Wright State Campus | Photo by Kayli Thompson | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University’s (WSU) Faculty Senate discussed changes in the College of Liberal Arts (COLA) and other current academic plans during their meeting on Oct. 18.
COLA changes
The Senate is discussing transferring the Bachelor’s Degree (BA) in Economics from the program in COLA entirely to the College of Business.
The search for a new COLA dean will begin once discussions for the reorganization are complete according to interim Provost Dr. Oliver Evans.
“We will wait on the search for the dean of that college [COLA] until the reorganization discussions have reached their conclusion,” Evans said.
The COLA reorganization committee is set to conclude discussion Nov. 1, 2021.
Read more on COLA reorganization here: ‘Staff and Faculty Discuss Reorganization Amidst Retrenchment.’
Dean searches
The university is also searching for deans in the College of Health Education and Human Services (CHEHS) and the College of Science and Mathematics(COSM).
CHEHS is refining its candidate search while the search in COSM is still in the discussion process.
“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with [the search committee] and discuss the change to the committee. It has since been meeting, and is now reviewing candidates, and is very close to selecting candidates for WebEx interviews at this point,” Evans said.
COVID campus guidelines
The Senate also covered COVID-19 campus policies including overall compliance with mask mandates from students and faculty.
Faculty President Brian Boyd expressed that some areas of campus could include more mask messaging outside of the classroom.
“There were some questions and suggestions around some updated messaging not just in classrooms but more so in hallways and tunnels,” Boyd said.
Boyd did not specify what mask messaging would be put in the tunnels. He did recommend that hosts of large gatherings remind guests to wear masks when not actively eating or drinking anything at the start of an event.
Pres. Boyd’s reasoning for this updated mask messaging is due to students violating mask mandates in areas like the tunnels; students are overall complying despite these few violations.
According to Senator Dawn Wooley, self-reporting of COVID cases remains an issue at WSU. The Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is currently addressing the issue.
The Faculty Senate will meet again on Nov. 15, 2021.
