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Deans Council

Deans Council Meeting

B-120

February 1, 2012

 

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

 

Members:  Bill Barnes, Dave Caudill, Tom Currin, Steve Hamrick, Ruston Hunt, Joyce Mills, Thomas Nelson, Jeff Orr, Nikki Palamiotis, Jeffrey Ray, Han Reichgelt, Zvi Szafran

 

Members Absent:  

Guests: 


Item 1. Updates

Dr. Szafran updated the Council on the following:

  • New CIO – Sam Conn has accepted the CIO position and will begin in mid-March.  Conn comes from Georgia Military College.
  • Undocumented students – the Board of Regents has been having discussions about whether or not to allow undocumented students to attend USG institutions.  Szafran noted that undocumented students pay out of state fees so we are not subsidizing them.
  • Audit team – an audit team has been on campus recently conducting interviews with various administrators.  Questions from the team included recruiting practices for faculty, budget effect on faculty, effect of the BoR policy change for part-time faculty, and space utilization.
  • Tuition – if any increase it will be small and will probably be offset by fees
  • Engineering – received large donation in the way of software and equipment
  • Top Honors – twin honors students are tied for the top honor at commencement – both are Chemistry majors
  • NRC Grant – Currin was named the PI for a $435,000 grant from the NRC.
  • Representatives from the Patent Office will be on campus tomorrow – the presentation is open to all.
  • Intellectual Property P&P – Russ Hunt stated that this needs to be updated.
  • Cross-Cultural Communications Committee – has been established.  Jeff Orr, Tom Nelson, and Zvi Szafran are on the committee.  All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to volunteer.
  • Upper division hours – Hamrick reported that DegreeWorks has discovered that 39 upper division hours are missing from some programs.  We are working to resolve this quickly since it is causing problems for some students trying to graduate.

 

Item 2. Academic Program Review P&P 306.0

Bob Homer reported that a RACEA group is reviewing policies and procedures regarding academic program review and comparing them to what is actually being done at the institutional level.  In response, Bob and Becky have revised our current P&P on academic program review.  Becky distributed the new policy for review.  Dr. Szafran made a couple of suggested changes to streamline the procedure, add an appeal process, and asked for clarification on his role in the review process.  It was suggested that the VPAA’s role be similar to that of an ABET final report.  It was also suggested that the AVPAA chair the committee and that the deans be on the committee.  It was asked why it is necessary to have a P&P instead of just an administrative policy.  Becky responded that this is a directive from the Board of Regents that we have a P&P and can show that we are abiding by it.  Becky will update the draft P&P to include the deans on the committee and add a bullet that states that the committee can made a recommendation for changing the P&P after following the policy for one year if they encounter issues.

 

Item 3. Tech Fee Procedure Changes

Dr. Szafran shared a memo from David Stone with suggested changes to the tech fee procedure.  After discussion it was decided to:

  • Eliminate the one-proposal limit
  • Prioritize submissions at the dean’s level
  • Eliminate Becky as a committee member
  • Encourage cross-departmental collaboration
  • Change timeline – Zvi will discuss with the new CIO

 

Item 4. Space Discussion

The shortage of office space for faculty and staff was discussed again at today’s meeting.  Each chair/dean will identify all full-time faculty offices, part-time faculty offices, emeritus faculty offices, and offices occupied by student groups.  It was also noted that we should:

  • Have a strategic plan for office space
  • Identify needs
  • Involve Steve Kitchen in this conversation
  • Have a global picture
  • Have a set of parameters
  • Ask Leigh Ann if she can give the Council a space allocation report that will show who is using each office space
  • Create short list of principles to be reevaluated every May

This discussion will continue at the next meeting.