Eastern  Michigan  University
College  of  Arts  and  Sciences
College  Advisory  Council
Minutes
Thursday,  October  27,  2011
Scheduled  Meeting  Time:  3:30  PM  –  5:00  PM
Room  219  Pray-­Harrold
Present :  Monteiro-­‐Ferreira  (AAS),  Sacksteder  (ART),  Angell  (BIOL),  Edwards
(CHEM),  Hammill  (CMTA),  Ikeji  (COSC),  Däumer  (ENGL),  Clark  (GEO/GEO),  Dieterle
(HIST/PHIL),  Rescorla  (MATH),  Behringer  (PHY/ASTR),  Singh  (PLSC),  Jefferson
(PSYCH),  Dove  (WGST),  Vosteen  (WL),  Venner  (CAS  Dean),  Winder  (CAS),  Tornquist
(CAS),  Nord  (Sciences  DH),  Ramsey  (Arts  DH)
I.  Call  to  order  at  3:34  PM  by  CAC  Chair  Jill  Dieterle
II.    Minutes  of  September  29,  2011
Approved,  with  one  abstention.
III.  Reports
A.   Arts  committee  report
Vosteen  reads  the  Arts  committee  report.    Motion  to  approve  passes   unanimously.
B.   Sciences  committee  report
Behringer  reads  the  Sciences  committee  report.    Motion  to  approve  passes   unanimously.    The  response  of  the  Department  of  Computer  Science  to  the  Office  of   the  Provost  is  endorsed  by  a  vote  of  8-­‐0-­‐7  (aye-­‐nay-­‐abstain).
IV.  Old  Business
A.   BA/BS  and  Dual  Degrees
Dieterle  reviews  the  current  situation  and  the  updated  draft  response  to
Provost  Kay’s  letter  regarding  this  issue.  (Although  Provost  Kay  is  no  longer
Provost,  Rhonda  Longworth,  from  the  Office  of  the  Provost,  requested  that  the   updated  response  go  through  the  standard  input  process.)    It  is  suggested  that  a   form  with  all  the  recommendations  for  all  the  programs  of  each  Department  be   devised  to  expedite  the  process  of  endorsing  Department  recommendations  (if  the   recommendation  of  the  ad  hoc  committee  is  approved).    It  was  suggested  that  there   should  be  some  criterion  to  decide  whether  BA  or  BS;  but  the  ad  hoc  committee   thought  that  it  would  be  impractical  to  identify  such  a  criterion  that  would  be

approved  by  other  Colleges.    It  was  then  noted  that  the  Departments  have  the   expertise  to  make  these  decisions.    Motion  to  approve  the  updated  draft  response
(Vosteen,  Hammill):  Approved  with  1  abstention.
V.  New  Business
A.  CAS  Strategic  Plan  (Visitor:  Claudia  Petrescu)    Claudia  is  here  to  seek  input   regarding  the  goals  in  the  draft  of  the  CAS  Strategic  Plan  (The  Goals  are  in  Column  A
of  the  Excel  spreadsheet  that  was  distributed).
It  is  suggested  that  student  support  entities  such  as  the  Math  Tutoring  Center  and   the  Writing  Center  continue  to  be  supported  explicitly.
Concern  was  expressed  that  Strategic  Area  I,  Goal  1  (SAI.G1)  would  lead  to  a  product   that  is  not  useful.    Petrescu  explained  that  the  motivation  behind  this  goal  is  to  have   students  identify  with  the  CAS.    It  was  pointed  out  that  the  general  education   curriculum  serves  this  purpose,  so  SAI.G1  is  perhaps  redundant.
It  was  suggested  that,  in  SAI.G4,  the  word  “require”  is  too  strong  a  word.    Perhaps
“promote  and  support  required  community  engagement”.
For  SA2.G3,  it  was  suggested  to  support  the  research  of  one  undergraduate   student/program  in  each  department  each  year.    It  was  further  suggested  to  develop   a  formalized  policy  at  the  College  level  to  provide  faculty  incentive  to  supervise   student  research/internships  (this  could  go  under  SA2.G5  or  SA4.G4).
For  SA2.G4,  a  change  of  wording  was  suggested.
For  SA3.G2,  it  was  suggested  that  the  action  items  are  disconnected  from  the  goals
and  does  not  promote  new  (not  yet  externally  supported)  work.
Concern  was  expressed  for  student  career  advising.
Concern  was  expressed  for  ensuring  communications  with  alumni.
Improving  the  College  web  site  has  to  be  a  higher  priority.    It  was  noted  that  the  Art
Department  paid  for  most  of  the  redesign  of  their  department  website.      This  is  part
of  SA3.G1.
Claudia  asks  for  a  deadline  for  when  input  can  be  provided.    The  deadline  is
November  17,  2011  (the  next  full  CAC  meeting).
VI.  Dean’s  remarks
A  foreign  language  requirement  should  be  considered  (this  supports  the  idea  that   we  are  preparing  students  for  the  global  community).

The  Dean  expressed  thanks  to  CAC  for  providing  feedback  about  the  Goals  of  the
Strategic  Plan.
A  College  newsletter  is  now  available  (mostly  the  work  of  Betsy  Morgan).    Please   see:  http://www.emich.edu/cas/pdf/cas_fall2012newsletter.pdf
The  Dean  received  33  proposals  and  sent  10  up  the  line  (including  one  that  is  really   a  bundle  of  proposals)  to  the  Office  of  the  Provost  for  a  total  of  $440k.    Department
Heads  have  been  notified  about  the  list.
The  advising  and  sustainability  initiatives  are  ongoing.
To  comply  with  federal  law,  it  has  been  decided  to  change  to  one  semester  during
Spring/Summer.    NOTE  that  we  retain  the  ability  to  run  two  courses  during  the
Spring/Summer.    So  there  will  still  be  7.5  week  courses  during  the  15  week  long   semester.
The  search  for  the  new  Provost  is  moving  along;  the  search  committee  meets
tomorrow  (Friday,  Oct.  28)  and  then  the  President  will  make  a  decision.
Wade  Tornquist  reminds  us  that  if  we  have  concerns  about  classrooms,  please  say   something  to  your  Department  Office.    Audio/visual  issues  should  go  to  the
Department  Office  and  then  to  Steve  Dotson.
VII.  Chair’s  remarks
None.
VIII.  Faculty  remarks
None.
IX.  Adjournment
Meeting  was  adjourned  at  5:04  PM.