Acting Provost June Youatt announced the ASMSU-championed preferred student name policy now is up and running online on the Office of the Registrar website.

“It makes perfect sense that students ought to be able, in everything other than official documents, to self-identify,” Youatt said after the meeting.

The new name policy allows students to choose what name they prefer to have on a class list or diploma. ASMSU has been working on this initiative since 2011, ASMSU — MSU’s undergraduate student government — President Evan Martinak said in a previous interview.

Mid-term evaluations

At the meeting ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, introduced a bill that would instate a mid-semester course evaluation if passed.

According to the bill, this policy would give students an avenue to voice any concerns about the course before the end of a semester.

ASMSU unanimously passed the bill at its March 14 general assembly meeting.

Student Instructional Rating System, or SIRS, evaluations are distributed to students at the end of each semester, giving them the chance to review their courses.

ASMSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Emily Bank said this policy could be implemented in fall 2013.

“What we are advocating for would be something similar to a SIRS form, but during the middle of the semester,” Bank said at the meeting while she asked for feedback from committee members.
“This is something that we would like to see implemented to give feedback to professors on what students would like to see change, if anything, (or) what they particularly like about the course.”

Bank will draft a proposal and present it at the next Steering Committee meeting in July. It will need final approval from Youatt if it is a centralized policy, Martinak said after the meeting.

Although some professors already have mid-term evaluations in place, the policy would require all instructors to offer evaluations in the middle of the semester, he said.

Italian professor Joseph Francese, chairperson of the University Committee on Academic Governance, said he would like this sort of opportunity to take a “pulse” of how the class is going.

Francese said he hopes the evaluation is extensive, with space for students to reflect on their interest and effort in the course.

Other Big Ten universities, such as the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State University, have similar policies in place, Bank said.

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Faculty merit and market pool

Increases funding for the faculty merit and market pool were also addressed at the meeting with a discussion led by University Committee on Faculty Affairs, or UCFA, Chairperson William Anderson.

The UCFA is requesting a 3 percent increase of the general merit pool and a 1.25 percent market increase for the 2013-14 year. The general merit pool is the pool of MSU’s faculty personnel budget distributed to each department for salaries, and the market adjustment pool is the funding for promotions, Anderson said after the meeting.

MSU currently is ranked 11th among Big Ten universities in terms of faculty salaries and 7th in terms of salaries and other compensations such as benefits and health care combined, he said at the meeting.

With this increase, Anderson said he hopes MSU will improve in its standings.

The recommendations will be reviewed by the Board of Trustees, who will make the final decision when they set the 2013-14 budget, he said.

“Michigan’s had a tough stretch economically and our overall faculty rank in terms of salaries has dropped,” Anderson said after the meeting. “So hopefully with a better, a stronger economic climate we’re going to able to get ourselves back toward the midpoint where we say we should be.”