The Faculty Senate held its first meeting of the semester on Thursday, Feb. 5, where it approved a number of policies and discussed an absence policy in the University Union at Sacramento State.

Among the approved policies was an amendment for admissions criteria for the College of Business Administration for the 2015-16 year, and the Academic Affairs department’s new role in determining which impacted programs need to begin their formal impaction process for the 2018-19 impaction cycle.

One of the topics addressed, and up for consideration, was the Student Excused Absences Policy. The new policy would establish what an acceptable excuse for an absence is.

“It clarifies what is an acceptable excused absence for students as well as the accommodation process,” said Todd Migliaccio, chair of the Academic Policies Committee.

The policy committee looked at how other universities addressed student absences and used the framework to help develop one for Sac State.

“Health-based issues and family is defined within the policy – death within the family, university-based events,” said Migliaccio. “We wanted to make sure that it was broad enough that it could include possible situations that are relevant enough to include a party that would be included.”

Migliaccio said the implementation of a student absence policy is important because many times students don’t have an option to appeal missed classes, which translates to an undesirable grade.

“If the student doesn’t feel that the policy is being followed, they do have the ability to appeal,” said Migliaccio. “And that was one of the key limitations, that the student didn’t have the ability to appeal the grade. This policy, at least, creates that possibility.”

Faculty Senate member Andrew Hertzoff expressed his concerns about the policy during the meeting.

“I don’t think it is the same for me to have these in the syllabus and have somewhere where there is room for their definitions of these,” said Hertzoff. “When it comes to making reasonable accommodations, I had students who on one of these excuses have taken five weeks of classes. And I don’t see any definition there as to exactly how many reasonable accommodations they have.”

Among other topics discussed, an open forum allowed faculty members the opportunity to express their concerns regarding the recent business between a competing university and the University Enterprises, Inc. at Sac State.

“I am expressing my department’s concern and confusion about the recent decision by UEI to rent out the third floor of Folsom Hall to California Northstate University, a for-profit university that has a competing health science program with my department,” said Kinesiology and Health Science representative Maureen Smith.

The Faculty Senate’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 11.