University of Nebraska Kearney

Minutes of the Meeting of the Deans Council
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 – 9 a.m.
Warner Conference Room

Discussion was held on the minutes of the December 6, 2005 Deans Council Meeting.  The minutes were amended and approved with all present in favor.

1.  Dave Anderson RE Revision of Promotion & Tenure Guidelines:   Dave discussed the fringe benefits policy for retired faculty.  He then explained the history of the current Promotion and Tenure Guidelines. 

2.  Bruce Forster RE UNK Support for Kidzexplore:  Bruce had received a request from Mary Rittenhouse for support to participate in Kidzexplore 2006.  Bruce explained there were several different levels of participation.  Discussion was held.  It was suggested that Bruce get more information on the space needed so the level of participation could be decided. 

3.  Lois Flagstad RE CD for Students & Parents:  Lois will wait until the next meeting to report on the CD.  She will also discuss summer enrollment advising and fall orientation.

4.  Marilyn Hadley RE Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Search:  Marilyn reported the committee had received 18 applications and at the committee meeting yesterday they identified the shortlist.  They are current with the timeline and plan to have candidates on campus before spring break.  Finnie stated he would like to have a standard policy in place regarding the use of realtors for dean and higher administrator searchers.  Discussion was held and it was decided to gather a list and rotate realtors by candidates. 

5.  Bill Jurma RE Dean of Education Search:  Bill reported the committee had met yesterday and were establishing questions and criteria.  They have received 13 applications for the position.  A meeting has been scheduled to identify the shortlist.  They plan to have candidates on campus before spring break also.  Bill also stated that he had received an email from The Chronicle reporting our ad had received 288 hits on their site.  Finnie commented we had had many hits to our own job website as well.

6.  Rank & Tenure Guidelines:  Deans’ Council is interested in updating and clarifying the Rank and Tenure Guidelines.  Discussion was held on involving Faculty Senate and Faculty Senate Executive Committee in the process of updating the Rank and Tenure Guidelines.  It was decided to set up a small ad-hoc committee consisting of 2 deans and 5 faculty members recommended by Faculty Senate Executive Committee).  It was the consensus of the council to proceed as follows: 

The Rank and Tenure Guideline Update committee will be established as follows:

a)  2 Deans, one of which will be the Graduate Dean as Chair throughout process, and the second dean to be elected by Deans’ Council.

b)  Ask Faculty Senate Executive Committee to nominate two tenured faculty members from each college and the library (keeping in mind the need for balance regarding gender, ethnicity, longevity, experience in graduate programs, and perspective as department chair) to serve, and the Senior Vice Chancellor will select one faculty member from each unit with the view to achieve the best balance possible.

The committee should begin meeting by the end of February. 

Finnie asked the Deans to bring to the next meeting their requests for Academic Equipment funds and Programs of Excellence funds. 

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting of the Deans will be on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 9 a.m. in the Warner Conference Room.