1/19/07 Draft Minutes of the

Academic Task Force Meeting

18 January 2007

1. Chair: The committee agreed that the VPAA would serve as chair.

2. Criteria for Decision Making: Areas of agreement seemed to be that our decisions should be based on the university’s Mission and Vision statements and on the needs of society.

3. Consensus: The committee agreed that a ⅔ majority would signal general agreement and be the standard for approving an issue. Recommendations of the Task Force go to the Steering Committee for consideration.

4. Goals:

· We agreed that SPSU’s three stated strategic goals (becoming more comprehensive, increasing enrollment, and instilling a sense of ownership) should guide our decisions, as should the stated goals of the Board of Regents.

· Another goal we discussed was that students be prepared for work.

· Beyond those goals, we wondered whether we should focus on only those goals or seek additional ones as well.

· In issues of conflict between the good of individual departments and the good of the university, we agreed that the overriding concern must primarily be for the good of the university.

5. Homework Assignment: By Thursday, Jan. 25, each of us will email the VPAA five questions “at the 20,000-foot level” about SPSU’s future that the Task Force should be considering. (Example: “What will research look like at SPSU in 2011?”)