The Arts & Sciences Council (ASC) meets regularly every academic year, including eight times during the 2012 to 2013 academic year. The notes from said meetings are found below:
April 18, 2013
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2013, 3:30-5:00, UMC 382/386
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Brian Catlos, RLST; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Bert Covert, ANTH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Robert Ferry, HIST; Marcus Henry, THDN; Alison Jaggar, WMST; David Jonas, CHEM; John Jackson, COMM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Horst Mewes, PSCI: Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Carol Shiue, ECON; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Greg Tucker, GEOL
Representatives not present: Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; John Cassano, ATOC; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; Susan Moore, SLHS; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Christine Yoshinaga, SLHS
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh; Richard Nishikawa; Rolf Norgaard, PWR; Adam Norris, APPM; Steve Pollock, PHYS; Eric Stade, MATH;
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 PM.
The minutes of the March 21, 2013 were approved unanimously.
Chair’s Remarks, Robert Ferry
Professor Ferry thanked the ASC representatives and their support for his three years as chair.
Dean’s Remarks, Steven Leigh
Dean Leigh presented the Planning Committee report to the Chancellor’s Executive Committee and it was well received. He feels it will make a significant impact on the college and that the departments will take a major role in the future with implementation. The Planning Committee was thanked for their work.
Dean Leigh is looking forward to working with the ASC as a visionary group working on the future of the college. In the short term he wants the ASC to look at the Academic Quality Initiative; some of those responsibilities will also be shifting to the departments.
Dean Leigh hopes that a 2nd objective of the ASC will be to look at the core curriculum.
Finally, Provost Moore has articulated a number of goals and supporting him will be an important objective.
Dean Leigh thanked Professor Ferry for his dedication to the University and his support.
Online Instruction Policies
The Council discussed the Online Instruction report focusing on the requirement to identify online courses as such on student transcripts. A vote was taken, 7 against, 28 for, identifying the courses as online on transcripts.
A vote was taken to accept the Online Instruction Committee Policies: 32 yes; 3 no; 0 abstentions.
[The Online Instruction Resolution is attached]
Academic Quality Initiative, Next Steps
Dean Leigh has presented the Academic Quality Initiative to Regent Hall and the Chancellor’s Executive Committee; next he will take it to the Dean’s Council and the Chairs and Directors. He has been in discussion with Richard Nishikawa concerning class sizes. In the future, decisions will be made concerning responsibility for the rest of the initiatives, whether they rest with departments, the Dean’s office or other administrative bodies.
The report backed up the push for the Esteemed Scholars Program. Recently, an event was hosted for admitted honors students where Nobel Lauriat Eric Cornell spoke to the attendees as to why they should attend CU.
The report states clearly the college’s concern over the academic quality of our mission. Dean Leigh asks for an ”All hands on deck” effort to protect the quality of CU. Press perceptions have been much worse than the campus reality.
Committee Reports
Budget Committee, Andrew Stuckey
The new scholarships have been implemented and have been successful in generating increased interest in the summer program. The Budget Committee has taken up other issues that have yet to be resolved such as looking into professional MA’s and redesigning sabbaticals. Engineering has been offering faculty 70 percent of their salaries to take a full year leave; we are waiting for data from them to see if that approach might be motivational for the faculty of Arts and Sciences and if it might help with budget issues.
Diversity Committee, Diane Conlin
The Diversity Committee continued to communicate with different groups of people on campus who are committed to diversity. This year the Committee met with the Diversity Representatives from the Social Sciences to see what their issues are and if the committee could help in any way. Among the issues discussed: There are many problems with transparency and communication between faculty and administration; the guidelines for Special Opportunity Hires aren’t clear; there are difficulties in self-reporting on diversity, there doesn’t seem to be consistency or clarity in the guidelines; they would like more support from administration in self reporting; faculty wants to be more involved in recruiting students from diverse backgrounds. The group feels that money is available through different entities but few people know how to get it. The representatives felt the lack of open communication with faculty, the departments and the administration is the biggest problem. Once the remainder of the Natural Sciences complete PRP’s, the Diversity Committee will review diversity plans and meet with them.
Next year will be the final process review of the EDAO (Enhancing Diversity through Action and Outreach) fellowship which has been in a 3-year trial period.
Curriculum Committee, Rob Rupert
The Curriculum Committee continues to work on three major areas: reviewing the Core Curriculum; reviewing new courses for the core and revising minors and certificate programs.
The Committee has also been discussing online courses and will continue those discussions in future years.
A new project for the Committee is the review of courses designed for the Resident Academic Programs that haven’t been reviewed by an academic department.
Doug Bamforth is heading a sub-committee to set guidelines for service learning courses and internships.
Grievance Committee, Andrew Martin
The Grievance Committee had only one case this year and it dealt with how is merit is evaluated when a faculty member is on unpaid leave. It appears the college has no guidelines in those cases so the committee made recommendations to the dean.
Personnel Committee, Steve Leigh for John Cumalat
The Personnel Committee handled 33 comprehensive reviews, 24 promotions to associate and tenure, 15 promotions to full, 3 hires with tenure and one instructor grievance. Dean Leigh thanked Professor Cumalat for his excellent leadership of the Personnel Committee and also, Bert Covert who served as associate chair.
Discussion of Instructor Appointment Policies
Background from Dean Leigh: The College of Arts and Sciences was asked by the Provost to reevaluate the schedule for instructor compensation. The schedule lacked a clear, rational basis. Many instructors were working 3/3 then taking a 2 course overload. Overload courses weren’t included in merit reviews. The college has now defined a system that at its core is a $6,000 per course way of allocating teaching. The departments were given a range in compensation they can give. It doesn’t impact any instructors currently under contract. Other changes are rationalizing merit raising and changing the percent appointment, making them scale with the number of courses taught.
The document was passed out last week and discussed with the Chairs and Directors and feedback was given. The dean will meet with departments that have unique instructor needs.
Rolf Norgaard presented the concerns of the BFA’s Instructor Track Faculty Affairs Committee. It is a committee of 8, 4 instructors and 4 tenure track faculty. They are charged to act as a clearing house for instructor issues on the campus.
This is not seen as an instructor-only issue. This involves educational quality and retention, issues that touch rankings and the quality of undergraduate education. Dr. Noorgaard is concerned that the shared values that instructors and tenure track faculty have in instructional quality are being undermined by the particulars of this plan.
Faculty members attending this meeting had the following input:
The document has a strong focus on money relating to delivery of instruction; it doesn’t take into account the various roles instructors play to further the institutional goals of the campus.
Before the Instructor Bill of Rights was developed, non-tenure track faculty were often teaching as lecturers and not part of the departments. These faculty members became rostered faculty with 3/3 teaching loads and a service component to allow them to be contributing members of the college.
Service responsibilities can be addressed by changing appointment percentages. The schedule allows compensation for other departmental duties.
There is no plan to eliminate Advising; there is no plan to move instructors to Advising.
The top level of pay doesn’t reflect market reality of hiring in some departments. The Dean is still soliciting feedback from departments concerning salary rates.
Different credit hours for different courses have been taken into account and can be prorated. Course releases are also allowed to conduct other duties. There is need for a broad range of service duties.
50 percent appointments are considered full time with benefits and full merit consideration.
Professor Ferry asked what the ASC should do. Dean Leigh asked the representatives to engage with instructors and chairs to find out what needs to be changed; this document it a draft. Feedback is needed before implementation.
After feedback, Dean Leigh would like the Instructor Appointment Policies to go to BFA.
Election of New ASC Chair, Scott Parker
Catherine Labio was nominated as chair. Mike Radelet noted that she is genuinely interested in the campus. Professor Labio feels a lot has been started by the ASC this year and is eager to continue with the work of the Planning Committee, Curriculum and other committee work.
It was moved and seconded that Catherine Labio be elected as chair of the ASC for the 2013-2014 academic year. The vote was unanimously in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:57PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
Online Instruction Policies
The ASC special committee charged with reviewing online instruction has decided to report the results of its work to this point. The five points listed below address only some of the issues that are associated with online instruction and the ASC may want to reconvene the committee next semester.
The committee proposes the following:
- Courses defined as “online” must include the word “online” in the course title as it appears in all publications, including catalogues, lists of course offerings and on student transcripts. Such courses will also be assigned a distinctive section number. It is understood that a course taught in the traditional classroom manner and its counterpart taught online are, in terms of content and for purposes of satisfying major and graduation requirements, equivalent. This equivalence is reflected in the fact that the primary course number is the same whether the course is taught in the traditional manner or online. (e.g., HIST 1010, sec. 100 is equivalent to HIST 1010 “online”, sec. XXX)
- Online courses are understood to be those courses that have a significant instructional component (one-third or more of the instruction that is delivered) that occurs outside the traditional classroom (face-to-face) setting.
- These courses will be classified in the following categories, which will become part of the course title:
- Hybrid I: Courses in which at least one-third but no more than one-half of the instruction is delivered outside of a face-to-face context.
- Hybrid II: Courses in which at least half but no more than four-fifths of the instruction is delivered outside of a face-to-face context.
- Online: Courses in which at least four-fifths of the instruction is delivered outside of a face-to-face context.
- These courses will be classified in the following categories, which will become part of the course title:
- As is true with all courses from other institutions considered for transfer credit, except in those cases which are regulated by Colorado law, individual departments have the right to decide whether online courses submitted for transfer credit adequately meet the requirements of those departments’ majors.
- As is true of all courses taught at the University of Colorado, academic integrity must be considered a premium and an integral part of all online courses. The evaluation of student work, whether such work is done in the traditional examination format or in any other manner, must conform to recognized standards of responsibility and accountability. Instructors have a responsibility to build such integrity into online courses.
- All online courses that grant academic credit—including newly-created courses that do not have an in-class counterpart, new courses that do have an in-class counterpart (with which they share a course number), and courses that are currently being taught (in Summer School and by Continuing Education)—must be reviewed and vetted by a committee of the department under whose rubric they are taught. Online courses associated with non-departmental programs (e.g., Honors, the RAPS, ARSC) will be reviewed and vetted by the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. The Curriculum Committee is also charged with creating and providing departments with guidelines for online instruction, including acceptable methods of evaluating student work and performance.
March 21, 2013
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
March 21, 2013, 3:30-5:00, UMC 415/417
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Brian Catlos, RLST; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Bert Covert, ANTH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Vanja Dukic, MATH; Robert Ferry, HIST; Marcus Henry, THDN; Alison Jaggar, WMST; John Jackson, COMM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Susan Moore, SLHS; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Rob Rupert; PHIL; Carol Shiue, ECON; Greg Tucker, GEOL
Representatives not present: Michela Ardizzoni, FRIT; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; John Cassano, ATOC; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; David Jonas, CHEM; Horst Mewes, PSCI; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Beverly Weber, GSLL
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh, Rolf Norgaard, Adam Norris, Steve Pollock
The meeting was called to order at 3:37 PM.
The minutes of the February 21, 2013 were approved unanimously.
Dean’s Remarks, Steve Leigh
The new scholarship program, the Esteemed Scholars Program, is doing very well; this will increase the proportion of our very best students. Kelly Fox has been instrumental in this new, merit based scholarship.
Chair’s Remarks, Bob Ferry
Professor Ferry asked the representatives to look at the Resolution Regarding Full Time Employment of Instructors with a Range of Workload and Service Options and be ready to discuss it at the April meeting. This is one of 3 resolutions that the instructors’ committee have presented to the BFA.
Rolf Norgaard told the representatives that, although the resolution concerns instructor’s workload, it could affect the entire faculty and graduate education; it is hoped the ASC will consider it in the broader context.
The ad hoc committee looking at online courses has issued a report. Markus Pflaum, Dan Barth, Bob Ferry and Susan Moore are ASC members who are part of the committee. The ASC is encouraged to keep the committee alive next year as there is more work to do.
It was moved and seconded to accept this report as a resolution that will be discussed and voted on at next week’s meeting.
California is considering offloading its community colleges to MOOCs and online instruction. Dean Leigh is concerned that the online course companies will be approaching legislators to accept more courses from outside the university; politicians feel they can score points by lowering the cost of education.
Call for Nominations, Scott Parker
Contact Scott Parker with nominations for ASC chair for 2013-2014. The chair serves a maximum of two 1-year terms. Members serve a maximum or two 3-year terms.
Planning Committee, Scott Parker
Discussion on the Planning Committee’s report, The Academic Quality Initiative, was opened. Dean Leigh would like everyone to read this document; it has important implications for everyone on campus. There is reason to hand this off to the system; as academics the college has done its job in making recommendations. Now the system needs to consider implementing the plan.
There was discussion on Action Item 2, focusing on improving the top level of students rather than raising the bottom level of admissions.
Cutting class size was discussed. The number of classes that have over 50 students hurts rankings. If a department has two classes with 55 students each, would it be pedagogically harmful to have one class with 110?
The report was praised for stating the need for resources rather than the “Do more with less” view. Chairs should encourage faculty to read it.
Dean Leigh feels that many items in this report should help the college to use its resources more efficiently.
The committee was trying to avoid chasing metrics; they looked at U.S. News and World Report’s rankings because they identified things that would make for a better classroom experience.
Professor Parker is concerned that the college is building “an empire of advising” that is disassociating the students from the faculty. 2.7 million is spent on advising, possibly because of the complexity of our curriculum. One way the university can be distinctive and insure greater student success is to increase student faculty interaction.
The ASC accepted the recommendations of the Academic Quality Initiative, with revisions, unanimously.
The Colorado Challenge, Bob Ferry
Several years ago, Dean Gleeson inserted into the Colorado Challenge into the curriculum when reviewing older courses. This is basically a measure of rigor. The Curriculum Committee would also like to apply the Colorado Challenge to new courses.
The ASC voted unanimously to require the Curriculum Committee to apply the standards set by the Colorado Challenge to new courses as well as old.
State of the Budget, Kelly Fox, Sr. Vice Chancellor and CFO
Professor Ferry thanked Fox for the Esteemed Scholars Program and the Summer School Scholarship program. He feels they will pay significant dividends for the college.
Fox would like to share a few conversations she had recently with the Board of Regents. The Budget and Finance Office is trying to introduce the concept of long term planning when it comes to tuition increases. The Chancellor has been trying to let the board and public know that times are changing and “business as usual” will no longer work. Ideas like the summer school scholarships will help the University deal more effectively in a competitive environment. We want to remain relevant while things are changing.
The administration has been working to find industry leaders to talk to the chancellor and figure out a way to underwrite undergraduate and graduate education. A group should be meeting in the summer to explore different sources of revenue.
An Efficiency Office is being developed as a resource for departments that are interested in finding ways to be more productive and efficient.
Ten years ago, the state removed its merit based aid program; that removal appears to have had a negative impact on quality and competitiveness. 70 percent of people who were admitted to CU but did attend went to universities with higher tuitions leading administration to believe that the cost of CU’s tuition isn’t the problem. The new Esteemed Scholars program should bring in more high level students.
CSU has a tuition structure is lower for freshmen and sophomores but raises to CU’s level in the junior year. Anecdotally, people think CU’s tuition is high; housing and dining drive up the total cost in comparison with CSU.
The administration is talking about a 3.4 increase, not a rampant increase in strategic money. We are trying to maintain quality with existing resources. Priorities for expenditures are the compensation pool for faculty and staff, the merit aid program, deferred maintenance and compliance issues.
There was an enrollment shortfall this year and student retention was lower. Also more students converted from out-of-state to in-state status.
Until the board understands that tuition needs to be raised, every other possible source of revenue needs to be tapped. Kelly shared possible efficiencies and expenditures.
Fox stayed after the meeting and answered questions from the ASC representatives.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:17pm.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
February 21, 2013
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
February 21, 2013, 3:30-5:00, UMC 415/417
Representatives present: Michela Ardizzoni, FRIT; Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Brian Catlos, RLST; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; James Cordova, AAH; Bert Covert, ANTH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Robert Ferry, HIST; Marcus Henry, THDN; Alison Jaggar, WMST; David Jonas, CHEM; John Jackson, COMM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Horst Mewes, PSCI: Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Scott Parker, PHYS; Judy Packer, MATH; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Carol Shiue, ECON; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Andrew Stuckey, ALC
Representatives not present: Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; John Cassano, ATOC; Diane Conlin, CLAS; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; Susan Moore, SLHS; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Greg Tucker, GEOL; Beverly Weber, GSLL
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh
The meeting was called to order at 3:37 PM.
The minutes of the January 17, 2013 were approved unanimously.
Professor Ferry welcomed the new representative from ECON, Carol Shiue.
Dean’s Remarks, Steven Leigh
The University is looking at a budget deficit of about $11,000,000. Enrollments didn’t meet projections and a large number of students converted from out-of-state status to in-state; both of these factored in the shortfall. The campus is absorbing most of this; Arts and Sciences will have responsibility for 1.47 million dollars, due by mid-March. Dean Leigh feels this isn’t enough time to make cuts wisely so would like to use available temporary money for two years to fill the shortfall. In the two years, inefficiencies will be identified and cost-cutting changes will be made, with the goal of not holding down hiring or increasing class sizes. The alternative to this plan will be to suspend hiring.
A couple of areas where resource efficiencies may be found are in personnel and curriculum. Rigorous post-tenure review can help identify faculty who aren’t performing at the expected level. Cost savings can be found also in reducing the availability of leaves without pay. Some faculty are using leaves to “try out” other jobs and it ties up labs and office space and has many other indirect costs. Another costly practice is phased retirement.
The Curriculum Committee has identified the core curriculum as “fossilized’ and, as it is very complicated, may cost the college an excessive amount in advising. If the core curriculum and majors could be streamlined, advising costs may be lessened. The current core was established in the 1980’s so it appears it is time to review it asking “Is the core curriculum helping our students?”
Dean Leigh is beginning to review class size minima. He also would like to look at the number of instructors that are employed and see if tenure track faculty can teach some of the classes currently taught by instructors. Also, redundancies in the curriculum are costly.
The Chairs and Directors and the Chairs and Directors’ Advising Committee have been notified of these cost cutting measures and agree that they should be considered.
The Curriculum Committee is concerned that the core is only being added to and items that may no long be relevant are not being removed. The committee meets 3 times a month with a heavy caseload but there is still is a backlog of about 100 courses; some courses haven’t been looked at in many years. Departments are adding classes to the core to help enrollment. The dean’s office wants to make sure there are synergies rather than competition between the departments when it comes to course development. Dean Leigh also wants to look at whether or not the majors are efficient which could be a student retention issue.
Dean Leigh feels that students may not understand the core and therefore need more advising time. Many faculty members want to be more involved but feel the core is too complicated; if it’s too complicated for faculty, it’s too complicated for students.
Chair’s Remarks, Robert Ferry
Professor Ferry acknowledged the extra work the Budget and Planning Committees have taken on this year. The ASC representatives were asked to consider forming an ad hoc committee that will focus on the core.
It was moved and seconded that the ASC form an ad-hoc committee to consider the question of the core: 27 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention.
Please let Professor Ferry know if you are interested in this committee.
The Online Course Committee will be bringing a report with items for the ASC’s consideration. Some of the issues being discussed are labeling online courses or giving them a unique course number; whether or not online courses would add to a teaching load; online course review by the undergraduate studies committee. The committee wants to make sure that A&S is proactive when it comes to handling online courses rather than have instructions handed down.
Budget Committee, Andrew Stuckey, Chair
The members of the Budget Committee are Vanja Dukic and Horst Mewes from the ASC; Paul Beale, Elspeth Dusinberre, Katherine Eggert, Terra McKinnish and Deborah Wuttke. Cynthia Husek from the Dean’s Office is also a major contributor. There has been an effort to get campus involved in summer session scholarships; Kelly Fox recently let A&S know that the college will have a two year pilot program with assessments after each summer.
The Budget Committee has been discussing supplementing sabbaticals. Currently faculty can take one semester at full pay or two semesters at 50 percent salary. The committee would like to encourage the two semester option by a percentage supplement; coming to the appropriate percentage and the cost are being discussed.
Professional Master’s program revenues currently return 55 percent of the revenues to the department that developed the program. The Budget Committee thinks this is too low to incentivize departments to create these programs. Cynthia Husek is researching the split that would encourage those programs.
Planning Committee, Scott Parker, Chair
The members of the Planning Committee are Mark Ablowitz, Reece Auguiste, John Jackson, Catherine Labio and Mike Radelet. The committee has been meeting weekly to write a report and Professor Parker thanked the committee for their work, including Professor Labio for writing it. The ASC representatives were asked to review the report and next month it is hoped a motion will be made to support it. There are a lot of recommendations, some can’t be funded but the committee wanted to include everything. They’re hoping the college will go forth with an initiative to improve academic quality. Professor Parker stressed that this is not about chasing the US News and World report; CU’s rankings were dropping, and they investigated the situation and pulled out the quality measures that they thought were of value to undergraduate education as goals to improve upon.
The report and the committee’s work were praised by the ASC representatives. There will be a sizable amount of time for discussion at next month’s meeting. The Planning Committee hopes the representatives will identify items that can be implemented and next steps.
The representatives had a short discussion on CU’s high acceptance rate.
Kelly Fox, the new CFO. will be coming to next month’s meeting to talk about the financial state of the campus.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:43PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
January 17, 2013
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
January 17, 2013, 3:30-5:00 UMC, The Gallery
Representatives present: Michela Ardizzoni, FRIT; Reece Auguiste, FILM; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Brian Catlos, RLST; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; Bert Covert, ANTH; Robert Ferry, HIST; Weiqing Han, ATOC; Marcus Henry, THDN; Alison Jaggar, WMST; David Jonas; CHEM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Susan Moore, SLHS; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Lonni Pearce, PWR Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Greg Tucker, GEOL Beverly Weber, GSLL
Representatives not present: Daniel Barth, PSYC; Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Jack Burns, APS; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; John Jackson, COMM; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Carol Shiue, ECOM;
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh
The meeting was called to order at 3:37 PM.
Professor Ferry welcomed new members: Michela Ardizzoni (FRIT) and Cathy Comstock (RAPS).
The minutes of the December 13, 2012 meeting were approved unanimously.
Chair’s Remarks, Robert Ferry
Kelly Fox, CFO and Sr. Vice Chancellor, Ric Porreca’s successor, will attend the March ASC meeting to talk about university finances and the Presidential Scholarships.
An Administrative Policy Statement titled “Multiple Means of Teaching Review” was passed in 2009 and is now up for review by the Faculty Council Personnel Committee. The Boulder Faculty Assembly Executive Committee is considering FCQ’s and the possibility that they may no longer be a part of the Multiple Means of Teaching used for faculty review. Professor Ferry asked the representatives to weigh in on the subject of FCQ’s. Some of the comments:
No consensus was reached; the comments will be forwarded to the BFA.
Budget Committee, Andrew Stuckey, chair
Professor Stuckey thanked ASC reps Bob Ferry and Vanja Dukic and the rest of the committee who have been working to answer the charge Dean Leigh sent at the beginning of the year. The first issue the committee decided to review was summer session. This is an important source of revenue as the Bursar’s Office doesn’t collect any of the tuition and Dean Leigh decided more of this money should be returned to the departments.
The College of Engineering has instituted a small scholarship program, offering $500.00 to summer students and has seen a raise in enrollments for their summer session. The Budget Committee would like the College to institute a similar program and keep track of the resulting enrollment figures to see if scholarships have a positive effect. Also, positive results to student retention, less time to graduate and lowered cost of a Bachelor’s degree would be expected.
The next agenda item is the examination of leave and replacement; the committee is in the process of collecting information on the structure and funding of sabbaticals.
The Budget Committee hopes to create synergies with the Planning Committee so that budget practices can more effectively support the goals of the college. The committee supports Dean Leigh’s overall vision to return dollars, decision making and priority setting to the departments.
Dean Leigh would like to improve compensation for summer teaching and is looking at options. He isn’t sure the University needs to be larger and doesn’t want to be involved in unplanned growth; larger may not be a solution to budget issues. Dean Leigh wants to see more full professors involved with students and would like to have ideas on how to incentivise that.
Planning Committee, Scott Parker, chair
The Planning Committee is facilitating a set of recommendations to improve the quality of instate students.
The University of Colorado’s academic reputation as measured nationally by peer evaluations from provosts, high school admissions counselors and admissions offices, is 54 but the University’s overall ranking is 97.
The committee compared university rankings of states with similar population numbers as Boulder and found they are ranked higher and those state universities also have higher state funding.
A report was recently completed by a professor at the University of Minnesota that cited four case studies, states that had high funding for their universities and states that had low state funding. Colorado was one of the low funded states. Two items were noted as contributing to Colorado’s low funding, TABOR (The Taxpayers Bill of Rights passed in 1992) and the so called “Colorado Paradox”: Colorado has a high percentage of residents with degrees that have been educated elsewhere and don’t have loyalty to in-state institutions.
Mike Radelet and Professor Parker met with Kevin MacLennan, the Director of Admissions, in December. MacLennan’s view is that CU Boulder is not competitive, price-wise with CSU and UNC for instate students. Since September he’s had 900 hour-long meetings with high school counselors, traveled to 34 states and 13 foreign countries promoting the University. Boulder has 1 full-time recruiter who lives in California; there are 20 who live in Denver who recruit for other universities. Mr. MacLennan spoke to Professors Radelet and Parker about how bad publicity negatively effects enrollment and feels also that Proposition 64, legalizing marijuana in Colorado, will have a negative effect on out of state enrollments.
At the next meeting of the Planning Committee, the committee members are bringing together reports and will prepare a final report for the ASC.
Dean Leigh mentioned that recent budget cuts helped the drop in our rankings with U.S. News and World Report so he wants to make sure future budget cuts don’t do the same. The quality measures in those rankings seem reasonable and consistent with academic quality.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:54.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
December 13, 2012
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
December 13, 2012, 3:30-5:00, UMC 415/417
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Robert Ferry, HIST; Michael Greenwood, ECON; Weiqing Han, ATOC; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; John Jackson, COMM; Alison Jaggar, WMST; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Susan Moore, SLHS; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Greg Tucker, GEOL Beverly Weber, GSLL
Representatives not present: Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Brian Catlos, RLST; Bert Covert, ANTH; David Jonas; CHEM; Connie Lane, THDN; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Artemi Romanov, GSLL
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh, Jon Leslie, Jerry Peterson
Robert Ferry called the meeting to order at 3:32 PM.
The minutes of the November 15, 2012 meeting were approved unanimously.
Chair’s Remarks, Robert Ferry
The Budget Committee will have a report for the January meeting.
Professor Ferry asked any ASC representatives who are not currently involved in a committee to consider the ad hoc committee being formed to study online instruction.
Through his representative, President Benson declined to visit the ASC citing a full schedule.
Dean’s Remarks, Steven Leigh
Dean Leigh announced new merit scholarships that are being put into place this year: they will forward the goal of attracting high quality instate students. There are three different scholarship tiers starting at $5,000 for the top tier; $3,500 for the 2nd, $2,500 for 3rd tier. These scholarships are funded, not a tuition discount, so should increase revenue. Currently they are covered by one time money but plans are being discussed with the Regents to make this a permanent scholarship. The Dean will write to each eligible student, chairs will also help in recruiting efforts. The University’s Admissions Office has instigated new practices which will help recruit higher level students from a more diverse population. The current funding will cover approximately 800 undergraduate scholarships. Dean Leigh feels the College has struck a good balance between merit and need-based scholarships.
Budgetary concerns remain. Recently, an increase in out-of-state students moving to in-state status has been noted. Although this reflects a positive, students committing to Boulder, it also reflects a drop in revenue.
Phi Beta Kappa, Jerry Peterson
Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest scholarly honor in the nation, and one that is very appreciated by students and parents. The University of Colorado, Boulder, began the state’s Alpha Chapter in 1904. This chapter has poor faculty participation and is in need of a new secretary/treasurer. Without an active membership, Phi Beta Kappa is only able to invite and initiate new members but not able to create new projects like lecture series, recruiting projects and new fellowships. If more participation isn’t obtained, and a new secretary/treasurer isn’t found, the Boulder Phi Beta Kappa chapter will close and this award won’t be available to CU Boulder students. Professor Peterson asks the ASC representatives to help find a new secretary/treasurer and to encourage participation by identifying Phi Beta Kappa members in their departments.
Please contact Professor Peterson with suggestions for the secretary/treasurer position.
BFA Excellence Awards, Jerry Peterson
Nominations for the BFA Excellence Awards in Teaching, Service and Research, Scholarly and Creative Work are due February 11.
Perceptions of CU, John Leslie, Strategic Relations, University Communications
Jon Leslie manages the day-to-day applications of the CU brand. A bulk of his recent research involves perceptions of the University and Professor Ferry asked him to share the results with the ASC.
At the Chancellor’s request, a committee representing Strategic Relations (UCOMM and Alumni Association), Admissions, Athletics, Student Affairs, Parent Relations, Continuing Education/Outreach/Academics and CU Foundation, charged by campus leadership with:
Development of coordinated messaging alternatives (based on best practices in higher ed/most recent market research in coordination with campus leadership/stakeholder groups).
Presentation of coordinated messaging alternatives for Chancellor/Cabinet approval.
Agreement on rollout/management of messages moving forward (including process, key metrics, etc.)
Marketing research surveying admitted but not confirmed students and prospective students reflected, in part, the following:
- Strong recognition of our mountain setting, Boulder location.
- “Beautiful,” “fun” word association among prospective students.
- Consistent perception that CU Boulder projects an elitist image.
- In-state prospects perceive us as more academically excellent than out-of-state.
- Students admitted who choose not to come cite lack of academic rigor.
- Large percentage (47%) didn’t perceive CU Boulder as either “traditional” or innovative.”
- Prospects perceive greatest strength as location, access to skiing.
- Ratings higher among alumni for academic excellence, but location still leads among perceived strengths with alumni.
Surveys of parent, alumni and graduate students were also shown. The conclusions reached by the Chancellor’s Committee were:
- Our location should not take the lead in our marketing messages, but it can be the exclamation point.
- We need to demonstrate academic excellence and the value of a CU Boulder education.
- Because of our size and complexity, our messaging must be flexible, yet memorable (so it works for academics, alumni, arts/culture, athletics, housing, research, service, sustainability, etc.)
- We can own “elite” and turn it into a positive.
- CU-Boulder should be widely perceived as more than “beautiful” and “fun.”
- We need to repeat our market research after rolling out more consistent messaging so we can begin measuring impact.
Mr. Leslie took questions and comments from the ASC representatives.
Planning Committee, Scott Parker
The Planning Committee has met three times; the current members are Mike Radelet, John Ablowitz, Reece Auguiste, Bob Ferry, Catherine Labio and John Jackson. The committee is focusing on undergraduate quality; this is a theme that has universal appeal in the college. Key objectives that have been identified are increasing selectivity, better communications concerning the University’s reputation, faculty compensation, financial resources, retention, graduation rates and class size. The topics have been assigned to Planning Committee members to research and develop objectives to bring back for discussion with the goal of developing a statement and action items.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:58PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
November 15, 2012
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
November 15, 2012, 3:30-5:00 UMC, The Gallery
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Brian Catlos, RLST; James Cordova, AAH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Robert Ferry, HIST; Michael Greenwood, ECON; Connie Lane, THDN; Weiqing Han, ATOC; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; Alison Jaggar, WMST; David Jonas; CHEM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Rob Rupert, PHIL; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Greg Tucker, GEOL Beverly Weber, GSLL
Representatives not present: Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Diane Conlin, CLAS; Bert Covert, ANTH; John Jackson, COMM; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Susan Moore, SLHS; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Seema Sohi, ETHN
Also in attendance: Steven Leigh
Robert Ferry called the meeting to order at 3:36 PM.
The minutes of the October 18, 2012 meeting were approved unanimously.
Chair’s Report, Robert Ferry
Professor Ferry has written to President Bruce Benson inviting him to attend an ASC meeting. The ASC has been interested in knowing how the university works with the state legislature and any opportunities for involvement.
Professor Ferry recently attended a meeting given by Jon Leslie of University Communications concerning CU’s brand. Mr. Leslie is involved in strategy and branding. He has been conducting research concerning previous students’ perceptions of their education at CU and is able to compare it with alumni from peer universities. He has found that CU students have a generally lower opinion of the educational experience they received here than alumni from other universities have.
Dean’s Report, Steven Leigh
Last week Dean Leigh attended the Professors of Distinction presentations for Natalie Ahn and Keith Maskus. He expressed his pleasure at attending this event honoring two accomplished faculty members.
The new B.A. in Computer Sciences was approved by the Regents and there has been a high level of interest in this degree from IT companies in the community. The proposed Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies was not approved and is still undergoing review.
The Dean’s office is working on returning a larger share of summer revenue to the departments. It is hoped the departments will use this money to offer more summer courses. The Dean also is hoping to increase stipends to faculty for teaching in the summer.
Dean Leigh attended the Diversity Summit this week and thanked all those who contributed.
The Leadership Committee charged to look at short term goals for the college including the formation of schools had its second meeting.
Vote on Concealed Carry Statement
“We, the faculty members of the University of Colorado, urge our senior administrators to support efforts to return to the University its long-standing power to make decisions regarding the rights of people to carry concealed weapons on our campuses.”
Discussion
Chemistry and Biochemistry voted 26-1 within the department to support the statement but also agreed a stronger statement was needed.
Earlier in November there was an accidental discharge of a gun in the on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The owner of the gun had a concealed carry permit. Two people sustained minor injuries.
The statement was approved unanimously, Yes-25, No-0, Abstentions-0.
Graduation with Distinction Change
The College of Arts and Sciences will revise the standards for graduation with distinction to require students “have at least 30 credit hours completed at the University of Colorado and have a grade point average of 3.750 or higher for all course work completed at the University of Colorado. The average includes all grades except P.”
Last month, during the discussion of this motion, it was noted that this change could disadvantage a student who spent all four years at CU, had a difficult first two years then excelled the last two. The Curriculum Committee will come up with a policy that won’t disadvantage these students.
The motion was passed, 25 approved, 0 opposed and one abstention.
Curriculum Committee Statement Regarding Online Courses, Rob Rupert
The Curriculum Committee has been discussing online courses for the past year. In the Committee’s role as stewards of the Core Curriculum, a list of concerns was made available and reviewed with the ASC representatives. Issues discussed:
- The Curriculum Committee recommends courses receive an additional review when they are presented online.
- The Curriculum Committee’s plan for online course assessment was questioned. Professor Rupert stated the same criteria that are used to evaluate traditional courses will be used for online courses.
- Concerned was raise about student accountability. Several representatives favor a testing center on campus for online courses where identification is checked. It was felt that, as online course grow, the problems with cheating will also grow.
- ASC representatives questioned how an online course would figure in a faculty member’s course load. Professor Rupert noted this is not the purview of the Curriculum Committee and they currently had no recommendations on that subject.
- It was suggested that the word “online” appear in the course title. This would lessen the chance of a student mistakenly signing up for an online course. This would also give anyone who is evaluating a transcript, such as a prospective employer, an opportunity to see if there was a difference in grades received in online courses or traditional courses.
- The Curriculum Committee suggested a limit to the number of online courses allowed in the college until issues are worked out. A question was raised concerning balance of courses, under the cap, throughout the departments.
- Continuing Education courses are paid for separately and there is a limit as to how many of those courses can be used towards a degree.
- Dean Leigh feels that online courses should be used to benefit our students and not prospective students off-campus. He suggested online courses could be valuable for the one or two, difficult to schedule, courses that sometimes keep a student from graduating. They also can be a good source of new revenue. He is assured that faculty will use the same professional standards and academic rigor and online course will not be any easier as is often feared.
- Concern was expressed that faculty was never asked if they wanted online courses; some faculty are not concerned about regulating online courses but eliminating them.
The ASC representatives unanimously agreed to form an ad hoc committee to study these issues and any others raised concerning online courses. Information on this committee will follow by e-mail.
Planning Committee Charge, Scott Parker
The Planning Committee has been asked to become involved in long-range planning and has been soliciting suggestions for a focus. There has been much interest in the Core Curriculum and the budget but these subjects should be handled by other committees. The subject of academic quality in the college and university seems to resonate across all departments.
The Planning Committee would like to explore policies and practices in the best liberal arts colleges. U.S. News and World Report use retention, selectivity, faculty resources, and student ratios to full time faculty to judge quality. CU Boulder’s ranking has dropped 20 points in 3 years. Our rankings in research productivity are much higher. The college should work to bring undergraduate education rankings up to match research rankings.
The ASC representatives agreed that the issue of quality should be the focus of the Planning Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:58PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
October 18, 2012
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2012, 3:30-5:00, UMC 415/417
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Elizabeth Bloomfield, FRIT; Jack Burns, APS; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Eric Chwang, PHIL; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Bert Covert, ANTH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Robert Ferry, HIST; Michael Greenwood, ECON; Connie Lane, THDN; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; John Jackson, COMM; David Jonas; CHEM; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Susan Moore, SLHS; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Elizabeth Root, GEOG; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Greg Tucker, GEOL Beverly Weber, GSLL
Representatives not present: Brian Catlos, RLST; Weiqing Han, ATOC; Alison Jaggar, WMST; Andrew Martin, EBIO; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Artemi Romanov, GSLL; Seema Sohi, ETHN
Also in attendance: Elizabeth Guertin, Steve Leigh
Robert Ferry called the meeting to order at 3:35 PM.
The minutes of the September 20, 2012 meeting were approved unanimously.
Chair’s Report, Robert Ferry
Two Arts and Science faculty members have been recently recognized for excellence; James “Casey” Hynes of Chemistry and Biochemistry was named Distinguished Professor and David Wineland of Physics was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Professor Ferry noted figures on the student population that have been circulating: The student population is currently 29,850, down about 2 percent from last year. There are 522 fewer undergraduate students and 45 fewer graduate students. Fewer women are enrolling (-534 women, -33 men) and fewer instate students. The number of out of state students has risen slightly.
Dean’s Report, Steven Leigh
Dean Leigh encouraged the ASC to pay attention to the student population figures.
There is a possibility of some additional funding from the state this year; at this point it is not certain if it is one time or continuing dollars. The campus continues to be cautious in budgetary matters.
Dean Leigh recently had a discussion with the Provost Office concerning the importance of grants. It is possible a staff person may be provided to help the departments with grant applications.
Other campuses across the country are beginning to deal with the issue of concealed weapons; the University of Colorado will be in a leadership role if constructive action is taken.
In the State of the Campus address by Phil DiStefano, the chancellor appeared resigned to eventually receiving no state funding. Dean Leigh doesn’t accept that outcome. The campus should be making a forceful political statement of the University’s value to the state’s economy.
In the interest of developing new revenue sources, the college is reaching out to industry. Master’s programs and the summer session are proven to create extra revenue and should be expanded.
It was suggested that the Council ask President Benson to attend a meeting and present problems of fundraising to the representatives.
Dean’s Charge Letter to the ASC
Dean Leigh has asked the ASC to work on long term issues that will affect the college; to work in a complimentary way with the new committee of department chairs which is working on short term issues. Examples of issues that could be considered: the ICJMT study and what it would mean to the college and the departments; a review of the Core Curriculum and the University’s high admissions acceptance rate. The ASC representatives decided the Planning Committee would be a good group to study this issue. They will meet and recommend issues to the ASC for consideration. A request for additional members was made.
Representation for Residence Academic Programs, Cindy Carey
Motion: The Arts and Sciences Council will acknowledge the Residential Academic Programs as an academic unit and accept a representative from this unit.
Students pay a fee to live in a RAP and take up to two smaller classes in the residence hall. Parents expect a better education for this extra money. The RAP’s improve student retention and help students learn how to approach faculty and better understand campus culture.
Vote on the motion: Yes-26, No-0 Abstentions-2. The motion passes.
Graduation with Distinction Change, Elizabeth Guertin
As background, Dean Guertin described the two forms of graduation honors. Latin Honors has a GPA requirement, independent study, a thesis and review by the Honor Council. Graduation with Distinction requires a 3.75 GPA. This GPA includes any previous college work and, aside from being time-consuming for the already stretched Academic Counseling staff, it could seem unfair to students coming from more rigorous universities. The Academic Advising Center, along with the Curriculum Committee, would like graduation with distinction honors to go to those with a 3.75 in their work at CU, at least 45 credit hours, 30 upper division and 12 in the major. This change would conform to the rest of the colleges in the university. It was suggested that this would then be detrimental to someone who has been in CU all 4 years and had a difficult first 2 where someone in the same situation coming from a community (or other) college could receive the honor. Dean Guertin was asked to look at possibilities for correcting this such as a late bloomer policy, an appeals process or emphasis on the junior and senior years. A motion will be sent to the Council by the Curriculum Committee.
Concealed Weapons Statement, Robert Ferry
The following statement is being sent around campus for a vote:
"We, the faculty members of the University of Colorado, urge our senior administrators to support efforts to return to the University its long-standing power to make decisions regarding the rights of people to carry concealed weapons on our campuses.”
The BFA wants the conversation about the concealed carry issue brought back to campus, not to the state legislature. Brian Catlos asked that this be brought to the ASC as a resolution to be voted on.
This could serve as a precedent for other issues on campus, more decisions could be turned over to the state legislators. The Council is not being asked to take a stand on the concealed carry issue; only that the decision on that be brought back to the campus.
It was moved and seconded. A vote will be taken at the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:52PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes
September 20, 2012
The Arts and Sciences Council Meeting Minutes
September 20, 2012, 3:30-5:00 UMC 415/417
Representatives present: Reece Auguiste, FILM; Giulia Bernardini, HUMN; Jack Burns, APS; Deane Bowers, EBIO; Cynthia Carey, IPHY; Diane Conlin, CLAS; James Cordova, AAH; Bert Covert, ANTH; Damian Doyle, PWR; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Robert Ferry, HIST; Phillip Gilley, SLHS; Michael Greenwood, ECON; Weiqing Han, ATOC; Connie Lane, THDN; Asunción Horno-Degado, SPAN; John Jackson, COMM; Alison Jaggar, WMST; David Jonas; CHEM; Bhuvana Narasimhan, LING; Alastair Norcross, PHIL; Greg Odorizzi, MCDB; Scott Parker, PHYS; Markus Pflaum, MATH; Mike Radelet, SOCY; Rob Rupert, PHIL; Andrew Stuckey, ALC; Beverly Weber, GSLL
Representatives not present: Brian Catlos, RLST; Daniel Jones, HONR; Catherine Labio, ENGL; Cosetta Seno-Reed, FRIT; Mark Serreze, GEOG; Seema Sohi, ETHN; Greg Tucker, GEOL
Also in attendance: Steve Leigh
The meeting was called to order at 3:35PM
The minutes of the April 19, 2012 meeting were approved: 22 yes, 0 no, 6 abstentions.
Chair’s Report, Robert Ferry
Professor Ferry welcomed the new and returning representatives and gave a brief overview of the ASC and its work.
The Concealed Weapons Act has been spoken of widely on campus and in the community. The assembled representatives spoke about possible problems and solutions and decided to wait until after a planned meeting with Representative Claire Levy, Colorado House Representative for District 13 (Boulder), to find out if there is anything can be done, within the constitution, to restore the authority of the Board of Regents to set the standards for concealed weapons.
Concern was expressed about disciplinary action on campus when students act up in a way that might indicate a predilection to violence.
It was also suggested that the ASC invite Karen Raforth of Counseling and Psychological Services to attend an ASC meeting to talk about warning signs of disturbed students and available campus resources.
The representatives requested data on concealed carry permits on campus which can be obtained from the sheriff or University Council. The department chairs have some of this information from the last Chairs and Directors meeting when John Sleeman, the managing legal counsel, spoke.
It was brought up that most university faculty were hired under the assumption that it was illegal to have weapons in the classroom; the law changed, contracts didn’t change. The legal ways to address this issue will be on the agenda for the next meeting.
Professor Ferry thanked those new representatives who accepted committee assignments. Additional committees will need new members; Professor Ferry will be in contact with the representatives as more committee positions open.
Online Courses, Rob Rupert
Currently there is a pilot program using tenure and tenure track faculty to teach online courses in the summer; about 30 courses were taught last summer. The Curriculum Committee has been looking at this emerging trend. Issues include course coding, core credit, staffing, course ownership, in person exams, cheating, lab and studio restrictions, and course assessments. The College of Arts and Sciences is currently employing instructional developers who are working with the summer staff to develop these courses. The Curriculum Committee wants to keep the growth of online courses slow and will bring issues to the ASC as they come up.
Administrative Pay Raises, Robert Ferry
At the last ASC meeting of the 2011-2012 academic year, the Council came up with a statement concerning the administrative pay raises that were reported in the Daily Camera. Professor Ferry will take it to the BFA.
Representation to the Residential Academic Programs, Cindy Carey
Professor Carey made the following motion:
The Arts and Sciences Council will acknowledge the Residential Academic Programs as an Academic Unit and accept a representative from this unit.
The motion was seconded. There are 24-26 faculty members who teach in the RAP’s. The ASC will vote at the next meeting.
Dean’s Remarks, Steve Leigh
Dean Leigh learned about the ASC and its mission during his research of the College of Arts and Sciences and supports it as an important piece of the college’s governing infrastructure.
The college has had recent successes in fundraising including the first endowed chair in the arts, The Roe Green Chair in Theater and Dance. Advances in research and instruction have been helpful in fundraising efforts.
The summer session has generated $1.8 million; about 1 million will go back to departments. Dean Leigh wants the college to make bigger investments in the summer session. The 6 year graduation rate is currently 67 percent and summer session is important way to help students graduate within 6 years. Enrollment was about 2 percent under the expected number.
Dean Leigh will be talking to chairs and directors about student retention and limiting drop outs and losses to other universities. He is also working with Lew Harvey, PSYC, to find out why students leave when they have only one or two courses to complete. Input from the faculty would be welcome on ways to limit loss of students.
The college is working on recruitment events for honors students.
Ann Heinz, Dean of Continuing Education, has been asked to visit the Curriculum Committee to discuss online courses.
Dean Leigh has met with all the chairs and directors and has had productive conversations. He is now visiting departments, starting with ECON.
A committee of 16 department chairs has been formed to study the possibility of a school structure within the college. The committee will have a recommendation by the end of the semester. This committee will also give a recommendation concerning hiring in departments and programs, expanding the category 3 hiring process. More faculty input will be considered in hiring. That committee will be looking at short term strategic issues. Dean Leigh would like the ASC to serve a role concerning the long term future of Arts and Sciences, for instance, strengthening the graduate program or the college’s goals in 20 years. Dean Leigh will send a formal charge letter.
The Budget Committee is taking on improving budgeting procedures.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:55PM.
Minutes submitted by Janice Jeffryes