College of Liberal & Applied Arts
Department Chair Minutes
October 1, 2007
The meeting began at 3:15 in the afternoon, in room 273D of the Ferguson Building. The chairs present
at the meeting included the following:
Chairs:
Dr. Brian Murphy
Dr. Mark Barringer
Dr. Kandy Stahl
Dr. Sam Copeland
Dr. Ann Doyle-Anderson
Dr. Troy Davis
Dr. Rick Abel
MAJ Mark Anderson
Dr. Ray Darville
Dean Murphy reviewed the new professional development funding procedure. Two categories of funding
currently exist. According to the decision made at the last meeting of the chairs, each tenured and tenuretrack faculty member is entitled to $800 for professional travel during the academic year. An additional
$15,000 has been set aside to be distributed by the College Council for faculty delivering research papers
at professional meetings. Any faculty member within the College is eligible to apply for up to $1,000 from
this supplemental pool. A mid-March sweep of unused travel funds will be conducted among the
departments willing to participate. These monies will be made available for faculty across the College.
Dean Murphy requested that copies of travel statements should be forwarded to the Dean’s Office in
order to maintain an accurate record of remaining funds for future redistribution.
Dean Murphy reported that HEAF funds have not, as yet, been distributed to departments pending a
decision on the computer replacement allocation. This decision is likely to be rendered in a couple of
weeks.
Dean Murphy asked for input on how the funding of candidate searches should occur in light of the
change in professional development policy. In the past, the Dean’s Office would subsidize departments
$500 for each search and would also contribute an additional $500 toward moving expenses when
needed to prod a candidate’s acceptance. Since the College will be conducting at least 23 searches this
academic year, the Dean’s Office does not have sufficient funding in its operational budget to match its
level of previous support. After much discussion, it was agreed that the Dean’s Office would supply
moving expenses on a case-by-case basis at a rate of .485 cents per mile up to $500. It might be
necessary to impose a limit on the total amount of moving expenses in any given year based on the
Dean’s budget. Dean Murphy will investigate and report back on how much money can be made available
for the current year.
Dean Murphy distributed a draft of an ad hoc committee structure for the College to move forward in 5
areas: the delivery of the core curriculum, specialized and international programs, advising and career
development, tenure and promotion policy, and instructional technology. The chairs discussed the best
strategy to obtain participation on each committee to avoid potentially large and unwieldy memberships. It
was decided that departments would provide a volunteer to serve on each committee, with the College
Council and chairs having representation as well. The chairs were requested to provide feedback on the
committee charges by Wednesday (October 3). The invitation to faculty will be circulated on Friday.
Dean Murphy presented an opportunity for the College to submit a grant to FIPSE for the establishment
of a joint or dual degree with European universities. He outlined the conditions of the grant and indicated
that he would convene a meeting on Monday (October 8) for any faculty interested in participating in the
project.
A handout was distributed that noted the upcoming deadlines in October and November. Dean Murphy
raised the issue of defining a role for the Chair Council since no policy statement exists on the topic. This
issue will be discussed at the next meeting to allow time for reflection and input. Dean Murphy handed out
the current mission statement of the College and invited comment. To most, the statement contained
several words that would be difficult to assess by quantitative measures. Since the College will launch its
assessment process next semester, it is important to develop a mission statement that lends itself to
assessment. The chairs were requested to review the statement and provide feedback at the next
meeting about possible changes.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35