Approval of Previous Minutes —

Minutes from March 25, 2025, SenEx Meeting: Trina Weekly motions to approve. Jessica Chilcoat seconds. Minutes approved by acclamation.

Student Senate Report

• Student Senate is finishing elections. There is a run-off in apartment living on campus which will finish on Thursday.
• At this evening’s student assembly meetings, will be discussing the rewriting of the student senate constitution. This has gone through a committee and includes a new format and revisions to a couple articles of the university senate code that are within student purview. 

Staff Senate Report

• The IT Technology Committee code change is with Provost for her approval.
• Staff Senate had its transition meeting on April 9th so Teri has passed the presidency over to Marissa for Staff Senate.
• Staff Senate Retreat is tentatively planned for June 18th if the budget is approved.
• Marissa sent letter to the provost about letters of support to staff senators. 

Faculty Senate Report

• Sam went to KBOR meeting in Pittsburgh, KS. It was a brief meeting. There is one more KBOR meeting next month back in Topeka. Misty plans to join Sam at that meeting and meet fellow faculty senate presidents.
• Faculty Senate has wrapped up the year for most part. They composed a statement of support for the international community which will go out in the next update. A letter with over 200 college presidents came out surrounding the current issues. Sam plans to discuss with Provost. 

University Senate Report

• There has been difficulty obtaining quorums for University Senate meetings to pass recent code changes.
• A UDK article came out surrounding Gateway Project. Josh has received several questions and e-mails.
• Travis Goff presented last week and talked about Gateway Project, funding, scholarships, and current landscape.
• Please remember President’s reports are due this week. SenEx gathering is on May 2.
• A University Senate President-Elect is still needed. If know of any faculty members that may be interested, please let Josh know. He can share information surrounding the time commitments. The president-elect will be nominated at the University Senate organizational meeting on May 1 along with the vice-president position. Next year, the vice-presidential role will be a student. 

Unfinished Business —

Excused Absence Policy:

• Josh has corresponded with the provost office and other partners to discern what is already in the work and what the goals are.
• There is a site in progress for scheduling make-up exams that would integrate with Canvas, but Josh is unsure of the logistics of how the software works and who is proctoring exams.
• This may influence how the policy should be revised next fall. There is some current frustration regarding the policy regarding make-up exams. Faculty feel limited with extra time for make-up exams and some faculty have expressed concern about determining what is excused. Should there be a centralized body that determines this?
• SenEx sent out a letter regarding Gateway District questions and concerns. SenEx also received response from Julie Murray on behalf of KU administration. It was helpful to have data and responses to questions in one place.
• Josh hopes to have Planning & Resources Committee fully staffed for next year along with ad hoc Gateway District committee. It would be helpful if those bodies could meet with involved parties and provide updates to SenEx and University Senate. 

New Business —

SenEx has been involved in the dean candidate search for Pharmacy dean and School of Business dean. 

SenEx moves into closed session to discuss personnel matters related to the searches. 

Meeting adjourned.