University of Nebraska Kearney

Minutes of the Meeting of the Deans Council
October 25, 2006 – 9 a.m.
Warner Conference Room

PRESENT: Finnie Murray, Lois Flagstad, Frank Harrold, William Jurma, Ed Scantling, Kenya Taylor, Janet Wilke and Mary Sommers

GUESTS: Kim Schipporeit, Cheryl Bressington

1. Kim Schipporeit RE Summer Voting, Freshmen transfer of credits and High School Tuition Remission: Kim showed a PowerPoint and distributed handouts to the Deans for each of their colleges regarding the surveys returned by graduating seniors.
   
2. Cheryl Bressington RE Faculty Recruitment Issues: Cheryl Bressington discussed possibly doing background checks on new employees starting with next fall’s new hires. She discussed many aspects of the program. It was decided there should be a policy set for background checks. Discussion was also had on acquiring transcripts from new faculty. Finnie stated that to assure NCA compliance, transcripts must be on file for each new faculty member by their first working day, or they will not be able to teach here. Also discussed was it should be stated in the new faculty member’s contract letter that we need official copies of their transcripts. It was decided there should be a policy set for background checks.
   
3. Proposal for the allocation of non-resident tuition differential: Kenya discussed the Non-Resident Tuition Differential proposal for the reallocation of Funds she had distributed at the last meeting. She asked if the Deans had any changes they would like to see made and also discussed changes she might like to see also. It was decided to take the proposal back to Gloria and Carol for changes and resubmit to the Deans at a later date.
   
4. Scholarly Release Program: Kenya discussed some changes she is planning to make to the Scholarly Release Program. Discussion was held and it was decided there should be a policy developed outlining the suggested changes.
   
5. Freshmen Scholarship Strategy for Fall 2007: Mary distributed and discussed a handout titled “Early/Firm Scholarship Award Initiatives 2006-07 Scholarship Offer Cycle”.
   
6. UNK Courses made available to High School Students: Kenya discussed that they are making progress and have 2 faculty committed to teach courses this spring. They are now questioning how to waive the fees and will be checking to see how UNL does this.
   
7. Pandemic Flu Updates: Frank reported the Committee on Teaching Continuity continues to meet in two groups and are still working on scheduling & policy issues. He and the committee hope to develop a set of guidelines by the end of the semester.
   
8. Student Life Updates:
   
   
   1. Student Behavioral Concerns Board--Lois discussed page 28 of the Student Handbook regarding the section on “Withdrawal Procedures for Students Manifesting Serious Psychological Problems” and how it outlines the policies and procedures the Student Behavioral Concerns Board follow. She also encouraged the Deans to please let faculty and staff know if they have any concerns regarding a student, because chances are they have already been notified and are there to help them and the student deal with the issue.
      
   2. Fall Orientation—Lois also discussed the changes they will be making to the Fall Orientation Schedule for 2007.
      
9. Other items: Discussion was held on the minutes of the October 10, 2006,
   Deans Council Meeting. The minutes were approved unanimously.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Deans will be on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. in the Warner Conference Room.