LSU’s Faculty Senate met on Monday to discuss various agenda items, including the president’s report, proposed changes to the course drop window, guidelines for AI usage in the classroom and attendance accommodations for students with a disability.
Daniel Tirone, the Faculty Senate president, opened the meeting saying that the Faculty Senate’s job is done in regard to the presidential search.
The LSU Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday to pick the university’s next president. Tirone was a member of the presidential search committee and chose Interim President Matt Lee, University of Alabama Provost James Dalton and former President of the University of Arizona Robert Robbins as his top three finalists for the search.
Lee did not receive enough votes to make it to the finalist position.
“Each of these candidates, in my opinion, met or exceeded standards,” said Tirone in his president’s report. “I was, therefore, personally, extremely disappointed when Interim President Lee did not advance to the final three. Not only did I think it was a mistake — because as an accomplished scholar and gifted administrator, he was deserving based on his merits — but Dr. Lee has been a dedicated member of the LSU community for decades and has never failed to step up.”
Tirone’s report continued on to encourage the Board of Supervisors to pay attention to the audiences who will be tuning into their decision, and how that potentially can send a mixed message to those who await their conclusion.
He also told the faculty that there will be a survey open for them to provide feedback about the search and the candidates to be considered as public comments before the board makes the decision on Tuesday.
“Ultimately, we need a president who signals to all audiences at home and abroad that experience matters, merit is rewarded,” Tirone said.
The rest of the meeting was spent on proposals on various topics surrounding academics at the university.
The first was proposed by Emmett Brown, the interim vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success. She proposed to move the university’s “W” drop deadline from the Friday of the eleventh week of class to the Friday of the 14th week of class, to give students more time to make a decision and help professors not be so overwhelmed during registration week.
This proposal was met with mixed audience reactions and ultimately was not passed by the Senate.
The Faculty Senate Generative AI Committee also proposed a draft of guidelines for faculty and students on the use of AI in the curriculum. This comes from the ever-changing world of AI and how institutions like LSU will adapt to this.
The committee suggests that faculty outline in their syllabus whether the use of AI is permitted in their course. They also have obligations for students like including a note explaining the use of AI if permitted to use for an assignment and checking the accuracy, legitimacy and appropriateness of AI-generated content.
Param Singh, a physics professor and the vice president of the Faculty Senate, said the guidelines for students and faculty should be in place to help LSU continue to excel in its academic mission and remain competitive in the world of generative AI.
“These guidelines aim to offer guidance and provide resources to the LSU community on how to critically engage with [generative AI], allowing its safe, ethical and effective use at LSU while providing faculty the freedom to set course polices that fit best with their curricula,” Singh said.
