Student Senate voted on a proposed memo and report furnished by the Academic Affairs Committee during its April 14 meeting. The proposal addressed issues raised by students regarding the Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities and Desire2Learn usage by faculty members.

In two separate votes, Senate voted in favor of the memo and report, with a 21-1 vote for each item.

“This far exceeded my personal expectations,” Kenny Brotheridge, Student Senate vice president, said.

Brotheridge presented the body with the memo and report that would continue forward as a recommendation to the administration.

“We were more focused on the Student Bill of Rights, but as the year progressed, our constituents had concerns and we addressed them,” Brotheridge said.

The report consisted of data collected from research the committee conducted, as well as data from a survey that was sent to students in waves from Feb 25 through March 7, Brotheridge said.

Some concerns were the faculty usage of D2L and knowledge of basic student rights, Brotheridge said. As a result of the survey, which received 346 responses, the committee found that students were in favor of a mandate for D2L usage.

According to the report, 71 percent of the students were not informed of their grades prior to the last day to drop a class, and 80 percent felt that knowledge of their grade would motivate them in the class.

The topic of D2L usage has been addressed by Senate before. Three to four years ago, Senate made a recommendation for faculty to be mandated to use D2L, Laura Anderson, Faculty Senate chair, said.

The proposal was not endorsed by Faculty Senate then due to concerns about mandating what faculty is allowed to do in the classroom, Anderson said.

Students also have access to the faculty evaluations that are filled out every semester, Brotheridge said.

The evaluations are located in the office of the dean of students, Rich Egley, and can be accessed through the dean.

“If one instructor teaches two sections [of a class], students can access the combined data,” Egley said.

The current Senate will leave the incoming Senate executive board with a list of recommendations to follow to continue progress with the approved recommendations stated in the report, Brotheridge said.

Brotheridge said Student Senate is not trying to mandate how an instructor structures his or her class with the new recommendation. Instead, it is recommending the grade posting be the only mandated usage of D2L by faculty.

No additional action will be taken on this issue until the next academic year.

“There is only so much we can do this year,” Brotheridge said. “These are possible action items for next year due to the length, and this is included in the recommendations for next year’s Senate.”