The Faculty Senate voted unanimously to commend Tes Mehring, professor of elementary education, early childhood development and special education, on her service to the both the faculty and the university as a whole on Tuesday at their second meeting of the semester.

“It became very clear that our experience (with Mehring) had been unique,” said Amy Sage Webb, associate professor of English and co-director of creative writing. “It had been special, something that was not likely to come again.”

The senate also heard from DenaSue Potestio, president of the ESU Foundation. She said she hoped to bridge the gap between the foundation and the university and also officially announced the $45 million comprehensive campaign, the largest in Emporia State’s history.

“We’re developing a set of core values of being responsive, being service oriented, being transparent,” Potestio said. “These are all things that are very important, especially when you run an $80 million financial organization.”

Stuart Sneath, Associated Student Government vice president, spoke on the student government’s current events, including sending a group to the Kansas Board of Regents meeting in Topeka yesterday. He also said that they were beginning work on the annual “Can the ‘Bods” campaign, as well as Homecoming t-shirts.

The faculty were also informed of the Raise the Bar program by Gwen Alexander, interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, which is an attempt to incentivize professors to attend instructional design and technology workshops and design classes using what they learn.

This program is in response to the accreditation group that will be on-campus to rank the university on its ability to collect data and, in turn, use that data to improve classroom learning.

The university asked departments to form a list of their priorities if the department’s resources were to shift up or down and what they would be able to do with the funds so that both the administration and the departments can be ready to respond to change.

Betsy Yanik, professor of mathematics, computer sciences and economics, and Kenna Reeves, instructor of communication and theater, presented their strategic plan.

They said they had been working on adjusting the plan to bridge the gap between the old administration and the new one, and the plan aims to focus on how ESU can be distinctive and meet Kansas workforce needs.

The senate also announced their results for the newest second vice president. Manjula Shinge, assistant professor of English, was elected.

The administrator evaluation policy, which has been in the works since last year and was not approved by President Michael Shonrock, will undergo review by the senate to be certain of the legality of the information that can be released in the review.

The next meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Preston Family Room in the Memorial Union.