Senators to vote next month on support for open educational resources

Faculty senators will vote in February on a resolution to support the use of open educational resources (OER) in support of student success and access to course materials. Student government already has passed a resolution in favor of OER.

"It was developed in consultation with the Open and Affordable Education Committee," said faculty development and administrative council chair Carly Manz during the senate's Jan. 27 meeting. "It encourages faculty to use OER in their own classes. We hope this brings more visibility to OER on campus."

The senate also will vote on a proposed change to the Faculty Handbook that would add OER developed by faculty as an acceptable way to document scholarship and scholarly teaching for promotion and tenure. The change would ensure OER can be used as evidence of commitment to effective teaching. More than 55 faculty members have developed OER for their courses.

Faculty survey

Assistant provost for faculty success Tera Jordan spoke to the senate for a second time about the upcoming COACHE (Harvard-based Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, administered nationally about every four years.  The 1,500 faculty members eligible for the survey received an email from the provost's office on Jan. 28 with information about the survey.

The survey will be administered through an email in February and faculty have until April to complete it. When answering questions about the university president, faculty should consider the leadership of Wendy Wintersteen.

"The survey is designed to provide us with more information about how the faculty experience plays out at their institutions," Jordan said.

In 2021, 56% of ISU faculty responded to the survey, taking, on average, 22 minutes to complete it.

President-elect for 2026-27

Derald Holtkamp, professor in veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, was chosen as the senate's next president-elect. He'll take office in May, when president Meghan Gillette, human development and family studies, passes the gavel to president-elect Michael Olsen, mechanical engineering.

Other business

The Faculty Senate and student government will hold a second joint meeting on Feb. 16 (5-6 p.m., MU Sun Room). Senators will hear student issues and share perspectives. The first-ever joint meeting took place Feb. 17, 2025.

The Senate approved:

• Changes to the Faculty Handbook on faculty salary assessments that creates an annual window of at least one month for faculty to request a salary assessment for concerns related to equity, market or parity. This process is separate from performance-based adjustment decisions. Faculty may request this type of assessment once every three academic years. The dean reviews the request and, in consultation with the department chair, determines whether the individual's salary is at the appropriate level or a salary adjustment is warranted. This year's window is open through March 31.
• An addition to the Graduate College handbook that all graduate students enrolled in degrees with a dissertation, thesis or creative component must complete the responsible conduct of research training before or during their first enrollment in graduate degrees. The requirement is effective fall semester 2026.
• A change to the Faculty Handbook on the approval process (PDF) for academic programs changing or adding a delivery option, for example an online option. Previously, the process took 12 to 18 months and was treated as a new program. The change is now managed by departments and the senate's curriculum committee maintains approval.
• An online master's degree in user experience design in the College of Design. User experience design is a comprehensive design process used to envision, create and implement products, systems and services.
• An undergraduate certificate in companion animal science and management in the animal science department. The 24-credit certificate has 15 credits at the 3000 or 4000 level, and students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 in certificate courses to receive it. Students who earn the certificate will be able to explain key concepts in companion animal biology, behavior and nutrition, and apply best practices for animal care and welfare.
• A minor in animal nutrition in the animal science department. It focuses on feed formulation, feedstuff evaluation, nutrient metabolism and nutritional physiology across numerous species.
• A pair of 15-credit graduate certificates in leadership in business and quantitative principles in business in the Ivy College of Business. The complementary certificates require less time for those not ready to complete a degree while exposing students to the master's program. The credits are transferrable to a professional MBA program.
• Discontinuing the organic crops breeding graduate certificate in the agronomy department due to a lack of both student interest the last four years and faculty available to teach courses.
• Removing the university non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy in one of two sections in the Faculty Handbook to avoid redundancy. The senate's documents committee will renumber chapter two to reflect the change.