NOTE: At times, issues of confidentiality may require that some items discussed in meetings be excluded from these minutes.

PRESENT: Bill Barnes, Dave Caudill, Tom Currin, Alan Gabrielli, Steve Hamrick, Ruston Hunt, Joyce Mills, Mike Murphy, Nikki Palamiotis, Dawn Ramsey, Michele Shauf, Zvi Szafran, Andy Wang

Item 1. Logistical Issues

Dr. Szafran opened the meeting by talking about how large our University should be, which was the main topic at yesterday’s Academic Planning Taskforce meeting. He also talked about class size and how to determine what is appropriate, and faculty workload concerns, which were also discussed. Dr. Szafran will send out workload expectations from the system along with undergraduate and graduate class size data. Averages in the formula funding were 33 students per class. Dr. Szafran suggests that part of the academic plan will have to be to increase enrollment and revenue and thereby eventually increase formula funding.

Comments from the Committee:

take advantage of new technologies and support to enhance learning with larger class size
cost benefit analysis of teaching methods to find more efficient ways to teach
decide on class size by discipline, industrial standard, etc.
what is incentive to having faculty teach larger classes?
need learning outcomes to assess success rate based on class size, which is on average is 33 students per class
raising average class size would free funding for faculty salaries, equipment, travel, student scholarships, etc.
still working on permanent schedule – Regents Students Advisory Committee also calling for this
need flexibility in determining class size department by department with incentives
use part-time faculty to teach classes with higher enrollments since they have no work expectation other than teaching
categorize courses for determining increased class size
concerned about quality of education for our students
should there be an upper limit that we don’t exceed?
we advertise small classes – on average 24 students per class
gradually increase enrollment while at the same time developing ways to handle the increased enrollment
have input from the faculty who teach the courses regarding class size
how to equitably distribute larger class sizes among the departments
give departments incentives for teaching larger classes such as graders, extra lab assistants, offer fewer preparations, course release time to prepare for larger classes, etc.
ask faculty to try new ways of teaching
include students in discussions about class size
put courses into categories, what would be needed to increase efficiency in those classes while preserving quality

Dr. Szafran charged the deans and chairs with identifying those places (where appropriate) where larger classes could be offered and would not negatively impact the class or faculty, as well as the resources necessary to make such a change. There also needs to be a budget and training for technology usage.

Meeting adjourned at 3:30.