Meeting Minutes, January 24, 2017

The Arts and Sciences Council and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Meeting, January 24, 2017, 3:30-5:00, UMC 247

Meeting Minutes

Representatives present: Sabahat Adil, ALC; Julio Baena, SPAN; Daniel Barth, PSYC; Christine Brennan, SLHS; Cathy Comstock, RAPS; James Cowell, LING; Charles de Bartolomé, ECON; David Ferris, HUMN; APS; Ruth Heisler, IPHY; Kwame Holmes, ETHN; Leslie Irvine, SOCY; Janet Jacobs, WGST; Berit Jany, GSLL; Daniel Jones, HNRS;Carl Koval, CHEM; Ramesh Mallipeddi, ENGL; Stephen Mojzsis, GEOL; David Paradis, HIST Lonni Pearce, PWR; Fernando Riosmena, GEOG; Rob Rupert, PHIL; Sebastian Schmidt (forJulie Lundquist), ATOC; Kelly Sears, FILM; Ted Stark, THDN; David Stock, EBIO; Ding Xue, MCDB; Masano Yamashita, FRIT

Representatives not present: Scott Adler, PSCI; Paul Beale, PHYS; Andrew Cain, CLAS; RLST; Kim Dickey, AAH; Vanja Dukic, APPM; Erica Ellingson, APS; David Grant, MATH; Joanna Lambert, ANTH;

Also in attendance: Steven Leigh

The meeting was called to order at 3:34

Dean’s remarks, Steven Leigh

The campus administration is involved in budget discussions. There has been a drop in international student applications. The tuition from international enrollments is approximately $70,000,000, a significant figure so the college will have to pay attention to this situation.

The Dean is working with the Budget Committee to allocate the $2,700,000 increase in funds for this year.

David Brown, the PSCI chair, is chairing the Dean’s Strategic Planning Committee. The nomination process for members closes tomorrow and this new committee will begin meeting.

Chair’s remarks, Robert Rupert

Professor Rupert introduced new members, Daniel Jones, HNRS and Berit Jany, GSLL.

The General Education Implementation Committee (formerly the Core Curriculum Implementation Committee) has had its first few meetings and will continue to meet throughout the year. It has become apparent to the committee that the new core cannot be implemented until fall 2018. The chair, Cora Randall, will be contacting each department chair for advice and suggestions and input from faculty is also welcome.

Professor Rupert is reviewing the bylaws and would like the council to consider a change to the maximum number of years a chair can serve. Currently, two 1-year terms may be served; a longer term may be more productive. Please give any feedback on this or other bylaws, to Professor Rupert or any member of the Executive Committee.

The nomination process and election for the new chair will take place in the spring; anyone interested in faculty governance should consider running.

The Executive Committee puts together the ASC agenda but they want to be responsive to faculty so agenda item suggestions are welcomed.

A conversation about the continuing budget has begun on campus. As this is the largest part of our budget, Dean Leigh is happy that our college, which is the largest generator of revenue, may be able to join in these discussions.

Late-Drop policy

Last year, the Academic Advising Center ran a pilot program allowing any student to drop a class after the 10-week period if they talk to a counselor. The previous policy asked for extenuating circumstances after the 10-week period; the new policy, effective this year, stops the pilot program and is similar to the previous policy except that the extenuation circumstances do not have to have occurred after the 10-week drop period. The ASC representatives discussed different options and issues having to do with dropping classes. Among the issues shared:

The pilot program seemed too liberal; several representatives advocated a fixed limit of times courses could be dropped late.
A highly liberal system monetizes the process; only students who can afford to lose the tuition money can drop late and the campus does not lose tuition dollars.
With the permissive drop program, the AAC hoped the students dropping a course would do better in their remaining classes and that the conversation with the counselor provided an opportunity for a “teachable moment.”
Representatives expressed concern that only students with low grades drop late and those are not the students the college wants to retain.
Faculty are unsure of how much, if any, their recommendation on a particular drop, counts.
This policy appears to be a curricular issue and faculty should be able to develop the policy.

A motion was made for the ASC to formulate a proposal for a policy for late drops. The motion was seconded.

The vote was yes-25, no-0, abtentions-1

The Executive Committee will determine the group or committee to work on the proposal possibly with the help of the Curriculum Committee, Kyle McJunkin and the Academic Advising Committee.

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