Faculty express a desire to learn more about a mass email policy in the works.
A proposed policy intending to manage mass emails came under the critique of participants in Monday night’s Faculty Senate meeting.
Joseph Lalley, senior vice associate president for information technology and administrative services, went over a proposed new mass communications policy intended to establish consistent procedures for handling mass emails.
Ohio Information Technology has agreed to be in charge of monitoring mass emails sent using Ohio University addresses. Under this policy, someone wanting to send a mass email would send the request to OIT who would forward it on to University Communications and Marketing.
UCM would then inform OIT of whether they approve or deny the message, and OIT will then send the mass email or notify the sender that their request was denied, Lalley said.
There is no formal appeals procedure in place for the emails that are denied at this time.
Bill Reader, a professor of journalism, thinks the policy raises some serious First Amendment issues, he said.
“This seems like a policy in search of a problem,” Reader said. “The fact that he couldn’t come up with a single good example of what was the problem bothers me.”
The email policy will go before OU’s executive administrators in October, Lalley said.
Senate members also expressed concerns to senior administration about building maintenance during the meeting.
After receiving several questions following the full-day closure of Ellis Hall on Wednesday, English professor and senate’s finance and facilities committee chair Joseph McLaughlin asked administrators about the process for prioritizing maintenance issues.
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OU President Roderick McDavis responded that a capital funding and priority committee consisting of the executive vice president and provost, chief financial officer, vice president for student affairs and other administrators based their decisions on construction projects slated and feedback from the various deans on the states of buildings to decide which projects to prioritize.
Summer construction projects included the completion of the Bobcat Lane/Oxbow Trail and Boyd Hall Dining projects. Repairs on the Alden Library roof are already under way and many more halls are planned to have roof repairs in 2016, including Bentley Hall, Chubb Hall, and Morton Hall. The plan for College Green painting was postponed to next year because of issues with the construction contract.
McDavis also alerted faculty of higher education policy in the works at the Statehouse.
A task force commissioned by Governor John Kasich has met four times to discuss ways to make public university education more efficient in expenses and resources, while making the experience more affordable for students and their families.
At the same time, OU has its own task force that is attempting to align discussions at the state level with the university’s goals, such as preserving the Ohio Guarantee Tuition program and innovating academic programs, McDavis said.
Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit informed the senate of a new enrollment record, with 4,423 freshmen coming into the university, a one percent increase from the previous year. The freshman class’ incoming ACT scores surpassed the previous average of 24 by 0.1 points, Benoit said.
Benoit also advised faculty of the approaching accreditation visit, which will occur Nov. 2-4 at the Athens campus and several regional branches.
There are new criteria being imposed by the Higher Learning commission including integrity, teaching and learning, mission, evaluating and improving teaching and learning and resources and planning, she said.
Institutions of higher education need to be accredited to receive federal financial aid for students, Benoit said.
“Many of the students you know are on Pell grants, and they would not be able to go to school if they’re not receiving federal financial aid,” Benoit said.
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