Eastern Michigan University
College of Arts and Sciences
College Advisory Council
Minutes
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Scheduled Meeting Time: 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Pray-Harrold 219
Present: Higgins (WGST), Venner (Dean), Mehuron (Associate Dean), Laporte (Associate
Dean), Plagens (PLSC), Vosteen (WL), Hammill (CMTA), Ensor (SAC), Merrill (M&D), Peters
(AAS), Stevens (Art), [alternate from ECON] (ECON), Dionne (ENGL), Egge (H&P), Angell
(BIO), Johnson (CHEM), Kovacs (G&G), Shen (P&A)
I. Meeting called to order by Chair (Higgins) at 3:33 p.m.
II. Minutes of previous CAC meeting (9/26/13) were approved 10-0-4.
III. Reports
A. Sciences report
Motion: Accept the Sciences report, separating DTC as an issue for CAC review.
Passes, 10-0-6.
B. Arts report
Motion: Accept the Arts report with amendments, separating DTC 360 as an issue
for CAC review. Passes, 16-0-0.
C. DTC 360:
Motion: Do not pass DTC 360 with comments. The comments are the comments
from the Arts and Sciences subcommittee reports. Passes, 15-0-1.
IV. Old Business
A. CASAC Nominations
There were no nominations. The College Assessment Committee members will
seek a faculty member to join the group and bring the nomination to CAC.
B. CAS Grade Grievance Committee
Motion: Approve the list as provided, noting that there is no representative from
Economics, as per the department's preference (16-0-0).
C. Dean’s Office Summer Instructional Budget Proposal: Faculty representatives
provided input on this proposal, originally presented at the CAC meeting on 9/26/13.
1. Concern: Disparity in targets among departments. Targets should not be based
on past performance, as this preserves past inequalities. It has the effect of
punishing departments with the highest past productivity, and rewarding
departments whose FYES/FTEL has been lower.
2. Concern: Across-the-board six percent increase. Percentage increases hit
departments differently. For example, high productivity departments need
more students to hit their target increase.
3. Concern: Creates constraints for programs that are offering courses in
summer to help students graduate. Some courses need to be in summer given
their content. What would help is basing targets on previous summers, where
a department's strategy for summer courses can be continued. The Dean's
Office clarified that the plan now is to base summer targets on prior
summers.
4. Concern: Some departments have been careful in the past and would
like that be considered in future planning.
5. Concern: Students may go to WCC to get courses they cannot get here in
the summer.
6. Concern: Incentivizes the use of Gen Ed courses to run up numbers.
7. Concern: Summer courses do not pay what faculty make during the regular
year. It seems we are chasing numbers away for what is a small expense. Grad
Assistants may need summer courses to graduate in two years.
8. Concern: May hurt interdisciplinarity, particularly for programs that
rely on cross-listed courses. Originating departments of cross-listed courses must
pay the entire instructional budget but receive only a portion of the class’s SCH,
creating an incentive for them to no longer offer cross-listed courses.
9. Concern: Graduate courses count the same as undergraduate courses. This
means a program that wants to offer more graduate courses may not be able to
do that.
10. Concern: Lab courses are limited in number and they are low.
D. CAC Bylaws Revisions
Johnson and Higgins presented amendments to the CAC Bylaws they had
prepared in order to make them consistent with the CAS Input Document and
current practice.
Motion: Consider the amendments. Passes, 16-0-0.
There will be a vote on the ratification of these amendments at the next CAC
meeting (11/14/13).
E. Proposal Review Timeline
Kovacs presented data he collected indicating that most proposals for new courses,
course revisions, and program revisions considered by CAC after January 2013
had not been approved for inclusion in the catalog by Fall 2013. Most proposals
(not including those for new programs) considered by CAC in Fall 2012 or by
January 2013 were approved for inclusion in the catalog by Fall 2013.
V. New Business
(None.)
VI. Dean's Remarks
(None).
VII. Chair's Remarks
Higgins reported that Computer Science will submit its response to the proposal to move
it into the College of Technology to Dean Venner tomorrow (10/25/13). Dean Venner
will forward this to Higgins, who will send it to CAC representatives. Representatives
should forward COSC’s response to their colleagues. Following this, representatives
should gather their department’s response to the proposal. Higgins requests that
representatives send him their department’s response by email by 11/11/13. The proposal
will be discussed in the CAC meeting of 11/14/13.
Following this meeting, CAC will need to prepare a statement of its input. Higgins
requests two volunteers to join him on an ad hoc committee (the creation of which was
approved by the CAC at its 9/26/13 meeting) whose purpose is to draft this statement.
The ad hoc committee will present its draft at the special meeting of CAC on 11/21/13
(the inclusion of which in CAC’s schedule was approved by the CAC at its 9/26/13
meeting). The draft will be considered by the CAC for final approval and forwarding to
Dean Venner at this meeting.
VIII. Faculty Remarks
(None.)
IX. Meeting was adjourned at 5:09 p.m.
Recorded by Plagens