Council of Deans - Minutes
Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Location: Administration Boardroom
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Members and Staff Representatives present:
Ronna Vanderslice, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Sylvia Burgess, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Marge Kingsley, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs
John Camey, Dean, School of Business
Lisa Huffman, Dean, School of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Von Underwood, Dean, School of Liberal Arts
Terry Conley, Dean, School of Science and Technology
Susan Camp, Director, CU-Duncan
Karla Oty, Director, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Accountability
Sherry Young, Director, Library Services
Linda Phillips, Registrar
Mandy Husak, Academic Affairs Coordinator
Vinetta Buchanan, Academic Affairs Specialist
Agenda and Notes
 Approval of Council of Deans Minutes – October 7, 2015 Meeting (Handout) – The minutes were
approved as presented.
 Discussion Items:
1. Discussion of Faculty Development Session—AVPAA Kingsley provided information on the
Faculty Development Session to be held on November 13. Dr. Saundra McGuire, former Director
of the Center for Academic Success at Louisiana State University, will be coming to campus to do
several workshops for faculty and staff. The sessions will be held at the following times:
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8:30-9:30 am - “Strategies for Effectively Mentoring 21st Century Students” (Ross Hall
111)
9:45-11:00 am - “Get Students to Focus on Learning Instead of Grades: Metacognition is
the Key!” (Ross Hall 111)
12:00-1:30 pm - “Metacognition and Motivation” (Ross Hall 111)
Dr. McGuire will also hold a separate student session on November 12 from 6:30-8:00 pm in the
CETES Conference Center with the topic being “Metacognition: The Key to Acing Courses.” All
faculty should be encouraged to attend and each department should be represented.
2. Blackboard shells for enhanced courses—AVPAA Burgess reminded the Deans that blackboard
shells will be set up at the beginning of the spring semester for each class. She requested that the
Deans encourage their faculty to use the shells. Even if they only use it for grades and attendance,
that’s still helpful for students. We have received great feedback from students about faculty using
Blackboard in their classes. The shell includes links to tutor.com and the helpdesk. The Office of
Adult and Continuing Education will provide training to faculty if needed.
3. Quality Matters training—AVPAA Burgess provided information on the Quality Matters
Workshop which will be held on December 18. VPAA Vanderslice emphasized the importance of
this training, which is to make sure that faculty are providing the same quality of education in
their online classes as in the face to face ones.
4. Budget—VPAA Vanderslice provided an update on the current budget situation.
 Governor Fallin’s Executive Order and Travel—There is a freeze on all out of state travel
involving the use of state funds, except for those considered to be essential to performing our
mission. Grants that are funded by federal money with no mixing of state funds will most
likely be approved but should still go through the proper channels for approval. Funds
involving School/Departmental Foundation accounts will be reviewed, send the requests
through to Dr. Vanderslice. If the travel does not require reimbursement, no state funds are
being used so these requests should be sent through for approval. Each request will be
considered on a case by case basis.
 Course Sharing—We are collecting a list of ideas for the approximately $3 million budget
cut next year. VPAA Vanderslice has been sharing items on the list with deans and directors
at bi-weekly meetings. She stressed that not all of the items on the list will be implemented
but that an inclusive list is being collected. Course sharing was one of the ideas discussed for
reducing program costs while still allowing students access to the courses they need to
graduate on time.
5. HLC Requirements 4.A.6---evaluating the success of our graduates— VPAA Vanderslice and Dr.
Oty shared that the Alumni Office is conducting a survey for recent graduates. Dr. Vanderslice
stated that this would be a good way for the Deans and Chairs to get information on their
graduates. She reminded the Deans that at the planning meetings, she discussed with them about
keeping better track of their graduates. Most accrediting bodies want information right after
graduation and some request it for one year after graduation.
We will invite Frank Myers, the Associate Director of Alumni Relations, to a future Council of
Deans meeting to share more information about the survey.
6. DaVinci Institute Awards---more information at http://davinciok.org/ — VPAA Vanderslice
mentioned that it is time to start thinking of nominees for the DaVinci Institute Awards. Dean
Underwood shared that they are doing something different this year. The Institute would like the
money to go towards an ongoing project in order to encourage creative work rather than just
giving it as an award.
7. Early Alert Update—Dr. Oty provided an early alert update. Usage was up to 81.7% as of
November 2.
8. Remaining Seat Report—Dr. Oty provided information on the remaining seats. She mentioned
that the caps are very high in some classes so all the seats don’t usually get filled. She prepares
this report once a week and can email it to the Deans each week. She encouraged them to take a
look at the caps to ensure that we don’t have extremely low or high caps for courses where it
doesn’t need to be that way.
9. Enrollment Update—Dr. Oty provided an enrollment update. We are down more in part-time than
in full-time students. Philip prepares one of the reports – Department, Site and School report –
once a week. Dr. Oty will email this report to the Deans each week.
 The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.