COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
COUNCIL OF CHAIRS
APRIL 20, 2005
2:30 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.
AS 122
PRESENT: E. Acosta-Belen, J. Altarriba, C. Bose, E. Briere, J. Carson, B. Daniel, K. Doolen, S. Fessler, E. Gaffney, T. Gage, S.
Galime, T. Harrison, M. Hill, V. Idone, S. Isser, T. Lance, J. Mandle, M. Messitt, A. Millis, C. Murray, N. Murray, J. Pipkin, L.
Schell, L. Slade, G. Stevens, R. Ward, J. Welch, J. Wick-Pelletier, E. Wulfert, A. Zak
Recorder: R. Greenhouse
MINUTES: L. Slade made a motion to accept the minutes of April 6, seconded by J. Pipkin, and passed unanimously.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Open House -- Thank you to all who assisted with the April 9 Open House. The turnout was excellent.
Fountain Day – Administration expressed much appreciation for your assistance and the success of Fountain Day.
Commencement – President Hall wants large turnout.
Honorary Degree Ceremony – April 25, Elias Corey convocation begins at 3:00, followed by the reception and lecture.
Commencement – Three more flag bearers are needed for the graduate ceremony. Please recommend outstanding graduate students
Conference Opportunity, June 15-18, 2005, Washington D.C. -- This conference is for department and division chairs in Arts &
Sciences, sponsored by the American Council on Education. The Dean’s office is willing to send 2 (newer, less experienced) chairs
interested in attending. Please let the Dean know if you would be interested. Deadline for commitment is May 23, 2005.
Faculty Council – Met on April 13. The policy on Theme Semesters was approved and will now be sent to all faculty for input and
suggestions.
Discretionary Awards:
Remind faculty members to submit their Faculty Activity Report in order to be considered for a discretionary award. The Faculty
Activity Reports are due to department chairs by June 1 and to Dean’s office June 8. Teaching evaluations will be looked at as well as
the activity reports. Professionals are eligible and must have up-to-date performance programs on file; part time instructors are
eligible. Chairs will receive a list of eligible employees. The process will probably be the same as in the past. Discretionary awards
address salary compression, equity issues, and merit (outstanding performance appropriate to the position).
Presidents Retreat:
“Dashboard” handout provides an at-a-glance view of charts to get a quick, thorough look at statistics to measure where the University
stands and where improvements can be made. President Hall wants all schools and colleges to have their own dashboards.
University’s Mission Document will include ideas on planning and hiring upper administration.
Compact Planning will begin after commencement and continue into the fall semester. Money from this plan will be used for special
initiatives, not core programs that must be funded to run the University.
The Dean expects that President Hall will unfold plans at his speech during the University Faculty Meeting on April 27 th.
Honors Programs:
Dean Wick-Pelletier is hoping President Hall has embraced the College’s Honors College and that he’ll integrate it into his plans. We
should know after April 27th. Our goal is to get the Honors College up and running by fall 2006. We will have to very quickly notify
faculty, request core course proposals, and integrate proposals within the theme semester. One positive effect of the Honors College is
that it reinforces the Departments’ Honors Programs. Please make sure that your honors programs currently on the books are up-todate (courses may need to be updated). Jeanette Altarriba will contact departments at the end of May to request honors program
statistics on how many students are in your programs. Use this resource to identify honors students, encourage participation, groom
and identify students for national competitions. Please let Jeanette know if any information on the list is not accurate. We need to
identify pools of students. Phi Beta Kappa is a good source, or if your own disciplines have honors societies, you can nominate
students from them.
College Fellows:
This idea is part of the Strategic Plan. It has gone to the Faculty Council and has been approved. We are at the stage to reach out into
the community to those who are intellectually active and interested in the College. This program has aspects of outreach, enrichment,
and fundraising (though fundraising is not a main goal). Establishing College Fellows is one way to build rapport with the community.
The Dean suggests that Fellows should probably be local in order to attend events. Further discussion regarding optimal numbers will
continue. In the beginning there will be no terms, but if there are those who do not participate for a long time, we should follow up to
ask if they are still interested. Dedicated events will be planned in addition to the usual events they attend in the University
community.
Adjourned: 3:45 p.m.