Faculty, staff, and student senators convened Nov. 4 for the semester’s third meeting of Beloit College’s Academic Senate. Provost Donna Oliver called the meeting to order, approved the previous meeting’s minutes, and announced the start of committee reports.
First up to the podium, presenting on behalf of the Academic Strategic Planning committee was Professor of International Relations Beth Dougherty. Dougherty discussed her committee’s continued meetings with the college’s vice presidents to develop “possible models and structures for the humanities” in the wake of contemporary issues like artificial intelligence. Dougherty also announced that the School of Health Sciences master’s degree program is in the final stage of accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission, with a meeting to complete the process scheduled for December. The college will be able to recruit students to the program after this final stage has been completed.
Following Dougherty’s report, Associate Professor of Sociology Kate Linnenberg of the Faculty Status and Performance committee brought an item for action to the auditorium. Linnenberg brought forward a proposal to approve comprehensive changes to Chapter VIII of the college’s Administrative Policy Manual, titled “Policies and Procedures Governing Faculty, Academic Senate, and Departments.” Before voting, Linnenberg opened the motion up for discussion. Student Senator Jake Fein’27 expressed concerns with certain changes, such as the stipulation in section three, subsection A of Chapter VIII which states that “budget and financial reports are provided at All-Faculty, All-Staff, and Board of Trustees meetings, and made available to the campus community on a semi-annual basis” rather than being reported at Academic Senate. Fein argued that changes like these “end up removing student power.” Despite the motion passing with an overwhelming majority, two student senators cast votes in the negative. According to a statement by Provost Donna Oliver during the meeting, the revision has been worked on for the last two years by various administrational committees. The updated language is now available on the Beloit College website, with page 23 of Chapter VIII noting that a “comprehensive revision and reorganization” was adopted Nov. 4, 2026.
Presenting next was Associate Professor of Spanish Amy Tibbitts, who began her Curriculum Oversight and Administration committee presentation by acknowledging the hard work of Japanese faculty at the college before motioning to accept a proposal to eliminate the Japanese Major and Minor. After a period of discussion in which student senators wondered about the lack of student input in the decision and the future of modern languages and literatures at Beloit, the motion passed with three student senators voting in the negative and the rest of the voting body affirming the proposal. All current students studying Japanese will be able to finish their degrees, and Japanese courses will continue to be offered at the college. The Senate also passed proposals to revise the kinesiology minor, marketing major and minor, the Philosophy major, and the sports management minor. Additionally, two Psychology courses, PSYC 207: Political Psychology of Identity and PSYC 239: Psychology and Law, were eliminated from the college curriculum, and six courses were approved as permanent offerings.
Following Tibbits and a brief presentation on behalf of the Professional and Program Development Committee by Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Katherine Harris, Assistant Professor of Political Science Gregory Koutnik delivered an update on Academic-Athletic Initiatives. Koutnik announced the drafting of a college-wide policy to address absences related to athletics participation. According to Koutnik, the policy has gone up to the Curriculum Oversight and Administration committee for further review. He also shared the results of a survey sent out to the college’s faculty that asks questions regarding the participation and behavior of student athletes in class. Out of nearly 40 faculty respondents, many reported relatively little difference in the behavior of student athletes in class compared to non-athletes, according to Koutnik. While Koutnik maintained that he was “not trying to stigmatize student athletes” in sharing the results of the survey, he stated that common themes among faculty who did express concerns highlighted issues like an excessive use of technology in class or “rudeness and disrespect” towards faculty. Koutnik further explained that this issue was raised by female faculty members who responded to the survey, talking about the behavior of male student-athletes.
For an update on enrollment, Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing & Athletics Karen Schedin took the stage, announcing that the college has secured 346 first-year students for the next academic year and the various changes the admissions department has made to its outreach strategies toward prospective students. These tactics include admissions counselors recording personalized videos for admitted students welcoming them to Beloit. Schedin claimed that, although making the videos is “a lot of work,” they have already been met with positive responses from students and families.
Next on the agenda was a presentation from Marketing Manager Antony Hebblethwaite regarding the construction of a “campus designers network” surrounding the purchase of 50 Canva licenses by the college’s Communications and Marketing division. The goal of building the network would be to offer graphic design initiatives and access to Beloit College fonts and templates to trained faculty and student workers to create on-brand design for the college. Orientation and training for the program will begin in December.
After an update on staffing reorganization in the Operations division by Vice President for Operations and Chief Information Officer Ted Wilder, Beloit College President Eric Boynton returned to Academic Senate for the first time in two months to give remarks. Boynton praised the recent success of the Beloit and Beyond conference, a chance for students to share their experiences and research through panel discussions and presentations. “It’s a moment for me to soak up those stories [from students] and take them on the road,” Boynton said. He also highlighted the success of the recent athletics day of giving, which saw $164,000 raised, an increase from last year’s total of $136,000.
To conclude the meeting, Provost Donna Oliver further congratulated students on the conference’s success and noted the need for more Advanced Mentoring Program instructors for the upcoming academic year, with five of the 17 introductory sections remaining unclaimed.
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