August 30, 2023 Minutes

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Summr 23 AI Generated Text Working Group Letter

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

Leon Johnson 346

August 30, 2023

3:15pm-4:30pm

I.            Call to Order 

a.      Meeting was called to order at 3:16pm

II.            New Chair – Dr. Colter Ellis

III.            Welcome Remarks: President Cruzado 

a.      Thank you to Colter for stepping up.

b.      Thank you to Jennifer for her service.

c.       Things look good at MSU

i.      Enrollment looks good

ii.      Slowly moving away from the word “retention”. 

A.      Sounds like it’s against their will

iii.      Record research expenditures

d.      Brought back Convocation

i.      Official welcome

ii.      Emphasis of first year students

e.      Sept 19, 7pm in SUB

i.      Open 2nd Hispanic Heritage month

A.      Solito

1.      Javier Zamora

f.        October 18, 2023, 7pm, Field House

i.      Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin

A.      The Sun Does Shine

g.      Thank you for all you do for MSU!

IV.            Approval of FS Minutes from May 3, 2023

a.      Michael Walach moves to approve. Chris Posbergh seconds. None opposed. Approved.

V.            Call for Nominations for Chair-Elect 

a.      Maggie Thorsen moves to nominate Stephanie McCalla as Chair-Elect.

b.      Kevin McPhee moves to accept a unanimous ballet for Stephanie McCalla. Paul Gannon seconds. None opposed. Approved. 

c.       Think about running

i.      Stipends

A.      Chair-Elect 30% of AY base pay, plus one month summer salary

B.      Chair 60% of AY base Pay, plus one month summer salary

VI.            FYI Items 

a.      LMS Update 

i.      The RFP was launched in May and has now undergone a first stage paper evaluation by a team of IT professionals, LMS administrators, and faculty. Two finalist vendors, Instructure (Canvas) and Desire2Learn (Brightspace), will now move on to a three-part second phase of evaluation, which will include:

A.      A structured demonstration, focusing on the faculty and student experience of using the LMS.

B.      A structured demonstration, focusing on the administrative, IT, and analytics capabilities of the LMS.

C.      Course migration testing, to evaluate the ability of the LMS to import courses with fidelity and lessen any required course uplift or adjustments.

ii.      A 14-member team from across the university system will lead these evaluation tasks, with the aim of identifying a final vendor by the middle of September. This accelerated timeline is important, as it both allows us to leverage time-limited funding to support transition costs and ensures adequate planning time for our desired transition date of Fall 2024. 

iii.      Check here for updates 

b.      Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Faculty Charrette 09.14.2023

i.      To kick off this effort, the Office of Research Development cordially invites you to participate in a HASS Faculty Charrette to brainstorm and gather ideas on various ways we can support your scholarship. The event will occur Thursday, Sept. 14, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Leigh Lounge at the Strand Union Building. Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP by Friday, Sept. 1

c.       Hispanic Heritage Month 2023           

i.      A Moderated Conversation with Author & Poet Javier Zamora September 19th, 7:00pm; doors open at 6:00pm Strand Union Building Ballrooms. Tickets are free. 

VII.            Information Updates 

a.      Update from the 2023 Summer AI-Generated Text Working Group from CLS Associate Dean Dr. Michelle Miley and Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence Dr. Michael Babcock. Hand out

i.      Questions

A.      How will you assess WRIT 101’s outcomes?

1.      Still working on that

B.      You can use AI for certain things and cite it. 

ii.      Useful links: 

A.      https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/collections/textgened/ 

B.      Center for Faculty Excellence Information about Generative AI

1.      Syllabus language

2.      Question

• • • • •     Is it a good tool for faculty or a tool for cheating?
          •      It can be used for both.
          •       Faculty: designing prompts that get the results you are looking for. 
            •      Research questions

• • • • • •       Go back to the learning outcomes. What is it the assignment is wanting the student to learn? 
          •      Encourage faculty to form faculty conversation groups to talk about these issues. 
          •       You get a better product if you have a subscription than if you don’t. 

C.      KBZK News Video/Article 

1.      Interview with Ken Silvestri from CFE

VIII.            Undergraduate Courses and Programs 

a.      Courses—First Reading 

i.      ARTH 343 : Modern Art in Italy

ii.      BIOO 315 : Aquatic Insects

iii.      MUSI 124 : Musical Objects: Knowledge & Fluency

iv.      MUSI 125 : Elements of Large-Scale Musical Design

v.      MUSI 137 : Foundations of Aural Perception

vi.      MUSI 220 : Music Theory of Tonal Music

vii.      MUSI 221 : Theory in 19th-Century Repertoire

viii.      MUSI 222 : Theory in 20th-Century Repertoire

ix.      MUSI 223 : Theory in Popular Music

x.      PSCI 448 : The Politics of Climate Change

xi.      STAT 456 : Bayesian Statistical Inference

b.      Course Changes — First Reading

i.      ESOF 422 : Advanced Software Engineering: Cybersecurity Practices

IX.            Graduate Courses and Programs 

a.      Course Inactivations-First Reading

i.      EELE 561 : Digital System Design

X.            Senators’ Open Conversation 

a.      Software

i.      Software needed for research and teaching have been delayed or not renewed due to the MSU cyberattack. Within engineering there are about 2 dozen licenses that are on hold. 

A.      Impeding teaching

B.      Questions on policy

C.      Questions on how it has been enforced

D.     Questions on academic freedom

E.      Others ran into the same issue last semester. 

F.       Rules have been in place since 2020 and now we are following through with it. 

ii.      VP Knutson from UIT will be at a future meeting to talk about this

b.      12 month pay

            i.    Where are we on 12 month pay for faculty?

ii.    It is on Colter’s list and he will advocate.          

XI.            Public Comment 

a.      Provost Mokwa

i.      Welcome back. Welcome new members. Thank you for your service. Will help with any issues however I can. 

XII.            Adjourn Karie Orendorff moves to approve. Peter Tillack seconds. Meeting is adjourned at 4:28pm.