Administrative Council Meeting Minutes
June 18, 2012
Attendees: Dr. Michael Galyean, Dr. Sukant Misra, Norman Martin, Reagan Ribordy, Jane Piercy, Dr. Eduardo
Segarra, Dr. Steve Fraze, Dr Sam Jackson, John Billing, Dr. Mark Wallace, and Dr. Rick Zartman
1. Minutes from the May 21, 2012 Administrative Council meeting were approved as distributed.
2. NLGCA (Non Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture) Capacity Building RFA
The application for the NLGCA Capacity Building grant will be due on July 6th. Dr. Cindy Akers is
taking the lead, and the committee of Dr. Akers, Dr. Erica Irlbeck, and Dr. Matt Baker has decided to
move forward on this as a 2 + 2 program. They met with Dr. Don Topliff of West Texas A&M
University, as well as their committee member Dr. Kevin Williams. Panhandle State University also
will be a partner in the project. The 2 + 2 program would be implemented by partnering with several
community colleges. These programs would be similar to our current Law Enforcement Program we
have with our Natural Resources Management (NRM) department and South Plains College. Dr. Akers
will work with the Department Chairs to get program ideas, suggestions, etc. before anything is
submitted. Dr. Misra noted that it is very important that we get one of the $750,000 awards because
CASNR worked so hard to get a RFA like this funded. Agricultural and Applied Economics (AAEC) is
currently working with Southern Illinois University on a smaller, but similar capacity grant. In addition,
Dr. Mindy Brashears and the food safety group are working on another grant to get funds to help furnish
laboratories.
3. International Research Experience for Students (IRES) RFA
This is a maximum $250,000 grant and the application is due August 21, 2012. The committee of Dr.
Jaime Malaga, Dr. Jon Ulmer, Dr. Sara Trojan, Dr. Charles Klein, Dr. Jyotsna Sharma, and Dr. Gad
Perry has identified a focus area. They have contacted Yucatan University in Mexico, and they have
agreed to work with us on the project. This will be a multidisciplinary three (3)-year program sponsored
by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
4. New Faculty Lines
We received 14 requests for new faculty positions from the Department Chairs. Of those 14 requests, 12
were sent to the Provost’s Office. The earliest we may know whether these have been approved will
probably be during the fall semester. Once we know what has been approved, we need to act on these
quickly and move the process along as fast as possible.
In regards to the statistical and quantitative applied methods positions in CASNR, AAEC and AFS were
given high priority to fill these positions because this area is critical to our graduate programs, as well as
the possibility of bringing more students from other colleges into the classrooms. A candidate for
AAEC has been identified and they are trying to move the process along quickly. Dr. Galyean would
like your input from the Department Chairs the end of the week if you have any questions or concerns
regarding these positions.
5. Lapsed Salary
In the past, when faculty positions were vacated, the lapsed salaries went back to the Office of the
Provost. When replacements were ready to be hired, Chairs had to submit a request for the funds from
the Provost but only received what the new salary would incur. If the new salary was less than the
previous faculty salary, funds were lost. This process is currently changing under the RCM model, and
we will now be able to request to keep lapsed salaries in a local account. Our Business Manager,
Dianne Coffman, will start the process of requesting to keep the lapsed salaries as soon as resignations
are submitted. We will be able to use the funds from these lapsed salaries for hiring new faculty
members, equity adjustments, graduate student expenses, etc. Please contact Dr. Misra or Dianne
Coffman when the lapsed salary monies are needed.
6. Student Success Center Handout
Dr. Akers provided a handout showing the activities completed in May for the Student Success Center,
as well as upcoming activities for June and July. Chairs were asked to refer questions to either Dr.
Akers or Lori Dudley.
7. Other
John Billing reported that Dr. Kvashny would be returning from Israel the end of this week.
Dr. Wallace indicated that NRM was moving forward on their faculty hires, and they have made two
offers. They have a third position for which they have identified a candidate; however, the candidate is
from Austria, and getting them here for an interview is proving to be a challenge.
Jane Piercy suggested it would be a good idea if she could meet with the new faculty members and their
department chair within the first semester they are here to learn more about their contacts, let them know
about our foundation board, etc.
Dr. Jackson reported that AFS currently has two faculty searches ongoing. Each position has several
applicants. Dr. Jackson also reported that the TTU Women’s Rodeo Team won the National Team
Championship this weekend in Casper, Wyoming!
Dr. Segarra reported that things are moving along in AAEC. He also announced that Dr. Tom Knight
was confirmed as a Horn Professor.
Dr. Galyean and Dr. Misra discussed our College’s Senior Hire positions, and noted that we have been
approved for 10 positions. We have already hired three, and have four current searches under way.
It was reported that Dr. Gad Perry has just returned from Ethiopia. Dr. Misra will leave for Ethiopia
with a group from Texas Tech University, lead by Ambassador Tibor Nagy, at the end of the week.
8. University/CASNR Awards
The nominations for the University and CASNR Awards were read and voting totals tallied. Notices
will go out to the selected nominees within the next few weeks so they can begin preparing their award
packets.