University of Nebraska Kearney

Minutes of the Meeting of the Deans Council
Friday, May 2, 2008 – 9 a.m.
Warner Conference Room

PRESENT: Finnie Murray, William Jurma, Kenya Taylor, Janet Wilke, Ed Scantling, Frank Harrold, Peter Longo, Bruce Forster
GUESTS:  Kathy Livingston

1. Grad Faculty Status Statement in offer letters:   Discussion continued on whether or not the Graduate Faculty Status statement should be included in the new hire contract letters.  It was the consensus of the group to discuss this topic with the chairs and bring feedback back to the Deans.  A motion was made by Bruce and seconded by Frank to keep the Graduate Faculty statement in the letters until we can re-address the issue at the next Deans’ Council meeting.  Motion carried unanimously.
   
2. Emeriti Status Policy:  Discussion was held on the Emeriti policy Ken Nikels had originally developed.  It was decided to table this item until we hear from Central Administration regarding the changes to the draft Emeriti policy which is currently on hold at Central Administration.
   
3. UNK/KHS Dual Enrollment Program:  Ed discussed and distributed handouts titled Nebraska Dual Enrollment Standards.  Ed reported he attended an excellent meeting regarding the dual enrollment program with several faculty members from UNK and Kearney Public School.  The UNK people were very willing to make compromises to make this work and the KHS people are very interested.  Finnie said he will take this to the Cabinet to see if the Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer will agree to let us have our own cost center and budget for this project and if they won’t then treat it like the College Edge Program. 
   
4. Student Evaluations and Inappropriate Comments:  Bruce explained there had been some rude/threatening comments on some student evaluations regarding professors.  Discussion was held on how to handle these comments and what could be done.  It was concluded that if a comment seems a real possibility of an actual threat to any other person, the comment should be taken seriously and shared with Campus Security. 
   
5. Brief Discussion on PoE and Foundation Proposals:  Finnie briefly discussed the PoE proposals format and foundation proposals. 
   
6. Announcements: 
   Frank reported the Emergency Operations team wanted him to ask the Deans if they would be willing to pay for each faculty member to receive the brochure titled “Keeping yourself and your classrooms safe” for $1.45 each.  The Deans agreed to do this for all faculty.  The Emergency Operations Team also asked if the Deans could find a way to make sure all faculty and staff see the Pandemic Flu videos.  Discussion was held on how that could be accomplished.
   
   Finnie reported the International Education Director search failed and Jerry has agreed to be Interim Director on a half-time basis for fall semester.  He also explained that International Studies will now be one of the set of campus-wide programs such as Ethnic Studies, Women’s Studies and General Studies that operate in the Academic Affairs Division and report to the Faculty Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor.  International Education will continue to be directed by the Director of International Education. 
   
   Finnie also announced that the preliminary report of the NCA visitation will require that we report progress toward completing the proposed changes in our General Studies program curriculum because the learning outcomes of current program are not assessable as it now exists. We must complete a progress report for General Studies and also for Assessment in 2010. 

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.  The next meeting of the Deans will be on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 9 a.m., Warner Conference Room.