The first Academic Senate meeting of the Spring 2019 semester, held today, included discussions of the removal of posters on faculty office doors in Bizzini Hall, as well as the implementation of a new Bachelors of Science program in Exercise Science. 
Dr. Ann Strahm, Professor of Sociology, and Dr. Peggy Hauselt, Professor of Geography, noticed a bizarrely blank Bizzini Hall upon their return to campus after Winter Intersession. 
“When I looked down the hall, I saw every door was absolutely clean,” said Strahm.
Not only were various posters, bulletins and photos previously displayed outside faculty office doors missing, but the tape which held them was meticulously removed. The materials were not found discarded in any nearby trash cans or dumpsters.
Strahm mentioned that irreplaceable photos of digs and other student work which were posted outside the Geography Department are now gone. 
Speaker of the Faculty Dr. Chris Nagel, Professor of Philosophy, said “inquiries have been made” to Facilities Services about whether janitorial staff were instructed to remove signage, which they were not. Nagel said the matter was then directed to the University Police Department (UPD).
“We maintain limited camera coverage of classroom buildings,” Dr. Darrell Haydon, VP of Business and Finance, said. He explained that camera coverage of interior hallways and the entrances to offices is a violation of faculty privacy. Haydon indicated that UPD Chief Clint Strode reviewed about two weeks’ worth of security footage of the entrance and exits of Bizzini Hall and did not find any evidence pointing to the culprit.
“It really is an act of vandalism,” Haydon said. “I can assure if our Facilities staff had that much time, we would have a different project for them.”
Dr. Strahm expressed concern regarding the relationship between poster removal and faculty space, stating that the event “demonstrated a rather careless disregard for faculty and their private space…that we don’t matter at all.” 
Strahm asked the Senators to recall that the Academic Senate had “worked very, very hard” in prior years to exclude faculty offices from the campus posting policy. 
President Junn, who called the event “bizarre” and “very worrisome,” said that when working on campus on the weekends, she often notices a rock placed between building doors to keep them from locking so that outside visitors can enter. Junn discouraged faculty from this behavior, encouraging them instead to meet guests and visitors outside. 
In perhaps a more positive discussion, University Educational Policies Committee (UEPC) Chair Dr. Betsy Eudey, Professor of Gender Studies, announced a plan to change the current Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science program to a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Exercise Science.
Eudey explained that the change is in response to a CSU Chancellor’s Office policy on concentrations and the number of units that they require. 
“The substance of the degree is the exact same in terms of courses that it was prior to the change,” said Eudey. “It’s just the elevation of a prior concentration in Kinesiology to its own named degree program.”
The Academic Senate will vote on the implementation of a degree program in Exercise Science at their next meeting on Feb. 12. 
Other discussions at today’s Senate meeting included the implementation of a new Budget Resolution, which 36 senators voted for, none against, and one abstained. 

Gallery • 2 Photos

Senators and attending faculty members and staff listening to the first Academic Senate meeting of the semester. (Signal photo/ Kristen Dias)