Faculty senators learn more about Workday Student

Senators learned about Workday Student and Workday Receivables and the role faculty can play as they are implemented over four years during the April 7 Faculty Senate meeting.

Vice president and chief information officer Kristen Constant and Steve Mickelson, special advisor for student information systems in the office of the senior vice president and provost, are co-leads on the project and provided a summary of the modernizing of the student information system and receivables.

Advisory groups will be formed for faculty, students, Graduate College, research, receivables, advising and student support.

"We would like your involvement in helping us build this system from the ground up," Constant said. "The advisory groups have yet to be constructed, but we would like your advice so we make sure we have broad representation."

To evaluate the current student, faculty and staff experience, focus groups will be formed to better understand challenges and how they can be addressed in the new system, Constant said.

New committee

Senators will vote at the April 20 meeting on a proposal for a new committee under the academic affairs council to oversee the U.S. diversity course requirement. It would review and approve courses proposed to satisfy the requirement for undergraduates. Each college would have a department chair and a faculty member on the committee. The senior vice president for student affairs, an associate vice president of student affairs and representatives from Student Government, the Multicultural Student Leadership Council and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate would be nonvoting committee members.

Vaccination

Senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert discussed President Wendy Wintersteen's April 6 memo about a mass vaccination clinic for students. He urged senators and members of their departments to volunteer to provide nonclinical staffing support. Wickert said he and members of his staff would fill several shifts each.

Remember

Senators observed a moment of silence for two members of the Iowa State Crew Club who died during a boating accident at Little Wall Lake on March 28.

Other business

During the meeting, senators also approved:

  • A master of arts in teaching for mathematics education major in the College of Human Sciences. The 12-month program is recognized as an initial teacher preparation program at the graduate level, and aids students with a bachelor's degree seeking a license to teach secondary education.

  • A master of arts in teaching for secondary education major in the College of Human Sciences. The degree would provide evidence on students' transcripts of significant work done for another program as they seek license as a secondary teacher.

  • A secondary major in education in conjunction with a major offering a teacher preparation program. It recognizes the work done by students who plan to become educators, an advantage in job searches.

  • A bachelor of business administration in the Ivy College of Business. The online degree targets working professionals with at least 45 college credits who want to complete a four-year degree in business while working full time.

  • A bachelor of science in human resource management (HRM) in the Ivy College of Business. It would move HRM from a track in the management major to its own major, and provide greater expertise and training for students to be immediately employable. ISU would be the first regents university to offer it.

  • A minor in cyber-physical systems in the mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and aerospace engineering departments. It would be the first minor of its kind in Iowa. Three required three-credit courses would be developed for this 15-credit minor.

  • Changes to the drop limit policy that allow students -- regardless of what grade they enter the university -- to drop a maximum of five classes. Lecture and laboratory courses that must be taken concurrently would be considered one course drop.

Senators will vote at their next meeting on:

  • Changes to the Faculty Handbook on student outcomes assessment as a result of the approval of the outcomes communication, information literacy, critical thinking and problem solving and global citizenship. It ensures programs remain compliant ahead of the next Higher Learning Commission review in 2025.

  • The 24-credit beef cattle production management, equine science and management, and swine production management certificates in the animal science department. Students will have expertise in science and technology applications of their chosen discipline. They provide clear path to specialize and document training and expertise in an area that is not offered as a major or minor.

  • A 15-credit interdisciplinary minor in preservation and cultural heritage allowing undergraduates to learn about the subject. A graduate certificate was created in 2017. Currently, three universities in the Midwest offer the minor, none in Iowa.

  • A minor in fashion, culture, history and social justice in the apparel, events and hospitality management department. The 15-credit minor helps students understand fashion history and cultural studies, and gives them an increased awareness of individuals who historically experience oppression and marginalization.

  • A discontinuation of the master of school mathematics program due to steadily declining enrollment. The elimination of collective bargaining for Iowa teachers has lessened the need for high school teachers to obtain a master degree.

  • A change in the repeated courses policy to increase the limit of credits that can be considered from 15 to 18. Repeated courses initially taken for grade must be repeated as a graded course, but courses taken pass-not pass can be repeated as graded or pass-not pass.

  • An update to the graduation with distinction policy that would add satisfactory-fail courses in the 50 course-credit minimum candidates for a bachelor's degree must have.