Fifty-two Faculty Senate and administrative committees have been cut and combined to form 16 committees.

Faculty Senate Vice President Robert Watrel said all the committees should be ready to meet in the next couple weeks.

“It will be a lot less cluttered,” Students’ Association Vice President Erin Kennedy said.

Each committee is made up of about 12 or 13 members, including representation that varies from administration, faculty, employees and students. Except for students, all members serve staggered three-year terms.

Watrel said the committees’ duties consist of “pretty much policy recommendations.” The committees each have varying degrees of work, as they all deal with different matters. They are to meet regularly and analyze appropriate issues so they can make recommendations to the Faculty Senate and administration.

At the Sept. 14 Faculty Senate meeting Sen. Patty Hacker expressed her concerns regarding the influence of a committee’s decisions.

“Exactly what is going to be the weight that a committee has in terms of actually affecting policy?” Hackler said.

Watrel agreed with Provost Laurie Nichols who said, “this will become what [committees] make of it.”

“I think they certainly have more power than they did before,” Watrel said. “It depends how they pursue these things.”

Watrel said that because the new committee structure is new for SDSU, it will take time to see how issues play out.

“This is new ground,” Watrel said. “It’s going to take a little while to sort out some kinks.”

The goal was to have the committees up-and-running by October, and Nichols said they “hope to have all appointments done by this Thursday.”

“The sooner things run, the better it’s going to be,” Watrel said.

However, Kennedy hoped they would have been ready closer to the start of the school year.

“It was just a little more time-intensive than it was intended to be,” Kennedy said.

Almost all the committees have student membership. This includes various students, such as SA senators, residence hall representatives, student employees and other students as well. They all serve on the committees for one-year terms.

“Our role is to make sure the student voice and student opinion is being heard and making sure the students are being aware of what’s going on on-campus,” Kennedy said.

Two committees are being chaired by students: the university activity fee and budget committee and the student conduct committee.

“I want to get the budgeting process up and rolling, and I’m waiting for (other committees to be finalized first),” said SA Finance Chair Anthony Sutton, who is the chairperson for UAFBC.

Kennedy said that having students with such prominent leadership roles would create “a great student and administration partnership.” However, as students’ positions are only for a year, she said they have a plan to maintain good communication to help with the yearly transitions.

“It’s sort of our goal to make sure there are older senators and younger senators involved with these committees,” Kennedy said.

In the end, Wastrel said the results of the new structure are to-be-seen.

“I don’t think anybody knows for sure where this will go,” Watrel said. “I guess time will tell.”

The 16 Committees:

Academic Affairs Committee

Campus Planning and Design Committee

Diversity Enhancement Committee

Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee

Faculty Development and Leadership Committee

Information Technology Committee

Integrated Marketing and Communications Committee

Intercollegiate Athletic Board

International Committee

Library Committee

Parking and Traffic Committee

Research and Scholarship Committee

Student Conduct Committee

Tenure and Promotion Committee

The Undergraduate Experience Committee

University Activity Fee and Budget Committee

SDSU enrollment approaches 13,000 with a total headcount of 12,816 students, a 3.56 percent increase from last year.

“Our enrollment is right on line with our university’s strategic goals in continuing to provide access to higher education, while maintaining the academic quality and increasing the university’s retention and graduation rates,” SDSU President Chicoine said in a South Dakota Board of Regent teleconference.

This is the 11th consecutive year SDSU has topped its previous enrollment.

The headcount enrollment for all six state schools increased nearly eight percent from last year with a record high of 36,440 students in the system, making this the 13th consecutive year the enrollment totals of the BOR schools have increased.

“This is historic in terms of number of students and percent increases we’ve experienced this year,” said Jack Warner, South Dakota Board of Regents executive director and CEO. “… our campuses are more attractive than they’ve ever been.”

SDSU also is catering to the largest freshman class in its history. The 2010 freshmen class has 2,247 students. In 2009, 2,135 freshmen enrolled at SDSU.

Of the 2010 freshmen, the average grade point average was 3.27, and about 42 percent scored a 24 or higher on their ACT, qualifying for the Jackrabbit Guarantee scholarship program.

Along with a record-setting freshmen class, a record-setting 1,475 graduate students also attend SDSU.

SDSU’s full-time equivalency enrollment, which calculates an assumed full-time enrollment by dividing the total credits taken by the number of credits it takes to be a full-time student, went up 3.09 percent to 10,512.5 students this year from 2009′s 10,197.3 students.

Headcount enrollment corresponding closely with full-time equivalency enrollment indicates more students are taking a full-time credit load and seeking a degree, according to Chicoine in a university announcement.

“Enrollment of full-time students enables universities and colleges to provide first-rate educational experiences for everyone. The parallel growth in head count and full-time equivalency supports the university’s emphasis on attracting the best students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” Chicoine said.

Black Hills State University and Northern State University grew the most out of the state schools in number of students and percentage respectively. BHSU increased enrollment by 646 students, a 15.85 percent increase. NSU experienced a 23.35 percent increase, gaining 624 students and passing 3,000-student enrollment.

The University of South Dakota passed an enrollment milestone, surpassing 10,000 students.

#1.1654562:1679991395.jpg:SDSU Student Enrollment:SDSU Student Enrollment:Illustration

Students created a Facebook group to show support for tenured biology professor Scott Pedersen after an attempt was made over the summer to formally terminate his contract.

“When I heard about Dr. Pedersen’s plight, I wanted to react in a way that would help him,” Sara Pepper, a 2010 biology graduate, said. “I knew there were others out there who would want to help if they knew about it.”

Pepper and Kirsten Kimbler, a senior biology major, created the Facebook group “Support for Dr. Pedersen!”

“Within the first week we had over 500 members,” Kimbler said.

The group, which now has a total of 763 members, posted the mailing addresses of SDSU President David Chicoine, Provost Laurie Nichols and Barry Dunn, dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, among others.

Kimbler and Pepper instructed members to write those listed on the page but stressed keeping things positive.

“Even though we were upset, we didn’t want any administration bashing,” Kimbler said.

“I knew positive support would have a larger effect,” Pepper said. “You always have to have a professional tone. … By keeping it professional, it was able to help more.”

The main goal of the group, according to the creators, was to show Dr. Pedersen and administration the student support for him.

“Dr. Pedersen is a great professor and has affected many students’ lives,” Pepper said.

“He’s like a father figure to all of us,” Kimbler said.

Provost Nichols said the student support was effective.

“[The student letters] had a very big impact. I read every one of the letters,” Nichols said. “It’s good to hear from students.”

Pedersen himself commented about the group in a written statement.

“I was over-whelmed by the flood of letters, kind words of support, and student involvement with the Facebook page this summer,” wrote Pedersen. “… I was emotionally blind-sided by the great value that students (past and present) have placed in our anatomy program and my efforts therein. It is therefore with great humility that I offer my most sincere thanks to all that got involved. … Given the student efforts over this summer, I can only surmise that the administration has a renewed appreciation for the value that students place in the quality of their instructors.”

The specific charges and reasons for the attempted termination and how they came about are unknown. Personnel issues are confidential, and the university cannot comment. Pedersen would not give specific details but alluded to the nature of the reasons in his written statement.

“It has always been my sincerest hope that students will critically evaluate the flood of data, society pressures and the philosophical implications of the many (often sensitive) issues placed before them each semester 8212; issues that each will undoubtedly wrestle with again and again in the future.”

Pedersen wrote. “However, some students may well perceive new/different viewpoints as adversarial to their own thoughts and feelings. Opinions contrary to their own may be deemed wrongful or unwarranted. Academically, this is frustrating.”

Bill Adamson, president of the SDSU chapter of the South Dakota Council of Higher Education, said charges of insensitivity about religious issues were reasons for the attempted termination.

“… the charges did not have convincing evidence,” Adamson said.

Whatever the reasons, Pedersen did not make it to the full first step of the termination process, coming to an agreement with university officials.

“We found a solution that would satisfy everybody’s needs,” Pedersen said. “[The provost and I are] on the same page, and everything seems back to where it has been.”

“We’re so pleased he’s with us at SDSU,” Nichols said. “He’s an outstanding professor.”