Faculty Senate discussed topics ranging from email encryption to budget cuts at yesterday’s meeting.

President Carol Russell announced that the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents faculty input survey was completed and will be looked at by the Faculty Senate Executive Board. She said collective results would be shared and taken to the different departments for input.

“Obviously, there’s some things we can’t change, but there are things that we can look to the future and have some directions for the future,” said Russell.

Also, Russell talked about the COFSP February meeting, where the Kansas Board of Regents requested a response to budget cuts. Russell said that ways to respond included a web site with information, a list of legislatures and their resolutions, a statement from student government and other information. She said that the board requested copies of what Emporia State will be doing.

“We have our cumulative report with numbers from each institution in addition to collective, so that we have talking points of the state in addition to our own in regular communities,” Russell said.

Russell also discussed a Shared Governance Meeting, Tuition Assistance Proposal work and reminded senators that new elections are approaching.

Academic Affairs committee head George Durler reported progress on revisions to policies on Faculty-Initiated Student Withdrawal. Committee on Campus Governance chair Kevin Rabas spoke about University committee reviews and updates on the Days on Campus survey. Faculty Affairs chair Mike Morales introduced new businesses of Modifications to Regular and Interim Policies and Procedures and the Furlough policy. He also updated the senate on Grievance Policy progress.

Old Business that was brought up included a second reading for the Information Technology Usage Policy in which Durler proposed an amendment to lines 51 and 57 of the policy. The existing line 51, which read “which should not be sent in an email transmission to a non-university account” was replaced with “should not be sent using email transmission unless encrypted using a university supplied encryption product.” Line 57, which read “no expression of privacy or confidentiality,” was amended to “no expression or expectation of personal privacy or confidentiality.”

Durler said that Technology and Computing Services is looking for an encryption program that would be available to all of those on the university server. The program will allow confidential information to be sent via email while being protected. Emails sent from university accounts to outside email would not be readable due to the encryption software.

“It may cause some inconvenience, but it would also create a situation where if there’s automatic forwarding, it will not compromise the data and confidentiality,” Durler said.
Announcements of upcoming events in the music and art departments were made before the meeting was adjourned.

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