COUNCIL OF DEANS

December 12, 2001

The Council of Deans met in regular session at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001, in the Provost's Conference Room. Sam Buchanan presided, and the following council members were present: Gabriel Esteban, Bob Everding, Jonathan Glenn, Neil Hattlestad, Maurice Lee, Jane McHaney, Elaine McNiece, Sally Roden, and Ron Toll.

Peter Mehl was in attendance to present the December 4 minutes of the General Education Council.

Mehl reported that the General Education Council recommends the following course to meet general education requirements in World Cultural Traditions.

PHIL 13XX World Philosophies

Roden moved to endorse the recommendation of the General Education Council. Following a second by Lee, the motion passed unanimously.

Mehl shared information gathered at recent faculty forums. Following discussion, Mehl departed at 10:10 a.m.

Esteban moved and Everding seconded that the COD minutes of November 14, November 28, and December 5 be approved as circulated. The motion passed unanimously.

McNiece stated that due to budget reductions, there will only be about half the funds available for public service grants. She suggested that one round of proposals be accepted rather than two. The deans agreed with her suggestion, and decided that the proposals should be due in early fall.

McNiece reported that funds normally provided by the provost for reassigned time are unavailable this year. No proposals for reassigned time will be accepted. Deans may submit justifications for reassigned time to the provost for any requests the college can fund.

Buchanan asked the deans to review their calendars so that a schedule for promotion and tenure deliberations could be determined. The deans plan to consider applications from January 28 through February 6.

Buchanan asked the deans to be sure their offices had current price lists from catering. Some recent problems stemmed from the use of inaccurate information by departments.

Dean Reports

Glenn (1) reminded the deans that there would be a commencement rehearsal at 9:00 Friday morning; (2) reported on a recent grade appeal and asked deans to remind faculty that good grading records must be maintained; (3) asked deans to check to see if they have grade appeal policies specific to their college - if so, Melissa Rust needs to be aware so that she may review them for legal soundness. Roden added that faculty need to be reminded that WF grades may not be changed to a WP or W.

Esteban expressed his appreciation to those who attended a recent reception and awards ceremony for the College of Business Administration.

Lee (1) reported on the occurrence of profanity in student evaluations of faculty and asked how other deans handled that - brief discussion followed; (2) stated that he recently met with two faculty members who reported separate incidents involving racial slurs by colleagues - the deans were very disturbed by the report and urged Lee to try and determine the sources so that appropriate disciplinary action can be taken. It was suggested that the IDC develop a workshop on racism and take proactive steps to deal with the situation; (3) asked that the inclement weather policy be put out on Admin-l to try and avoid the confusion that took place last year.

McHaney (1) indicated that the recent annual conference of the Arkansas Rural Educators Association was well attended; (2) distributed estimates of certification completions.

McNiece (1) distributed a schedule for IDC spring workshops; (2) asked the deans to let her know in what format they would like to have writing samples from GRE examinations; (3) reminded the council that UCA does not have a post-award compliance officer and that deans and chairs are responsible for making sure that grants comply with criteria. She will provide a list of grants in January.

Hattlestad reported that this year's ACTS performance was very successful and commended the occupational therapy and theatre programs for their work in this uplifting project.

Everding asked the deans to mark their calendars for the dedication of the mass communication building at 2:00 on January 30.

Following a motion by Esteban and second by Everding, the meeting adjourned at 11:15.

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