Eastern Illinois University

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Authors@EIU

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Brian Keith

Vol. 53, No. 3
Guest speaker: VPEM Josh Norma

Mulvey, Nichole

Eastern Illinois University 
The Keep 
Minutes Faculty Senate 
9-24-2024 
September 24, 2024 
Nichole Mulvey 
Faculty Senate Recorder 
Follow this and additional works at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/facsen_mins 
Recommended Citation 
Mulvey, Nichole, "September 24, 2024" (2024). Minutes. 1578. 
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/facsen_mins/1578 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Senate at The Keep. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Minutes by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact 
tabruns@eiu.edu. 
Volume 53 Number 3 
Agenda & Minutes 
 
September 24 
Faculty Senate 2024-2025 
 
Members Present: Todd Bruns (chair), Jeff Stowell (vice chair), Nichole Mulvey (recorder), 
Teshome Abebe, Steve Brantley, Barbara Carlsward, Bradley Decker, Matthew Inverso, Anna 
Kochigina, Jeanne Okrasinski, Md Farhadur Reza, Steve Scher, Isaac Slaven, Grant Sterling, Anne 
Thibault Geen 
 
Guests: Student Senator Reyes Morales, Micheal Gillespie, Angie Pene-Rea, Ngozi Onura 
 
I. Call to Order 
a. The motion to approve the minutes from September 10th was made by Senator 
Slaven with a second from Senator Carlsward. The motion carried unanimously.  
II. Announcements 
a. Today, September 24th, in West Reading Room “Brewing Success” with EIU 
alumni 
b. Tomorrow, September 25th, EIU Fall Update starting at 8 AM 
c. HLC Campus Visit September 30th - October 1st 
d. Budget Town Hall and Facilities Reinvestment Meeting on October 16th at 3:00 in 
Doudna 
III. Communications 
a. Dr. Bernie Ranchero, BOT member, has requested to attend one of the Faculty 
Senate meetings and will be invited to a future date. 
b. IAB Concerns and Questions (Sterling) 
c. Review of 23/24 (Abebe) 
IV. Committee Reports  
a. Executive (Bruns/Stowell/Mulvey) – The executive board met with President 
Gatrell and Provost Hendrickson on September 17th with the following items 
discussed: Presidential fall update; HLC campus visit and open sessions for 
faculty; Academic Alerts continue to be working successfully but are also 
revealing unexpected patterns (students not knowing to check email, how to 
navigate D2L, etc.); FDIC recently held an information meeting about ADA 
compliance and clarified accessibility and what faculty are responsible for 
(content generated by faculty); 18-19 faculty positions were approved this fall; 
the higher ed funding formula is in negotiations in Springfield; Senator Bruns will 
attend the council of IL Senates with request by President Gatrell to discuss what 
campuses are doing about student success, strengthening the pipeline from high 
school to higher ed, and potential ways to ease the transfer of credits between 
institutions.  
b. EIU Think Tank – Senator Abebe is unable to continue this year as one of the 
faculty representatives. The first meeting of the Think Tank is planned for 
tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25th. Faculty Senate will vote for a 
Volume 53 Number 3 
replacement for Senator Abebe at the next meeting, so senators are encouraged 
to consider colleagues to nominate for the position. FDIC Director Michael 
Gillespie clarified the time commitment of the committee as meeting 1 hour 
every 2 weeks, and then once the planned agenda for the year is set, 2-3 hours of 
work per week.  
c. Shared Governance Chairs – No report. 
d. CUPB – No report. 
e. Elections and Appointments (Stowell) - The Faculty Senate had approved the 
election of Thomas MacMullen to Booth Collaborative Advisory Committee 
through email. Chris Becker was elected to represent LCBT for CAA for a 2-year 
term. The Dean of LBCT appointed Chris Becker to a 1-year CUPB term that was 
left open last year. 
f. Awards (Scher) – The call for nominations for the Luis Clay-Mendez service award 
will be sent out soon with nomination packets due in October. 
g. Budget Transparency (Sterling) – There was nothing to report today but Senator 
Sterling plans to have a report next meeting. 
h. Faculty Forum (Thibault Geen) - No report. 
i. Student and Staff Relations (Bruns, Decker)  
i. Senator Decker - No report for staff. 
ii. Student Senator Reyes Morales shared updates from Student Senate. 
Student body elections are occurring this week, 3 new RSOs were recently 
approved, and lunch with the Dean will occur on October 7th. 
V. Provost’s Report 
a. Academic Alerts – Provost Hendrickson shared that last year in week three, 17 
academic alerts were made by faculty compared to 70 alerts this year in week 
three. A total of 334 alerts have been submitted this semester so far. The 
response time to these alerts is now 2.5 days, with a student getting in-person 
contact. In comparison, two years ago a student was only getting an email. 
Senator Abebe asked if the increases are a result of better identification or more 
students in need. Provost Hendrickson noted that at this time it is hard to tell but 
they are tracking data to try to determine this. 
b. All faculty are invited to the Campus Beautification Day from 2-5 p.m. 
Wednesday, September 25th. 
c. The Office of Belonging, Access, and Engagement will be distributing a climate 
survey on October 14th. The survey will assess a variety of ways students/faculty 
identify themselves and feelings of belonging on campus. 
d. Provost Hendrickson congratulated a group of faculty in CDS for being awarded 
the editor’s choice for article of the year in Teaching and Learning in 
Communication Disorders and Sciences. 
VI. Discussion Items 
a. Review of 23/24 session (Abebe) 
i. Senator Abebe provided comments regarding topics and discussion 
covered during the Spring 2023 semester of Faculty Senate meetings. 
Senator Abebe suggested how we, as the senate and representatives of 
Volume 53 Number 3 
the faculty body, can do better to do our duty of addressing topics more 
specifically, providing feedback, and potentially generating resolutions. He 
noted that during the referenced time frame, the Faculty Senate did not 
fully discuss Plan 2028, poor attendance at Faculty Forum, lack of 
information on the committee for budget transfers, or the 
adoption/piloting of DWF. Senator Abebe encouraged the Faculty Senate 
to be more assertive in giving advice and opinions on proposals brought 
forward at the senate meetings. Senator Abebe also noted that our own 
operational processes need to be clear to all Senators. A discussion was 
held regarding increased participation in events, access to documentation 
to guide expectations, and need for increased communication.  
VII. Due to the arrival of the guest speaker, a motion to suspend the remainder of the 
discussion agenda items was made by Senator Abebe with a second by Senator 
Sterling. The motion passed unanimously. Suspended items and potential future 
agenda items are listed at the bottom of the minutes. 
VIII. Guest Speaker: VP of Enrollment Management Josh Norman 
a. VP Norman shared a power point presentation that provided a fall 2024 recap.  
b. The major issues faced by EIU that affected enrollment included the FAFSA difficulty, 
the enrollment cliff, and loan debt fear. Overall enrollment was down 3%, but more 
students are living on campus (up approx. 5%). Freshman retention was slightly up 
overall (+1.7%). 
c. In reference to the strategic enrollment plan, enrollment management continues to 
work on recruitment, brand/awareness, and student success. The biggest issue for 
EIU is yield (only about 11.35%). We are getting lots of applications, so potential 
students are seeing social media and applying through the Common App, but not as 
many are enrolling as hoped. This is resulting in a revamp of the prospecting 
strategy. EIU is hiring a daily visit coordinator and the university plans to implement 
more personalized visits to enhance the student/family experience. 
d. A student-based report on why students are coming to EIU highlighted quality of 
their chosen major. This is resulting in a launch of a social media ambassador 
program and a major focused resource for high school visits and college fairs. Other 
strategies for enrollment include increasing direct admission programs and reaching 
populations of students who do not traditionally attend college or may be ready to at 
a later age. Additionally, faculty are encouraged to teach University Foundations 
courses to help new students make connections to faculty in their intended major. 
 
Suspended Discussion Items: 
a. Lingering IAB Questions (Sterling) 
b. On-Boarding Student Populations: Faculty Connections (Bruns) 
c. Potential Future Agenda Items: 
i. Information Clearinghouse for Faculty: One spot with updated student 
support services information, marketing/recruitment info for faculty, AI 
regulation guidance 
ii. ADA Compliance Concerns 
Volume 53 Number 3 
iii. International student support 
iv. On-Boarding Student Populations: Faculty Connections (Kochigina) 
v. Student Tech Skills Support (Kochigina) 
vi. Faculty/Staff Anonymous Feedback to Admin (Kochigina) 
vii. Move Java to the Library (Kochigina) 
viii. Promote “People at EIU” recognitions outside of the email (Kochigina) 
ix. Textbook Rental: E-Books (Bruns; possible guests Heist [gen ed needs], 
Bowers [peer institutions review]) & Art Tools (Bruns) 
x. Facilities: Accessibility, Extreme Heat/Cold 
xi. Coaches steering student athletes to online courses/programs 
 
IV. Following the guest speaker, the motion to adjourn was made by Senator Brantley with a 
second by Senator Sterling. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting ended at 3:35 
p.m. 


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Brian Keith

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