Minutes of the Meeting of the Deans Council
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 – 9 a.m.
Warner Conference Room
PRESENT: Finnie Murray, Frank Harrold, William Jurma, Kenya Taylor, Janet Wilke, Ed Scantling, Bruce Forster
ABSENT: Peter Longo
GUESTS: Cheryl Bressington
- Cheryl Bressington RE ADD Issues and Searches: Cheryl recommended when Deans are meeting with their faculty to please make sure to tell them to include the following ADA Syllabus Statement: Students with Disabilities--The college is committed to providing support for students with disabilities. Any student with physical, learning, emotional, or psychological disabilities is encouraged to stop by room 163 in the Memorial Student Affairs Building, the Academic Success Office and make an appointment with David Brandt, the Disabilities Coordinator at 308-865-8214 or by email at brandtdl@unk.edu. If you have an accommodation plan please see me as soon as possible, so we can make any arrangements necessary for your learning. No accommodations can be provided until a Reasonable Accommodation Plan is in place. Please remember, plans are not retroactive and cannot be used for assignments prior to the date of my signature.
Cheryl also reminded the Deans that when faculty are out for more than a week they must let Human Resources know.
Cheryl distributed and discussed handouts regarding advertising used in the past year for searches.
- Faculty Development Fellowship application timeline: Bruce discussed the awkwardness of the present Faculty Development Fellowship timeline for scheduling purposes of fall classes. Discussion was held and the suggested timeline was agreed upon: October 1—due to Department chair; November 1—due to respective Dean; November 15—due to Senior Vice Chancellor.
- Help Desk 24/7 Funding: Kenya gave an update on Help Desk 24/7 support. NCA requires students have technical support at all times, currently we only have support Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and no weekends. Discussion was held on how to fund technical support for the help desk 24/7. Finnie stated that a possibility for funds assistance could be the Technology Advisory Committee.
- New/early buyout program for faculty members: Ed asked if others had had faculty with buyout requests? Finnie discussed that at one time early retirements were decided by a policy from Central Administration, however Legal Council determined that to due to a federal district court decision, that policy was found to be unlawful, and so it was dropped. Currently each request for early or phased retirement is considered on the basis of its impact on the best interest of the university. Practically speaking, if the Dean determines that the request is compatible with the best interest of the college and university, it is very likely to be approved by UNK central administration. In the case of early retirements, UNK will pay the cost of a private Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy for the faculty member determined at the time the faculty member begins early retirement.
- Faculty Handbook policy on overloads: Frank had questions regarding the faculty handbook policy on overloads and when you can and cannot make changes to policies. The Collective Bargaining Agreement states the only policies affected by changes are the policies approved on or before the date is the Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed. Discussion was held on the wording in the policies Overload Assignments and Faculty Reassigned Time. It was suggested the policies be updated so they are current with the way things are done today, then taken to Deans’ coffee and then brought back to Deans’ Council to discuss a plan. Ed stated that the College of Education has a policy that no overloads are allowed as NCATE does not approve of them. It was also recommended that any documentation regarding overloads be included when submitting the PACF to Kathy Livingston.
- Pandemic Flu Updates: Frank reported that the Academic Affairs plan is very close to final stages, currently they are waiting on approval from the Chancellor regarding the technology pieces.
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 17, 2007 Deans Council Meeting were approved unanimously.
Other Items: Finnie discussed that he had previously asked Ken Nikels to gather all Academic Affairs policies and link them together so they are easy to find. He would like Kathy Livingston to continue to work to gather these policies into a single volume to allow easier location and use.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Deans will be on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at 9 a.m. in the Warner Conference Room.