Congress Executive Council (CEC) Minutes for January 11, 2006
UH-Hilo Congress
Attendance:
Marilyn Brown, Beau Butts, Jerry Calton (briefly), Rick Castberg, Jim Mellon,
Jene Michaud, Kelly Burke.
1. Minutes. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved with corrections.
2. Initiation of new programs. It has come to the attention of the CEC that planning for
certain new programs is occurring without the early notification or early involvement of
the general faculty. Insofar as new programs have the potential for broad impacts, it
seems that lack of transparency and lack of early consultation is not in the best interests
of the institution. The CEC chair will look into mechanisms (e.g. briefings at the CAS
Department Chairs meeting or the Congress meeting) for disseminating information
about proposed new programs. The consensus of the CEC is that broad faculty input,
oversight, and approval is desirable, both in the very early stages of planning as well as
final approval. This is one aspect of the broader issue of faculty governance (see item
#4).
3. Graduate Council. It appears that the current practice is for the recommendations of the
graduate council to go the VCAA for approval and implementation. The consensus of
the CEC is that Congress should investigate the possibility of having the graduate
council's recommendations go to congress prior to implementation. This is one aspect of
the broader issue of faculty governance (see item #4).
4. Faculty Governance. There are many unresolved issues involving faculty governance.
Possible avenues for making progress in this area include 1) consultation with Linda
Johnsrud (Vice-President for Academic Planning and Policy), and 2) developing a
Memorandum of Understanding between Congress, the Senates, the Graduate Council,
the Deans, and VCAA which addresses procedures, routing, and scope of responsibility.
The Chair informed the Committee that Linda Johnsrud will be meeting with various
administrators and faculty leaders on January 27 to discuss faculty governance. The CEC
will prepare for this meeting by developing a list of issues/questions that we feel should
be addressed. Tentatively, the main issues identified by the CEC include 1) need for
departmental/faculty oversight on appointment of faculty to administrative positions, 2)
procedures for initiation and approval of new undergraduate and graduate programs, and
3) Relationship between congress, the senates, the graduate council, and the
administration
5. Transfer credit for RELS courses. The question of whether courses in religion from
accredited religious institutions (e.g. BYU) can transfer to UHH has been referred to
congress. The CEC will defer action on this issue until we can meet with Doug
Mikkelson and possibly someone from the admissions office.
6. Assessment of UHH's progress in meeting the objectives of the UHH Strategic
Plan. It seems likely that our progress in the area (minimal) will be unsatisfactory to
WASC. To the best of our knowledge Assistant VCAA Kenith Simmons is working on
the issue. We will invite Dr. Simmons to meet with the CEC.
7. Administrative response to policies approved by Congress. VCAA Hora has signed
off (intends to implement) the 3-peat policy passed by Congress. He has taken adverse
action (does not intend to implement) the three policies related to the
major/minor/certificate GPA. The Chair will resubmit to the administration the policy
that GPAs are not rounded since the administration had no objection to it. The issue of
which courses are included in the major GPA is discussed below. The issue of the 25%
rule will be deferred until the double major policy is resolved and it is more clear which
courses are "required" for majors.
8. GPA. It has come to the attention of the CEC that the GPA policy recently passed by
congress (see below) is subject to multiple interpretations. This is why the VCAA took
adverse action on it.
All courses required for the major, minor, or certificate (regardless of
whether they have an alpha designation within the major/minor/certificate)
will be included in calculating the GPA for the major/minor certificate.
It appears that the major uncertainties pertain to 1) whether courses that simultaneously
meet major requirements and GE (or college) requirements should be included in the
GPA, and 2) what to do when more than one course can be used to satisfy a requirement.
For example, if students must take either Anth 100 or Anth 150, is the class that they end
up taking included in the GPA? Moreover, if both courses are taken, is the one with the
highest grade included in the GPA? The tentative solution identified by the CEC is to
recommend that the VCAA require each program to identify which of the courses
required for the major/minor/certificate are included in the GPA. The directive to the
programs would need to be worded very carefully, however, to ensure that
communication is crystal clear.
9. Committee Reports. Jerry Calton, chair of the budget committee, reports that planning
will soon commence for the next biennium budget request. The budget committee will
take steps to make sure that the planning process is transparent and inclusive. Jerry will
make a presentation at the next congress meeting. There were no reports from the other
committees.
Respectfully submitted,
Jene Michaud, UHH Congress Chair