Senators receive update on student rating transition

During its April 28 meeting, Lindsey Dew talked with the Faculty Senate about an upcoming change in the technology used to record students' rating of teaching  at Iowa State. Dew, the learning technology support manager in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, stressed that the system is transitioning but the questionnaire students fill out will remain the same.

For spring semester, faculty will continue to use the Class Climate tool for student ratings, and all its data will be archived by June 30. A pilot of the new system -- Explorance Blue -- will be conducted for all summer courses, with a full rollout in fall 2026.

Dew said Explorance Blue provides automated survey timelines and emails students when the survey period begins. Faculty also can view response rates and access reports. Its installation will be completed this spring and faculty training will begin soon. A specific launch date will be announced later.

"My team still is looking at other items that may be added to the tool, like a popup in Canvas to remind students to fill out the survey," she said.

Survey results

President David Cook spoke to senators for the second consecutive meeting, sharing results of the survey answers they provided at the April 14 senate meeting. Cook's campus listening tour has stretched across 80 meetings speaking with more than 1,700 people to this point.

In a question about where ISU can make the greatest impact over the next two to four years, Cook said the category of "public trust and reputation" ranked No. 1.

"I take that as a charge to determine what my role is in thinking about public trust and reputation," he said. "I need to get to the Legislature and work hard to educate them in all the great work we do."

Cook said he will rely on people across campus to share stories that show the impact ISU makes in the state and beyond.

The second most-identified category where ISU can have the greatest impact was in academic excellence and student success. He noted faculty wanted investment in themselves, students and workforce-relevant education. Resource constraints were ranked as the top internal barrier to achieving success.

Senators' "moonshot" suggestions included free or reduced tuition for students, faculty/staff tuition benefits for dependents and increased investment in public higher education by the state.

Term faculty advancement

The senate continued its work to update the Faculty Handbook regarding term faculty reviews and evaluations. It will vote next month on:

• Proposed clarifications in the Faculty Handbook about when a peer review is required and its purpose during appointment renewals for term faculty. The changes would lessen the burden on the faculty member and the units doing the reviews.
• Proposed changes to ensure all recommendations -- positive or negative -- for term faculty advancement be forwarded through the various levels until they reach the provost.

Elections

Three council chairs and a senate secretary were elected after terms had expired:

• Academic affairs: Petruta Caragea, statistics
• Governance: Sarah Bennett-George, apparel events and hospitality management
• Judiciary and appeals: Gretchen Mosher, agriculture and biosystems engineering
• Secretary: Ryan Bhattacharyya, management and entrepreneurship

Other business

The senate will vote at the May meeting on:

• Proposed changes to the Faculty Handbook on the post-tenure review process. Each department must establish a process for selecting a committee to conduct post-tenure reviews. The process must ensure the department chair does not appoint a majority of the committee members. Another change clarifies who is exempt from a review so exemptions are applied equitably across campus. The final proposed change requires every department to submit its post-tenure review policy to the college.
• A proposed hybrid master's program in machine learning and data engineering in the electrical and computer engineering department. The degree will teach engineers to work with, create and analyze large data sets. It will help students apply data-driven methods to problems and make better use of data. The intent is to also offer a minor and certificate in the field. The major requires at least 30 credits, 15 for the minor and 12 for the certificate.
• Proposed updates to the course catalog that combine the colleges' curricula and degree planning sections to add definitions and make the catalog more readable, less redundant and shorter.
• A proposed revision to the Faculty Handbook's definition of retention adjustments that adds that a formal job offer from another institution is not required for a retention assessment to be initiated or a retention offer to be made. 

Senators approved:

• A change for term faculty in the Faculty Handbook that adds detail to expectations when a term faculty member receives an unsatisfactory review. A single unsatisfactory review triggers an action plan, aligning it with tenured and tenure-track faculty. A second unsatisfactory annual review automatically triggers a peer review, which involves discipline experts who consider performance quality in areas outlined in the faculty member's position responsibility statement. 
• Wording changes to clarify the kind of faculty work that leads to the University Professor recognition. There was no change to the criteria of the award. The changes include stating that a faculty member's service to ISU "resulted in a significant and lasting impact that has made the university a better place for students, faculty and/or staff."
• A change to the course catalog to allow a student to earn another degree of the same type from the same college when their desired major is not offered as an additional major. The student must complete at least 30 extra credits beyond the requirement for their first degree.
• An interdisciplinary undergraduate 21-credit certificate in quantitative finance, providing students skills to use mathematical models in financial fields.
• Discontinuation of the interdisciplinary graduate studies master of science and arts in the Graduate College due to low enrollment. It is one of 10 programs identified for closure through ISU's Program Vitality Review.

Senators had a long discussion during the second reading of proposed changes to the Faculty Handbook on term faculty review for advancement. Four amendments were presented -- three were approved -- but senators voted to end discussion on the fourth due to confusion about what it proposes and the impact. The item will be revisited at the May meeting.