Julianna Keiter
Contributing Writer
President Kenneth Long’s update on the shooting that recently occurred was one of the main topics of discussion for November’s University Senate meeting. Other topics of discussion included recent issues with professors failing to submit midterm grades, a review of the Gardner report and concerns brought up with retention rates at ESU. Many other announcements were also made about upcoming events around campus.
President Long gave an update on the investigation of the gunshots on Oct. 27. “University police are continuing to work with state and regional police authorities to investigate the incident,” President Long said. “The law enforcement are as disgusted as I am, and many of you, if not all of you, of the incident. I’m working aggressively to bring the individual, or individuals to justice.”
Dr. Micheal Sachs later discusses the Active Shooter Preparedness Webinar that will be held on Dec. 12.
On another note, Dr. Margaret Ball, the vice president of Academic Affairs, brought up the large number of midterm grades that were not submitted. Many success coaches after failing to find midterm grades “were unable to help, or make a suggestion, to the student because their grade wasn’t available.”
Many students also do not have their grade book updated on D2L by their professors to show an accurate grade for the midterm. The Academic Affairs team hopes to encourage more faculty to submit midterm grades allowing students to know where they are in a course to get the necessary support if needed.
The Student Government Association spoke on the annual safety walk and the recently approved clubs, like the Tonesetters and the Modeling Club, as well as the annual Teddy Bear Drive that will be taking place in the first week of December.
A presentation of the Gardner Report on “Retention Performance Management” was given by Nieves Gruneiro-Roadcap, dean of arts and sciences, and includes data from 2015 on the retention rate of students at ESU.
Dean Gruneiro commented on the issue of why a decent number of students leave the university in their second or third year:
“By the time students enter third year, they have maxed out their financial aid, or they have gone through a couple of different processes where they voluntarily leave the institution.”
After explaining why the drop occurs, Gruneiro decided to highlight the solutions:
“So, looking at connecting with students. Dr. Dana has led several common coffee hours. We are participating a big cohort in ECS, fostering a culture of belonging and removing barriers. There’s a group analyzing holistic onboarding. We are looking at factors affecting student motivation, and then also a couple of cohorts going through ex-professional development of effective teaching.”
The discussion continued as Dr. Ball gave an example of a class adjusting based on the rate of people who failed or withdrew from the course.
“College of Health Sciences saw that the course that they offered, Health and Wellness, had a very high DFWI rate, so they took the course and redesigned it. Now it has a much, much better, success rate. I really want to champion them for the work they did on that. It was a team of them. They carefully looked at data, and they’re continuing to look at that course and how to improve it.”
The final minutes of the meeting were reserved for announcements of on-campus events such as the Fall 2024 Provost Colloquium Series concluding with the presentation: “Bethlehem Steelworkers: Reshaping the Industrial Working Class.” It will take place on Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Beers Lecture Hall.
Dr. Darla Drummond discussed a visual study that will be in the Madelon Powers Art Gallery from Nov. 6 to Dec. 6 by Mark Loughney presenting “Pyrrhic Defeat: A Visual Study of Mass Incarceration.”
Professor Elizabeth Scott announced Kemp Library will be extending a traveling exhibit called Out on Campus, which will include a history of LGBTQ+ Activism in their lobby.
Professor Bethanie Watson announced multiple dates for musical performances stating, “We’ll start with the choir concert on the 15, and then the following week we have jazz band on the 22 and our concert band concert on the 24. Sandwiched in there on the 23 and 24 is a student directed play, a piece called, The Wolves.”
The next meeting will be on Dec. 2.