Eastern Michigan University
College of Arts and Sciences
College Advisory Council
Minutes
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Scheduled Meeting Time: 3:30-5:00pm
Pray-Harrold, Room 219
Present: Ensor (SAC), Kovacs (G&G), Angell (Biology); Shen (P&A), Johnson (Chemistry);
Sambrook (Sciences DH), Dionne (English), Ramsey (Arts DH), Vosteen (WL), Hammill
(CMTA), Egge (H&P), Bonem (Psychology), Venner (CAS Dean), Laporte (CAS AD),
Mehuron (CAS AD), Higgins (WGST), Plagens (Political Science).
Absent: representatives from Africology & African American Studies, Art, Economics, Music &
Dance, Computer Science, Mathematics
Visitors: Doug Baker, CAS Assessment Committee
I. Call to order by outgoing CAC Chair Jill Dieterle at 3:30 pm
II. Minutes of April 18, 2013
The council, acting on Dieterle’s recommendation, agreed to table a vote on the meeting
minutes from the previous meeting because they had not been posted or circulated
electronically to council members.
III. Elections
Chair: Peter Higgins accepted nomination for chair. No other nominations followed.
Higgins was elected by acclamation.
Vice Chair: Amy Flanagan Johnson accepted nomination to serve as vice chair. No other
nominations followed. Johnson was elected by acclamation.
Secretary: Natalie Dove (in absentia) accepted nomination for secretary. No other
nominations followed. Dove was elected by acclamation.
Procedures committee: Geoff Hammill agreed to serve on the procedures subcommittee.
The Vice Chair (now Johnson) is automatically a member of this committee, per the
Input Document.
Budget committee: Angell (Sciences) and Dionne (Arts) agreed to serve on this
committee. The Chair (now Higgins) is automatically a member of this committee.
Following elections, outgoing chair Dieterle turned the meeting over to incoming chair
Higgins.
IV. Old Business
A. New Member Guide: Johnson raised the idea last year, as a new member of CAC,
that the council put together a new member’s guide to facilitate the integration of new
members, a draft of which she subsequently created. Vosteen produced a copy of the
council’s bylaws from 1991. It was agreed that the Procedures Subcommittee would look
at the issue, in particular for overlap between the new member’s guide and the by-laws,
and for their consistency with the Input Document.
B. EPEO Advisory Council: Donna Selman (SAC) accepted nomination (in absentia) to
this council, and was elected unanimously.
There were no further nominations, though one additional representative is needed.
Higgins asked CAC representatives to continue to seek nominations from among the
faculty, particularly from the Sciences, which are not represented on this council
currently. There will be an election for the remaining space on this council at the next
CAC meeting.
V. New Business
A. Deadlines for program change proposals: Ensor requested the council revisit the
idea of a February 1 deadline for receiving applications for program changes. SAC
submitted a proposal by February 1, but the proposal did not make it through the process
in time to make it into the 2013-14 catalog. Discussion clarified that the February 1
deadline is a deadline for consideration of proposals by CAC (which no longer regularly
meets after the Winter term ends) by the end of the current academic year. However,
submission of proposals by February 1 cannot guarantee that they will have received final
approval for implementation by the following Fall term. Mehuron reported that, due to
unpredictable contingencies, it is not possible to provide a precise date submission of
proposals for consideration in CAC by which would allow implementation of approved
proposals for the following Fall term.
Ensor also alerted the committee to a problem resulting from action taken last year by the
Provost’s Office to implement a new undergraduate program in Public Health in the
College of Health and Human Services. The approved program includes as a required
course SOCL 345. SAC was never approached by the proposing department and will not
be able to offer additional sections of the course to accommodate CHHS. A lengthy
discussion of what happened in the approval process ensued. In piecing together the
events of last year, the council came to understand that it never actually voted in favor or
against the CHHS proposal. The Science subcommittee did vote against it, but the Arts
subcommittee had difficulty getting its questions answered by the proposing department.
As a result, it tabled the proposal twice. It appears that the 60 days allotted to the college
to provide feedback elapsed and the Provost’s Office went on to approve the program.
The council agreed in principle that it should develop a means of preventing a repeat
occurrence of this in the future. Ensor, Angell, and Higgins agreed to bring language to
the next meeting for the council to consider.
VI. Dean’s Remarks
Visitor Doug Baker provided updates on the CAS Assessment Committee, and reported
that the committee is seeking one new member. This person should be familiar with
current practices in assessing student learning. CAC representatives are asked to solicit
nominations from their departments. Baker offered to visit any department to discuss the
college’s assessment efforts.
Mehuron passed out nomination forms for the 2014 Undergraduate Symposium Keynote
Speaker. She encouraged departments to recommend possible speakers.
Venner asked for volunteers to serve on the Search Committee for a permanent Associate
Dean, a position currently held by interim Associate Dean Mehuron. He also shared some
changes in the college. The Eastern Echo has moved under the College of Arts &
Sciences purview. The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (headed by Claudia Petrescu),
which was previously under the purview of the Provost’s Office, is also now in CAS.
Laporte shared budget related information. The college exceeded its target for reducing
cost per credit hour. The college will keep for a second year its model for assessing cost
per credit hour. LaPorte shared 2013-14 targets by department.
VII. Chair’s remarks: None.
VIII. Faculty remarks: None.
IX. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 4:30pm.
Recorded by Greg Plagens (substituting for Natalie Dove)