COUNCIL OF DEANS

March 20, 2002

The Council of Deans met in regular session at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 20, 2002, in the Provost's Conference Room. Sam Buchanan presided, and the following council members were present: Bob Everding, Jonathan Glenn, Neil Hattlestad, Maurice Lee, Jane McHaney, Elaine McNiece, Sally Roden, and Ron Toll. Pat Cantrell represented Gabriel Esteban.

Following a motion by Cantrell and second by Everding, the COD minutes of March 13 were approved as amended.

McNiece distributed a proposed statement for insertion in the Student Handbook. The statement was developed to provide an appeal option for graduate students that will be more aligned with the undergraduate process. McNiece moved that the deans endorse the following statement to be added to the Student Handbook contingent upon a positive recommendation from the Graduate Council. Roden seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

GRADUATE COUNCIL POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE

A graduate student is entitled to petition the Graduate Council Policy Subcommittee for relief of an unfair hardship brought about by academic regulation when warranted by special circumstances. The petition form is available from the Dean of the Graduate School.

Buchanan shared with the council a section on classroom disruption from the Student Handbook. The deans were unanimous in recommending that the section be revised, and agreed that Ronnie Williams and Gary Roberts should be invited to an upcoming Faculty Senate meeting to discuss the issue.

McNiece provided a list of possible nominees for the CASE Professor of the Year, and asked for the input of the council. The deans concurred that the nominations of Elaine Fox and John Passé-Smith should go forward.

Roden presented information on "Teaching with Technology" and asked for monetary support from the deans to provide laptop computers to the next group of faculty associates. Discussion followed regarding possible solutions to the growing problem of computer laboratory equipment obsolescence, along with other academic technology concerns.

Roden moved to remove from the table ENGL 4360 History and Structure of the English Language. Lee seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Roden reminded the council of the circumstances surrounding the course that led to the tabling (4-11-01COD). Following discussion, English 4360 was considered on its own without consideration to the 5000-level section of the course, which remains tabled. Roden moved to recommend approval of English 4360. Lee seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Glenn distributed information on classified staffing requests. Discussion followed.

Buchanan (1) discussed a recent legislative caucus on minority faculty recruiting and retention and indicated that UCA needs to do more in this regard; (2) discussed an upcoming New Faculty Orientation session; (3) reported on a recent incident of a part-time faculty member posting confidential student information on a website, and asked deans to work with chairs in making sure that all full-time and part-time faculty are familiar with FERPA regulations; (4) stated that he will attend the annual meeting of the North Central Association in Chicago this weekend and early next week; (5) canceled standing meetings for the week of Spring Break.

Dean Reports

Glenn indicated that he had received about 1700 requests for technology training software, which Acxiom offered to provide.

McHaney discussed a conversation she had with Norma Tio about including a teacher preparation segment on the agenda for Counselor Appreciation Day. McHaney asked deans to urge college education program coordinators to be available for afternoon sessions on April 19.

McNiece (1) stated that the MBA program is moving back to the College of Business Administration from the Graduate School of Management, Leadership, and Administration; (2) announced that Ira Saltz has been named the Associate Dean of the Graduate School; (3) sent to the deans allocations for graduate assistants and reminded them that guidelines are on the web.

Hattlestad reported on a recent visit with Jennifer Hendrix, Activities Director of the College Square Retirement Community. He urged the deans to think about programs that can be made available to the residents. Discussion followed.

Everding announced that the final performance of the Opera Workshop is scheduled for tomorrow night at 7:30 in Reynolds Performance Hall.

Toll (1) distributed a call for submissions for publication in the June issue of the CUR Quarterly; (2) shared information about loan forgiveness programs.

Following a motion by Cantrell and a second by Everding, the meeting adjourned at 11:35 a.m.

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