Minutes of the Meeting of the Deans Council
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 – 9 a.m.
Warner Conference Room
PRESENT: Finnie Murray, William Jurma, Kenya Taylor, Janet Wilke, Ed Scantling, Frank Harrold, Bruce Forster, Peter Longo
- Emeritus Status Draft Policy: Finnie discussed the Emeritus Status Draft Policy received from Central. He reported Faculty Senate needs to look it over but since they don’t meet this month Rick Miller agreed to send it around to them by email for their opinions. No concerns or exceptions were acknowledged by the Deans.
- Considerations in Budget Reductions: Finnie discussed possible budget shortfall issues. Discussion was held on gathering recommendations to assist a committee in making the best decisions for our campus.
- Minimum enrollment for a course to make: Frank asked if anyone else ever had the problem of only one person enrolling in a course and if so what kind of policy do you use to decide if the course will make? Ed stated in his college the undergraduate courses, with fewer than 10 students enrolled, will not run without expressed permission from the Dean, however he does take into consideration graduation situations. The same goes for graduate courses only the minimum number of students enrolled would be 5. Discussion was held. Ed motioned and Bill seconded that during the academic year and summer the minimum enrollment for undergraduate courses would be 10 and for graduate courses would be 5. Any less would need expressed permission from the Dean. The motion carried unanimously.
- February 15th date for Promotion and Tenure and 1st year reappointment letters by Deans: Ed stated the letters for the 1st year reappointment recommendations are due to the SVCAA&SL on February 15th and the promotion and tenure recommendations from the dean and the committee must be copied to the applicant by February 15th and then forwarded on to the SVCAA&SL by February 22nd. Ed asked if there was any way this could be changed so there wouldn’t be so many things due near the same time? Discussion was held and Finnie asked Tami to do some checking on this and get back to the Deans at a later meeting.
- Avian Flu update and latest revision of the Academic Affairs Pandemic Flu Plan: Frank discussed some changes made to the Flu Plan that specify each unit must have an individual plan and must also designate (if applicable) someone to come in periodically to make sure everything is taken care of. You need to make your plan fit your own situation. Cross training is recommended whenever possible. International Education will keep a roster of everyone traveling abroad and will keep it current as long as they have received the information from the faculty. Please make sure your faculty let the International Education Office know of any travel abroad.
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the November 6 and the December 4, 2007, Deans Council Meetings were approved unanimously.
- Announcements: Frank reported construction on the new Bruner Hall of Science building will not start until March or April due to some reconstruction issues.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Deans will be on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 9 a.m. in the Warner Conference Room.