The Fort Lewis College Faculty Senate met on Thursday to discuss the new program review that will take place this semester to address the campus’ recent decrease in student enrollment.
The new program review, done by outside consulting firm Ruffalo Noel Levitz, is meant to explore the options of creating new programs in order to increase enrollment, recruitment and retention at FLC, Faculty Senate President David Blake said.
“This is, truly, a brainstorming exercise,” Faculty Senator Michael Dichio said. “We are looking for general ideas.”
The review will be taking a competitive call for proposals of new programs from students, staff, faculty and certain members of the community to try to increase enrollment figures, which have dropped since last semester and have been fluctuating for years, Blake said.
“It’s good to get faculty input on how to get enrollment figures up for our institution,” faculty senator and associate professor of biology Steven Fenster said. “I appreciate the administration giving us a platform to get our ideas out there.”
Resolutions to ensure transparency and clarity during the Noel Levitz new program review and to have a detailed overview of the review process available by no later than Feb. 17th, were voted on. It passed unanimously.
Also on the agenda for the Faculty Senate, Dian Jenkins, the director of Disability Services, announced and discussed a series of webinars available to faculty from Association of Higher Education Access and Disabilities.
These webinars will discuss how teachers can make their approach to higher education easily accessible for those with disabilities while still being in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Jenkins said.
Betty Dorr, a faculty senator from the social sciences, announced a focus group for faculty regarding the retention rates of Native American and Alaskan Native students.
The focus group will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Feb. 9th in room 240 of the Education and Business Hall, Dorr said.
Another measure that was voted on and passed was the wording of a new 500 level course rigor statement. The 500 level courses would be graduate level courses that could be taken by undergraduates for graduate level credit, faculty senator Carl Lienert said.
Later in the month, the Faculty Senate will be holding elections for next year’s Faculty President and Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees.