The Faculty Senate still has yet to vote on whether they will participate in the curriculum change of General Education (GE) that will occur in the post-implementation of Executive Order 1100 – Revised (EO 1100-R), while students continue to put pressure on the Senate to return to the original GE Task Force.
Student protesters were present during last Thursday’s Faculty Senate meeting that took place in the Jack & Florence Ferman Presentation Room in the Oviatt Library. While it was on the agenda for the Senate to discuss post-implementation curriculum changes, they remain in a standstill with the decision to participate or not.
Faculty Senate President Mary-Pat Stein explained that last year the senate voted to not participate in the implementation of EO 1100-R, then over the summer CSUN President Dianne Harrison asked Stein if the senate would rescind their vote.
“We agreed to not rescind our previous vote and President Harrison executively implemented EO 1100-R,” said Stein. “Now the Faculty Senate is trying to discuss if we are ‘post-implementation’ or not.”
Harrison has asked that the Faculty Senate work on the curriculum changes that need to occur in post-implementation of EO 1100-R, but the senators have yet to vote if they will take part in post-implementation.
Stein explained that currently the Faculty senators have two options that they will vote on when the time comes.
The first option would be to continue to not take any part in the post-implementation and having no say in what the new curriculum would consist of. The second option would be to agree to participate in the post-implementation process and decide on an option for the curriculum that would best suit students.
“It’s very complicated to choose what would be best for our students and their own GE Task Force,” said Stein.
If they vote to participate in the new curriculum the Faculty Senate has six options to choose from, but in the end the Chancellor’s Office will make the final decision.
While the Faculty Senate remains up in the air with the new curriculum, students continue to add pressure to return to the original GE Task Force.
According to student protester Michael Meeks, a political science major and religious studies minor, the student protesters arrived at the Faculty Senate meeting but only 13 were allowed in the presentation room due to the senators and administration taking up two-thirds of the room.
He explained there was police presence both in front of the library and the meeting room. Due to the small number of student protesters allowed in the room, the meeting felt different from the past ones Meeks has attended.
“The room felt less hostile than the previous meeting but this may have been part numbers (of student protesters) and part strategy,” said Meeks.
The students, faculty and staff that are part of the movement against EO 1100-R are not content with any options that the Senate has created, explained Meeks.
“The result of (EO 1100-R) even with the best option would lead to a dilution of these departments,” Meeks said.
The protesters’ goal is noncompliance with the administration and to revert the GE Task Force to what it was before EO 1100-R was implemented.
“We are not content and would much rather keep the status quo of the original GE Task Force,” said Meeks.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held on Dec. 6 where they will continue to discuss post-implementation of EO 1100-R.
Editor’s note 10/31/18: Information was removed when The Sundial received information that Faculty Senate meeting is usual located at Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room.
