PROVOST’s COUNCIL
MINUTES
March 16, 2016, 8:30-10:00
Present
Alison Morrison-Shetlar, Brandon Schwab, Jeff Ray, Doug Keskula, Lowell
Davis, Richard Starnes, Darrell Parker, Farzaneh Razzaghi, George Brown,
Carol Burton, Jill Granger, Brian Kloeppel, Susan Fouts, Tony Johnson, Greg
Hodges
Guests
Kevin Koett, Sam Miller, Phyllis Robertson for Dale Carpenter
Recorder
Anne Aldrich
ANNOUNCEMENT/INFORMATION
New Science Building
(Richard Starnes)
Richard provided an update on plans moving forward with the new science
building. The bond was voted in on March 15.
DISCUSSION
Update on YikYak
and UC postings
discourse around
‘Black Lives Matter’
(Sam Miller/
Kevin Koett)
Chalking around campus has been occurring for several weeks now. This
morning there were chalking’s at the entrance of HFR. To provide context, last
week at the University Center, across from the Intercultural Affairs Office
there is an art gallery space celebrating Black History month exhibiting a
poster from ‘Blacks Lives Matter’. Tuesday of this week there was an addition
referencing police brutalities against blacks. An undergraduate student leader
on campus posted on social media that the posters were not accurate. This
began a dialogue that moved into YikYak which is much rawer. YikYak is
anonymous and focused around geographical location only. Sam distributed
information on the postings for our area.
Sam additionally described the Tunnel of Oppression event that took place on
campus on Tuesday. There were between 400-500 students who attended the
Tunnel of Oppression.
Student Affairs has been having individual communications but there has not
been a campus wide statement to date. Kevin Koett is meeting with student
leaders tonight to create action plans to address the issues being presented.
Discussion ensued.
Action Item
New Health Sciences
Degree
Next steps - create a ‘Safe Space’ and provide talking points to faculty who
may choose to frame a conversation in their classes or for those who are less
comfortable. We need to tap into faculty expertise and communicate this is a
place where we embrace the free exchange of ideas through civil discourse. In
addition we need to reinforce there are strong emotions associated with these
topics. Alison requested Richard, Carol and Jeff to assist in crafting a
communication to the faculty.
Doug presented a PowerPoint on the new Health Sciences degree and reviewed
details with the council. He plans to present this to the faculty after spring
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(Doug Keskula)
break with the goal of having the program in the pipeline to GA by the fall.
Discussion ensued.
Doug is happy to meet with any of the council individually to discuss further
details. Provost Council voted unanimously in support of moving this program
forward.
Update on Master in
Athletic Training
(Doug Keskula)
There is a movement in the Athletic Training profession towards a master level
entry. There was a conference call with GA last week regarding this topic. As
a system we are moving forward with application to GA for January 2017 with
the goal to have a fall of 2018 implementation. We are currently working on
addressing various issues. Doug hopes to have further details by the end of the
semester. WCU has done very well in the bachelor’s level program as
compared to others in the state. We will provide a teach-out program for the
bachelor students then proceed with just the Masters in Athletic Training.
Hunter Library
Scholar Course
Release
(Farzaneh Razzaghi)
The agenda item is deferred to the March 31st Provost Council Workday.
Salvation Army Boys
and Girls Club of
Buncombe County
(Alison)
Alison has followed up with the appropriate deans regarding this initiative.
Deans will keep the council updated.
Budget Priorities
(All)
We will defer this item to the March 31st workday. In preparation please
consider where we are in terms of our budget, as we have no new reoccurring
funds. However, we have a priority of increasing salaries and improvement in
recruitment and retention. Until we receive enrollment growth money we are
limited in our efforts. Come to the workday considering:
 Where we are regarding budget;
 What we need to do to have increased enrollment, retention, and improved
graduation rates;
 Where do you think we need to be from your perspective;
 What would you put on the table to shift dollars towards the current
priorities (salaries, scholarships, etc.). We need to think institutionally.
Greg gave an update on computer refresh.
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