or 2) “agree to disagree” and amend Bill to exclude faculty. Then develop a different database for faculty. The second option is “preferable” for faculty.
•	Skidmore announced a mid-year budget cut of 3%. One faculty representative reported that the Governor had said that the cut was made because higher education faculty don’t complain.
Board of Governors: Matt Santer reported that the BOG has established a Salary Review Committee that includes President Jackson, ????, and Rob Anderson. It will meet on Thursday at 1:00 and report back to the BOG at its next meeting. 
Old Business:
The minutes of the November 18 and the December 2 minutes were approved without objection.
Faculty/Staff gathering is tentatively set for Saturday, January 4 at the home of Uta Hempel.
Faculty Senate website: President Jackson reported the Senate website is a work in progress.
Honorary Degree nomination update: A time conflict occurred with the submission of the Senate nominee occurring the same day as the decision was made. By consensus the Senate  agreed to resubmit  the nominations of Gerard Elchaar and Joe Campbell for Honorary Degrees for the May graduation.
Answer Book Policy #IV-23, Faculty Development: President Jackson addressed with President Gnage the provision of the Policy’s one-time salary increase for the earning of a Masters or a Doctorate. President Gnage’s response was that “positively” these increases become part of the base. President Jackson  suggested that the newly formed Salary Study Committee should address this “gray area.” Also, the President affirmed that the degree increases will not come out of Faculty Development funds. 
Furthermore, President stated that her goal was to help faculty with attaining advanced degrees.
Faculty Development Funds: The President referred the Senate proposed increase in Faculty Development Award Grants from $1000 to $1500 for Institutional Funds to Dr. Tracy for further discussion.
Assessment with Strategic Plan Committee: The Strategic Plan Committee has addressed all the Assessment goals except “An exceptional place to work.” In response, President Jackson asked for volunteers for a committee of Torie Jackson, Matt Santer, Theresa Cowan, Drema Starkey, Amy Dennis, and Patricia Harris, which will address the implementation of this goal, including benchmarks, results, and an action plan, then present their work to the Institutional Effectiveness Committee.
New Items:
Assessment of Advising: President Jackson asked for volunteers for a committee to advise the Student Success Center Council concerning new ways to gather data about advising and making recommendations for improving advising. Volunteers: Al Edwards, Uta Hempel, Cynthia Watkins, and Dave Williams. 
SB 330 Letter: ACF representative Crites that the planned latter from the Senate to their individual legislative contacts be delayed until a decision is legislature reaches a decision on  Fox Lawson. Motion: The WVU Parkersburg Faculty Senate opposes Senate Bill 330 in its current format. The faculty would like to see this bill implemented with an amendment that faculty not be included as the faculty would like to see staff receive the raises suggested by the legislation. The motion passed unanimously. 
Faculty Assembly Plan: A consensus was reached to both send a letter to the legislators, which President Jackson will draft, and to invite them to a “face-to-face” meeting of the Faculty Assembly (Friday, January 10 from 9-11:00) during Spring In-Service to address concerns.
Concerns to be addressed 
    1) Senate Bill 330
    2) budget cuts
    3) tenure 
    4) mandate that combines developmental and college-level courses.
President Jackson noted that the Faculty Assembly meeting was not included in Dr. Tracy’s draft of the In-Service week schedule; therefore 
     1) a letter needs to be issued to faculty informing them on the meeting, the invitation to the legislators, and the concerns that will be addressed;
     2) the Faculty Assembly needs to be included in the final In-Service week schedule.
The meeting adjourned at 1:40.
Submitted by Maggie Berdine, Secretary