College of Liberal and Applied Arts
Chair Council Minutes
May 9, 2012
The meeting began at 2:30pm in room 273D of the Ferguson Building. People in attendance included the following:
Dr. Ron Anderson (Psychology)
Dr. Freddie Avant, Social Work
Dr. Troy Davis (History)
Ms. Dixie Groll, Dean’s Office
Dr. Marc Guidry (soon-to-be Associate Dean)
Dr. John Hendricks (Media)
Dr. Mike Martin (Multidisciplinary Programs)
Dr. Brian Murphy (Dean)
Cpt. Steve Sanchez (Military)
Dr. Mark Sanders (English)
Dr. Owen Smith (College Council)
Dr. Robert Szafran (Social Analysis)
Dr. Jeana Paul-Ureña (Languages & Communication)
Dr. Jerry Williams (Social Analysis)
Dean Brian Murphy opened the meeting with a discussion of proposed changes to the standards by which low producing
programs could be subject to elimination. Under the Coordinating Board’s proposal, bachelor-level programs would be
required to graduate an average of eight students (up from the current five) over a five year period to remain in good
standing; the corresponding annual average for master’s programs would be raised from the current three to five. The
Coordinating Board will be inviting comments to the proposal.
Dean Murphy turned attention to the development of a video for use at the upcoming Freshman Convocation. A
committee composed of John Hendricks, Linda Bond, Al Greule, and Casey Hart has been tasked with creating the final
product. Toward that end, the committee is seeking input from departments on famous alumni, activities worth filming in
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July, and programs to emphasize. A June 1 deadline was established for forwarding responses to Dr. Hendricks.
Dean Murphy announced that the Provost would produce a new workload policy in the near future. The draft of the policy
would be posted online for university-wide comment before final adoption. Dean Murphy next circulated the
implementation blueprint for the College’s strategic plan. The blueprint indicates priorities, deadlines, and responsibilities.
The strategic plan will be transformed into a formal document that should be available in mid-summer.
Dean Murphy reviewed the steps left to complete in finalizing the 2010-2011 assessment cycle. The College Council at its
May 7th meeting provided feedback on departmental assessment results. The Council had four conclusions:
 On the whole, student outcomes are satisfactory. In programs where longitudinal results are provided, student
outcomes are improving.
 Faculty are monitoring student outcomes and engaging in the process of closing the loop by examining the
results of previous action plans in order to improve ongoing objectives and outcomes.
 Owing to the ongoing nature of assessment, faculty must continue to engage in these activities. Assessment
plans need to be updated in coordination with ongoing program improvement.
 Research goals are generally met, but addressing high workload expectations and inadequate resource
allocation would be conducive to increased research productivity.
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The sole remaining step is for the Dean to submit a summation of the College’s overall assessment results by May 31 .
Dean Murphy solicited feedback about the College’s recent Honors Banquet. There was general consensus the format
operated efficiently and delivered a quality event. However, it was agreed that the sequence of announcing award
recipients should be modified. Rather than the Dean introducing award recipients, the Dean would call forward
departmental chairs who would, in turn, announce their respective award recipients. Faculty members would continue to
present the awards themselves to the appropriate recipient.
Dean Murphy reminded chairs that departmental definitions of what constitutes a “peer reviewed” publication are due on
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May 15 . A long discussion ensued about the College’s traditional Donut Friday event. In the past few years, attendance
has dwindled and it seems questionable whether sufficient interest remains to resume the effort. Nonetheless, the chairs
elected to return the event to the Dean’s Office on a weekly basis and they would take it upon themselves to encourage
participation.
Dean Murphy stated that the annual chairs retreat would consider several issues relevant to the College’s strategic plan
as well as the standardization of certain reassignment requests. The chairs accepted his proposals to shift the venue to
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Pine Lodge and to conduct the retreat either on August 20 or 21 .
The meeting adjourned at 4:01 pm. after a series of announcements.
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