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

ALC MEMBERS: Charles Bachman, Tom Ball, Bill Barnes, Richard Bennett, David Caudill, Lance Crimm, Tom Currin, Venu Dasigi, Ameen Farooq, Alan Gabrielli, Steven Hamrick, Ruston Hunt, Andrew McMorran, Joyce Mills, Julie Newell, Mark Nunes, Jeff Orr, Nikki Palamiotis, Phil Patterson, Dawn Ramsey, Jeffrey Ray, Nancy Reichert, Han Reichgelt, Ronny Richardson, Becky Rutherfoord, Khalid Siddiqi, Sandra Stone, Denise Stover, John Sweigart, Zvi Szafran, Margaret Venable, Andy Wang, and Tim Zeigler

MEMBERS ABSENT: Denise Stover

Item 1. Updates

Dr. Szafran updated the Council on the following:

The USG and the Governor gave a last minute budget cut for this year of 2%; 1% will be covered by the stimulus package leaving SPSU with a $250,000 cut. Szafran stated that we can cover that amount. Szafran asked the department chairs to submit departmental requests as soon as possible as he may be able to cover a good portion of the needs. Szafran also stated that additional money is available for next year and will begin round two of faculty hiring in the near future.
Middle Georgia College submitted a proposal to the BoR for a B.S. in Land Information Science (Surveying) which was forwarded to us for review and comment. After reviewing SPSU’s response, the BoR suggested that Middle Georgia do an associates degree. Middle Georgia will move forward with an associates degree and has asked for us to meet with them on this. Khalid Siddiqi suggested writing a letter to the BoR asking that all associate degrees align with existing bachelors degrees because of transfer credit issues. Dr. Szafran stated that this should not be an issue because the core transfers and other programs will require an articulation agreement. Middle Georgia will visit our campus soon to discuss details.
The Education letter of intent went out to various sub-bodies for review and things look good at this point. Dr. Gabrielli is working on the full proposal.
Political Science B.S. degree will be on the June Board of Regents agenda.
Campus construction is going well. Zvi asked Russ Hunt for a proposal about alternative space needs curing the noisy part of construction.
Szafran asked for departmental requests for new faculty computers ASAP and said he would announce by Friday which faculty searches we can go forward with out of round two.
Enrollment update – Steve announced a 7% increase in summer enrollment which is expected to be approximately 2,450. Fall applications are about the same as last year and the number of accepted students for fall is up by approximately 5%. Steve also announced that there will be no more summer enrollments because he needs to freeze the data to calculate faculty pay for the summer.
TCSG articulation was signed last Thursday by all of the SACS accredited TCSG presidents. Dave Caudill is working on 15 sub-agreement pathways. Dave will distribute a copy of the articulation to the departments and assured the departments chairs that they will have full control over the sub-agreements.
Dr. Szafran noted that he found some errors on the new e-Time reporting site and asked the council to review the employees who report to them and report any error to Sandy Weaver in Payroll.

Item 2. Concentrations Listed Diplomas

Steve talked about requests to have concentrations listed on diplomas since there are conflicting policies in place regarding this issue. The Council discussed this and came to a consensus that concentrations be put on the transcripts but not on the diplomas. This will not apply to certificate students since they receive a separate certificate upon completion of their program. Steve also suggested that departments check to be sure their concentrations have been approved by the Undergraduate Programs Committee and if not, submit a proposal as soon as possible.

Item 3. Advising

Szafran talked briefly about students who are put on academic probation or suspension and asked the Council if they are doing anything proactive to help students during the semester to avoid this happening. After discussion it was determined that most departments are proactively working with students in academic trouble. Szafran asked the Council to use the early warning system and mid-term grade reporting information to identify students who may be in trouble and to follow up with them. He stated that each department can decide how to handle this but encouraged all to do this and if additional support is needed to let him know. He asked that all departments follow up with these students and let him know what they are doing to help the students. Steve will send out an email with report numbers that may help.

Item 4. Building Interdisciplinary Coordination

Szafran talked about the importance of developing interdisciplinary coordination between the departments as we become more comprehensive. He stated that there is some overlap in courses currently between some departments and wants to use resources wisely by collaborating. After discussion it was determined that there should be a committee to review this topic. Nancy Reichert and Julie Newell will co-chair the ad hoc committee which will be made up of one faculty from each school outside Arts & Sciences. Julie announced that she will be attending a workshop on sustainability and will share the information when she returns. Zvi suggested we extend interdisciplinary cooperation outside the classroom as well.

Item 5. New Business

September 1^st or the Friday closest to September 1^stwill be the deadline for submitting faculty mini grants.

Meeting adjourned at 4:18 PM.