While students indulged in a day off Tuesday, Baker University Faculty Senate milled over motions covering retirement updates and special course topics.
Filling in for Faculty Senate Chair Tracy Floreani, who is on sabbatical, Vice Chair Martha Harris facilitated the meeting.
Senate voted to approve a letter written to Baker administration that requests monthly reports on the new faculty retirement policy.
The letter, written by Professor of Religion George Wiley, states: “(The College of Arts and Sciences) Faculty Senate respectfully asks to receive from the responsible party monthly reports on the CAS retirement plan.”
Wiley said the current plan is a cause for concern for some faculty members.
“Some of us are getting closer to retirement and it’s hard to make plans with the way the plan is now,” he said. “(The plan) seems to be in limbo.”
Rand Ziegler, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, suggested that the faculty change the wording so that instead of asking for updates, it demanded progress.
“I’m frustrated with this,” Ziegler said. “I think you should respectfully request, but I think you should respectfully request for the plan.”
Ziegler’s advice was not heeded and the motion was approved as it was originally presented.
In other business, senate approved special topics, interterm and catalog course revisions. Among the interterm courses approved were Philosophy of Education, Stop the Presses: The Best Movies in Journalism and the Literature of Taxidermy.
Senate also approved a motion that will grant interterm credit for individual study abroad students who take foreign language and other classes during the January interterm session.
Faculty Senate meets on the first Tuesday of every month in Mabee Hall room 100.