Academic Affairs / Provost
ACADEMIC COUNCIL
ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
I. Introductions and Approval of Minutes (6/12/2012)
Thank you for Mick Luehrman chairing Academic Council last year. Introductions of new provost and chairs followed by introductions of all Academic council members. Minutes were approved as distributed.
II. Announcements
A. Provost Deborah Curtis - Met with large group of new international students and excited to see activities on campus and new colleagues to work with.
B. Vice Provosts
Enrollment Management Rick Sluder - Enrollment updates continually rolling out; 800 students just recently enrolled and numbers closely being monitored, with many walk in students; Student Success Committee bringing in new ideas to affect success and will consolidate into a document to be shared soon; Request that chairs accommodate wait list students as much as possible.
Institutional Effectiveness/Assessment Mike Grelle - Handed out Section 2F of the faculty guide in regards to consistency across course sections (regardless of instructor, location, etc.) in terms of learning expectations and quality, and student engagement appropriate to credit hours awarded; Blackboard outcomes component has been withdrawn. Still looking at other vendors but it will be for post our HLC visit; Will be reviewing the academic calendar, including summer. Committee to be formed soon for this work. New faculty orientation beginning tomorrow.
Student Experience/Engagement Shari Bax - Week of Welcome Beth Rutt, ucmo.edu/wow is a way to engage with new students and for faculty to get involved, starting with the Mule Haul and events all week. Handed out Student Activities Calendar and Week of Welcome flier. Reminder to wear university name badges for the start of the semester, and go to class a few minutes early to meet faculty; Emergency maps have been placed in all buildings on campus; Maxient Judicial Software will be rolling out soon. More info coming and at next Academic Council meeting. Will be used for early alert and other services; Habitat for Humanity, Aug 25 is the big day looking for volunteers on the build; Joy Stevenson spoke about international students (195 at orientation this morning).
Technology Jim Graham - Blackboard upgraded in August; Campus infrastructure upgraded this summer; In process of replacing all the fiber on campus to prepare for the future; faculty computer upgrade in progress; multimedia upgrades applications being accepted; More Google services being added; Lower level of Ward Edwards set up to assist students for tech support
C. Deans - Reminder to attend convocation and brunch; Faculty mentoring program will be on the agenda for next Academic Council
D. Faculty Senate President Cheryl Riley - Hosting back to school social August 27th from 3:00-4:30
E. Other Announcements and Updates -
Timeline for General Education transition, FS Gen Ed committee will be getting this information out
III. Information Items
A. Dept Chair Professional Development Topics (Promotion and Tenure) - Roger Best
Handout including Faculty Guide III-B, Promotion and Tenure Policies (III-4 - III-22)
1. Notification Procedures - be careful about notification as this is based on time in rank, not qualifications to actually be awarded promotion and/or tenure
2. Time Lines and Receipt of Dossiers - Carefully follow timeline. See Provost office for current calendar dates.
3. Departmental Processes - Department committee first. If a faculty member is denied they have five days to appeal. This can delay the process before the next step. Department, college, and university policies should be followed. Note, once the faculty member submits the dossier they can not modify it, regardless of if you recommend or deny.
4. Department Chair Duties, best practices. The letter is extremely important. Subsequent faculty reviewers may not be part of that discipline so the letter needs to be clear. The letter is the one way to communicate to other reviewers. You can go to the General Council with legal questions.
IV. Discussion Items
A. Work group to create check list for new chairs - Odin Jurkowski
Volunteers included Christine Wright, Eric Tenbus, Steven Moore, Nicole Nickens; Doug Koch.
Minutes recorded by Odin Jurkowski
